Hello with another chapter of this story. I hope you enjoy this one, because I know I do. Hopefully I can pick up some more writing from now on but please bare with me. By the way, read this story with some noir mix on youtube because that's how I right em. Particularly I was listening to: "Jazz Noir | 1 Hour Jazz Noir Saxophone Music | Jazz Noir Music Playlist". So enjoy the chapter you lovely detective lovers!

A Beacon in the Night:

Jaune is called down to Beacon after saving two of Ozpin's students, but he has no idea what the mad headmaster could want with him. Suitably curious and slightly irritable, Jaune plans to go in there demanding answers. And he may just get them.

0-0-0-0

That damned Ozpin, always stringing people along for one reason or another. Now don't get me wrong, the guy is smart; smarter than your average bear that's for sure. But, the guy runs one of the best academies in Remnant history and you don't do that by being a dull knife if you get what I mean.

Still, I was tired, covered in sweat and blood, and currently in a police car with my new pal: Sun. Needless to say, between my late-night irritability and the heated argument between his girlfriend or whatever, things were pretty awkward not counting the fact we were in the back of a vehicle designed for perps.

"So kid, you go to Beacon?" I asked, the conversation, and mood, had gotten rather dry in the past few minutes so might as well try a different route.

Blondie scratched his nose with a small, sheepish smile. "Well, not exactly. Y'see I'm here for the Vytal Festival thingy right? And I'm actually a student from Haven, all the way in Mistral."

I whistled softly at that, Mistral huh, I never was one for them fighting tournament things, just an excuse for a bad happening if you ask me. Still, if this kid was in there he had to have some skill, atleast more than me and, watching him beat down those grunts, I wouldn't underestimate him as far as I could throw him. The car skidded down the road at a speed I had previously thought illegal, heh, not for cops I guess.

Cops, a real love-hate relationship right there. Half the time cops were getting in my way, when justice needed to be served or someone needed to be saved they'd tell me to back off and let the boys in blue handle it. Yeah right, sit on their ass and tell me to back off to save face was more like it. The precinct downtown didn't like me cause I always stuck my nose where it didn't belong.

Smiling bitterly, I thought about the "love" side to our relationship. Yeah, it wasn't all withered roses with the cops; no, sometimes you really did need the police force for a score too big to settle on your own. They liked to give me the tin-made awards whenever I showed them up, handed the things out like candy back in the day (to little knowledge of the public) in the end it was just there to keep the cops from looking incompetent.

I shook the reminiscing out of my head, I needed to have my questions locked and loaded for this meeting. The car wheeled up to the bullhead docks to take us there, waiting at said docks was Miss Goodwitch, old bag had that glare that could scare the roar out of a beowulf. I just hoped it was for the dumbass kids I had to save back there, seriously, did they not have ankle bracelets for the little munchkins or something?

Sun and I, along with the remaining cavalcade of heroes, Ruby and Blake since Penny took off with some Atlas folk, stepped out of the cars and went to go meet Miss Goodwitch. That look told me everything I needed to know about her thoughts on the situation, I was just glad it wasn't leveled at me.

"I'll have you know that I am spectacularly disappointed with each and every one of you." yeah, she had that "mom glare" going for her alright. The kids, for their part, looked down in shame, save for Blake who just looked like she didn't want to deal with Goodwitch staring at her.

"You are lucky Mister Arc was there to offer support or we would be sending mortuary notes home to your respective families!" I breathed deeply at that, I hated when people put me on the spot. And if you needed an example as to why, when she said that, Blake's head snapped up and swiveled between us, half disgusted and half outraged.

3... 2... 1... "What are you talking about?! He killed innocent, if misguided, faunus!" Blake shouted, much to the surprise of Goodwitch and her maybe-boyfriend Sun, Yep, there it is.

"M-Miss Belladonna! I will not have you shout at me or Mister Arc over the deaths of a few terrorists."

"They aren't just terrorists! They were people-"

"People that would have killed you, Ruby, Penny, Sun, and me without a second thought." I said with a growl, this girl needed a reality check and I was about to pay a deposit. "I don't give a good goddamn if you don't agree, your feelings don't matter one iota to me. But the girls and Sun shouldn't die because you lack the ability to make tough decisions, now if I hadn't been there and one of them died how would their respective teams and loved ones react?"

Blake didn't say anything, shock and outrage molding into hot, genuine shame as she looked between her two companions who wouldn't stare at her straight. "Yeah, you see, you didn't think. That's because you're a stupid, naive, hopeless, short-sighted little prat unfit for hunter service."

I had suitably paid my due to the little brat, so I boarded a bullhead without another word and told him to get me to Beacon, I had a meeting with a certain Headmaster...

0-0-0-0

"Ozpin," I drawled slowly, said man sitting at his desk with his fingers interlocked. "You got a reason you called me up here tonight?"

"How about we start with the questions I know you undoubtably have." Ozpin said, tch the man is as unfazing as ever.

"Fine, first things first: Why on Remnant did you trust me with something like this!" I shouted, Ozpin sighed at looked back at me, still as unwavering as the day I first met him.

"Why wouldn't I Mister Arc? You work outside the boundaries of my usual associates making you an unknown to the Queen and her allies, beyond that your undoubted fortitude and sense of good inherited from your family line made you quite trustworthy to me." Ozpin closed his eyes for a moment and sipped his coffee. "I apologize, would you like some?"

"No. I wouldn't." I growled out through gritted teeth. "Ozpin, do you know what kind of danger you foisted on me? What kind of things could happen to the people I care about?"

"Please Mister Arc, you and I both know you are quite able-bodied. Why, was it not you who was awarded the Vale Police Honor's Medal 4 times in a row for taking down 2 crime families?" Ozpin smirked that shit-eating smirk of his.

I scoffed at the very words. "Please Oz, if I took those two families down you're actually two midgets in a suit."

Ozpin atleast seemed amused at my analogy, well atleast one of us found this shit funny. "But you trying to slither your way out of this aside, why did you trust me with this."

"And my point still stands Mister Arc: your character made me trust you beyond what you may believe, and furthermore, your strength lies not entirely in that revolver of your's but rather up here." he commented, rather entertained at the conversation and tapping a single finger against his temple.

"Alright cut the shit for now Oz, what did you want to talk about." Ozpin's smile faded and he cleared his throat, Oh boy, me and my big mouth.

"Yes, anyways, we have concrete reason to believe the "queen" is currently infiltrating or has infiltrated this school." I narrowed my eyes at that, how? How does someone who can level down entire kingdoms get into an Academy without detection? Well... I suppose I just answered my own question then didn't I?

"And what does that have to do with me for now?" I asked, completely genuine. I was following Torchwick's trail not some random student out of the lineup.

"Yes, well we also have, although unconfirmed, reason to believe this student will be continually exchanging information between herself and Roman Torchwick." he said, adjusting his glasses. "We believe if you follow up on Roman you may have some clue as to who exactly our infiltrator is. Please, keep your eyes and ears open for the time being."

"That reminds me, Roman was working with the Fang to hijack some dust shipments by the way." gears seem to run inside old Ozpin's head before he responded after a moment.

"How much dust?"

"Well it's hard to say in whole, but this time they were atleast going for 8 or 9 full cargo crates of the stuff. Combine that with the robberies for the past months and the attack on the Schnee train nearly last year... That'd be enough for almost an army..." I trailed off, trying to sort through this with a calculated mind.

"And, once more, what do you think of it?"

"I've seen this before Oz, but on a much smaller scale. However, it all follows a basic pattern: when some gang or syndicate steals cartloads of dust, that means they're planning something big and need the 'oomph' to back it up." I bit my lip, the pieces falling vaguely into place. "with the Fang in tow... Oz, whoever Roman is working for wants him to use this shit to arm what could possibly be an attack army of faunus radicals on Vale!"

Ozpin sipped his coffee, something glinting in his eyes. "Yeah, it all makes sense now. This "Queen", whoever she is, no matter how strong, couldn't do it on her own she'd need bodies, lots and lots of disposable bodies. And who better than idealistic faunus volunteers who have it so ingrained in their heads that they're right that they'd never doubt an order given by high command? By Oum's grace, this- this is something else."

I shook my head, trying to dislodge the thoughts before I went down the rabbit hole and never came back out. "Ozpin, I don't know what kind of firepower you're packing or what kind of people you got, but you need to pull everything you can to slow this down or cripple or whatever."

"Thank you Mister Arc, you may return home for now. This... is something that will require me to meet with some people. I trust you will keep this meeting to your absolute disgression." I nodded limply, I know what I needed right now: thick, strong booze; enough to kill a horse and strong enough to melt wood down to the fibers if only to stave off the oncoming coronary I felt like I was about to have.

I turned to shuffle out onto the elevator when he mentioned one last thing. "I will prepare a file on your next lead as it comes to Roman Torchwick, I will provide as much assistance as I can but I am already stretched thin as it is so do understand."

I nodded once more rather limply before entering the elevator and heading straight to my safe haven: The Crow Bar.

0-0-0-0

I slammed what must have been the third or fourth Rob Roy as I enjoyed the rather well-tasting peanuts of my favorite dive. On its better days the Crow Bar was a rather clean looking and respectable establishment, but when you stay open 24 hours a day from Monday-Friday that atmosphere tends to die somewhere around 9:30, and right now it was an early-morning 1:37 AM.

Edgar, the bartender, was the graveyard shift manager and knew me as his most favorite regular. He and I bonded with my frequent visits to the point he would ward off curious folk who saw me here at the earlier hours of the day, or rather later in this sense. He never did ask questions, and best of all, he never cut me off unless he thought I'd end up hurting someone or myself.

When I barged in there with the "Jauney-boy Look", as the inner city folk who knew me dubbed it, he had no qualms about shoveling the liquor into my hands. You see, I was always a Night Owl and liked to do my business in the dark confines of the night. The bright, cracked moon was my morning sun and the stars my smeared clouds in the sky, so if you wanted to catch me you don't mind staying up a little later and sometimes missing the "Midnight Movie hour" on cable television.

Maybe it's because the shadiest of dealings don't really happen in broad daylight, maybe it's because I don't enjoy looking at myself or others in the full glory of the sun, or maybe I just like the relative quiet. I felt my scroll buzz and dreaded opening it after such a long day but did so reluctantly-

Hey Jaune, wanted to check how things are going out there in Vale with the Vytal Festival and all. I know work may be going kind of tough right now so if you need us to send you some food just ask- Mom

I bit back a growl, it's not that I didn't love mom or anything but our relationship was kinda strained with my whole issues with my father. Still, I could see she tried to make up for it anyhow but the Rob Roy was talking for me like a sock puppet with a hand shoved up its ass.

It's 1:37 AM, we should both be in bed but I'm drinking to forget today's shit fest at the healthy age of 19. Work is fine, how's everyone else? -Jaune

...

I see, sorry for asking something like that. Everyone is good, Cressida earned an astounding A- on Practical Grimm Combat at Sanctum yesterday! She still says she wants to grow up to be a huntress to carry on your dream and impress you, I think she wants to come visit and try sparring with you. Noire, is well, Noire, and you know how cool she finds you and your job! Your father... whether you believe it or not the fact you drink because of what he said really eats at him, he doesn't have the same passion you know? Not to say we want you to give up what you have, but I think he'd enjoy it if you came back to grab a beer, watch a game, and play some catch. I love you, we love you. -Mom

...

I love you too mom, I'm heading to bed- Jaune

Whenever mom texted it always killed my appetite for alcohol, maybe because I dreaded to think of the heartache I probably cause her with the drinking and such. Dad... when this is all over and I'm sitting pretty on my mountain of cash and admiration from Ozpin I'll head back home and show the old man I still got the pitcher's arm.

For now though, I needed some sleep so I could whoop that ginger fuck's ass and earn that pile of money and admiration. Hmm, I wonder if it's too much to ask if Ozpin could kneel down and offer me his personal thanks.

I shuffled back to my dingy apartment, up the three flights of stairs, that did little for my mood, and through the door into home sweet home. I shut, and locked, the door behind me and was able to crack a smile as my longtime companion and co-captain to my personal island -Wyatt Earp- bounded his way over to me from his now empty food dish.

Wyatt Earp was Tauro's golden lab but he pawned him off on me when he left, said he wouldn't feel right if his poor dog picked up on his bad habits while down in Vacuo. The damn thing was his surrogate son current, P.I. notwithstanding, and it was now my duty to take care of him. But, to be fair, the adorable sack of fur and fat did brighten my mood substantially and motivated me to keep the work coming. Ask any dog owner if it's cheap owning one and they'll headbutt you right in your ignorant face, so I filled his food dish for the third our fourth time today and slumped onto my couch.

I flicked the TV on as I settled myself in by stripping down to my skivvies and wrapping myself up. The television was playing a rather, risque, movie and I was about to flip the channels when I gave it a little thought.

"Eh, I think you've earned Jaune my man." I "got prepared" as any teenage boy would tell you when I heard Wyatt Earp whine from the kitchen. "Oh go lay down ya mutt, this is my house not yours so don't get any ideas just because your my first lieutenant."

I'll spare you the rest of that tale but I'm glad to say I went to bed feeling satisfied with my work for the evening...

0-0-0-0

I cracked open my eyes to Wyatt Earp nuzzling my limp hand, guess that means it's time for breakfast then. I checked the clock anyhow and was pleased to find it squarely at 8:38 PM, perfect for my time. I hauled up my still rather shaky body and poured my dog some of his favorite food, and then I made my way towards a much needed, and much appreciated, shower for myself.

The hot water was a blessing from the gods as I cleaned myself up, an early morning drinking excursion, a meeting with Ozpin, and a fight down at the docks didn't make me smell like a dozen roses y'see. After drying off it was time for breakfast; the most important meal of the day or so my mother would call it. I poured some Pumpkin Pete's cereal into an old bowl and ate it happily while watching Late Nights with Sevag Martins.

I chuckled to myself as I thought of my more immature younger twins of the family, Mellony and Mindy, who would always complain about having to each "yucky vegetables" and other stuff mom would make from the family garden. Suck it kids when you're a big, bag, irresponsible adult like me you can have sugar cereal for dinner!

Finishing my meal I shrugged on a relatively clean ensemble of my usual silver-age detective get-up as my friends liked to call it. And yes, before you make a snarky comment, I did indeed have friends of my own who weren't criminals or other shady individuals.

I hit the pavement as the evening traffic descended and I made my way back to HQ, or my office as others liked to point out, to plan my next move. Oz said he would have something ready for me by the time I got back but that could be-

Aaaaand there it was, sitting, posted, to the door of my office out in the open, was a manila folder like the original case file. By Oum Ozpin what the fuck are you thinking? If someone had taken even one. single. peak at this shit I cursed his name mentally as I opened my office door and entered in with near silence. I opened the folder and skimmed through it looking for all the important bits...

Here it was! Torchwick and his fang buddies were theorized to be operating near Vale, close enough to strike quickly but far enough to be out of reach of normal cops, in an undisclosed location. If I had to hazard a guess, after years of complicated work in the Underworld and an Arc's natural intuition, they'd need somewhere they could stay relatively safe in using conventional arms or means, large enough to hold their forces, secret enough or dangerous enough to keep away any wanderers or hunters, and innocuous enough so that it could be right in front of us.

The Emerald Forest? No, Oz had that placed locked down pretty tight. Forever Fall forest? No, with frequent trips by survey teams, the occasional huntsman, and the loads of field trips done by Beacon they would have been found. Maybe it really was in the city then, but where on Remnant could it be? If their group was sprinkled throughout the city in small pockets information could be leaked rather easily, and worse anonymously, not to mention the countless issues it would raise. For recruitment drives and pandering, yes Vale was essential for getting more young terrorists to join the Fang and the city worked for what could be a somewhat middle ground for the shady leaders of this operation.

I suppose it could be... No! No way in hell would Torchwick be that dumb to go there with his Fang pals. But, on the other hand, if he was getting orders and not giving them he may not have a choice. It certainly fit the criteria well enough: innocuous, dangerous, could be relatively safe for those in large forces with plenty of guns, and wouldn't be hard to set up a temporary base especially with the undoubted power the ringleader(s) would have.

"Mountain Glenn, goddamn this whole case to hell." I muttered bitterly, drawing forth from my desk drawer and smudged glass and some hard-hitting whiskey that'd I no doubt need for this. Mountain Glenn was a wasteland formerly home to a couple thousand civilians before it was overrun by Grimm due to a lack of competence, actual defenses, and untested tactics that ultimately proved disastrous. Now the place was just home to a heap of scattered Grimm and what could be our faunus friends and their, possibly gay, ginger crime boss.

Yeah, with guy-liner like that you know he was chasing- actually, never mind that for now. I needed to focus and get this to Ozpin, I withdrew my scroll and tapped the contact listing his name as the line immediately began to ring.

"Hello? Mister Arc it is rather late and I-"

"Shut up and listen to me Ozpin, I think I cracked the code with where our friends are hiding out."

"Already? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely not, but this is the only, admittedly shitty, lead I have."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Oz, I think they're operating in Mountain Glenn."

"... That's... Disconcerting news indeed. But I suppose it makes sense if it is a little dangerous for our enemies."

"I don't think the crime boss and terrorists truly care all that much, but, Oz, Mountain Glenn has tunnels leading right to the damn city. I should know, my dad was forced to clean the area up after it fell."

"I... need to talk to Ironwood about this revelation. For now, Jaune, I would like to ask if you might drift over to that side of the city. You need not enter by any means but you may be able to dig up something."

"Fine, but Ozpin..."

"Yes Mister Arc?"

"Make it 50,000 lien when I get this shit done, along with everything else or I won't-"

"-Done, I have another forward payment sent to you for now and you terms will be met when you complete your mission."

I was surprised at that, even for me that was pretty bold to ask a Headmaster but I suppose it was to show how serious this was. And don't get me wrong, trust me I get how bad this is -I'm the one risking my goddamn neck for pete's sake- but he sure did agree fast. We exchanged goodbyes and I left quickly after that, I needed to hit up the side near Mountain Glenn to get some info.

That's when I felt it, the hairs on the back of my neck standing rigid where they were. The sort of uncomfortable feeling you get when you're alone in a big house on a Saturday night, I was being watched my aura could tell me that. Just who, I didn't have a clue but if I guessed that if I just went down this empty alleyway I'd-

The attack came swiftly from above and, if I didn't know their presence, I'd be dead but I dodged just in time. My assailant skidded past me, deeper into the alley but still close enough to give me a good view of them.

A girl, a faunus girl by the looks of things -the uniform and mask gave it away- she seemed trained somewhat. She was currently wielding what looked to be a staff that had a pair of blades facing opposite directions on the ends, by the swift attack and the weapon I hazard a guess that she was formerly a student of one academy or another.

"Didn't your mother teach you it was rude to attack a man behind his back?" I fake chided, she huffed and bared her teeth like she was a real wolf or some shit. Just another kid with a stupid sense of morality, whatever, she attacked first so she was gonna die.

"Listen to me human, our leader and benefactors wish for you to end this fruitless case." she grit out, but, once more, rather non-threatening to some like me. "You have no idea what on Remnant you have gotten yourself-"

I cut her off by drawing Verdict and firing off some round at her, she blocked them but her guard was broken momentarily. So, in the absence of thinking time, I rushed her with a forward kick and sent her flying into a brick wall.

Aura or not, blunt impacts cause the same internal damage they would normally do. That's why aura doesn't account for knockouts or head trauma, anyways I fired once more not giving her a moment. In a flustered panic she rolled out of the way and tried to fight me, heh, whoever her leader was they thought I was all huff and no puff.

Student or not, arrogance kills people, more so than curiosity, I crossed the gap and kicked her stupid little polearm away from her and cocked the hammer of my gun. She gulped and removed her mask revealing a brunette 17 something kid who looked like she would have done well in one of them academies.

"L-Look, I'm sorry about the whole "trying to kill you thing" but I was just acting under orders."

"And I don't care, you took the chance and lost so tell me: what does your boss know about me."

"F-From what I understand not much other than Ozpin has you working on this case. They've known since the dock incident but I'm not sure what else-" I decided not to waste bullets and fired a single shot into her head. Quick, painless, unexpected, and a mercy on my part.

Still, this was bad. Her employers knew I was on the trial and that only meant bad times ahead, this one would come up missing and they'd put the pieces together meaning this was my one freebie. Sigh, why can't the universe cut me a brake for just a single moment in time?

I could leave her here, but I got the feeling they had enough of my residue to finger me for the crime. White Fang or not, this was gonna slow me down if I let her rot away here. So, pulling out my scroll, I dialed a quick number I had memorized and it picked up after the second ring-

"Melanie, I need your help with a body."

0-0-0-0

So what did you guys think? The second installment and the plot escalates! If you're wondering how Jaune put it together so fast, well he's a gruff, gritty guy who knows his work and has a decent head on his shoulder. Combine that with their intel and some things I just didn't mention in the file and *bam we have a location.

Yeah Jaune is kinda ruthless but it's kill or be killed on the grimy, underworld streets of Vale. It ain't all sunshine and roses and the folks who do the dirty work know that lessons well. I hope this kinda reads like one of those old detective comic books because I try to write them that way, so thanks for reading and check back in soon for another entry off of the my favorite horror writer known for his affiliation with the deep blue sea. 5 points for whoever guesses right.

XOXOXO

CoffeyJoe