Ch. 9 – All for One, One for All

Weiss stood at the entrance of the facility, with Winter, Klein and Ruby at her side, waiting for the potential partners to arrive, as team ORNJ guarded the perimeter, positioned in four corners, at the foot of the nearest buildings. Yang and Blake were inside the facility, close to the entrance and were peeking through a hatch on the door that was made exactly for that purpose. Minutes passed and as everyone grew more anxious half a dozen cars entered the compound, moving in a line as they came through the security gate. The guards were already informed by Ironwood to let them conduct their meeting and as a result no one was held up and questioned for long.

"I can see them." Ren spoke into his scroll.

"Same." Jaune said.

"Ditto!" Nora exclaimed.

"This is going to drain our batteries, fast." Jaune muttered.

"Probably." Ren replied.

"Requesting radio silence..." Ruby whispered in a serious tone, as if quoting a phrase she heard, when a situation got serious.

"Uh...Ruby..." Ren started.

"That means you won't communicate." Winter told her.

"Oh. Then no silence!" Ruby corrected herself and Weiss smiled at how seriously she was trying to take the situation, in her own quirky way.

"It looks like they're all talking." Oscar said, from the corner he was guarding. "I really need to get one of those scrolls." he was saying to both himself and Ozpin. They could see the black cars all varied in size and there were two limousines among them. They stopped in the middle of the empty yard and their drivers got out and moved around to open the doors. Men and women, anywhere between forty and sixty years of age, got out, all dressed for the occasion. There were almost a dozen of them and all of them looked considerably more confident and relaxed than Weiss, who composed herself as they started walking towards them.

"I smell small fish." Yang muttered to Blake as their two pair of eyes were the only things visible of them. "Hey, you wanna go get some, after this?" Yang's eyes looked at Blake's, which widened from the sudden offer and she stammered.

"Um...o-okay. Sure." she nodded.

"I knew that." Yang snickered and Blake remembered she could hear everyone's thoughts, now that they were close to the relic, again.

"Um...can you hear them, too?" she asked Yang.

"Sure can." The latter nodded, as she heard Winter, in particular.

"She never had performance anxiety." Winter was looking at Weiss. "This time, her audience is small, but their review can decide the fate of the company."

"I can do this." Weiss was thinking, as she looked at their faces, some were stern, while others looked friendly. "They need me to take control of the company. And even if they'll want more out of it, later, I can worry about the details, after it's mine. I just...have to be calm. Assert myself. And I'm not alone." she thought and looked at Klein, her sister and Ruby, who nodded and smiled at her, reassuringly and Weiss drew strength from it. She turned towards the people who stopped in front of them and took a few steps.

"Let's begin." Weiss said.

Five armed figures clad in full-body, pitch-black combat gear were kneeling on a nearby rooftop, with two of them in front of the others. One with his arms spread to both sides, as if he was making some effort, while the fifth was in front, with his head turned to the side, as if he was listening to something.

"We don't usually do this stuff in the daylight, you know." The one on the left commented.

"That's why you got me." The one with his arms spread said over his shoulder and since no one on the ground could even see them, even though they could have at the height they were at, he was likely creating an invisibility field with his semblance.

"This is the best setup we get." The one in the middle spoke. "We have to stop this little meeting, take that princess and send a message to the others not to betray the boss, again."

"Should be easy." The one on the right said. "The only one who's a threat is the specialist. The kids won't be a problem."

"Just in case…we brought some extra numbers, this time…to even us out." The middle one spoke, again and a pair of men came out of hiding, on two of the roofs on either side of the meeting spot. Two more, on the roof across from them that was the facility's building, where the guards have already been knocked out by tranquilizer darts and were dragged out of sight, along with the ones around the facility. The ten men formed a diamond-shape, as they surrounded the meeting spot from four angles. "You're still hearing them?" the middle one said to the one in the front.

"Loud and clear." he replied, apparently able to hear the meeting from that distance, likely with his semblance and without the visible aid of any device.

Yang stepped away from the hatch as she felt the same strange feeling she did the last time they were at the facility.

"Are you okay?" Blake stepped back to ask as a shadow, peeking from one of the doors pulled back. "Can you…hear what they're thinking?" Emerald's eyes widened in alarm at the question.

"I'm getting that weird feeling, again." Yang said and Emerald listened to their exchange. "And…something else." Yang shook her head. "Everyone's thinking too much. I gotta sort them out. Hang on..." Yang concentrated and Emerald suddenly felt threatened by her presence. If Yang could really read minds, then she was in danger of being exposed, even if she was using her semblance.

"Good, she is keeping herself composed and assertive." Winter thought, as Weiss was thanking them for seeing her and started talking about how she knew they were putting themselves on the line by doing so.

"You're doing great, Weiss!" Ruby was cheering her on, only in her head, not wanting to do it out loud.

"Steady, now." Klein was also rooting and Yang tried to concentrate more and was sensing some minds she had not before.

"She's not exactly a nervous wreck, but she is definitely putting on a brave face." A woman thought.

"She has no experience in this area. Hmhm. And probably many others." Another woman mentally laughed. "But, at least, she is determined. And that goes a long way."

"She certainly sounds driven." A man was thinking. "But can she really assume control? What about her studies?"

"She has yet to even graduate." Another was thinking the same. "Surely it will interfere with a career."

"Alright…everyone is in position. This will be quick." An entirely different, smooth thought was caught by Yang, who got alarmed.

"Let's start already. Bag that girl and get our Lien wired." Another dangerous thought, by someone else came to her.

"I can't keep this field up forever. Don't these guys know by now?" A third voice further roused Yang's suspicion. "Just call the attack, damn it."

"Sounds like they're done with the introductions." A fourth voice thought and the one who had his ears on them, turned to their leader, on the roof.

"They're taking the meeting inside. We have to strike." he told him and got a nod from the one in charge. He spoke into their comm-link, addressing all of them.

"Pick the target closest to you and neutralize." he smoothly ordered them. "Except for the specialist. She's mine." he added and targeted Winter.

"Damn it...!" Yang exclaimed and jumped to the door's control panel, slamming a fist on it. The doors parted and she ran out, just as Winter put a hand to the side of her neck and pulled a dart from it, in surprise. She had no reason to activate her aura and was not ready to deflect an attack. "It's an ambush!" Yang screamed as Winter fell to her knees, passing out. The students all heard, even team ORNJ, who were spread out.

"Oscar." Ozpin started, but Oscar's aura already flashed into action.

"I know." Oscar said, out loud and took the cane out. Jaune drew his sword and shield, immediately deflecting some darts, while Ren and Nora agilely jumped and rolled out of their way. Oscar twirled the cane batting away the projectiles as all of team ORNJ made their way back to the center, where Ruby was blocking the shots by spinning her scythe, while Weiss surrounded herself and Klein with Glyphs. The latter was already kneeling above Winter's unconscious form.

"Klein! Take my sister and the others inside! Hurry!" she told him.

"Right away!" Klein picked Winter up and looked at the would-be business associates to see their drivers were already incapacitated and a quarter of them were being carried by the others. Weiss danced in, between them, summoning Glyphs to cover their retreat as they hauled one another to safety. Yang was blocking with her cybernetic arm and Blake dashed around leaving her shadow-clones for them to hit and waste their shots on. Yang covered behind one of Weiss' glyphs, still trying to pick up thoughts as Klein and the others made it inside, where Emerald was suddenly overwhelmed trying to keep her illusion up over all of them.

"Damn it! I have to get out of here!" Yang's eyes widened as she thought she heard a familiar voice.

"There's two on the roof, there!" Blake shouted, pointing out one of the groups.

"Two over there!" Oscar pointed to two more. Ren and Nora glanced around and the former looked up to see two men on the roof directly above them.

"Above us!" he exclaimed and rolled out of the way of their shots and the darts broke apart on the hard ground, the tranquilizing liquid in them spilling out from the cracked vials. Nora growled and aimed her weapon upwards. Emerald appeared in the entrance and was momentarily surprised as Nora fired a grenade that hit the side of the roof, breaking chunks off of it and blew the two men away.

"What the-…!?" the leader of the group exclaimed in surprise, starting to grow frustrated with their lack of efficiency. He watched as the debris almost hit a female officer, who bolted from the door. "Who the hell is that?" Yang heard him think. "We got another target. She's heading east!

"What are you talking about? No one's coming our way!" one of the man on that roof replied.

"We can't even hit any of these damn kids! I thought you said this will be easy!" the other added.

"She's running right towards you!" their leader raised his voice. "Damn it! Can't they see her!? She ran right past them!" Yang heard him again and kept looking in the direction he was thinking about, seeing no one but Oscar, as he stopped in his dodging to glance around himself, as if he, too, sensed something, before he continued to evade the darts. Ren looked at the two men on the roof closest to them.

"Nora!" he called for her, nodding towards them.

"Ruby!" Weiss formed a cylinder with her glyphs, aimed at the other two men, who were still arguing with their leader. Nora ran towards Jaune, who crouched to let her launch herself in the air by firing into his shield that propelled her to the roof above, where the two men she took out, were lying unconscious. She briefly admired her handy-work and her smirk widened into vicious as she turned towards the two surprised shooters, with a clear line of sight on them, from where there was no chance of her grenade missing and flying past them, as it might have if she had fired from the ground. She launched one, demolishing the corner of the roof, sending one of the assailants flying backwards, while the other fell off the roof, screaming, only for his fall to be broken by a long-range shot from Yang's Ember Celica. The blast slammed him against the buildings wall, slowing his rapid descent and instead of quite possibly meeting his demise, he only suffered a few broken ribs and limbs. As brutal as the combo was, he was better off, on the long run, even if he would not be able to run, after that.

Ruby fired a shot through Weiss' row of glyphs and hit the weapon of one of the two gunmen, snap-freezing it solid, along with both of his arms, nearly up to his shoulders.

"HOLY SH-...!" The other's swearing was cut-off as he was hit next and the two of them awkwardly stumbled trying to break free and hoping their arms would not suffer proper frostbite.

"Gods Almighty!" one of the business women was watching through the hatch on the door.

"Damn it!" The leader of the pack lost his nerve.

"These kids are no pushovers! They're damn pros!" The guy on his left panicked.

"I can't hold my field for much longer!" The one with the cloaking semblance warned them. Yang was looking around as she kept hearing their racing thoughts, trying to deduce where they were.

"There's more of them!" she yelled and listened. They held their fire, mostly from shock, rather than being told to, as soon as their comrades were picked off.

"That little red one with the Schnee is a deadeye." Yang finally heard him and inched closer to Ruby. "Look away little girl…" he waited until Ruby turned her attention elsewhere. "Now." Yang saw something gleam in the air and she barely had enough time to block the dart with her cybernetic arm. "What!?" To the man's surprise, Yang saw the direction the dart came from.

"Up there!" she pointed directly at them. Nora heard her on the roof and took aim, opening her remaining three chambers, then let the grenades loose.

"No way!"

"Move!"

"Damn it!"

"Damn them!"

They yelled and scattered in five different direction. The one with the good ears could only go in one direction, otherwise he would have ran straight into the blast zone. Those on the ground suddenly saw five black figures run from the middle and one of them nearly bolted off the roof. The grenades hit, saturating the spot they were at and the man was desperately clinging to the edge of the roof, holding on for his life.

"Weiss! Pinball!" Ruby took a stance and Weiss was momentarily puzzled, but then recalled a move they never got to use much in actual combat, back at Beacon. But, now that Ruby's semblance had also evolved, it was the perfect opportunity. She formed a set of glyphs that Ruby used to zig-zag all the way to the roof and above, after which Weiss made new glyphs that Ruby could bounce back from. She started slamming into the fleeing mercenaries, hitting every one of them, multiple times, as she kept ricocheting off new glyphs, while Weiss tried to keep up and put more of them up for her. She was too late with one, gasping in worry, as Ruby soared high in the air, while the last remaining mercenary limped away. Ruby stopped ascending and started falling back. She threw her rifle behind her and fired, using the momentum to accelerate herself, then her semblance to reach the man and knocked him out cold.

"YES!" she cheered in victory, to Weiss' utter bafflement, who was even more surprised when Ruby used her semblance to shoot off from the roof, arcing in the air, all the way to them. Even though Weiss should have seen it coming, she was still caught off guard, as Ruby burst forth from all her petals to crush her in a hug. "HAHA! PINBALL PRINCESS WORKED!" she screamed in delight as Weiss stood staring wide-eyed at her, unable to move. The others shared her reaction.

"Why aren't they making a move?" Ironwood was looking out his window. "What could they be waiting for?"

"Fer that big fish t' grow legs, maybe." Qrow shrugged as Ironwood gave him a small glare. "What? I heard some people saw sea-dragons sprout wings from their backs. And there's way weirder stuff out there no combat school has ever heard of, let alone had a class on." he pointed.

"You don't have to tell me." Ironwood meaningfully told him and was likely referring to his lost limbs.

"Oh…right." Qrow got his meaning. "In any case, I haven't heard of any mole-like Grimm that tunnel underground. Have you?" he wondered and Ironwood gave him a strange look.

"You already made that joke." he turned to look out the window, again.

"What joke?" Qrow asked, not following him.

"The mole Grimm. You already said that, yesterday." Ironwood told him.

"No I didn't." Qrow replied. He would have remembered something like that.

"You came in to ask me about the relic, or have you had a bit too much to drink after?" Ironwood sniped at him and Qrow leaned forward, pulling his arms back down.

"Me? Maybe you've been hitting yer own stash. I never even came in here, yesterday. We just talked out on the corridor, right after you did your business in one of the restrooms." Qrow told him.

"What do you mean my…" he turned to him. "I have my own restroom for that." Ironwood said, as if it was obvious he would use his own private one.

"Yeah. And I asked you 'bout that. You said you were on yer way back from somewhere and you needed t' quickly check somethin'. Then you asked me how this whole reincarnation thing works fer the kid and Oz. Ring a bell?" Qrow explained.

"No." Ironwood firmly stated. "When was this?"

"After the ceremony. I helped the kids out with their little mission and was goin' t' talk you. Then I ran into you outside."

"I have no memory of this." Ironwood said. "I think I would remember. You're saying we've talked outside my office. On the corridor."

"Yeah. By the window." Qrow added.

"I only talked to you in here. Why don't you remember that?" Ironwood asked.

"I dunno. Why don't you remember we didn't?" Qrow asked, even though the question made no sense that way.

"If I didn't talk to you…and you didn't talk to me, then…who did we both talk to?" Ironwood asked as the alarms went off, again. He looked at his screen to see a disturbance at the facility.

After making sure she was a good distance away from the fight and no one could hear or see her Emerald reached Watts, again.

"We've got another problem." she started.

"Ye-e-e-s, it seems they're begin-ning to catch on to you'h little mind tricks." Watts said, the connection stuttering and breaking off, occasionally stretching some of the word.

"What? How d-d-o you know?" Emerald asked.

"The listening device I ha-a-a-d you plant in the Ge…neral's office, of course. He and Qrow Branwen were just dissss-scussing…certain conversations neithe'h of them remembe'h having."

"You said all those gadgets you had me put everywhere also wiped the cameras!" Emerald replied.

"Correct." Watts said. "The proxieeee…es you placed to allow me remote access are working. They stumbled onto th…ese discrepancies with each otheh's memory purely by accident."

"Great…" Emerald dryly said. "Well, we've got an even bigger problem, then!" she exclaimed and Watts raised a brow.

...

Police officers, as well as military personnel, were canvassing the immediate area of the attack, taping off and preventing access to the public and anyone without any authority, including the media, who were gathered outside the zone, hoping for a bone to be thrown their way. Paramedics were tending to the businessmen and women, their drivers, plus Winter, who they administered a serum to that neutralized the effects of the tranquilizer, bringing her back to consciousness in a matter of minutes. Her white aura flashed, indicating she was actively using it to act together with the shot she was given and she slowly opened her eyes to see Weiss standing over the stretcher she was put on.

"Weiss...!" she tried to sit up too fast and had to stop to do it less hastily as her head was still hazy.

"Miss Schnee...!" One of the women from the people she planned to convince walked up to Weiss. "Rest assured this meeting was far from being as disastrous as it may seem, at the moment. I don't know how sincere my associates were in their approach, but you have my sworn word I will lend you any support I can, against your father."

"Especially since he was most likely behind this attack." One of the men walked up.

"What?" Weiss stared and so did Winter.

"Yes. I'm ashamed I have been silent for far too long. I have seen his...methods for dealing with people who posed a threat to him and his more influential partners. I can say without offending anyone here, none of us fall into the category of the most influential of individuals, despite our wealth and appearance. I'm sure you had your suspicion that some of us aimed to change that by allying ourselves with you. That is, until this attempted intimidation. Now, I'm doing it as I am indebted to do so. With that said, you may want to interrogate these mercenaries and I'm fairly certain the information will lead you straight to your father." he graciously told her.

"He's right!" Yang spoke, before remembering how and what she actually knew. "I mean...maybe they were trying to kidnap you! For your dad." she told Weiss, as she did hear the leader of the group thinking of their objective, but she could not let others know that.

"I'm afraid what they're suggesting isn't a stretch of the imagination, my dear." Klein told Weiss. Winter got off the stretcher, still a bit unsteady on her legs.

"I will interrogate them myself." she stated with a cold glare and went towards the police units, where the ten unmasked men were kneeling on the ground in a row, being unsuccessfully questioned. "I will take over from here." she declared and some of the mercenaries visibly tensed up.

"Well, that didn't exactly go as planned." Blake told Yang, sympathetically.

"Yeah, well...what plan?" Yang shrugged, as she was mostly making it all up as they went, as always. "But, maybe it's even better this way." she realized. "If they'll talk, we can just get Weiss' dad in jail for trying to kidnap her. He basically did the work for us." she shrugged to Weiss, who also saw it.

"Maybe." Weiss could not relax, yet. "We still have to take this to my father." she narrowed her eyes, looking in front of her.

"As we've told you..." the same woman started. "We will all gladly testify over today's events and everything else we know of and can prove."

"You'll have witnesses, in addition to any incriminating information you may have already collected." the man said and Weiss still looked anxious for what would have to happen next.

...

"How the hell-l-l-l-...c-can blondie...e...ven...r...ead minds!?" Mercury was asking, over some interference.

"How would I know!?" Emerald exasperatedly asked in return. "Maybe it's the r...r...r...elic. She was the...one who brought it up fr...om the vault at Haven."

"I suppose comin...g...g into cont...act with it could...'ave granted her unexpect-te-ted abilities." Watts said.

"Why is the s...s-sig...nal so bad?" Emerald asked.

"We are well unde'h...de'h...ground. It is expected." Watts pointed out as the sub was already in-land, literally. Drilling its way towards the vault with its high-powered lasers, every capacitor on the head, revolving to cut a path the sub could easily pass through, as the gravel was being displaced behind it. "All the dust and the facilities that run beneath the capital are creating some inte'hference."

"Sounds like it's gonna take a while for you to get here." Emerald impatiently, but also somewhat mockingly replied.

"Not to worry. We're well on schedule." Watts assured her.

"So, where's the backup you said I'd get?" Emerald asked and somewhere closer to the capital Adam motionlessly clung to the top of a small patrol ship that was heading for the city, as the cold formed a layer of frost on his body to which he had no reaction to, at all.

"On his way." Watts replied. The only sign that Adam was even alive was his breath that could be seen in the cold air.

...

"So...Pinball Princess...?" Yang was asking her sister on the shuttle, as they were flying towards the center, with the rest of the authorities following them on the ground, their sirens blaring. Ruby and Weiss were sitting, while Yang and Blake stood, facing them, holding the rails above and team ORNJ was sitting separately from them. Winter was between, looking perturbed.

"What's wrong with it?" Ruby replied to Yang.

"I mean, it's cool and all. If the Princess is okay with it." Yang smirked at Weiss and Ruby turned to her for her answer.

"I..." Weiss started. "I don't know." she shrugged. "You clearly don't even need my glyphs, anymore." she told Ruby, somewhat sad. Ruby blinked in surprise, then sheepishly smiled, as she really could use her own semblance more easily to that effect.

"Well, uh, maybe...not for that." she lowered her head, but raised it back up, leaning closer to Weiss. "But, like I said, I still have tons of ideas and..." she paused to continue more quietly. "I'll always need my partner." she stated and gave Weiss a wide grin that caused the latter to nearly tear up, also making her aware of some strange feeling in her stomach.

...

From the window of Ironwood's office, he and Qrow spotted the entourage they were travelling with and saw they were not heading for the landing pads at the academy.

"Where're they goin?" Qrow asked and Ironwood already knew.

"I have a good guess." he said.

...

On the shuttle, Yang moved up to Winter.

"Hey, so did you actually get anything out of those guys? I think they were more scared of talking than they were of you." she told her, as she could still hear their thoughts, while they were at the facility.

"Let's just say we're fortunate those associates are willing to testify. We cannot directly tie my father to the mercenaries and the scrolls the police have confiscated from them must have automatically deleted any communication logs. There is no record of their interactions with anyone. I may have to...bluff and make our father believe the mercenaries gave him up. It's going to be a gamble." Winter was not comfortable with it, but it was the only way to trap her father.

"At least, most of those business people...seemed sincere." Yang did not want to say for certain, to avoid suspicion. "I got the feeling they were just in it for themselves from only a couple of them." she shrugged. "And those mercs are probably just scared they wouldn't make it to prison if they'd talk. If we can get your dad arrested, they might just fold and have something to say by the time the whole thing, like, gets to court."

"Since when are you so insightful?" Winter asked, a little impressed.

"Eh." Yang shrugged. "Call it a woman's intuition. Maybe you...don't have it." she smirked and Winter was speechlessly glaring at her, squaring her jaw, as Yang was implying she lacked certain feminine qualities. It did not seem to faze Yang.

...

By the time they landed, an escort of police officers were already leading Jacque to the front of the estate, without any cuffs and he calmly played along, believing they had nothing substantive against him. Weiss and Winter led their group to meet him and stopped as they met halfway.

"I do hope, for your sake, you actually have enough substance to justify this farce." Jacque calmly told them. "Otherwise, you're wasting my time."

"You're going to be serving time, Father." Winter started. "In case you haven't noticed, Weiss is here, safe and sound." Jacque slightly narrowed his eyes, not liking what she was implying, but was still not sure if it was what he thought. "You underestimated her abilities, both as a woman of business and as a huntress."

"And so did the men you sent to capture me." Weiss stepped forward and Jacque's eyes narrowed even more. "They took some convincing...and more." she glanced at Winter. "But, in the end they made the right choice. And told us the right names. One in particular."

"You overreached." Winter said and Jacque listened to her with a darkening expression. "If you had just left us to our own devices, everything we gathered might still not have been enough and you could have washed your hands of everything. Every charge the court could've dismissed. Especially if you had made the payments to the right people, as you and your associates often did in the past. The way one of them proudly divulged." she glanced at Yang, who smugly folded her arms. "But, you couldn't stand not doing anything, because the longer Weiss was out there, openly defying you, the more it hurt your ego and your reputation. And you had to resort to extremes. You actually had your own daughter kidnapped, by professional mercenaries, who you've used in the past, as well." With every sentence, Jacque's calm facade was melting away.

"We wouldn't have known you were even involved. We didn't think you could actually go this far." Weiss told him, letting him know he caused his own demise. "So, thank you, for doing the work for us." She nodded at the officer behind him, who prepared the cuffs.

"Jacque Schnee..." he started, as Jacque's eyes twitched. "You are under arrest, on charges of Faunus-trafficking, bribery, coercion, kidnapping...-"

"Wait!" Weiss held up a hand, as only one cuff was put on. She stepped closer.

"As the descendant of Nicholas, a Schnee by name and by blood and as the rightful heir to the Schnee Dust Company, I hereby use my right to relieve you, Jacque Gelé of the Schnee name and all of its privileges." Jacque's face contorted into rage and with his free hand grabbed Weiss by her throat, threw her to the ground and raised his hand, crossing it in front of himself for a back-handed slap, but a glyph appeared on his wrist and encased his hand in ice. Jacque let out a surprised, painful groan.

"You'll never touch her, ever again!" Winter hissed, with her sword raised towards him and all the officers took several steps back for their own safety, Weiss was still on the ground, with Ruby going to her side to help her up, when Jacque lunged at Weiss, again.

"No!" Ruby tried to stand and step in his path, but Jacque savagely swung his iced hand, hitting her in the side of the head and Ruby hit ground, a few paces away, as Jacque clutched his frozen hand in pain. Weiss stared as Ruby was facing towards her with blood trickling down from the side of her temple.

"Ruby…!" she whispered in panic, then turned towards her father, as the others reached for their weapons, but by the time they all drew them, he was suddenly lifted from the ground, dangling helplessly as a black glyph appeared on his chest. Weiss' face was a mirror of her father's enragement, as the latter cried out in pain, while his torso was being crushed. Her eyes burned and her lips quivered as Weiss held his very life in her hands, until she heard the voice that always seemed to bring her back from that dark place.

"Weiss…" She turned to Ruby to see she was conscious and looking at her, as the other and Winter knelt beside her. "Don't…" she pleaded with her. She turned back to her father, struggling with her emotions, who stopped writhing in pain as she was not applying any pressure on him, at that moment.

Ruby rolled onto her back and sat up and Weiss noticed the blood running down her face again and instead of becoming even angrier, it made her stop and go to her, as Jacque landed back on his wobbling feet. Weiss fell on her knees as she reached out towards the wound on Ruby's head as the latter's red aura flashed on.

"I'm okay…" Ruby said, signifying she was healing herself, but her eyes slightly moved to look behind Weiss and they widened.

"Rrrraaaggh!" They all turned to see Jacque was nearly foaming from the mouth as he raised his frozen hand high above him, moving to strike Weiss, his own daughter, down, in uncontrolled rage. Before Winter or anyone else could react, Ruby instinctively did what she was good at and whipped her rifle in front of herself and fired off a nearly deafening shot that stopped everyone's breath. Silence feel, as wide eyes watched pieces of reddened ice scatter on the ground. Jacque stumbled, veering off to the side and raised his hand to find only a still frozen stump that began to melt from the warm blood it kept from gushing forth. His pupils dilated as he went into shock and his knees buckled, making him fall on them. To Weiss' horror she saw almost the same expression on Ruby's face, when she turned to her.

"I-I didn't…mean to…" Ruby's unblinking eyes started tearing up, thinking she did something horrible and Weiss' heart sank as the thought of Ruby blaming herself, her pure, innocent soul being tainted, threatened to break her psyche and she got in front of her, blocking her from seeing Jacque.

"No, no…!" she cupped Ruby's face in her hands. "T-this isn't your fault." she started telling her as she tried to make her look her in the eye. "Look at me. Look at me!" Ruby meet her desperate gaze. "You were just protecting me. You've done nothing wrong! Nothing! Do you hear me!?" They heard Jacque's whimpering as the paramedics rushed in, with news crews and reporters preparing their equipment as fast as they could. Weiss turned to see they were bringing a stretcher for her father. "Get him out of here!" she yelled in a broken voice and turned back to Ruby to see she was calming down. Weiss' tears could not be held by the well of her eyes anymore. She shut them tight and hugged Ruby even tighter, as a weight she carried for most of her life, suddenly lifted. Ruby hugged her back, for long seconds, then opened her eyes, in surprise, when she felt another person's arm around her and she blinked up to see Winter embracing both of them, with her own tears nearly flowing. She reached with her gloved hand up to Ruby's head and gently pulled her close to her, as she did the same with Weiss.

The sounds of the paramedics instructing one another, news anchors frantically coordinating with their crews, reporters throwing a thousand questions at the wall of officers and soldiers slowly came back on, from where it all faded for them. They stood, Weiss and Ruby pulling each other to their feet with Winter still having her hands on their shoulders, as their father's shouting caught their ears. Jacque was being loaded into the paramedics' van and has come out of his shock, with a tourniquet on his arm and bandages wrapped on the stump.

"You won't get away with this!" he was screaming and thrashing in the straps of the stretcher. "You can't do this to me!" he continued and spotted Whitley standing in the entrance of the estate, with his hands behind his back, looking disturbingly calm with the hint of a smile on his face. "Whitley!" Jacque called out to him. "Whitley! Call my lawyer!" he told him. "We can beat this! You're still my son!" he tried to feebly reach out with a strapped down hand, but to his further humiliation and utter surprise, Whitley merely stood with the same expression and from that distance, it looked as if he scoffed, not caring about his fall. "Whitley!?" Jacque stared, realizing in that moment that his parenting with him had been the success he hoped for and now wished it had not been, as the boy, groomed to be like him, was exactly as heartless and opportunistic as him. "Whitleeey!" The latter turned away from his father's screams that were muffled as he disappeared into the van. He saw his father's loss of freedom as his own to gain. He was free to step out of his shadow with all the knowledge and mindset he had imparted on him. Even if the company was not his to inherit, after all, he was ready to persevere in the equally unforgiving world of business his father raised him for. And he had no need of him, anymore.

In a darkened, lavishly decorated and furnished room within the Estate, sitting in a chair, away from the sun's light that still shined through the window, a feminine figure let out a sob and raised a hand to wipe her tears away, as the television was showing a live-broadcast of the events that were happening in front of the estate. She watched her daughters in their embrace and the man who ruined their family being taken away to be caged, like a rabid animal. Her quiet crying barely disturbed the silence of the room.

On another television set, in the General office, that latter watched with Qrow the same events unfolding, as they stood in the middle of the room.

"About the damn time." Qrow commented.

"This will blow up in the news. The other kingdoms will hear of it, by the end of the day." Ironwood said.

"What? Ya seriously got some messenger ships that run relay with the news?" Qrow asked, only jokingly.

"How do you think we knew what happened in Mistral, before you even got here." Ironwood rhetorically replied. "But, let's not get distracted." he changed the topic. "I'm glad for the Schnees, but we have a problem. It's clear we have been infiltrated. And by someone who can disguise themselves as us, no less."

"I might have an idea 'bout that." Qrow immediately said and Ironwood raised a brow. "But, we need t' talk to the kids, first. Just t' compare notes."

"This can't wait, Qrow." Ironwood pressed him. "I know they've just been through an ordeal, but we have to know what we're dealing with. I have to know." he stressed.

"Hh. Fine. I'll tell ya on the way." Qrow replied with a sigh. "Let's get over there." he turned and started to leave. "Didn't think I'd be goin' back t' the Schnee's place. Hmph." he shook his head.

"When were you even there?" Ironwood asked and Qrow stopped to raise a brow at him, before both of them were reminded they might not have had certain conversations. Qrow started ahead, again. "Wait…" Ironwood said and Qrow stopped.

"What?" he turned.

"If that really wasn't you in my office, yesterday, then…." Ironwood realized Qrow actually did not know of the drastic security measures he had placed around the underground vault. "I…" he sighed. "Damn it." he cursed, also realizing whoever he talked to knew about it and was sure to exploit it.

"What?" Qrow asked, again, impatiently.

"I have to tell you something, first." Ironwood said and Qrow turned around completely, having a feeling he will not like where their conversation was about to go.

"I can't believe it's really over." Winter stated, as she stood with her sister and Ruby, watching the ambulance's sirens and lights fade and disappear. She turned towards their estate. "It's yours, now, Weiss. Even if you had enough of it." she told her and Weiss silently looked at it all. With her father gone, it was as if a stifling, dreary fog of lifelessness has instantly lifted.

She looked at Ruby and stepped in front of her, taking hold of her hand, as she gave her a searching gaze. "Are you okay?" she squeezed her hand. "I don't want you to think about this. You didn't do anything wrong. I don't want you to think that." Ruby averted her eyes, looking down, still unsure.

"Look..." Weiss stepped closer. "Jaune told me more about that guy who came after you, when we were in Mistral." Ruby looked up at her. "That you cut off his tail to protect your uncle." Ruby did not even consider that she effectively cut a limb off Tyrian. "This isn't any different, just because he's my father or because it was his hand." Weiss pointed out, shaking her head. "You have to promise me you won't let this bother you." she pleaded with her. "I...I couldn't live with myself if you did." Ruby's eyes widened, as did Winter's. "My father hurt us enough." Weiss glared at the ground, then looked up. "And I'm not going to let you...or anyone be...haunted by him." She thought of the best way to describe what she feared. "He's gone." she continued. "And everything will only be better from here. So promise me." she raised Ruby's hand with her own, in front of her chest and Ruby could see it in her eyes that she needed her to leave it behind. She took a second to understand what she did was not a crime and not a horrible thing, before she nodded with a small, but sincere smile.

"I promise." Ruby said and saw the relief on Weiss' face as she smiled at her words, which made Ruby feel, then, more than ever, that she needed to handle it as she did everything else so far. For her own sake and for the sake of her friend. Their gazing was broken by Yang's voice.

"Looks like our princess got her throne back!" she exclaimed as she joined them with Blake and ORNJ.

"Yeah. You did it, Weiss." Ruby nudged her with a smile and Weiss looked at her and unconsciously took her hand, again.

"We did it." Weiss nodded and turned to the others. "Thank you." she said in a small, heartfelt voice, with a slight bow. "All of you." she added and straightened back up.

"We were in the neighborhood." Yang waved it off.

"Now we're really are in your neighborhood!" Jaune exclaimed, taking in the size of the Schnee Estate.

"You're...all welcome to look around." Weiss gestured. "If you want."

"Is it as clean as the dorms?" Nora asked, putting a finger under her chin.

"Yes." Weiss replied.

"Oh." Nora acknowledged, adjusting her skirt, then grabbed Ren. "Hehe. Come on!" she exclaimed and started towards the entrance.

"I will try to keep her from breaking anything." Ren quickly told Weiss as Nora dragged him off.

"Well..." Weiss hesitantly called after them. "Not the piano!" she said, as it was the only thing she valued that she considered to be hers and had an attachment to. She sighed. "It's not like I'll have any more recitals." She was also resigned to the instrument's possible fate.

"Hey, I'm pretty good with a guitar." Yang thumbed at herself. "We could make a killing on stage." she folded her arms and Weiss briefly envisioned their whole team, as a band. It was a scary thought.

"I'm just gonna find the nearest restroom." Jaune said.

"First door on the left, behind the booth." Weiss told him. "The receptionist might be difficult to deal with." she added.

"I'll go in and clear up any misunderstandings." Winter said. "I have to speak with mother." she added for Weiss, who blinked in surprise, then nodded. It was rare they talked, even when her sister was not away on duty. Oscar seemed surprised by something, as well. Likely whatever Ozpin may have said.

"I'll go with...Jaune." Oscar said and went after him, seeming like he picked him at the last second.

"I'm gonna find and take a nap on your bed." Yang told Weiss, who raised a brow. "I wonder how soft it is. Is it bigger than all our Beacon beds together?" she jokingly asked, but was surprised when Weiss actually looked, not only like she was thinking about it, but that the answer was a positive one. "Get out!" Yang exclaimed and Weiss had a small smirk, as she was not even lying about it. "Hey, do you have fish in your freezer or...freezers?" Yang asked, winking at Blake.

"We always have fishcakes." Weiss offered, instead.

"Cool!" Yang said, leading Blake off, by the waist and the latter had an embarrassed smile.

"Yang, we don't have to-..." Blake did not want to intrude.

"Yeah, we do!" Yang smilingly stated, as they headed inside.

"I shall see if I can prepare a meal for all of you." Klein said and started inside, towards the kitchen.

"Weiss..." Winter looked at her sister. "You have to address the situation, before doing anything else." She referred to the media and the crowd they could hear and see outside the gate and fence. Weiss looked somewhat dismayed. "Can you handle it?" Winter asked.

"Hh. Well..." Weiss sighed. "It's not that I can or can't." she stated. "I have to." Weiss knew that as she looked at all of them, seeing not only who was there, physically, the media and the press, but the people who counted on her. The Faunus, the workers, the people of her kingdom who needed her to bring change. She looked at Ruby. "You can look around if you want to." Weiss knew she did. "I'll find you." Ruby nodded with a smile and Weiss briefly held her hand, brushing against it, as she confidently approached the waiting crowd to address them and the kingdom.

On every news outlet, every station, radio, television, public and military, the voice and face of Weiss Schnee could be heard and seen by the people of Atlas, following the shocking news of her father's arrest. Even classes stopped, in every school, as the teachers switched on whatever device they had in the classroom and the older students, particularly at the academy, took out their scrolls to watch and listen. In the Arts Wing's buffet, team SSSN and Ilia were watching with team FNKI. The Faunus in the workers' district gathered around those of their brethren who had a radio to not miss the moment their lives would finally change for the better. Weiss began talking about a new direction she was going to take the company in and promised to everyone who had ever been ruined and oppressed by her father's actions and greed that they would receive justice. And those who could be tied to him would also meet the same fate as her father. That no money and no influence would save them from their comeuppance. Leaving the borders of the kingdom, after receiving the news, as far as the CCT could transmit them, the messenger ships were splitting the cold air as they sped towards the continents of Anima and Sanus, as well as Menagerie.

The Schnee business-empire, as most of the people have known it for the last few decades, was done. And the one who would lead it into a brighter future, for all of Remnant, was just starting. Weiss was giving an ultimatum for the rest of the businessmen that preyed upon the kingdom, telling them that either all of them could fall together, every last corrupt individual be exposed and removed or only a few of them. Many could be given leniency in their sentencing. Some could avoid it all by being forthcoming with information that could help serve justice. Those that knew the shoe fit were wise enough to heed her warning, believing, then, she was, or could eventually be, just as much of a force to be reckoned with as her father.

In his office, Ironwood sighed, looking at the news. "This could give the people something to feel…better about. Hopefully." he commented, counting on the overall effects to be more positive, rather than negative, so that it may counteract some of the fear and anger their enemy had incited.

"As long as they don't hear about all the dust veins lined with explosives under the damn city!" Qrow glared at the back of Ironwood's head, with his arms folded, who turned to him and looked at his feet, not proud of his solution for a defense. He walked to his desk.

"They're not going to." Ironwood suspected. "If the enemy wanted them to know about it, they would have heard, by now. They want the people to panic, but they don't want them to start fleeing."

"Yeah. 'Cause they wanna bury 'em in the ground, when the whole place'll get torn apart!" Qrow also understood their intention.

"They won't do it and risk losing or destroying the relic. And even if they wanted to, only I can arm the explosives and control the grid around the chamber." Ironwood said, raising his gloved, cybernetic hand to look at it, reassuringly.

"And they probably know that, too!" Qrow pointed out. "Tch. You'd better start sleepin' with an eye open." he told Ironwood.

"I always do." he wearily replied and lowered his head, shaking it with another sigh. "I should've known something was off. The way you reacted, when I first talked about it, was...too forgiving."

"Yeah? Well, did that other me tell you what Oz would do if he'd know?" Qrow asked, still angry.

"Graphically." Ironwood replied, to which Qrow raised a brow.

Ruby kept aimless wondering around the Estate, spinning around to marvel at the décor and high ceilings, where the light from chandeliers barely reached. After a while, she kept trying to find a familiar corner or hallway, until she was fully convinced she had no idea where she was. She could see a large garden outside, through the tall, narrow arches that lined the long hall she entered into and caught a glimpse of a familiar female figure that passed across the intersection at end of it, walking towards the greenery outside. She ran after them, rounding the corner.

"Winter!" she yelled and slowed to a halt as the woman turned, with a full glass of wine in one hand, the other behind her back. It was then Ruby noticed it was not Winter, but an older woman, slightly taller, with her white hair kept in a similar bun, though not close to the top of her head, but rather towards the back and who was dressed almost the same way, without gloves. Even her face and cold demeanor were like Winter's usual one, except with a few lines on her face and her eyes were somewhat less piercing, as life was yet to return to them. Ruby looked at her in surprise and it clicked for her who she actually was.

"Oh, wow! You're...you're Weiss and Winter's mom!" she exclaimed with a bounce.

"How astute." The woman spoke with the same cold demeanor Winter often did.

"Weiss...um!" Ruby excitedly started, but immediately fumbled as her eyes settled on the drink in her hand. "Uh...well...she...didn't really say a lot about you, actually..." She was sad to say and rubbed her head as she sheepishly looked at the ground, not sure how to even continue. The woman's face barely showed any emotion, only the hint of a lack of surprise, both at what was said and at the girl's awkward earnestness. She could tell by her reaction that her youngest daughter may have told her certain things, after all, as the she kept glancing her glass. Guitar music and drums suddenly began blaring from Ruby's belt-pocket.

[They see you as small and helpless,

They see you as just a child.

Surprise when they find out

That a warrior will soon run wild.]

Mother Schnee raised a brow, perhaps in mild amusement, at the lyrics, before Ruby took out her scroll, looked at who was calling her and hastily answered.

[Prepare for your greatest moment

Prepare for your finest h-...]

"Weiss!" she yelled into it.

"Ruby, where are you!?" Mother Schnee heard her daughter's concerned voice.

"Uh, I dunno. I kinda got lost." Ruby apologetically said, then her excitement returned. "Your home is so big!" she grinned into the scroll. Weiss sighed at the other end.

"Can you tell me what you see around you?" She would tried to guess which part of their estate she was in and Ruby looked at the woman.

"Uh...your mom is here." Ruby told her, shrugged into the phone, as if she was unsure what else she could tell her.

"My mother?" Weiss was surprised.

"Yeah." Ruby replied.

"Um...what else?" Weiss asked.

"Uh..." Ruby looked around and Mother Schnee turned to walk on, leaving her to help herself. "There's...a big garden, outside. Lots of trees."

"The atrium." Weiss recognized it. "Alright! Stay where you are! I'll be there soon."

"Okay." Ruby promised and they hung up, then something Weiss told her and Yang came to her.

"Then it was no dinner. No recitals. A bottle of wine, here and…well, you get the idea."

"Wait!" she called after Weiss' mother, who was a few arches away and did not even turn her way as she stopped. "You…" Ruby hesitated. "You don't need that, anymore." she said, meekly and the woman slowly turned, her head first, then halfway around, with her side and the glass of wine towards Ruby, who kept looking at it, clearly referring to it, then looked up at her subtle glare. "He's gone." she told her and the woman's eyes briefly widened and became clearer, their more piercing selves, as her glare deepened. A gleam, likely from her earlier tears, flashed across them as she turned away to wordlessly walk on and Ruby did not want to follow her, mostly because she promised Weiss she would wait for her.

Oscar avoided being seen by the staff and quietly walked along the paved path, then suddenly stopped, still in the cover of some thin leaves, when he spotted the person Ozpin had him searching for, under the pretense that he was going to the restroom. She was reclining in a lawn chair, with a full bottle of wine and a full glass she never even touched, on a small table beside her. She had her eyes closed and was absorbing all the warmth the sun could possibly provide, as it shined through the dome of the atrium. Oscar immediately saw the resemblance between her and Winter.

"Who...is she?" Oscar asked. "Wait…I know. Her name is…"

"Willow Schnee, the matriarch of the Schnee family." Ozpin finished it for him.

Boots made careful steps on the pavement, moving closer. Feeling as though she was not alone, Willow Schnee slowly opened her eyes and was startled to see an unfamiliar boy standing a few paces away, from where he had been quietly observing her.

"Can I help you, young man?" she asked with some annoyance and sarcasm, obviously not appreciative of a stranger invading her privacy and it was the second child she saw that day. She noticed the boy had a strangely sorrowful expression, as if he was pitying her and he took a few steps towards her. "What do you think you're doing?" she got alarmed as he stood right next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I am so sorry..." He started with an echoing voice. "For what that man has done to you and your family, little wren." he told her. Recognition flashed across her face at the use of her old nickname and as she spoke her voice was suddenly filled with both surprise and relief.

"Oz..." Her eyes wavered.