"I've spent today's class telling you about how dust can be used in a combat situation, but I think it would be better if I showed you directly. Now, I need a few volunteers."

Four hands went up. Noah, Reid, George, and Maggie stood in front of the teacher.

"Good" Peach said. "Now then, all of you attack at once."

Noah drew his guns and fired. One of Peach's fingers glowed blue and the bullets were stopped by a thick block of ice. George ran up and swung at her, she dodged and readied a counter. Her clenched fist glowed black and a crushing blow sent George flying across the room. In an instant she was in front of Noah and sending a kick up toward his head. He barely avoided her foot, but something hit him hard on the chin. A block of ice stuck out of Peach's heel. He stumbled and fell to the ground.

Peach yawned and turned toward the rest of the class. "That's two down. Now then, who can tell me what types of dust I used?"

A student raised their hand. "Ice and Gravity."

The professor clapped. "Correct. The process of infusing clothing with dust is an intensive one, especially for those who weave multiple types into one garment. However, I feel that the results are worth the effort." She held up her hand, her five fingers each glowed a different color. It was easy to see why she taught Dust Theory.

Another student raised their hand. "What about infusing Dust into your skin?"

The professor frowned. "That is an ancient art. Very few people still do that." She took a look at the students that were still standing. "What are you waiting for? I'm not done."

Reid slashed at the professor. She blocked his blade with her forearm and tapped him on his forehead. In an instant electricity coursed through his body. He fell to the floor with smoke coming off his clothes.

Maggie sent a kick at peach's head. Peach threw both her arms out, catching Maggie's foot in her hand. Curiously a small puff of smoke appeared in her empty hand, like it had been struck too. Peach punched Maggie in the stomach and her upper body was engulfed in flames. As she fell the bell rang signaling the end of class.

"I want a five page report on the topic we discussed today by next week." She jostled Maggie with her foot. "You stick around, I need to talk to you."

OoOoOoO

Noah's entire body was on fire. His arms and legs ached, his back hurt, and he could barely breathe. He had fallen to the ground in a pool of sweat. His vision was blurry and unfocused.

He spoke through ragged breaths. "So… how many was that?"

"Two" Oriana replied.

They were spending their time after class in the school's gym. One of the professors commented on Noah's lack of physical strength and suggested he start exercising. Attempting a set of push-ups demonstrated how dire his situation was.

Reid looked at Noah on the ground and sighed. He was curling a dumbbell while watching Maggie go to work on a heavy bag. It was hard for him not to stare at her in her training outfit. She was wearing a white sport top and a pair of tight black shorts. Maggie wasn't the most feminine looking girl, especially when compared to the likes of Pyrrha or Yang, but Reid thought she was beautiful in her own way. Her toned arms and legs that were covered in scars, the sweat running down her abs, the circular scar on her stomach that he was told came from the time she got shot, the outline of her underwear that showed through her shorts. He shook his head vigorously. The last thing he should be doing is thinking about his friend like that.

"So what did Peach want to talk to you about?" he asked her.

She frowned and punched the bag two times. "School stuff"

"Did it have to do with your team?"

She groaned and punched the bag some more. "You gonna crawl up my ass about that too?"

"No. you handle that however you feel like, but you have to handle it"

She gave the bag a hard kick. "I know, it's just…" her voice trailed off. A silence hung in the air that was interrupted by George loudly re-racking his weights.

"Woo! New record!" he shouted and pounded on his chest. There was no reason for him to be in the gym. Strength training would be useless for someone already as strong as he is. The only reason he came was because he heard one of Pyrrha's teammates held the bench press record at Beacon and he felt like breaking it.

Maggie had a slight smile. "I wish I could be like him sometimes. He sees a problem and he runs right through it."

Reid laughed. "George thinks that every issue can be solved by punching it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

Maggie punched the bag some more. "Maybe that's how I can solve my problem"

A new voice entered the conversation. "Get lost mutt, I need to use the bag"

Maggie turned around and scowled. "What did you call me?"

It was a male student. He was tall, with slicked back dark orange hair and lavender eyes and the most disgusting grin on his face.

"What do you want Cardin?" Reid asked.

"I told you, I wanted to get some exercise. You two can go play fetch behind the school."

Maggie's scowl grew more intense. "Watch your mouth. Velvet might put up with your shit, but I won't"

Cardin put his hands up. "Someone's feisty. Maybe you should go to the vet, make sure you don't have rabies."

Maggie's fist went flying toward Cardin's face, but stopped an inch short. Maggie looked to her side and saw Reid holding on to her arm. He looked at her and shook his head.

"He's not worth it" Reid said. Maggie wrenched her arm free and stormed out of the gym. Cardin howled with laughter after she left.

Reid glared at Cardin. "What is your problem?"

"What? It's just a little teasing. Not my fault she can't handle it."

"She's got enough to deal with without you."

Cardin got up in Reid's face. "What do you care? You like her or something? You know there's laws against that kind of thing"

Reid was finding it difficult to keep his anger in check. He was on the verge of attacking Cardin himself. The two of them were so focused on each other that neither one noticed George until he punched Cardin in the jaw and sent him to the floor.

Reid looked at George with shock. "Why'd you do that?"

George looked disgusted. "Can't let someone disrespect you like that. You go around letting people think you're shook they'll walk all over you."

Reid sighed. "Call a nurse, I'm gonna go look for Maggie."

OoOoOoO

Maggie sat on the edge of the roof of the dorm building. She liked to come here to take her mind off things. She'd been coming here a lot lately. Between her team, Reid, and people like Cardin her mind was heavy with various thoughts. She didn't want to be the frightened little girl she was when she came to Vale, but she didn't want to be the girl consumed by hate that she used to be either.

A nice smell drifted across the roof. She turned around and saw Reid with a box of food in his hand.

He sat down next to her and handed her the box. "I got you some chicken. I know how much you like it"

"Thanks" she said as she took the box. "I hear Cardin's laid up with a broken jaw."

Reid grinned. "Thank George for that. I had nothing to do with it"

"Appreciate it all the same." She took a bite of food. "It's hard, you know? I could have hit him, but what would that have gotten me? He'd still be the same, and I'd just be moving backwards. I don't want to go back to how I used to be."

"What were you like before?"

Maggie sighed. "Angry. That's one way to describe it. Even after I left the Fang I was just mad all the time. I would get into fights over the pettiest shit. If it weren't for Professor Peach I'd probably be in jail or dead right now. Even now she's helping to keep me on the straight and narrow. This shit with my team would have ended badly for all of us if she didn't step in."

"You really admire her huh?" Reid asked. After fighting the both of them it was hard to miss the similarities between her and Peach's technique. They say you can tell a lot about someone by how they fight. Maggie's fighting style showed an incredible amount of respect for her teacher.

Her smile was brighter than the stars in the night sky. "Yeah. She's amazing. I hope I can be half as great as her one day." She paused and looked a Reid. "You know, I've told you so much about me, but I hardly know anything about you"

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything"

"Hmmm… my hair used to be red, the first time I got into a fight I broke both my arms, I didn't open my eyes until I was a week old, and I can run for ten miles without getting tired."

"Neat." She looked down and pressed her fingers together. "If it's alright with you, do you think you could tell me a little about your parents?"

Reid was quiet for several seconds. "My dad was from Mantle. He grew up dead broke, nothing to him but his name. After he graduated from Atlas Academy he got a job with the SDC as a security guard, which is where he met my mom. She was a secretary I think. My mom was from Atlas, not one of those high society types though. After a while they got married and nine months after that I was born. You know what happened after that."

Maggie looked down at her hands, her ears drooping. "Yeah. What were they like?"

"They were great. My dad was kind of a hardass, always on me about doing well in school. When I got good grades he'd pat me on the head and say 'good job, but I know you can do better.' My mom loved gardening, I would help whenever I had some free time. Although every time I'd just end up playing in the dirt while she did all the work." Reid stood up and stretched. "I was the same as you. After they passed I was full of hate. I'd lash out at people that were just trying to help me. I ended up falling in with some bad people, and I did a lot of things I ended up regretting. I don't think I'll ever make up for it, but I'm trying. I've let go of the past, and you can too. Wow, I feel weird. I've never talked about this with anyone before."

Maggie got up too. "You're right. I think I know what I need to do." She walked up to Reid and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "Even if I only have one friend, I'm really glad it's you."

Reid returned her embrace. "Same"

OoOoOoO

The next day after class Reid got a message on his scroll telling him to go to the infirmary. When he got there he found Maggie in a bed being tended to by a nurse. She had a black eye, her cheek was bandaged, her right arm was in a sling, and her left leg was in a cast.

"The hell happened to you?" Reid asked.

The old nurse's face was furrowed with frustration. "Miss Grimes here thought it would be a good idea to fight her entire team at once."

"Damn. Wait, I thought you wanted to avoid that?" Reid said.

Maggie shrugged with her good arm. "If I wanted to beat them into submission I would have done it already. I wanted to lay everything out so we could sort out our feelings."

"And a fight was the best way to do that?"

"It didn't start that way. We were talking, we started arguing, someone punched me in the face, and the next thing we know we're all bloody and sore and we're laughing so hard. After that we started talking again."

"So how do you feel?"

"Good, I feel good. It's like this weight's been taken off me."

"Good to hear." Reid looked at Maggie's various injuries. "Man, they really did a number on you"

"No bitches on Team MRBL. Besides, I won." She started laughing, but cried out in pain instead. "I forgot about my rib." Her ears perked up and she looked panicked. "Oh no."

Reid could hear footsteps, loud and angry. The door to the infirmary flew open and Professor Peach stomped in. Her face was twisted with rage. She walked right up to Maggie and slapped her hard across the face.

"Are you insane? You could have gotten yourself killed." She said, anger hanging off every word.

Maggie put a hand to her cheek and looked down. "I'm sorry"

"As long as you understand what you did wrong. Having said that." She put a hand on Maggie's head and gently ruffled her hair. "I'm proud of you."

Maggie looked like she had been waiting to hear those words her whole life. She looked so happy she didn't notice her eyes filling up with tears. "Thank you. I promise I won't let you down."

Peach smiled at her. "I know you won't. Get some rest." She grabbed Reid by the arm and the two of them left the nurse's office.

Once they were a fair distance away Peach decided to speak to Reid.

"Thanks"

"For what?" Reid asked.

"I've known that girl for a long time. She used to be real withdrawn, wouldn't even talk to anyone but me. I was worried about how she would do in school, but then you come along and help her open up. I appreciate it."

"I'm just doing what a friend would do."

Peach laughed. "Simple guy. I like that. Either way I owe you one. You need anything, all you have to do is ask."