A/N: Props to the people who noticed that Midnight could control air in his original fight with Cinder and her group, yes that was intentional, you may remember how I described Midnight's smile as 'almost manic' His semblance and more specifically his powers manifest as his aggressive survival instinct. The reason the story Qrow tells Midnight and the story Blake finds are different but similar, is that whole different cultures will tell stories differently, legends that are about similar creatures in mythology often have different versions depending on country, look at dragons for example. Eastern views on dragons paint them as noble, proud and almost godlike, Western legends paint them as fire-breathing beasts. So it's like that.

This chapter will bounce around both time and place, I did a number of versions and I like this one the best. I am referring to the Roman and RWBY mech fight as the 'Painting the Town Incident.' for obvious reasons.

Hope you enjoy!


Moments after the conclusion of the Painting the Town Incident….

Pieces of the destroyed Atlesian Paladin littered the ground, Roman stood a small distance from Yang an irritated look on his face as he cocked his head "Just got this thing cleaned." He complained as he brushed off his suit and retrieved his hat, cleaning it out before placing ii calmly on his head.

Yang let out a shout as she fired two shots from her gauntlets towards him, someone dropped in between the rounds, a thick sheet of ice appeared between the rounds and the blast bent around them uselessly.

Ruby's eyes widened as the Ice disappeared and Midnight rose to his full height, dark gold eyes regarding them with unconcealed amusement, a girl with an umbrella and two different color eyes landed beside him, spun the umbrella and rested it over her shoulder.

Midnight's eyes changed, returned to the familiar amber gold Ruby recognized, he mouthed something at her and her eyes widened as Yang launched forward, likely too angry to notice Midnight had even appeared in front of them, her fist seemed to impact something a small distance from the image of the three and they shattered, the team's heads snapped skyward as Roman waved tauntingly down at them, Ruby wasn't looking at Roman, if you asked her later she wouldn't even be able to tell you what kind of ship the three had boarded.

Midnight stared at her unflinchingly, the unfamiliar gold of his eyes alight with amusement that she didn't understand, if she had to describe the look. It was if he was finally getting a taste of freedom. The thought seemed strange to her, but that was all she could put together to describe it. Then he shifted slightly removing a small device and placing a pair of red headphones she recognized on his head as the door closed, a ghost of a smirk appeared on his face.

Then the Bullhead pulled away, leaving a million questions and with no foreseeable way to answer.

Ruby felt her legs go weak and she fell to her knees, she rubbed her arms slowly.

"It looked like he tried to say something." Weiss noted as she glanced down at Ruby.

"I know." Ruby returned, she'd understood it. Got the message completely.

I'm sorry Ruby, I love you.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, she'd found out her feelings were reciprocated just as the guy she liked defended a known criminal and disappeared with him.

Of course her love life couldn't be simple either.


48 hours before the Painting the Town Incident…

Daera and Ivara followed behind Midnight silently admiring the school around them, Jayce hung a little further back when the small girl suddenly turned to him "So which one is the one." She gestured at Midnight and lifted a brow.

"Her names Ruby Rose, you'll figure it out when you get introduced I'm sure." Jayce relayed quickly, he saw Midnight's ear twitch signifying that he had heard them. He remained quiet, likely thinking about what he was going to do in the next few days.

"Do you think we could pull security footage from my dad's store? I mean, huntsmen would have the authority to do that right?" Daera asked, glancing back to Jayce, both of the twins seemed to feel that something was off with Midnight and neither of them knew how to ask about it without seeming oblivious.

"Fully fledged Huntsmen likely do," Jayce answered "But I'm not sure."

Daera seemed to accept the answer "So, still at square one then."

Jayce didn't agree with the twins fixation on revenge, but it wasn't as though he couldn't understand it. They'd just lost one of their parents, he paused momentarily "I know about your dad, but what about your mother?"

"Oh, she died when we were really young. Complications with child birth you know?" Ivara relayed levelly, likely having been expecting the question eventually.

"I'm sorry." Jayce inclined his head out of courtesy.

Daera shrugged "Long time ago, not really anything we can do about it," He voiced simply, he actually managed to seem unfazed "We are over it."

"Two things," Midnight paused in front of the door and held up two fingers "Mentioning my crush to anyone is off limits, I'm not kidding, I'll do something about it at my own pace, don't interfere," The newcomers nodded, although Ivara looked slightly depressed at the information "Second, you'll notice immediately because of the smell, Blake's a faunus, she hasn't told many people, keep it that way. Understood?"

"Got it captain," Daera half saluted almost mockingly, Umbra appeared at his side and mimicked the salute, although Midnight was pretty sure the shadow couldn't actually speak "If you don't mind, could you keep the thing about our dad a secret too? Touchy subject at the moment you know?"

Midnight nodded "You're free to come up with any story you like, I simply met you in Vacuo and recruited you. Although I think Yang knows a little about it already, courtesy of the chatty boyfriend behind you."

"Hey?!" Jayce exclaimed defensively.

"Dude, 'keep the details a secret' it was the one thing I asked you to do." Midnight pointed out with a frown.

"I'll keep you're details a secret." Jayce muttered in irritation, Midnight heard him but just rolled his eyes and turned around.

The moment they entered the library something red blurred passed their vision and attached to Midnight's side, he glanced down with a warm smile on his face "Red." He greeted

"Hah, 'Wolf' aren't you as boring as ever," Ruby shot up at him from his side "If I recall I am actually ahead in points now."

"Since when?" Midnight question, walking forward to Ruby still firmly secured to his side.

"I grew up cuter, plus one million points, game, set and match." Ruby grinned playfully and Midnight rolled his eyes.

"You didn't do much growing at all." Midnight teased, the words earned him a quick to spike to the shin and he winced as Ruby let go off him.

"I'm still growing thank you very much." She pointed out with a small pout.

Ivara leaned back slightly "How long have they been like this?" She asked

Jayce pulled a calculative face and shrugged "Five years or so, give or take a few."

"Now I just feel kind of bad for you." Daera patted him on the shoulder and bowed his head sympathetically.

Jayce shrugged "It's not that bad." He returned as he walked after the two team leaders, Daera and Ivara following close behind.

They reached a small area where eight people sat around doing various things, only two people in the library actually seemed to be studying, Jayce took a seat to their left and a blonde haired girl walked up slowly and glomped, quite literally just falling onto his shoulders and wrapping her arms lightly around his chest, he craned his head up at her and grinned. Midnight snapped out of the conversation with Ruby as realization struck him and he remembered why he had come here on the first place.

"Right, everyone is here so," He walked over to the twins "This is Daera and Ivara Luxumbra, the twins who will be making up the final two members of my team." He introduced each one, gesturing to them as he said their names.

Ruby's head perked up at teammates, teammates meant they were planning to be hunters, meaning weapons. Midnight could already see the gears turning in her head as she regarded them curiously, trying to guess from how they looked what weapons they would use. He'd found out when they arrived that the clothing he'd scene Ivara in at their old home was her combat gear and she favored simple casual dress in usual situations.

So she was currently in a white button up shirt and three quarter length black pants, she wore her same black boots and the hairclip still fastened her pony tail behind her head. Daera appeared to be wearing the exact same clothing he had been in when they had first met.

Quickly realizing she'd gain nothing from their attire, she shifted slightly "So what kind of weapons do you two use?"

"I have a lever action rifle," Ivara answered readily "And this." She removed the hair clip, allowing her hair to fall down her back, she pressed a small button on the underside of the clip and the spike that usual moved through her hair snapped outwards in a curved dagger, which she twirled around her finger idly and grinned.

"I think I'll leave mine to be discovered, wouldn't want you getting any advantages," Daera waved off as Umbra rose from his shadow and stood beside him, clearly irritated the shadow user glanced at said shadow in confusion "What?"

Umbra made a number of gestures, Midnight soon realized the shadow was using sign language "Yes, that's exactly the reason." Daera sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So what just happened?" Jaune asked, joining the conversation.

"His shadow was pointing out that he is only hiding his weapon to seem 'cool'." Blake explained, the shadow snapped his fingers and pointed at Blake before coking his head at Daera and making another set of gestures.

"He says You're lame." Blake relayed turning to Daera and then back to her book.

Daera just glared at his shadow, who shrugged and lifted its arms.

"Anyway, I'm sure you guys will be seeing a lot more of each other from now on." Midnight finished glancing around the room, eventually settling onto the couch next to Ruby and leaning back with a sigh.

Midnight glanced at ruby who was humming away to whatever song was currently playing, he tapped her shoulder lightly and she shifted one of the two red headphones of her ears and lifted a brow.

"What are you listening to?" Midnight asked curiously, Ruby made a face before just taking the headphones off her head and placing them haphazardly over Midnight's ears which proved to be difficult as his ears were on the top of his head and the headset was clearly designed to be used by regular humans, with ears on the sides of their head. That Midnight didn't have.

The headset pinched uncomfortably on his ears, Ruby made an apologetic gesture as she hit play for him, he just shrugged as a rather loud guitar riff blared in his ears.

Listen up, strap in, notify next of kin.

He perked up slightly "Oh, the new albums out then?!" Ruby winced and he slipped the headphones off "I just shouted that didn't I?"

Ruby laughed and nodded her head "And yes, it's the long awaited second Volume."

"Now I just need to get a headset that doesn't try to tear my ears off so I can listen to it." Midnight quipped as he leaned back into the couch, Ruby glanced at the device in her hand and nodded as she slipped the headphones back on.

The other people in the group just watched the exchange knowingly, a betting pool had already begun between the two teams present on how long it would take for the two friends to finally get together, this exchange just reminded Yang that her deadline was rapidly approaching, she opened her mouth to say something before Jayce gave her arm a light squeeze, she glanced down and he just shook his head and grimaced.

She lifted a brow at him but didn't verbally question him, she'd asked later when they weren't surrounded by their teams.


Midnight nine hours before the Painting the Town Incident…

Ozpin had been surprisingly prepared for Midnight's request, although at this point he firmly believed that Ozpin had the ability to read minds and pretty much nothing the man ever did made immediate sense. Qrow agreed with him in more ways than one when he had made the point.

Midnight stared at the few belonging's he was going to take, his weapon and Scroll sat in a pile beside them, his weapon pretty much painted him as a hunter immediately, besides The White Fang members he had seen didn't have any sort of custom weapons, it was always the same set of dual swords and that would suit him well enough, aside from that he could always just use hand to hand combat.

"You're really going to say nothing to her?" Midnight started slightly at the voice, Jayce walked into his room and planted himself on the edge of Midnight's bed, Ivara and Daera had gone to spar together, that was the reason he had decided to get his belongings in order.

"I can't say it directly." Midnight voiced as he placed a sealed envelope on his weapon and scroll.

"Why?" Jayce questioned, Midnight could tell from the tone and the look that he couldn't try and dodge the question.

"Because I'll lose my resolve if I do," Midnight sighed "I have to do this, it benefits everyone here."

"That's the thing, you don't have to do anything," Jayce countered "I don't know why you think it's necessary to put yourself in the firing line, but you it isn't."

"I'm putting myself in any firing line, I'm going to get information that could be vital in defending and entire kingdom! This is what Hunter's do Jayce." Midnight snapped

"I am aware of that, you aren't a hunter yet." Jayce countered flatly

"Everything's already done," Midnight snapped with finality ending the roundabout conversation "I'm leaving now Jayce."

His friends eyes widened slightly "Look after the team while I'm gone, look after Ruby while I am gone and make sure she gets these." Midnight gestured to his weapon, his scroll and the letter.

Jayce stared at his friend for awhile before nodding his head "Come back alive."

Midnight smirked "What's that, you worried about me?"

"In your dreams jackass, I'll have you know I avidly ship Night Rose these days, If you die it'll make my life difficult." Jayce voiced wearing a wide grin plastered on his face.

Midnight rolled his eyes "Take care of Yang, I don't really have to warn you."

"Oh, she'll murder me I am well aware," Jayce nodded "Now get out of here and bring down a big bad criminal organization before I decide to try and talk you out of it again."

Midnight paused in his doorway, turning his head slightly to glance at his friend "Right, I forgot, take care of yourself as well, acting captain."

With that the faunus boy disappeared around the corner, tail swishing behind him, Jayce scratched his head and sighed "So that's what that feels like." He thought audibly glancing at his friends scroll and weapons, he noticed the letter wasn't properly sealed, just folded in on itself. His face twisted slightly with curiosity but he shoved it down.

Ruby would be the first to read it, he might ask her about the contents later.


Ruby Nine hours before the Painting the Town incident….

"Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese." Ruby begged practically hanging off of the silent faunus's back.

Blake sighed "Ruby, you are the one that wants to go shopping, go on your own."

"But I have no idea where you get faunus friendly headphones, come on this is a birthday gift eleven years in the making!"

"Birthday?" Blake asked in surprise "Is it actually his birthday?"

"If I said 'yes' will you come?" Ruby asked slowly

Blake glared at her and she deflated slightly "Look, I met him when I was four, at the time I couldn't buy him gifts on my own then he went off with Uncle Qrow and we almost never saw each other, but Qrow paid him a proper wage for the missions he did, I got things in the mail every year for my birthday, but he was always on the move so I couldn't return them. Now I have the opportunity to get him something he might actually really like and I need your help." Ruby explained in a single breath.

Blake tilted her head slightly and smiled "What did he get you?"

"When he found out I was making a weapon he sent me a large chunk of metal that now makes up the blade of Crescent Rose, he sent me those headphones I use all the time and a few other odds and ends." Ruby listed quickly.

"Okay, I'll help you. I just have one other question." Blake agreed before lifting a brow.

"Shoot." Ruby chirped happy to get the assistance she needed.

"How'd you know they were from him?" Blake asked

Ruby chuckled "When we were young, we had a game going, we'd challenge each other to win points, it didn't really have a goal or anything, it was just children being children. But he'd keep me updated on his point totals every year. Sometimes the card was nothing but the number, but he's the only one that knew enough about it." She explained

"Is that really all you wanted to ask?" Ruby inquired curiously as she watched Blake nod in response to her answer.

"Yeah, why?" Blake asked confused.

"Oh, I expected you to be asking what you're gonna do about a specific monkey tailed faunus, not gonna name names or anything like that though." Ruby replied with a smug grin and a raised eyebrow.

Blake sighed "I don't need love life advice from the girl who doesn't even know where to get headphones for the guy she likes." She shot at her leader playfully.

"It's not my fault he doesn't have ears like the rest of us, actually that's a point, you have ears like normal humans as well, do they both work?" Ruby asked

"Yes, my faunus ears are much more sensitive to sound, but within the bow they are kind of limited. So I rely on my usual hearing." Blake explained as they walked.

Ruby nodded in understanding "So, where am I going? Some kind of specialty shop?"

"We should be able to find a pair at a general electronics store." Blake replied calmly, the pair boarded an airship and took some seats.

"When did you first figure out you liked Midnight?" Blake asked suddenly, causing the smaller girl to start and color slightly "If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, no, it's fine, I sort of expected the question a while ago to be honest," Ruby shrugged, then she frowned as she thought "Well, I guess I always liked him, but I didn't know it was that kind of like until the first time he returned to Vale."

"I do remember him mentioning promise with a friend." Blake mused "So that was you?"

Ruby nodded "That was the day he ended up with that scar on his face, we made a promise to become, I think I worded it like 'Super amazing heroes'." Ruby chuckled at the remembrance of herself as a child "I hadn't actually spoken to him in four years, hadn't seen or heard from him either because at the time he didn't have a scroll."

"So let me guess, you attached to his side and everything just fell perfectly into place in your head?" Blake asked with a chuckle.

"You're not entirely wrong," Ruby admitted scratching the back of her head in embarrassment "It was uh, the first time he ever called me 'Red.' He came back in this cool looking coat and he was the same Midnight I knew, I hadn't seem in four years and I recognized him you know? We ended up tailing Yang who was trying to go on a secret date with Jayce. Midnight called that, said it was a date before we even got in the theatre. I didn't think about it at the time, but Midnight probably paid for everything too, I don't remember handing him any money either." Blake watched as her small leader slowly grew more and more animated, a wistful smile on her face as she recalled the memories, she giggled at something before continuing.

"He had fought an Ursa after training the day before, Jayce did 'the move.', at the time I knew what it was, but pretended I didn't, so Midnight mimicked it, then he ended up falling asleep," She chuckled again "You'd be surprised how cute his face was back then, I ended up falling asleep too, I was never one for romance movies. Yang probably still has a picture of it somewhere."

Blake's ears twitched at the mention of a picture, she'd have to ask Yang about it at some point in the future, she needed a good fall back if she wanted to poke fun at Ruby, the girl may have been small but she was as ruthless as her sister when it came to noticing things. Unless it was about Midnight himself, then she could easily rival Jaune. Now that she thought about it, that was something the pair of them had in common.

"Anyway, when I woke up. Midnight was looking down at me, it looked like he was trying really hard to keep a smile off his face. But the thought struck me that I really wanted to be right there," Ruby smiled happily as she gestured vaguely in front of herself "I realized being around Midnight made me happier than anything else." She shrugged "I think that qualifies as being hopelessly in love with someone right?"

Blake laughed and she was inclined to believe the smaller girl as her leader looked out the window of the airship.

After the landing and a short silent trip, the two found themselves in a small electronic store in downtown Vale, apparently Blake had remembered the location from when she had first spoken to Sun.

They couldn't have been in the store for more than twenty seconds before an one of the few employee's in the store approached them, the boy looked to be in his late teens, he had black hair and brown eyes and a confident smile on his face as he approached them "Can I help you ladies with something?" He asked, the confidence of his smile reflected in his voice.

"I'm trying to buy a gift for a friend," Ruby voiced simply "I need to get a pair of faunus friendly headphones-"

She cut off when the guy just scoffed, she glared at him and he flashed his palms before walking off, a second employee a young blonde girl approached them "Sorry, he just has trouble getting out of last century." She called the end a little louder and sent a look after the other employee who just barked out a dry laugh and went to the back of the store.

"He has his reasons," The girl shrugged "So faunus friendly huh? We don't get a lot of requests for things like that."

"It's kind of a long awaited gift," Ruby rubbed at the back of her neck awkwardly "Do you not have any?"

"Oh we do, I just need to know what kind of faunus he is." She voiced quickly which seemed to ease some of Ruby's worries.

"He's a Wolf, he's about a this tall," Ruby held up her arm at where she estimated his height "He's training to be a huntsmen so if they can be worn while moving around that would be a great help."

The girl nodded and smiled brightly "Of course, if you'll just follow me, we have a few different kinds, I might as well let you choose to his tastes." Ruby nodded her head the pair followed behind the bubbly employee quickly.

In the end, they left with a pair of dark blue headphones, they were designed so that a faunus could wear them with the band wrapped around the back of his or her head and they wouldn't fall down and they were appropriately padded so they wouldn't attempt to tear of said faunus's ears, after a promise of tuna Blake had reluctantly agreed to try them on to confirm they didn't make her too uncomfortable. As Blake and Midnight's ears were in about the same spot atop their heads.

As they stepped back onto the street, Ruby bumped into someone's shoulder, as she turned to apologize she realized she knew the person "Ruby?" A familiar voice questioned, she glanced up to see Midnight flashing her a weak smile.

"Oh well this is weird," Ruby chuckled glancing at the bag in her hands "I got this for you, cause you know, headphones that won't tear your ears off."

Midnight hesitated slightly as he took the bag and smiled as he flicked it open and looked at the contents "Thanks."

She nodded swaying on her heels for a moment, she glanced around and realize Blake must have either continued on without her or made herself scarce when she had realized it was Midnight, Ruby's eyes widened in slight realization "Right, also this." She pressed a small white device into Midnight's hand.

"I mean, most of what's on here are my favorites, but I figure it's about time I upgraded." She grinned as Midnight's eyes widened slightly in surprise, she was so great at giving gifts.

"Ruby I can't take this off you," Midnight moved to push it back and she stepped away from him "Hey, consider it the birthday presents I never got to give to you. Besides, I mean it when I say I need an upgrade." She explained quickly.

Midnight stared at the small device in his hand and a warm smile enveloped his face and he nodded "Alright, but only till I get my own. Then I'll give this back, you can do what you want with it after that."

Ruby rolled her eyes "Please just accept my kindness for once, I don't like this stubbornness of yours."

"I'm sure there's something of me that you like," Midnight joked "We wouldn't be friends otherwise."

"Yeah, just about everything." Ruby replied before she managed to get a handle on her speech.

Midnight's eyes did widen at that "W-What?" He asked slowly

"Uh, um. I-that is," Ruby took a breath, she'd come this far, may was well dig the rest of her grave "I like just about everything about you. I like you."

Midnight opened his mouth and for a moment she thought he was going to respond positively, before he tilted his head like someone had spoken to him and his eyes got that far off look in them again, her face fell slightly when he turned his look back to her "I'm sorry Ruby I…" He trailed off "I need to go, see you around."

Ruby's head snapped up and she moved to follow him, but he'd already rounded the corner at the end of the street, she didn't like the way that sounded, it was like there was something he wasn't telling her, she frowned. Blake reappeared at her side "How'd it go?" She asked hopefully.

Ruby shook her head and a rueful smile appeared on her face "Maybe later Blake." She voiced distractedly "Thanks for your help today."

Blake nodded her head slowly as Ruby walked away from her, they returned to the airship and the usually hyper active leader remained silent and off in thought the entire team.


"It's for the best…" His copy actually managed to sound sympathetic.

"I don't need pity from you," Midnight growled as he clenched his fist "It's about time for your debut, you ready?"

"More than ready," His copy chuckled "I'll give them a warrior the likes of which no one has ever seen!"

"I'm counting on it." Midnight just wanted to stop thinking, he wanted to erase her face from his mind, how crestfallen she had looked when he hadn't answered her, his fist tightened.

He'd tell her, the next time he saw her. He'd say it properly. He'd run away more than enough, he shifted his bag on his shoulder and closed his eyes.

He imagined himself slowly sinking into water, the deeper he got the weaker his grip on his own body got, before he felt like he was looking at himself from above, his face split into a wide grin as his eyes shifted darkening. He clenched his fists and his knuckles cracked, he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.

"It feels good to move again," His voice was darker, like his own but layered with a more savage edge "It's about time I introduce myself."

He remained quiet in the back of his own mind, observing his copy as he ascended the steps towards a club that looked as though it had seen much better days, he pushed the doors open and strode inside, music blared, lights flashed and people milled about. He approached the bar calmly and placed his arm against it.

The bartended, a man with short black hair and a red tie raised a brow at him "You wouldn't be able to point me in the direction of the White Fang would you?" Midnight asked with a sinister smile.

The bartender lifted a gloved hand and eyed him for a few seconds, he made a gesture with his hand and Midnight tilted his head as someone placed a hand on his shoulder, his eyes flicked to the henchmen behind him, a black suited man with a red tie and dark aviators that covered his eyes gestured for him to get up.

Midnight placed his hand on the henchman's who frowned before Midnight twisted it harshly "I'm not much in the mood for games, if Beacon will not recognize my unique talents, I plan to find an organization that does."

Another hand landed on his shoulder and he lifted a brow, surely no one else wished to have their arm broken, he released the henchman as a tall man with spiked red hair glanced down at him. The upper part of his face was obscured by The White Fang's signature mask, with a few extra red markings.

Midnight knew of Adam Taurus, had known about him for years, the violent dictator that had taken the White Fang and turned it into a terrorist organization for reasons no one could really place.

"Our Organization is always on the lookout for men with, as you say, unique talents," His face twisted into a grin "How about a drink?"

Midnight lifted a brow "I'll take you up on that Mr.?"

"Taurus, Adam Taurus." He introduced holding out a hand that Midnight shook.

"Midnight." Adam inclined his head and the pair took a seat at the bar.

"Of course, proof of those talents will be required," Adam pointed out as he ordered two drinks with a quick wave, the bartender stiffened slightly and poured two scotch glasses before sliding them over, Midnight lifted a hand a flame spun around his index finger, he lifted his middle finger and it froze into a jagged spike, his ring finger followed and a small grey twister spun around the appendage, before finally lighting crackled around his little finger "I see."

Midnight lifted his drink in cheers and downed in a quick swig, he upturned the glass and placed it down against the bar top "I take it a little more proof than that will be necessary?"

Adam produced a small card from inside his breast pocket, he spun it and slid it across the bar to him "Go to this location, we have a business partner there, it's important that he remain alive for now. See to it, that his heart continued to beat within his chest."

Midnight bowed his head as he picked up the card and glanced at the address, Adam gestured for the bartender to refill his glass "Enjoy your drink." Midnight inclined his head again and down the second glass.

"I want to make one thing clear to you," The bartender glanced at him "If anyone asks about me, I was never here."

"Kid, I know better than to screw with anyone that Adam Taurus finds interesting." The bartender scoffed as he took the glass and began cleaning it.

Midnight grinned "Thanks for the drink." He tapped some lien onto the bar and got to his feet, stepping passed the still injured henchmen he walked out of the club onto the street.


Two hours until the Painting the Town incident…

Ruby noticed the three things on her bed the moment she opened her door, she darted over to them, Midnight's weapon, his scroll and a neatly folded letter were placed on his pillow, she grabbed the letter and snapped it open Blake plopped down onto her bed and watched her small leader carefully.

Ruby,

By the time you read this, one of two things would have happened. First, I've successfully left the school and have entered the White Fang in order to get information, I got a tip off that someone in Atlas is supplying The White Fang with experimental military grade technology, we already know they are stealing enough dust to supply an army five times over. Or there's option two I'm dead in a gutter somewhere because I am not nearly as stealthy as I thought I was. Let's just assume I am successful though.

I don't know how long I'll be gone, look after yourself, keep an eye on my team for me, they are a little green around the ears, but all of them have potential.

Midnight

P.S There is one other thing, Jayce would kill me if I didn't make sure you knew before I left. I love you Ruby, I know this is one of the most terrible ways to tell you, but I don't know if I will even make it back. I wanted you to know, but if, or more specifically when I come back. I'll tell you in person.

That much I can promise.

"Ruby?!" The small girl jarred into reality, Yang was in front of her staring at her worriedly, she wiped at her eyes, she must have started crying at some point.

"It's okay I'm fine," She voiced quickly and she took a breath "On the bright side, I finally know how he feels."

She smiled weakly as Yang took the letter from her and read it quickly, she crumbled the note in her hand and her eyes dyed a dangerous shade of red "That….asshat, where does he get off doing something like this?!"

"Yang, calm down," Ruby ordered levelly "Midnight's doing what he believes is right, I will not hold that against him. He is doing something none of us thought of, he is trying, no he will get information that will help us. I trust him."

Yang watched her sister silently before nodding her head in understanding "What are we going to do?"

"We are going to give him a window of opportunity," Ruby grinned, the entire plan coming together in her head "Make sure they trust him completely, it's the least we can do considering."

Yang grinned, Blake nodded and Weiss quickly agreed.

"Aw, you're gonna go off and held Darky save the world without us?" The group started and snapped around to see Sun hanging upside down in the window.

"How did you even get up here?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"It's easy I do it all the time." Sun shrugged as he swung inside, he winked at Blake playfully and the usually quiet faunus blushed before find the rood incredibly interesting.

"You do what?!" Weiss demanded angrily.

"I climb trees all the time." Sun clarified with a wide grin.

"Uh, yeah, you do. I don't!" A familiar voice exclaimed, Weiss stuck her head out of the window to see Neptune pressing himself as far into the wall as she possibly could "Hey there, Snow Angel, you mind letting me in? We are really high up."

Weiss smirked and held out her hand to pull the boy through the window "So Ruby, what did you have in mind?"

Ruby clapped her hands together "We are gonna be the youngest team of huntresses to ever bring down an evil organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale!" She explained in a rapid string of words without breathing.

"And how are we gonna do that?" Blake asked

"I am glad you asked my feline companion." Ruby pointed at her and grinned, she glanced at Sun who shrugged awkwardly, which told her that Neptune was already aware of her heritage and she sighed.

She just wanted one secret, it wasn't even that hard of a secret to keep, just don't tell people she has cat ears.

"Blake and Sun will use Blake's knowledge of White Fang operations to sneak into one of their meetings as potential recruits, Yang and I will wait outside for when it inevitably turns bad with Neptune and Weiss. Remember we are doing this to solidify Midnight's position in the White Fang if you see him, attack him, he is more than capable of defending himself, they need to believe Midnight is no longer even slightly connected to Beacon." Ruby explained

Ruby placed her hand in the centre of the room, Yang grinned and placed her hand atop of hers, that was followed by Weiss, then Blake before finally Sun and Neptune placed their hands in the pile "Begin Operation, Paint the Town!"

They threw their hands into the air with a shout and left the dorms quickly.


Midnight let out a breath as he pressed the cool metal of his new mask over his face, covering his eyes, he could see pretty well through the two slits on either side of the mask. He stood straight to the left of the stage, something large was covered by a tarp beside him. Opposite his position on the stage was one of the lieutenants of the White Fang, the man eyed him warily, but Adam had obviously called ahead. Most people simply avoided him.

As more and more faunus funneled into the warehouse, they began pointing at him and the lieutenant, whispering amongst themselves a White coat and a black ribbon caught his view, a head of blonde and a monkey tailed hovering near the person shoulder. Blake gave him an almost imperceptive nod to which he didn't reply, he shifted slightly and tilted his head towards the lieutenant. It was the best he could to naturally tell her he had spotted her without arousing suspicion.

"Hm, that's an interesting reaction." Midnight voiced from the confine of the back of his own mind.

"I have no reason to give them away," His copy thought back with a mental shrug "In fact their presence may aid our position."

"I agree, just don't kill them…" Midnight trailed off "Please?"

"I have no reason to do that either, you willingly surrendered your body to me," His copy returned levelly "Even if this is only temporary, your friendships drove you to this decision. As such…I will honor your requests."

"Hm, I may have misjudged you." Midnight replied calmly.

"Perhaps you did." The lights darkened and he drew himself back to reality, focusing on the scene in front of him.

"My brothers and sisters, our new recruits," The lieutenant moved about a pool of light in the center of the stage "Long have we suffered at the hands of the kingdoms tyranny. But not for much longer," The crowd cheered "We are entering a very productive partnership with an individual who shares our combined dream. True freedom for the faunus will soon be within our grasp!"

Midnight watched the man's back silently and the award for the most pointless cinematic entrance goes to, he thought to himself as Roman was lowered to the stage on a steel grate attached to a small crane.

"What's a human doing here?!" The new recruits immediately voiced in outrage.

Roman flashed his palms "Now now, You guys hate humans, I can completely get behind that, I mean humans are just the worst, case and point," He gestured to himself and grinned as he tapped his cigar "But you see, with my being here I can give you great pieces of machinery like this," The tarp was pulled off the large mech beside him, revealing the prototype Atlesian Paladin Midnight had heard so much about "Fresh off the Atlesian factory lines, even managed to get it a little earlier than expected, think of it as an early Christmas present. That you, noble people will be able to crush these insignificant kingdoms into the ground with."

"Why would you help us? What's in it for you?" A few of the unconvinced recruits voiced.

"I am so very glad you asked," Roman bowed and stomped out his cigar with his cane "Because I, like you, share a common enemy: the ones in control, the military, the government, even the schools! The dirty rotten organizations pulling the strings, the ones to blame for your lot in life. And they're all pests that need to be dealt with!" He grinned bowed "Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around. No offense to any rodents in the room."

Midnight noticed a flash and he darted forward, ice encased his left forearm as Blake descended towards Roman and he slid in between them. Roman recoiled in shock, the guards shouted and the recruits quickly darted to where they were being told to go, Roman gave Midnight a pat on the shoulder and leaned forward as Blake kicked off the ice on his arm and landed in the crowd.

"I still don't trust you, kid." Roman sneered

"Fine, by me, I'm not here for your trust." Midnight growled, the extra layer on his voice causing even Roman to take a quick step away from him "However, I was told to keep you alive. So that is what I will do. Fortunately for you, I'm the best bodyguard around." He mimicked Roman's earlier movement and gave him a slight bow, to which Roman just scoffed at.

A gunshot rang out and the lights flickered off, glass shattered and Midnight watched Roman board the Paladin and charge through the wall after Blake and Sun "Send a Bullhead to my location, I'm going to make sure our new partner doesn't get himself killed."

The lieutenant nodded his head quickly "New recruits, follow me." He waved his hand for a moment, after he was confident they were following him he left as Midnight darted through the gaping hole in the wall and after the Paladin.

Midnight ripped his head back as Weiss rapier flew passed his head, carving through his mask on the right side of his face, the mask clattered to the ground in two halves and Midnight ducked her second thrust and rotated on his foot slamming a powerful punch into Weiss's guard that sent her sliding away from him.

He stomped his foot and threw his hand towards her, a spear of Ice broke the ground beside him and flew towards her chest, she jumped back and Midnight's fist crackled with lighting as he slammed it into the ground, showering the area with concrete dust and obscuring Weiss's view of him before he darted away.

He was confident Weiss would beat him to Roman as long as he didn't attempt to increase his speed in anyway, the action at least made it look like he had delayed her for a moment.

As he predicted, he caught up to Roman after the man had already lost one of the arms on the Paladin, he approached the mute with the parasol silently, she didn't move to acknowledge his presence, but she was obviously aware he was there.

He watched Yang tear the remaining arm free of the Paladin's body and he let out a sigh "Ladies first?" He offered with a wide grin.

The girl glanced at him lazily and smirked before gesturing for him to go ahead, Midnight rolled his eyes and stepped forward, falling like a pin as Yang was swung around wide and sent careening into the side of the Paladin, shattering the body and scattering pieces all over the ground.

Roman rolled to his feet and brushed off his suit "Just had this thing clean." He complained as Yang planted a foot and launched two projectiles at him.

Midnight flipped around him and dragged his hands up, the ice blocked the two rounds and left most of his face visible to Ruby.

"Give me a moment." Midnight requested calmly.

His copy obliged, allowing him to step in and mouth something to the small girl, the girls eyes widened and Neo landed beside him as his eyes shifted back, the same grin appeared on his face as Yang shattered the image of them.

The last thing he was Ruby fall to the ground, the moment he slipped the headphones she had bought him over his ears.


A few hours after the Painting the Town incident…

Midnight sighed as his head hit the back of his bunk, he was given a train cart to himself, as one of the now upper echelons of The White Fang, it made his life infinitely easier, but he had no doubt in his mind he was being monitored.

He tapped the edges of his bed in time to the music playing in his ears, before pressing a small device to the underside of the bed frame with a perfectly hidden flourish, just like he would brandish a knife.


Jayce smirked as the tracker he had given to Midnight suddenly beeped to life, the group around him sighed in varying degrees of relief.

"They are in the Southeast of Vale, where Mountain Glenn used to be, more specifically, right underneath it." Jayce relayed, Ruby grinned widely, although Jayce could tell it was quite forced.

"Operation Success." She shouted in celebration.

The three teams present cheered, Ruby having explained the situation to both JNPR and the other members of Midnight's team, they had been in unanimous agreement to help in whatever way they could.

Ruby rung her hands together nervously.

Be safe Midnight. She all but prayed as she stared at the steadily blinking red dot on the small map Jayce had created.


A/N: Confessions, Successful infiltrations and a little bit of action, I'm actually really happy with this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoyed it as well, I'll probably do one or two chapters centering around Midnight's time in the White Fang. And to answer any of you that are wondering what I plan to do about the dance, it will still happen. Just not in the same time as the show, it'll be a little bit later. When more of the exchange students arrive and more towards the tournament, because the dance right in the center of first year always struck me as odd.

So, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you guys in the next one! Peace!