Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and created by Monty Oum.

Notes: ● " = verbal communication
● ' = thought

● The time of the story starts at the same time as RWBY Vol. 1

●From Act 6 on, the story moves into RWBY Vol. 2 and 3

●Please note this is a way of me dealing with the heart break I felt in Vol. 3 so I may not follow the plot exactly.

● As little to no information has been given on Shade Academy and its staff, some info is subject to change.

Team AATS (ARTS)

By: Davescifi

Act 11: Reunion

Part 1: Location outside Tachi Village: A couple of days after the end of Act 10,

Following the battle to protect the Tachi Village from the Pure Human League, Team AATS, Professor Shard, and Qrow Branwen assisted the village in the cleanup from the rocket attack and helping the wounded. While the rocket attack had caused little damage and injury, the village had suffered as a few of the guards had given their lives to defend their home and many had been injured. While Aki and several doctors were able to help the injured, the dead could only be mourned. As for the captured PHL grunts, all that could be done was keep them caged as they refused food or medical care. The village elders contacted both the Vacuo and Atlas governing bodies and it was decided that one Atlas airship would be sent to pick up the PHL grunts. Team AATS was also made aware that Professor Shard and them would be heading back to Shade Academy as soon as the Atlas ship was gone. The time allowed for the Aki and Silvia to get a new family photo and for the team to get all of their stuff together for the trip. As the team finished and said goodbye to the villagers, Mrs. Tachi, and Kin, the shape of an Atlas military airship could be seen before the ship landed at the agreed location. Team AATS, Professor Shard, Mr. Tachi and Qrow Branwen waited to greet who was in charge. Out of the airship came a young woman with pale skin, white hair and blue eyes followed by four Atlas soldiers.

"Winter," Talia called out, grabbing the woman's attention before the woman and her escort began to walk up to the group.

"Who," Alex asked.

"Winter Schnee," Qrow answered as Winter and him locked eyes on each other, "Talia's cousin and one of Atlas' specialists." As Winter walked up to him, Qrow grinned, "Winter."

"Qrow," Winter sighed as she looked to her cousin trying to ignore the annoying male, "Talia this is a surprise. What are you doing here?" Talia explained what had transpired between team AATS training to the attack on the village before introducing the rest of the team to Winter and her to the team. Soon Winter explained that she was sent as the liaison for the Atlas military to the Tachi clan to take the Pure Human League members that were from Atlas.

"I'll take you to the village elders," Mr. Tachi said before he took Winter and her escort with him. As everyone waited Team AATS and Professor Shard spoke with Qrow and several Atlas soldiers checked the PHL members to see who was from Atlas and who was not, sending the information to Winter. Soon Mr. Tachi and Winter came back, "Seems the PHL members that attacked us were from both Vacuo and Atlas."

"So what are you planning to do," Qrow asked looking at WInter

"My orders are to transport the Vacuo PHL members to the Vacuo court and take the others members back to Atlas to stand trial," Winter answered as she looked to Professor Shard, "General Ironwood has ordered me to offer you and your team transport to back to Shade Academy so you can make a report on the PHL."

"Very well," Shard replied before she instructed Team AATS to grab their stuff. Soon all that were traveling were on Winter's ship and taking off, leaving Mr. Tachi and Qrow alone.

"You've got good daughters Iron," Qrow commented, "I'm glad to see how that Aki has turned out. Those two and their team will go far."

"I have been blessed with good daughters both of my body and of my heart," Mr. Tachi replied, "Drink before you go?"

"Thought you gave up drinking years ago," Qrow jokingly asked.

"After that mess my old friend I need one. I truly hate politics," Mr. Tachi groaned before the two laughed as the airship disappeared and the two men walked back to the village.

Part 2: Airship,

Team AATS and Shard took in the view from the military vessel as the village got smaller with each passing moment. While the five hated to leave, the attack on the village had made them want to get back on the case and hopefully use their new strength to stop Coral and the PHL. As the village disappeared, the five made use of the facilities, including the training area, until one of the soldiers came up and asked Talia to come with him as Winter had requested her presence. Talia followed the solider to Winter's quarters. As the doors opened, Talia saw the table in the room with cups and a coffee pot and Winter looking out the window before turning to her.

"Talia come in," Winter said before looking at the solider, "Dismissed." The soldier left as Talia walked into the room and Winter motioned for Talia to take a seat across from her, "I figured we could talk for a bit, catch up. Coffee?"

"Please," Talia replied before Winter poured her a cup. Talia took a sip, "So how have things been? Seems the Atlas military is treating you well."

"It is," Winter started before she took a sip, "Being a specialist has its advantages. Truth is my personal ship is in for repairs so I was allowed to commandeer this one. Good considering the number of PHL grunts there are." Winter let out a small chuckle before Talia gave her a puzzled look, "Sorry, it's just when I found out you had decided to go to Shade Academy I thought my father was trying to tell a joke. I'm glad your father did not try to stop you."

"He feels I'm old enough to make my own decisions though it did come with the deal that I would only get a small amount of money each month. Thankfully I taught myself to budget before going to Shade," Talia replied, "I might have chosen Beacon but Shade just grabbed my eye more. Glad it did, Beacon does not need two Schnees." Talia sighed and looked down, Winter knowing why.

"Sorry I shouldn't have mentioned our parents. Especially with your photographic memory," Winter stated as she knew Talia still had a grudge at the Schnee adults for turning her father into the hateful man he was, "Talia what my father and the others did to yours after your mother died was wrong. I wish I could have done something back then." Winter then placed a hand on Talia causing the girl to look at her, "You've done well for yourself. Clearly you've grown a lot since the last time I saw you."

"That means a lot coming from you," Talia said with smile, "So speaking of family, have you talked with Weiss lately?"

"About as much as you I'm sure," Winter answered as both knew that meant no, "How about your father? Keeping in contact?"

"I mostly get his voice mail so I just leave a message," Talia answered with a sigh, "Once in a while he calls back but I figure he's busy. Not like we talked much before I left for Shade."

"I can relate," Winter responded with a hint of anger but calmed down, "On other matters, how's your Semblance control coming along? Still focusing on just your traps?" Talia answered that she had been working on other kinds of glyphs, "Good." Winter then popped the big questioned, "Summoning?"

"Just unlocked it about a week and a half ago with Silvia's help," Talia answered before Winter had her summon an example, one of Talia's human shaped summons.

"You have a long way to go. Still the fact you unlocked your ability to summon is a sign you're growing," Winter started before she noticed something about the summon, "Interesting but not surprising coming from you." Winter then noticed Talia's Trickster's Tools, "May I?" Talia handed one of her guns to Winter who inspected the weapon causing the blade to pop out, "Bayonet and modified grip to allow for fencing; here I was afraid you let your sword skills dwindle. A dust chamber in the grip for shooting with the option of using the dust in the cylinder." Winter then handed the weapon back to Talia, "Well crafted but overcomplicated. Not that you'll listen." Talia only grinned as she put the weapon back in its holster. Winter then took another sip of her drink before she decided what to talk about next, "Still, there is one thing that bothers me; why did your team not go to Vale for the tournament?"

"We've been on a mission helping the police," Talia answered as she tried to word her response to not give too much information, "Let's say the mission has some high stakes so we decided not to go and stay to finish the job." Talia started to drink more of her coffee.

"Let me guess; slave rings, the Pure Human League, experimentation and a certain member of your team being turned into a faunus," Winter said causing Talia to almost choke on her drink. Talia then looked at Winter with a puzzled look, "News travels between police, military, and huntresses Talia. You four did well to put duty before personal pursuits." Winter paused for a moment, "A word of warning between cousins; that sensor jammer that the PHL used to attack the Tachi village is just one piece of prototype Atlas technology that has been found in the wrong hands as of late."

"Why are you telling me this," Talia asked, "You know I'm going to tell the of my team the moment it becomes an issue again." Winter shook her head, "Alright my turn. What else do you know?"

"Vipera Coral," Winter started, "Seems she tried to get a fund from the family. My father denied the request but I could not find what the fund was requested for. I'm sure you can guess."

"That explains it; payback," Talia said before Winter looked puzzled, "The shot that turned Aki into a faunus was meant for me. Coral targeted me and Aki took the hit."

"I see. You've got a good team," Winter replied before the ship rocked a bit and the alarms started blaring, "The dust?". Winter went to the communicator in the room and contacted the bridge, "This is Schnee, what is going on?"

"Ma'am we've got Beowolf-type Grimm on board the ship," a voice answered causing both Winter and Talia to look at each other in shock, "We lost visual and sensor scan of the brig and the guards in there were taken out."

"Seal off the entrance to the brig before we lose the ship, I want the bridge and engine room to be locked down as well." Talia and Winter then drew their weapons, "Let's find your team. I have a felling we'll need them." The two left the room and were greeted by a pair of Beowolfs which the two quickly destroyed, "Great they've already broke out of the brig." The two suddenly heard gunfire and ran down the hull until they found Shard and the rest of Team AATS fighting Beowolfs. Winter went to Shard, "Thank you for holding them."

"How did Grimm get on the ship," Shard questioned before Winter told what she knew, "I just know Coral has something to do with this. Look out!" One of the Beowolfs suddenly threw a piece of furniture at the group. While everyone dodged, the piece of furniture slammed into the windows, causing it to break. Due to the high altitude, objects started to get sucked out of the ship one object hitting Talia and sending her to the broken window. However Alex covered the hole with a wall of light and prevented Talia from getting sucked out.

"Thanks Alex," Talia replied before she covered the broken window with ice from a glyph as Silvia and Aki killed the Grimm with their blades.

"Something's different about these Grimm," Silvia commented, "Something in their sound was off."

"I got that feeling as well," Aki replied, "The brig is likely the place to find answers."

"So what do we do," Alex asked before she saw and destroyed another Grimm with her fans.

"Your ship your call," Shard added.

"Aki is right. This started at the brig," Winter started as she accessed the current status of the ship with her scroll, "Still getting no information on that area. The bridge and engine room should have enough protection but we need to keep the Grimm from spreading and try to fight them back to where they came from." Winter considered her options, "Alright Talia, Aki, Professor Shard get to the engine room through the maintenance corridor and push the Grimm back to the brig from there. Silvia, Alex, and myself will push the Grimm from here." The group split up with Aki, Talia, and Shard getting to the engine room entrance just in time to repeal the Grimm. Soon the pincer attack was on with both groups taking out scores of Grimm slowly to prevent any further damage to the ship until they met at the entrance to the brig, "Now for some answers." Winter noticed both Aki and Talia trying to scan the inside of the brig, "Do not bother, the brig outer walls are scan shielded." Putting her code in, Winter had both of her blades ready as there was no idea no what was inside. As the doors opened, one Grimm jumped at her only to be cut down, "As much as I hate the idea we need to check on the PHL grunts." The team slowly walked to where the grunts were being held. However instead of finding PHL grunts, the six were brought to the point of throwing up as the cells were covered in blood, gore, body parts, and blood covered cloth.

"This place is a bloodbath," Shard commented, "What in the world happened?"

"No one deserves this," Silvia added as she could tell some of the grunts had been eaten.

"Something's not right," Aki started as she scanned the area, "These blood patterns suggest that several bodies exploded from the inside."

"But how did this happen without us knowing," Alex questioned, "Did one of them have something to jam the video feed?"

"How," Talia asked, "They were scanned for anything..."

"On them," Winter interrupted, "The device must have been inside one of them." Winter then looked to Aki who was still studying the area, "Anything?"

"Found it," Aki answered as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and pulled a small rectangle shaped object out of a puddle of blood, "Here's our jammer. Seems to be losing power though." Talia looked at Winter and could see it was another piece of tech that should not be in PHL hands. However Aki continued to look around, "Based off what I'm finding, around three fourths of the PHL grunts exploded from the inside and the other fourth were eaten. Best guess, most of these guys had a Grimm inside them."

"This was a trap," Talia replied, "Plant a Grimm in a host, wait for it to burst out, and it eats to get to normal size."

"A parasitic Grimm," Alex questioned.

"Anything is possible," Silvia sighed, "Some things should not be done."

"Coral," Winter asked as she looked at Shard.

"How, Shard went to ask before Winter gave her a look, "Voyance told Ironwood of course. This doesn't match her goals unless she changed them. Still she's the only one I know who is both smart and crazy enough to create something like this."

"So what now," Talia asked.

"We'll manually check the whole of the ship just to be sure no more Grimm are onboard," Winter answered before she ordered a cleanup team to the brig and ordered the ship to cease forward motion as to avoid any cities until the threat was gone. For the next few hours, everyone checked around the ship to be sure the threat was past. Not finding anymore, Winter and Shard made contact with Ironwood and Voyance to inform them of what had occurred. Surprisingly, and to Winter's annoyance, Ironwood ordered Winter to drop Shard and team AATS at Shade Academy and proceed back to Atlas, "But sir with all due respect what about what happened here?"

"The Vacuo police and Shade Academy will continue their case," Ironwood responded, "You will help handle the case on our end now that this has become an Atlas problem as well."

"Yes sir," Winter responded.

"Professor Shard, have Team AATS and yourself meet me in my office as soon as you return," Voyance ordered, "There have been some developments."

"Will do," Voyance said before the conversation ended and Winter gave the order to get underway again.

Part 3: Shade Academy,

As Shade Academy came into view, Team AATS and Shard gathered their stuff. Soon the airship landed in front of the Academy. The bay door opened and waiting for them was Professor Voyance. Winter and Shard spoke with Voyance for a little while Team AATS got their stuff put away. When they came back, Winter was getting ready to depart and Talia ran to catch her.

"Winter," Talia called out to get Winter's attention. The woman turned around so they were looking at each other, "Please be safe."

"You as well," Winter started as she put a hand on Talia's shoulder, "Keep improving as a huntress. Next time I plan to test your skills personally." Winter then looked at the locket Talia was wearing, "Your mother would be proud of who you have become. Don't ever forget that." After that Winter departed and the team watched as the airship left. Team AATS was then called up to Voyance's office where Voyance, Specter, and Shard were waiting.

"Welcome back," Voyance started as she looked at the team, "I can sense you four have gotten much stronger. Mr. Tachi delivers as always."

"Team AATS is ready to return to our mission ma'am," Alex stated.

"You will tomorrow," Voyance answered, "Chief Stone is expecting you and Aki your clearance has been updated with your name change. However today you have another task."

"Is something wrong ma'am," Silvia asked.

"I need Aki to go to the hospital," Voyance said, "It has been a few weeks now since Aki's transformation and Dr. Stitch wants to perform both a physical and genetic test to be sure nothing is wrong."

"I can do that," Aki responded.

"No Aki I want the rest of the team to be your escort," Voyance said, "With everything that has happened, we have to assume that Coral wanted to get you back here."

"Professor Voyance has there been any sign of Coral," Talia asked before Voyance shook her head no, "I was afraid of that."

"We'll head out now," Alex said before the team left, leaving the three adults alone.

"That's not the same team AATS," Specter commented as he looked at Professor Shard, "Iron Tachi and you did good work."

"I'd love to get Iron Tachi to work here," Shard responded before she looked at Voyance, "So what was it you did not want to tell them yet?"

"I'll show you," Voyance replied as the three left for another location while someone was watching the team.

Part 4: Secret Lab,

The assistant walked through the lab and stopped at the door to a dark room where Coral was sitting covered by her black cloak and surrounded by small Taijtu. The assistant walked into the room knowing Coral was in control of the Grimm.

"Have they returned," Coral asked as she had told the assistant not to bother her with anything else.

"Yes Dr. Coral. The attack on the Tachi village brought them back as planned," the assistant answered as one of the snake-type Grimm looked at him, the faunus giving no reaction. The assistant then looked back to Coral and saw she was shaking, "Doctor are you sure there is nothing I can do to easy your pain?"

"I knew the changes would have pain child," Coral answered as she laughed, "But I find the pain bearable knowing the process is working." Coral then took the scroll from the assistant and looked over the information that the assistant had gathered, "Atlas needs to check its leaks. So they believe I created a parasitic Grimm? Have to admit I wish I had thought of that."

"What about backlash from the PHL," the assistant asked, "With what happened to the PHL grunts both during the battle and on the airship."

"Officially I was against that attack," Coral laughed, "True I did not tell them everything about the pills I had some of the grunts take but the PHL cannot pin this on us since no one survived." Coral then handed the scroll back, "Knowing Voyance and Stitch, especially with the successes we let them find, Aki Muse is likely heading to the hospital. I want the results of whatever tests Stitch performs." The assistant shook his head before leaving allowing Coral to focus on what her body was experiencing. Coral soon thought about how she was going to enjoy testing herself against Team AATS as she knew in her gut that the team was more powerful.

Part 5: Hospital,

The team entered the hospital where Dr. Stitch was waiting for them. The bear faunus welcomed them back before he had Aki follow him into one of the labs. Dr. Stitch took a blood sample from Aki and placed the sample into a machine before Dr, Stitch began the physical.

"Any physical pain or discomfort lately," Dr. Stitch asked as he ran a scanner over Aki's torso and limbs finding no problems. Aki just shook her head no, "What about the hearing and the night vision sensitivity you had?"

"I've gotten used to them. Everything feels natural for lack of a better word," Aki answered as Dr. Stitch looked inside Aki's cat ears. Aki tried not to laugh as the hair in the ears was tickled by the ear probe.

"No signs of any problems very good though you do need to work a bit more on keeping them clean," Dr. Stitch said before he looked at Aki's eyes, "All normal for a faunus as well." Dr. Stitch then heard the machine beep before the results came to his scroll, "Good. No signs of genetic problems and it seems your DNA is completely stable but I am going to have you come in for checkups for awhile just to be safe. Let's make the next appointment in a week." Aki shook her head that she understood, "Do have to ask though, how your faunus instincts are affecting you?"

"My Mom and Dad were able to help me with understanding them and controlling them," Aki answered concluding the checkup before the two walked out to the others. Aki could tell that the others wanted to know the results, "According to the Dr. Stitch I have a clean bill of health." The cat faunus could tell the rest of her team were glad to hear the news as they had been worried Stitch might find something. As the appointment finished, Dr. Stitch informed the team that he would meet them at the police station in the morning. While the team could tell Dr. Stitch was hiding something, experience told them that questioning was pointless and that they would know soon enough. Exiting the hospital, they night sky seemed to greet them with a beautiful view of the moon and stars.

"Back to Shade I guess," Alex said, "We're going to be busy tomorrow catching up with the case."

"Agreed," Talia replied as the four began to walk, "Aki, Silvia this place has nothing on your village. I hope we get to go the Luna Cat Festival next year."

"Count on it," Silvia replied, "After all that is why Mom agreed to hold Alex's and your kimonos along with ours."

"All the more reason to find Coral and put an end to her plans," Aki commented as Shade came into view. Soon the Team was in their room and getting ready for bed as they knew the coming day was going to be big."

End of Act 11

I hope that those who read this enjoy the 12th part of my RWBY story. Please feel free to leave any comments and suggestions. Thank you in advance.

Davescifi