Chapter 11

(A/N): Finally, here's the next chapter. I have the next like 2, 3 already made, I just have to check them for grammar errors and shit like that. The chapters seem to get loner as I write them, they seemed so short when I made the skeleton. I'm like dying right now, I've got homework to finish, a test in the morning, and a PT session at 0500, most likely in the rain. Dip is the only think keeping me awake. That and the need to finish this and use it as aa excuse to procrastinate. At least it's only a half day. Hope this makes up for lost time and please R n' R. it helps me figure out what I need to fix.

"So tell me again why are we going to the hanger so early?" Weiss asked annoyed at their young leader. Team RWBY were on their way to see sergeant Banks and his staff to see what they were up to since they haven't been patrolling the school since Ironwood stayed over.

"Because Weiss, I wanted to see if they're okay." Ruby stated. "If you haven't noticed no one has really seen them since Friday."

"After what happened I can imagine why they would want to be left alone." Blake stated. "Tt must've been difficult to have to go through all that chaos."

"I think they handled it pretty well." Yang commented. "Remember those videos, those terrorists never stood a chance."

"Just because they handled it doesn't mean they're okay Yang. Remember what they said when they arrived? They're a research company. While they say its primarily for defense research, they never said they were professional soldiers. They most likely never expected to experience something like that." Blake corrected.

"What makes you say that?" Ruby turned around, now walking backwards.

"I saw Wade and Sledge leaving Professor Ozpin's office and Wade didn't look too good…." Thinking back to the night of the attack.

"Which another is reason we shouldn't be bothering them right now."

"Bothering who?" Rounding the corner of the building Pitt greet the four of them. "Morning girls." Taking another puff of his cigarette he stood next to the hanger door dressed in light gray boots and utes.

"Morning Mr. Pitt!" Ruby chirped. "How are you?"

"I'm fine Ruby, and can you stop calling me mister… I'm a little too young to be called that by you guys." Finishing his cigarette, he continued while putting it out with the heel of his boot. "So what can I help you girls with?"

"We actually came down to see what you guys were up to." Yang said with a smile.

"Oh, well see for yourself." Opening the door, he let the girls inside. Looking around everything was a mess. Supply crates, duffle bags and disassembled gear littered the hanger. At one end of the hanger two rows of five cots had been set up and an additional transport had been allowed to dock.

"What happened here?" Weiss asked, put off by the hanger's current state.

"Did we miss a party?" Yang sounded disappointed.

"No, nothing happened. Sgt. Banks just took the squad General Ironwood had assigned him for morning PT." Pitt explained.

"You mean to go haze them." In the center of the hanger, Sledge and Auburn sat around a set of cheap patio furniture. "Banks went to go haze the hell out of them." Sledge repeated, flipping a page in his book.

"What's hazing?" Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Think of it like an initiation. A very painful and humiliating initiation." Auburn answered with a bored tone. Her hologram lying on the table, string at the ceiling.

"So like the initiation to enroll into beacon?" Blake asked, trying to understand the explanation.

"Yes and no." Sitting at the table, Pitt tried to explain as best as he could. "Your initiation served a purpose, to test your combat abilities."

"Or some shit like that." Sledge interrupted, writing something in his book.

"Yeah, something like that. Except Hazing is done just to ruin someone's day." His explanation didn't help, the four girls still trying to understand why they would do that. "Anyways, where's Sgt. Ortiz?"

"Her Hidey hole." Sledge answered.

"Frost?"

"Making new toys." Auburn spoke before sledge could. She sat up and stretch while yawning.

"Should I…."

"I would. He ran off screaming 'I have an awesome Idea!' and I'm not looking for that headache." Breaking eye contact with his book, Sledge shot Pitt a look that clearly said "You go do it."

Standing up, Pitt let out a sigh, "Fine, fine. I'll go look for him. I mean, I would hate to disrupt your reading." He said sarcastically while walking away. Reaching the door, it swung open and sent him to the floor. In the doorway Frost shouted while throwing a metallic object into the room.

"HEY GUYS!" A wide smile on his face. "LOOK WHAT I MADE!" A metal tube landed on the table. Looking at the strange tube, Sledge and Auburn's eye widened with shock. As the girls kept examining he object, Auburn receded into the helmet and Sledge closed his eyes and cover his ears, muttering a single word.

"Fuck."

*Bang*

With dust as the explosive, the flashbang had enough force to knock Auburn and Sledge from the table. The four girls on the other hand had their aura passively shielding them from the blast, yet they would still suffer from its effects.

"What in remnant happened!?" Wiess shouted, feeling around her hands landed on Ruby's shoulder.

"I don't know! Yang? Is that you?" Reaching behind her she felt around with one hand while the other was rubbing her eyes.

"Hey!" Weiss yelped. "Watch where your hands are going!"

"Sorry!"

"Why does it feel like I just got kicked in the head?!" Holding her head, ears pounding like drums, Yang struggled to remain standing. Stumbling backwards she tripped over Auburn, who said nothing, and sat on her rear till the effects began to fade.

Blake was the only one still at the table. It appeared as if she was suffering the most, clutching her ears with her head between her thighs. "My ears!" She shouted in pain. "My eyes! What happened!?"

Used to the effects and the split second of preparation, Sledge unsteadily rose to his feet. His vision slowly returning he carefully moved around the incapacitated girls and stumbled in Frost's direction. "FROST!" He shouted, his stumble quickly steadied and became a sprint. "WHAT THE EVER LIVING FUCK!" Frost responded with a firm middle finger and disappeared out the door with Sledge following seconds behind. One by one the girls eventually made their way back to the table, still dealing with the residually effects such as hearing loss.

Tired of lying on the floor he collected Auburn and shuffled to the table setting her down across from the girls. Before he took his seat she asked him a question

"Sooooo Pitt, why did you bring them here? Trying to find a girlfriend?" She didn't even bother to materialize as she teased him.

"No!" He blurted out, praying that the four students didn't hear her. "Nothing like that, they just wanted to make sure we were alright."

Eyeing the four girls, she carefully examined each one. "The one in black is the cutest in my opinion."

"What?" Barely hearing her, Blake continued to massage the base of her bow.

"Damn it Auburn!" Pitt cried, his face turning red at her assumptions.

"Aww look at you, getting all flustered." She teased. "My baby is growing up so fast."

"You're supposed to pick on Wade! Not me!"

"But she's asleep, and I'm sooooo bored!" She sighed. "So anyways, how are you four doing?"

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF DUST WAS THAT?!" Wiess shouted, slamming her hands on the table causing auburn to bounce several times. "how can you be so irresponsible and throw things like that around?"

"Weiss calm…" Yang tried to calm her friend down but she cut her sentence short.

"No! He just threw…. Whatever that was with no regard for anyone's safety! We could've been seriously injured!"

"It's a flashbang." Pitt tossed out.

"It's nonlethal princess." Auburn spat back. "And if that words too big for you, it means it wasn't designed to kill, only disable. We know exactly what we're doing so you should keep your assumptions to yourself."

"That doesn't justify his reckless behavior!"

"Calm down Wiess, they said it wasn't going to kill us." Trying again to calm her Yang's attempt failed.

"Look around yang, this place is a mess, hey throw weapons around for fun, and they act like children! Ozpin made a mistake to hire these people."

"Last I checked one of these 'children' kicked your entitled ass up and down the arena." Auburn said with a sly grin, now materializing to show her face and enjoy Weiss's reaction. She finally ended her rant, unable to for a respond to the A.I.'s remark. The door to the hanger opened with Sgt. Banks casually jogging to the table, dressed in full combat gear.

"I'm back!" He hollered out cheerfully. "Oh hello girls." Greeting them he took a seat across from them.

"Morning Mr. banks." Ruby chirped.

"Good morning." Blake politely greeted

"Morning." Sounding like she was fighting a hangover, Yang greeted the sergeant.

Wiess remained silent, glaring at Auburn.

"Morning Sgt." Pitt said, taking a seat next to Ruby. She smiled and waved to which he returned the gesture with his own smile. "So where's the rest of them?"

Looking at his wrist pad, he pointed to the door and counted down. "Three… two… one…" Right on cue the group came stumbling into the hanger, drenched in sweat and on the verge of passing out. "Right there." Getting up he stood in front of them as they hastily made a formation. "Platoon, atten-hut!" The tired solders snapped to attention, struggling to remain standing. "Its 1045, come back at 1300 and finish organizing the hanger. FALLOUT!"

"AYE AYE SIR!" They shouted back in unison and fell to the floor exhausted. Some wobbled to the showers while several darted for the trash can to vomit.

"They didn't do too bad." Banks commented once he made back to his seat. "They made to about zero nine before they started breaking off. Much longer than I expected." Smiling he removed his helmet and produced a flask, taking a gulf, he offered it to Pitt who hesitantly declined. "So what are…"

"Are you drinking?" Weiss finally spoke, no longer able remain silent.

"Noooooooooo…." Banks smiled like a child, dragging his answer out.

"Unbelievable! Even their leader is a child!" Pointer her finger at the young sergeant, her friends quietly watched the heiress vent.

"Isn't ruby a child?" Pitt pointed out.

"Hey!"

"He's not wrong." Shocked ruby turned to face her introverted friend.

"Who's side are you on Blake!" Blake could only shrug at the question.

"So tell me Weiss, how should a 'good leader' behave?" Banks said using air quotes for good leader.

"They need to be responsible for starters."

Pausing he closed his flask and rested his chin on his hand. "I see. Ruby, did you finish your homework?" He gave ruby a curious look, waiting for her answer.

"Yes…" She hesitantly mumbled.

"Did you?" This time raising an eyebrow.

"….no" She said meekly, looking away from Weiss's glare.

"Very well, next."

"They need to act in a professional manner, something you clear are not doing." Throwing out the next reason she crossed her legs and arms.

"Okay. Ruby do you wanna shoot one of our weapons?"

"Yes!" Her response was instantaneous, slamming her hands on the table with eyes full of excitement. Seeing Weiss's glare, she slowly sat back down. "I mean, yes, I would like to shoot a rifle please."

Smiling he pointed to Pitt. Giving a nod back he collected his rifle, an ammo can and a pair of grenades for his launcher. Walking with ruby who ran circles around him in an uncontrollable excitement, they left for the school's range.

"Can the wo of you step outside for a second?" Pointing at Yang and Blake, they looked at each other and complied. "And take Auburn with you please." The three of them said nothing as they exited the room, leaving Banks alone with Weiss. The two of them stared at one another for several minutes before Banks spoke again. "You're not wrong, those two traits do play a role for picking a decent squad leader."

"But." Wiess asked, still sitting with a scowl.

"But those don't necessarily mean to much in a firefight. You can be well mannered, responsible, smart and even experienced. But that won't mean much if your subordinates don't trust you. My friends trust me with their lives, and the feeling is mutually. I trust them with mine. I bet if you asked Ruby, she would tell you she felt the same way." His playfully tone disappeared, replaced with the serious one that she saw the day of their mock fight. "Now that doesn't mean I expect them to blindly follow orders, I expect the opposite. If they see a flaw or have a better idea, I'll listen and take it into consideration. But the six of us have fought together for years and the bond we share is what makes us so effective."

Wiess sat quietly, processing his explanation. After a moment she spoke. "That doesn't excuse their behavior."

"no, it really doesn't." He chuckled. "But I enjoy seeing them relax and unwind. It's a nice change of pace."

"What do you mean by that?" Her curiosity peeked at his ambiguous statement. Before he could reply the door slammed open. Glynda stormed in with sledge and frost he suspended midair by the blonde assistant.

"Professor Ozpin asked that I not interfere with you or your team's activities." Dropped them with a solid thud. "But I advise that you keep better control of them." Stressing the last part, she stormed out and the two began brawling on the floor.

"And that's it for today Wiess, someday I'll tell you more about us but that day is not today." He stood up and stretch his back, his muscles starting to stiffen from his workout. "Enjoy the rest of your day. And can you tell the girls to bring Auburn back, just have them set her next to those two. I'm sure she would like the show."

Standing up she gave Banks a light bow and left, pausing at the two rolling on the floor she shook her head.