Okay guys, I will admit to have letting this lapse a bit, but I'm sure that's not too much of a problem here. This is another alternate teams thing, but this is going to be worth it, I promise you that.

Blake had read about Beacon Academy before.

This wasn't the original building. The first one had been built into the mountains themselves, back when the people of Remnant had barely managed to throw back the Grimm so many centuries ago. It only lasted for a few years, before an actual building was made, but it was good enough.

Even the building wasn't relatively that old. A great many incidents had occurred that damaged the building, from accidental fires, to enemy sabotage during wars, and even the Colourful Revolution saw the place be sacked. There wasn't much of the building left.

An act of revolution. Violence against an authority without a heart. Blake almost chuckled to herself.

People liked to pretend that the uprising eighty years ago had been a matter of a few marches by humans. Anyone who had done their reading, however, knew that to be different. Blood had ran through the streets, law enforcement turned on one another, and a whole government collapsed.

But why change a story when it was easier to lecture the disadvantaged about the evils of standing up for themselves?

The Faunus were supposed to have been given the same rights as humans after the Rights Revolution. Arms were decommissioned, the barricades torn down, and demands for economic reparations dropped. All for the promise of being treated as more than animals.

What they got was a few crumbs in ending what the dictatorships introduced, and a promise to give Faunus the same opportunities as humans. Nothing to actually compel people to do so, or punish them for breaking these laws, oh no. That'd be too much.

A wag of the finger was all they got, and then a stern word to Faunus communities about raising too much of a noise about it all. Blake often wondered why they thought that the White Fang wouldn't have turned violent the way they did. After so much abuse for demanding equality, a beaten animal was bound to bite back some time.

Blake didn't used to be so cynical about it. She remembered hoping for another way, praying for a way to turn the White Fang back into the group it once was.

That was before she almost lost Adam.

"Their records? Really?" Blake had sounded so unsure. The whole operation felt wrong.

"Don't pretend this isn't what they do to our people." Adam half-growled, but not at her. Blake was never the recipient of his anger, not after all they went through together. "They find out where some of these Faunus live, who they know, who they love, and strike at it."

"It just feels..." Blake didn't say wrong, as otherwise everything else they did would be wrong. "Do we need to gather Dust for this mission as well?"

"Yep. Always part of the mission now." The closest thing to an honest chuckle had come out of his mouth then. "Blake, I want to explain things, but not yet. The Commanders don't trust you yet, and I'm still making progress with the Supreme Commander."

"The one no one's seen in a while?" The rumour had been that the Supreme Commander had made an attempt on Frost Schnee himself.

It had almost succeeded. The key word being 'almost'.

Adam had tensed up on that. "He's alive. Just recovering and reclusive." The grip on his blade had then tightened. Blake had been sceptical, until she saw the man herself, but kept quiet. "Come on, grab what files you can find. If the police get near, we'll go for a fighting retreat."

What happened next had haunted Blake for so long, her nightmares slowly a few seconds into hours.

The people they were taking out were Leg-Breakers. Hired goons, humans below the poverty line at best, criminals at worst, who were tasked with keeping Faunus workers in line. They were a favourite tactic of the SDC nowadays, the justification being White Fang sympathies.

Adam and Blake's mission had been to attack one of their 'offices', more a warehouse where they stored files, weapons, and their reward in the form of substandard Dust. Only the first and last had been their concerns, as the files had personal information on the Leg-Breakers.

Their target was one of the largest, and an SDC favourite. With the files as a sword over their heads, the group would have to disband, others would be scared off, and the SDC would lose a vital tool in suppressing their workers. A slap in the face of the Schnees, and an actual triumph for the White Fang.

The guards and goons had been knocked out, on Blake's insistence, which she would always regret. At the time, she had thought it would be enough, and Adam had barely been convinced to do so.

Maybe it would have been better to have 'accidentally' tripped the alarm like she thought of doing. Maybe she should have gone with Adam in just taking them out.

Blake hadn't been the person she was now, however, so she insisted on the half-measure.

What she got in return was first the discovery that one of the Leg-Breakers hadn't been as unconscious as she and Adam had thought. The second was realising what the difference between your Aura being dormant and your Aura being active was.

The Leg-Breaker had had a knife in hand, and was apparently fearing for something. That much was why he had been quick to pierce Adam's right foreleg while they were distracted. Using the handle as leverage, dragging the blade down, the Leg-Breaker latched onto one of his shoulders and struck.

His teeth sank into the side of Adam's neck, the knife plunged into his back dozens of times, and Blake could only watch before acting. Without thinking, Gambol Shroud still sheathed in its blade form, she fired a bullet straight into the Leg-Breaker's forehead.

In the span of three seconds, Adam was in critical need of medical attention, and Blake had become a murderer.

The White Fang Commanders were only kept back from executing Blake due to Adam's insistence. Her mentor and friend was still alive, but the damage to his spine was enough to keep him bedridden and weak. It would be months before he'd be back in the field.

As punishment, Blake had to work the train robbery with Diego. They barely defeated that damn spider-machine-thing, and the train's detonation had gone according to plan. Blake realised that she had crossed a line there. Until that moment, anger at her weakness, and Adam's injury, had kept her going.

Now she was dulled to that. Almost gliding across the world she lived in, blandly accepting the new assignment that she had been given to work undercover in Beacon Academy.

The White Fang had a partner, one with an ambitious plan that they could use for their own benefit. It wasn't one of affection or trust, and Blake had the feeling that even the Commanders themselves were kept in the dark, but it was a partnership.

Blake's job was to make sure that things were looking normal, seeing if the Huntsmen and Huntresses teaching there weren't acting suspicious. That, and a certain heiress was moving to attend, and it was a rare moment to keep tabs on the girl.

All of the mission parameters had been accepted, except for one. The demand that she hide her Faunus features to allay any suspicion of her identity. Blake was done hiding who she was and the world was just going to have to accept Blake the Faunus, like it or not.

Around her were students milling about, enjoying their lives, unaware of the subjugation and oppression that the foundations of their society were built upon. Others whispered about her ears, and general dour demeanour, adding a few 'comparisons' to cats being moody.

She let it slide off her, keeping her attention on an heiress that seemed eager to hold a temper tantrum at some girl.

That was when someone bumped right at her back. Her warriors instincts panicked, and it took everything she had to not draw Gambol Shroud on whoever was stupid enough to pull that kind of stunt on her.

Turning around, masking anger with apathy instead, Blake laid eyes on the incompetent that crashed right into her.

"Sorry," The girl said, standing up. "I got distracted by the fight over there and forgot where I was going. No hard feelings?" She held out her hand.

Blake kept her apathetic glare, not in the mood for frivolities.

"It's okay." She lied. "I got distracted too. Seeing a girl act like she's seven is always kind of attention-grabbing. I don't suppose I could hear your name?"

"Of course. The name's Emerald." She said, moving a few green stray hairs away from her face. "Emerald Sustrai."

And apparently the girl before her was called Bitchy McGrumpyCat, if her general demeanour was anything to go by.

Emerald didn't like this part of the plan. If Cinder hadn't insisted the way that she did, Emerald would still be by her side and making sure that everything went as it was supposed to. Not in some school playing happy-go-lucky schoolgirl.

Lousy dumbass Torchwick, getting himself arrested. Emerald kept the curses inside her mind.

After months of vetting, research, and scouting, the proper lackey for sucking up the attention had been chosen. He was skilled, street-smart (being very generous there), and had a way with words, but not too much of either of those things to challenge them. There was even apparently a sidekick as well.

Yep, everything seemed to be going well, until one bad thing happened.

Emerald wasn't sure how it happened, but Torchwick decided to move up to Atlas for a bit, and then get himself caught by the authorities. Supposedly some big attempted robbery of a Schnee Dust Refinery, where he and his little buddy then got caught and no one had heard from them since.

The worst part was that the information they had on the guy was limited, they knew he had a sidekick, but not what they looked like. For all they knew, he might have had another, or their partnership had a bad end during that mission to Atlas.

Now he was off the grid, as in his jailing wasn't even noted, and the plan was set back. Not the best thing to happen when your leader tended to act on the cautious side of things. Soon enough, Cinder decided to have the White Fang go it alone, with no time left to find a convenient enough figure.

That had been when she turned to Emerald and Mercury for an assignment.

What if Torchwick knew that someone had been tailing him for a while? Maybe his capture in Atlas was related to that? Or if it wasn't, he just let it slip and people like Ozpin and Ironwood were investigating the issue? How would they even know?

Someone had to be on the inside, to act as Cinder's eyes and ears within Ozpin's fortress before even Phase II could be launched. There were only two people that Cinder trusted for the job, however, to Emerald's misfortune.

So now they were stuck with a bunch of brats who probably had to be taught which part of their weapon was the pointy end. Emerald didn't rate her chances that well. Not in failing to gather intel on Beacon and keeping her cover. That she could do with ease.

Making friends with a bunch of teenagers without a clue on what the world was like? That was going to be a nightmare in itself. She doubted that there was enough patience in her to do it. Mercury could at least cover it up by looking like the snarky friend. Emerald didn't go for nonsense.

Look at the Schnee and that girl! One of them was dumb enough to just be standing in the middle of the area, where anyone could hit her, while the other thought that shaking Dust everywhere was smart, while she publicly shouted at the hooded girl.

Is she even old enough for this place? Emerald thought she seemed a bit short, well so did the Schnee, but also having a bit of immaturity to her expression.

Or maybe that was just what a bunch of sheltered kids just looked like compared to her. No hard time on the streets of Mistral for them. Just sunshine and rainbows.

How Mercury managed to keep himself from barfing was beyond her. The guy just slipped into the conversation and introduced himself to the pair of girls. The girl with the hood seemed happy to not be yelled at, and the Schnee regarded him with a mixture of distaste and relief at someone else dealing with the girl.

And I'm stuck with someone who seems to hate the concept of smiling. Emerald knew some would call her hypocritical, but there was a difference. The Faunus just seemed angry at everything, while Emerald had specific, legitimate reasons to be upset.

Okay, it didn't sound the same, but shut up. She was trying.

"Mind if I get a name?" She ventured, trying to see if the Faunus would say anything.

"Blake. Blake Belladonna." 'Blake' replied not even looking Emerald in the eye.

Bitch.

"Can't we're in Beacon. So exciting, right?" She asked, feigning the enthusiasm. It was worthy enough for an award for Best Actress.

"Yeah, I guess so. Protecting the Kingdom from the dangers outside." Blake spoke those words as if they were a joke, which was a bit confusing.

Then again, Faunus tended to make depressing company.

"I know. So much fun. Hey, maybe we'll get to be in the same team?" Emerald prayed that wouldn't be the case.

"Maybe."

Don't need to sound so miserable about the idea. Emerald bit down such words. "Any idea when the opening presentation is? Don't want to get the bum seats y'know."

"Probably in half an hour, maybe twenty minutes." Blake's eyes widened a bit. "You didn't bring much stuff did you?"

Emerald's jaw tightened for a moment. Her mind scoured for an answer. "Didn't have much stuff to bring."

All she had a suitcase of essentials for Beacon, and a freshly bought Scroll with numerous 'contacts' to feed information back to whenever possible. In hindsight, maybe she should have sprung for a backpack and an additional suitcase to match the other airheads.

She then spotted a certain hypocrisy.

"You didn't bring much either."

"I brought what I needed."

The two looked at one another in awkward silence, at least it was awkward for Emerald. She was starting to doubt that the Cat-Faunus had emotions beyond apathy, and mild disapproval. As the Schnee stormed off, leaving Mercury and the girl alone, she chose to use that moment to head for the main hall.

"Well, I'll see you in the main hall." She said, giving a quick wave before heading off to somewhere else.

"Have fun." Blake replied.

Emerald bit back a cutting reply. No need to rock the boat just yet, and especially over someone who she'd probably never have to deal with again. The plan was simple, form a team with Mercury, set up stable communications with Cinder, and then begin the espionage.

It was just a matter of following the plan. Soon enough, people like Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna were going to find themselves on the decline. It'd be fun to see their little bratty elitism, or stand-offish nature would get them once Cinder got what she wanted.

No one was even suspecting a thing, as Emerald made her way in.

For the first time in a long while, Beacon was going to be successfully infiltrated.

Neo maintained that this was bullshit.

Just a month ago things seemed to be going great. She, a delicate innocent cinnamon bun of kindness, and her partner Roman were on top of the world. Well, on top of certain streets that larger fish chose to ignore, but that's a matter of semantics. They were free spirits.

No one could stop them from doing what they wanted. Yes, so long as they didn't rock the boat, but shut up, this was her moment. Everything seemed to be going just fine and dandy.

That was when Roman got the ingenious idea of going up to Atlas and trying to rob the place. As in robbing a place in the country that was in 'crack down on the White Fang' mode and thinking that would go well. Neo might have said something in protest, were she not keeping her game going.

Looking back, that was probably a terrible mistake to make.

Next thing they know, the two get surrounded by fully-trained Hunters alongside a few dozen robots, and are thrown in the slammer. Doomed to spend a few weeks in prison until Neo found a way to get the two of them out.

It didn't sound bad when phrased like that, yet it totally was.

That was when General James 'look at my big ships' Ironwood came to visit. All nice and tidy to talk to the scum of the earth, giving them a nice little offer to act in service of mankind in investigating a potential plot against Beacon. Even the great Ozpin was supposedly in on this little conspiracy.

Roman and Neo were happy to tell him where to go, when Ironwood revealed the stick. Mainly that stick being a one-way ticket to a maximum-security facility that tended to be guarded by qualified Hunters, surrounded by snowy tundra, and was where they sent the worst of the worst.

Neo, as much as it shamed her to admit it, would find it way harder to break out of a place like that. That in mind, she had signalled to Roman that taking the deal was probably their best bet. Especially compared to a cold, dark cell that they actually couldn't escape from.

Roman was whisked away to some assignment in Atlas, investigating the White Fang and all, while Neo was stuck with the other assignment. The one that almost made her scream in anger, if it didn't break the rules of her little game. The one that made her think that this Ozpin guy was a right dick.

Going undercover in Beacon Academy. Neo bitterly thought to herself.

Already she had some douche with a green mohawk ask if she lost her mother, a punch to the balls being his reward. There was even a girl with long blonde hair ruffle her head and ask if she was the school mascot, her punishment would be later, and others as well.

So what if she was somewhat smaller than the average height? Being tall was overrated! She had pride in who she was!

That didn't stop Neo from feeling somewhat like a lost little kid, however, as she stood right by the pathway towards the entrance of Beacon. Behind her was a whole load of arguments about who caused what explosion amongst some, and passive-aggressive chit-chat with others.

Another girl fast-walked next to her, not without giving a sideways glance of confusion at her, as if the girl with green hair had any reason to talk. Neo began to wonder if Ozpin made a bad call. Neo was a deadly assassin that once bit off a man's fingers for stealing her ice-cream.

How would teaching her basic stuff really be helpful? How could she fit into a school environment?

There wasn't anyone worse than her to be asked to fit into an environment like Beacon Academy!

"Excuse me," A voice said, as Neo felt two fingers tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a ginger hair, freckled girl in clothes decades out of style beam at her. "Is this the direction to the main hall?"

Neo raised an eyebrow. She didn't care what Ozpin or Ironwood might say, she was not going to compromise her fun for some school-kid punks.

"I'm sorry, you seem to be mute. Or hard of hearing. I sense that the first scenario is more likely." The girl said, before extending a hand. "My name is Penny. What's yours?"

Neo. Neo Politan. She replied with sign-language.

"It's very nice to meet you, Neo. I hope we can get along for the sake of our mission." Penny's eyes flashed, before she spoke again. "To fight evil monsters and protect the innocent."

Yeah, good for you. Whoever this Penny girl was, Neo was finding her strangely off-putting. Priding herself on getting a read on any opponent so far, there was just something off about this girl. Something that Neo didn't like.

"Would you like to be friends?" Penny spoke with such enthusiasm that it easily bolted past the line.

That being said, she seemed earnest in her request, eyes beaming with hope that this girl before her would say yes. Maybe the ginger girl didn't have many, or any, friends for obvious reasons. Maybe loneliness and social exclusion was what made her seem this way.

Still, considering the circumstances that Neo was under, there was only one true way to answer such a question.

Only one true reward for a girl like Penny.

"I can't believe she spat in your face." Ruby said. "That's so mean."

"Like, super-mean." Jaune added, walking on Ruby's left, as Penny was at the girl's right.

"Really? I thought spitting at each other was a sign of pure and honest love." Mercury added with a smile.

"Is it?" Penny was now confused.

"No it's not, Mercury's just teasing." Ruby said, which clarified things.

Penny was nervous but excited. Until two weeks ago, she had never imagined that she'd be allowed to go to a place like Beacon. Indeed, she never imagined that she'd be allowed into the outside world with so little supervision. It was just sensational!

All she had were a few tracking and recording devices implanted to ensure that her makers knew where she was at all times. It was so liberating to have such few restraints! Already she was meeting new people, first she met Neo, and now she was meeting these three.

General Ironwood almost cancelled the mission when he got worried. Penny was meant to partner up with Neo, to apparently keep an eye on her, yet there were fears that she would be 'corrupted' by the ex-criminal. It didn't seem very likely to Penny.

The odds of file corruption in Penny were one in two hundred million.

It did make her feel bad that she had to lie to Neo about it, when they were supposed to be partners. Her Father told her that lying was bad. Then again, he and General Ironwood then explained that lies were sometimes necessary, and thus okay. As long as they told the truth in the end.

Once they stopped whoever was threatening Remnant, Penny would explain it to Neo. Then they'd be best friends.

"It's okay. I'm actually having lots of fun here. I can go out and meet people like you three." Penny smiled as she said those words.

"Aw thanks, Penny." Ruby's eyes then seemed to light up, as if their settings had been altered. "What's your weapon like? Is it cool? Is it primarily firearms, or primarily melee-based? Long range or close-range?"

Penny was about to answer Ruby, quickly adapting to the new pace of conversation, when Mercury cut in. His smile seemed less innocent now. "What's she's saying is that she'll show you hers, if you sho-Ow!"

What the android saw next was rather confusing. Ruby had moved to pinch Mercury in the back, a clear act of hostility, yet the man just seemed to laugh it off. If anything, Jaune was more bothered by the sequence of events, judging from his red face, than Mercury did.

It just made Penny very confused.

I'll have to ask Father, or General Ironwood, when I establish a safe area of contact. She decided, as the four of them strolled along.

Jaune then stopped walking, which Penny took as a cue to do so the same. "Hey guys, this is the way to the main hall, right? We haven't been walking in circles?" He asked, likely joking as it was obvious that this wasn't the way.

Such a funny person.

"I was following you." Ruby said, pointing right at him.

"I was following you." Jaune said back, pointing at her.

"I was seeing how long it'd take for you guys to figure it out." Mercury rose his hand.

"I just wanted to hang out with you three. You all seemed so open and accepting. I bet you have a lot of friends."

Ruby and Jaune made strange facial expressions at that. Were they having an issue with something? Penny looked to see that Mercury did not seem as bothered, even smiling at the compliment.

Perhaps a change in subject was needed.

"We have ten minutes and five seconds to reach the main hall. At our current walking pace, we'll make it in three minutes and thirty seconds." Penny recited the numbers, as the miniseconds it took to calculate that rolled by.

It was then that she realised that her words might have looked odd. It was only using the internal cooling fans that she avoided blushing. The fear of them seeing her as weird and strange was something her mechanisms could not solve, however.

"Wow, you're like a computer." Jaune declared, which set off all sorts of alarms.

Not the actual alarms, just the metaphorical ones.

"That is strange. I am 100% human."

"No, Penny, he didn't mean literally a computer." Ruby said, before sighing and weakly smiling at Penny. "You've had a sheltered childhood, haven't you?"

"A very sheltered childhood." Jaune muttered, his volume easily heard when Penny focused.

With that, all four of them began to trek back to the main hall where Professor Ozpin would give his speech. Ruby, Jaune, and Mercury were fun people to be with, Penny decided. While Neo was to be her partner, the woman not knowing of the tracking device implanted in her, she hoped to see them again.

Maybe even two of the three would be in her and Neo's team. That would do wonders for teamwork and getting along. Maybe they'd even become friends.

By the time of the Vytal Tournament, she could reveal herself to the world. An android with the ability to feel and emote, and produce Aura, undeniable proof of a soul. At least, that's what they told Penny. Sometimes she wasn't sure.

And if I'm not sure, then why will everyone else be sure? She wondered to herself.

No. She couldn't be negative. Not on the first day of her new life. Out in the open world, being able to meet new people and form friendships that would last a lifetime, well a human lifetime anyway. Penny was hopeful that, when the time came, everyone would accept her.

Even her teammates.

She did feel bad all the same. No one else came to Beacon with a hidden agenda, after all.

With four girls all at Beacon for reasons of espionage, neither of the four knowing about the other three, the odds of them all ending up on the same team were minuscule. One in a million, at best.

Naturally, that's exactly what then happened.

"Hey. What a coincidence." Emerald's teeth couldn't grit themselves any further.

"I know right?" Blake could tell what this girl was really thinking. Fuck you too.

"Partner Neo, what should I do now?" Penny asked, the blindfold still tight as ever.

Neo wondered how this girl managed to be so lucky as to not only avoid all the trees, but also perfectly walk in step with the petite criminal. Had she known that Penny was an android that easily had the technology to know where she was going, blindfold or not, she would know.

And then curse her misfortune some more.