Man these weeks seem long at points then really short at other points, weird. Anyway, fall is here in Viriginia, yay that and in better news I have officially finished Renegade and the two chapters of Uprising! Woot! Be back here next week for some heavy shit to go down! Review, fav and follow! Much love to everyone who has read any chapter here and I'll see you guys next Monday!

Chapter 10

Three days later Aero and Weiss stood near the entrance of a convention center in the heart of Vale, talking with one another and enjoying each other's company. Weiss was wearing a white jacket over an ice blue shirt with white slacks and matching heels, her hair in its offset ponytail. Aero wore one of his new silver long sleeve shirts that faded to white at the wrists and jeans with boots. They had been standing for only a few minutes when Weiss displayed a big smile on her face, making Aero turn around and smile with her.

"Well I'll be," he said, walking forward and embracing Lila as Ruby, Yang and Scarlet walked past the two to Weiss.

"How's the hand?" Lila asked Aero as she examined his right hand. She wore jeans and had a green shirt on with a white outline and had her hair in a ponytail.

"Slowly but surely getting better. How have those three been?" he asked, motioning to the Hunters who were talking amongst each other.

"A lot of fun. They have their lazy moments but we've had a blast together. You and Weiss?"

"Peaceful," Aero said, his eyes lingering on the Huntress, "Nothing really going on, just having fun and relaxing."

"Seems like you are doing a lot more than relaxing," Lila said, nudging Aero's ribs, who smacked her hand away as Yang walked over and hugged him. She was wearing a yellow crop top with black shorts that had her emblem on them. Ruby was wearing her combat uniform and Scarlet wore a white t-shirt with beige pants and matching boots sans the jacket that was always over his shoulder.

"She hasn't been too much trouble has she?"

"Well-"

"Hey!" Lila said, Yang and Aero chuckling at her reaction as Blake, Sun and Sebastian walked up to them, who was lugging a briefcase that confused Aero.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were presenting," he said, making the party laugh as Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Gone for a week and still a jackass, what a shock. This was for you, but I may just keep it for myself."

"Okay wait I take it back!" Aero said, trailing after his friend as he began to walk away, everyone laughing at the two as the Hunters caught back up with each other. Blake was wearing her old alternate uniform while Sun wore jean shorts and a white and black t-shirt that was unbuttoned sans red gauntlets. Sebastian turned to Aero and looked at him.

"I don't know if I should give this to you now."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I just-"

"Damn it Seb, come on!"

"Oh fine you whiner," he said with a chuckle as he handed Aero the briefcase, who popped it open. Aero's eyes went wide at what he saw: two new pistols, two new shorts blades and a sword handle with a circular cross guard attached at the top.

"You got me new weapons?"

"That I did. I figured that since you were fighting the Guild, you shouldn't be using their weapons but your own. The two pistols are the same as your old ones this time made of steel with your initials on the barrel. The blades have been dyed with a light blue pigmentation and you have a new sword, which has been rebalanced for the cross guard. It also now activates when only you grab it thanks to a palm scanner: when you squeeze, the blade comes out, relax your grip and the blade slides back into the hilt. I also had them remake your hidden blades, this time with an intricate design on the blades themselves and in all black," he said, pulling out the blades slowly and triggering them so Aero could see them for himself. He looked over all of it and looked at his friend with a genuine smile on his face.

"Thank you Sebastian."

"No need to. I knew Lila was probably going to get an upgrade so I thought you could use some. Besides, think of it as a way of me saying thanks for being a brother," he said with a smile. Aero closed the briefcase and hugged his best friend, who returned it as Lila joined in, making the three laugh and turn to the Hunters, who were watching them. The group shared a laugh as they made their way into the convention hall, noting all the open booths.

"So, this is an annual thing?" Aero asked Weiss as he walked along, the briefcase in his hand.

"Semi. The Council does this when it can. It's a way for all Hunters to meet up and have a relaxing night, others can sell their trades and we're given an overview of how things are going, what needs to improve, etc."

"So if you guys are here, who's killing Grimm?" Lila asked.

"The kingdoms have their armies on standby and have increased numbers at the edges and in villages outside the kingdoms," Blake answered.

"Fascinating," Sebastian said, looking over a forked sword that turned into a rifle and another weapon that was an automatic shotgun that Yang was eyeing as well. They made their way to a center area, where a stage was surrounded by Hunters and Huntress's. Soon an elder man walked onto the stage, being met with applause by everyone. The man talked for an hour about the pride of being a Hunter, about the good work all of them had done and about the new defensive improvements each kingdom had. They were all adjourned an hour later after more talks, allowing the group to continue looking around.

"So, we're just gonna walk around-"

"No you dolt, we're looking for some friends," Weiss said to Aero, stopping when Ruby yelled in excitement and used her semblance to rush forward. She tackled a blonde to the ground, who exclaimed in surprise at the sudden force, his friends laughing at him while the rest of the group caught up. The blonde stood up and brushed his black, long sleeve shirt sleeves, talking with Ruby. He wore the shirt along with jeans, brown shoes and had red armor on his shoulders, chest and forearms. Standing next to him was a woman in a casual maroon dress that matched her long hair in a ponytail that did not hide a baby bump. The dress had golden accents and she wore small golden hoop earrings that complimented everything, including the gold band with three diamonds on her left ring finger. To her right was a woman in a black collared vest with a white sleeveless top with a pink heart design on the shirt that matched her gloves and skirt but contrasted her orange hair. On her left ring finger was a golden band with a diamond, a pink stone and a green stone that matched the gentleman next to her. He was holding hands with her and had jet black hair with a line of pink in it. He wore a green and black tailcoat with golden trimming and pink cuffs along with light tan pants.

"Oh my gosh Jaune! It's been to long!" Ruby said as the group finally approached her and the others.

"I take it these are the friends?" Aero asked, leaning down to Weiss to whisper, who nodded.

"Team JNPR: Jaune Arc, his wife Pyrrha, Lie Ren and his wife Nora."

"Aw adorable," Aero said as the rest of RWBY walked by him and said hello to their friends.

"Aw Pyrrha, how far along?" Blake asked.

"About four months," she said with a glowing smile.

"Damn Jaune, I didn't think you had it in you," Yang said, making the other blonde glare at her as everyone laughed. Nora looked and spotted Aero, Sebastian and Lila talking amongst themselves, running to Aero and pulling him by his arm to the group.

"Ah what the hell?!"

"Who's this guy Weiss? Your…" she stopped, adding a dramatic pause, "date?"

"Funny. No, he's my bodyguard, Aero."

"Aero Kalo," he said, freeing his arm and shaking hands with everyone from JNPR, "Nice to meet you guys."

"Same to you," Ren said, looking at the other two and motioning for them to come over, "I take it these two are your friends?"

"Fellow bodyguards."

"Ah."

"Sebastian Damper, I'm with Blake and Sun."

"Lila Evergreen, I'm with the last three."

"Nice. So uh, why bodyguards?" Jaune asked, confused.

"Well my house got attacked last week-"

"Looks like Aero took a blow for you," Pyrrha said, spotting his bandaged hand, who looked down with her and flexed his fingers slowly.

"You know, work place hazard," he said, earning a few chuckles from everyone.

"Are you guys okay? I saw the report a week ago, sorry we didn't call."

"No need to apologize Ren, I'm sure you and Nora were busy," Ruby said, Nora grinning and causing Ren to tap her on the back of her head, "We're all good."

"Well I got a bit fucked up," Sun said.

"Ditto," Scarlet chimed in. The group casually talked for another twenty minutes, Aero hearing multiple tales from when Ruby and Jaune met to the tournament to them taking down Roman and Cinder. Each of the three reveled in the stories and got to tell some of their own albeit altered to fit their new occupations better. The two groups said goodbye to each other and turned to leave, except Weiss was caught on the shoulder by someone.

"Well I haven't seen you in a while," the man said with a twinkling smile. He wore a red jacket that clashed with his bright blue hair with grey and orange goggles resting on his forehead. He wore jeans with patches of armor on the side and underneath the jacket he wore a white dress shirt and black tie that matched his fingerless gloves.

"I wonder why," Weiss said, shrugging his hand off and walking faster to catch up to the group, but was stopped again.

"Weiss, come on-"

"No Neptune, I'm not doing this again. I gave you too many chances."

"Look it's not my fault-"

"Not your fault? Not your fucking fault?" she said louder, Aero picking her voice up thanks to his bat ears and turning to see her face contorted in fury.

"Uh guys."

"Oh shit," Sun said, walking quickly over to the two of them.

"Who's that?"

"Long story short: Weiss's ex of seven years who cheated on her three times," Ruby said. Aero gave the briefcase to Yang and ran to catch up to Sun and the two made their way over.

"Hey Weiss," Aero said, causing her to stop mid-tirade at Neptune and look at him, "Limo is leaving, come on," Aero said, holding his hand out to her, which was knocked away by Neptune.

"Dude, interrupting a conversation, even though it was mainly one-way."

"Neptune, just stop man," Sun said, getting in between Aero and Neptune as Weiss moved over to him.

"Why? Who is he?"

"Her bodyguard."

"And? I can take his ass no problem."

"Think so? You know, last time someone said that, I told them not to underestimate an opponent and I killed that guy. Wanna try again?"

"Psh, please, bring it on bat boy," Neptune said, Aero lunging at him but stopped by Sun.

"Dude, dude! Stop!" he said, pushing Aero back. At this time the crowd of Hunters had formed into a circle, allowing the four of them room. Weiss held his arm as he went to lunge again, stopping Aero, who looked down at her and nodded his head.

"Let's go," Aero said, the three turning and leaving Neptune.

"Oh really? You ended up with a faunus?"

"He's a helluva lot better than you are Neptune!" Weiss yelled. Neptune growled and charged forward, roughly knocking her aside and viciously turning Aero around and punching him in the face. Aero stumbled back and held his hand up to Sun, who was about to intervene. He pointed to Weiss and stared down Neptune, allowing him to charge as Sun went to Weiss. Aero met him halfway with his shoulder, flooring the Hunter, who quickly rolled away from a boot coming down on his chest. Neptune quickly got up and threw a variety of punches and kicks that Aero avoided until one hit him directly on his wounded hand. He cried out in pain, giving him the chance to land a hard uppercut to Aero's jaw, lifting him off his feet and onto the floor. He impacted the ground hard, the room seeming to spin as the Hunter got on top and raised a fist. He kept punching the assassin until he grabbed Neptune's hand and wrenched it to the side, using his weight to get Neptune off him.

"You know, it's funny, what did I just say about under estimating an opponent?" he asked. Before Neptune could answer, Aero pulled him to his feet only to knee him in the gut then his forehead, bringing Neptune down to his knees and allowing Aero to punch him square in the jaw with his bandaged hand. He winced as Sebastian turned him around.

"You done?" he asked as he pulled Aero to Weiss, who was laying on the ground and taking short, harsh breaths while Sun and Ruby kneeled next to her. Aero looked at her in a panic and moved next to her, gently squeezing her arm.

"What the hell is wrong? Weiss?" he said, his head now over hers as he looked into her terrified eyes.

"Quick diagnosis is a panic attack. Just calm her down, that's the best you can do, I've already called an ambulance. Don't move her, she's shaking and probably has horrible balance," Sebastian said to Aero as he turned to everyone else, "Anyway we can move the crowd around?"

"We're on it," Blake said, turning to her partner and nodding, the two immediately turning to the crowd to have them disperse. Neptune walked away with other Hunters, eyeing Aero down as Sage walked over to the group.

"Holy hell what in the world just happened?" he asked Scarlet. Sage still had his spiked hair and now sported a color reversal of what he wore during his days at Beacon. He sported green pants, a black trenchcoat that was open with a white side design on it. He had new tattoos on his chest and still wore the leather harness on his right arm along with the gold armor on his right shoulder.

"Bruh."

"What?"

"Dude, you wouldn't believe half this shit," Scarlet said, helping Sebastian, Lila, Blake and Yang as Ruby and Sun watched Weiss and Aero, who was cooing in her ear.

"Weiss, it's me, calm down, look at me," he cooed, holding her head with his left hand while brushing her cheek with the back of his bandaged hand, "It's okay, breathe Weiss, deep breaths, deep breaths," he said, moving his wounded hand to hers and holding it, trying to stop the trembling. She looked at him and started to calm down, sweat rolling down the side of her head as she began to breathe slowly.

"There you go," Aero said, smiling at her as he returned his hand to her cheek. She brought her hand up to his and squeezed it gently, Aero scarcely wincing at the pain it caused. She had a shaky smile that Ruby and Sun returned as Ruby rubbed her shoulder while Sun patted Aero on the back. A minute later the paramedics arrived and lead her away, leaving the three alone as the rest of the team had went with the paramedics.

"She'll be fine," Aero said, flexing his hand and noticing that the bandage was wet, meaning the wound had re-opened.

"Are you okay?" Sun asked.

"I'm fine, just need some new stitches."

"Aero?" Ruby asked with a teasing grin.

"Don't make me," he said, the three sharing a moment as they went to the door and met up with the team. Weiss was sitting on the back of an ambulance, a blanket around her shoulders, Ruby running over to her as Yang and Lila comforted her while Sun joined everyone else and conversed with them. Aero stood at the top of the steps and was about to go down them when he heard someone clear their throat behind him, making him turn around.

"Hello Winter," he said, slowly putting his left hand in his pocket as the older Schnee walked up to him.

"Aero," she said, stopping next to him and looking at the scene.

"Does she have a history of panic attacks?"

"No, this is the first. She probably got it when Neptune pushed her then assaulted you."

"Was he abusive?"

"No, he just didn't care, and it still shows," Winter said with a bite, rubbing her temple with her hand.

"Don't worry the media won't find out about it."

"Oh I know they won't, I'm not concerned with that," she said, turning to him, "It's more of a personal matter," she said, confusing Aero.

"I don't follow."

"I rarely apologize but I see that I need to. I was wrong about you. Here I was thinking you were only helping her for the money and name but I saw how you acted with her Aero. You have feelings for her," she said with a grin. Aero couldn't help but chuckle as he turned to her.

"Apparently everyone can tell. That obvious huh?"

"Not exactly but women can tell about these things. I will say this much, you better treat her right. What you did to Neptune I wanted to do for a long while. I better not have to do it to you."

"You won't."

"Confident… I like that. I'm sorry I informed her about your past."

"You were just worried and being a good older sister Winter, I understand."

"Thank you," she said, holding her hand out to him, which he took lightly into his hurt one and shook.

"So everything is good?"

"I believe so. I do have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Why her?" Winter asked. Aero looked at her, stared at Weiss and thought to himself before smiling.

"Because I see a lot of me in her… not the most positive upbringings, felt alone, small group of friends… but under all that, past the ice is someone with a warm heart. Someone that cares and is willing to do whatever it takes. When it comes to your sister, I can't help but smile, it just feels so natural to be with her. We just gel so well together," he said with a smile. Winter smiled with him and patted his shoulder.

"Take care Aero and take better care of my sister."

"Will do," he said, walking down the stairs past the group and to Weiss as Winter returned inside. Lila stayed while Yang went over to Sage and began talking to him.

"How you doing?"

"I'm okay," she said in a wavering voice, "Thank you."

"No need Weiss," Aero said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing them.

"I'll leave you two alone," Lila said with a smile and a nudge of Aero's boot as she left. Weiss looked at Aero then wrapped her arms around him, something he returned and rubbed her back slowly, enjoying the moment while it lasted.

Aero groaned, his body throbbing in pain as a small explosion sent bits of hot metal around him, some glancing off his face along with light rain that fell from the clouds as he sat up and looked around. The train was a burning, hulking, mangled twist of metal that barely resembled what was there mere minutes ago. He stood up slowly, his legs wobbly and his lack of balance causing him to fall back down.

"Guys…" he said, barely audible, a low, raspy voice that Aero could not believe was his.

"Guys," he said louder, standing up and looking around, trying to spot anyone.