Noah and George spent the next few days ridding the surrounding area of stray Grimm. While it wasn't difficult by any measure it was incredibly boring. The remaining Beowolves and Ursas weren't nearly enough of a challenge for George, and the basic enemies didn't give Noah any opportunity to experiment. It wasn't long before that part of their job was done. Now there was nothing left for them to do but wait for their ship back to Vale.

George got out of bed and stretched. A quick look at his scroll told him that it was six in the morning. He put on some clothes and went out to do his daily meditation. After he finished with that he fell to the ground to recuperate. He stared up at the sky enjoying the peace and quiet. That quiet was shattered by his scroll ringing.

He looked and saw that Iris was calling him. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm good. I killed a giant Grimm."

Iris gasped. "That's so cool."

"I know, what've you been doin'?"

"Just some bodyguard work. Protecting some SDC big shot while he's in the city."

"See any action?"

"A protestor threw a tomato at me, but that's about it."

"Sounds really boring."

"I like it. It's nice not having to fight."

George could hear Lotus shouting in the background.

"Iris! Stop talking to your boyfriend and get back to work!"

"Okay! Sorry George, I have to go. See you when you get back. I love you!"

She hung up before George could say goodbye.

George sighed and closed his eyes. However, right when he was about to drift off to sleep a loud crack shocked him awake. There was another, louder one. Then several more. George got up and looked for the source of the sound.

There was a young boy punching a tree. His small hands were covered in bruises. He took a deep breath and struck at the tree again. He punched a hole in the bark, but didn't do any significant damage to the rest of the tree.

George scoffed. "Damn kid, you're weak as shit."

The kid wiped sweat from his forehead. "What do you want?"

The boy's body was covered in his white aura. He punched the tree again, but still couldn't break it.

"I'm wondering how a dude can fight a tree and lose."

The boy's face went red. "Leave me alone."

George laughed. "Nah, I leave you like this you'll be dead in your first real fight." He held out his arm and summoned his aura. "Focus it around your fist, like this." his aura concentrated around his fist. He threw a punch at the tree and punched straight through it. The tree tipped over and fell to the ground with a crash.

The boy groaned and went to another tree. He took a deep breath and tried to focus his aura. His aura moved toward his arm before it sputtered and broke. The kid fell to the ground.

George laughed. "Damn son, you suck. Don't you have anybody to teach you?"

The boy looked at the ground. "No, I don't."

George didn't press the issue. "A'ight, how about I teach you somethin'." He held out his hand and summoned his aura. A small ball appeared on his index finger. It moved down his finger and up the next until it was on the tip of his pinky.

The boy was amazed. "How'd you do that?"

"It's easy once you learn how. Try it, and soon you'll know how to focus your aura." George didn't mention that that was the extent of his ability to shape his aura. Anything more complex than a small ball was beyond him.

The boy concentrated and made a small ball of aura appear on his finger. It flickered for a few seconds and broke apart.

The boy groaned in frustration. "Why can't I do it?"

George shrugged. "Don't beat yourself up. I was just as bad when I first started. How about I help you out?"

The boy smiled and nodded.

George got into a stance. "First thing you want to do is summon your aura." He took a deep breath and was engulfed in his green energy.

The boy took a similar stance and summoned his aura.

George smiled. "Good. Now try holding that for as long as you can."

The boy nodded. He held his aura in place for ten minutes before it sputtered and broke apart.

The boy leaned forward, breathing heavily. "This is tough."

George was still going. "Don't worry about that. You're doing better than I was when I was starting out. Course the end goal is to keep it up for a few hours."

"Wow, you should be a teacher."

Reid walked up to the two of them. It was clear he had just woken up since his hair was messy and he wasn't wearing a shirt. There were bandages around his hands and chest. He was more injured by the fight than he thought at first. After the battle he was in no condition to fight again for a while, so he spent his time with the other villagers. He was especially popular among the village's children.

George walked up and hugged him. "Sup Reid. You sleep okay?"

Reid yawned. "Same as usual. What's with all this?"

The boy looked at Reid with awe. "Did you really kill that big Grimm?"

Reid shrugged. "I got the last hit, but my teammates helped bring it down."

The boy's eyes went wide. "That's so cool! You must be the strongest guy on your team."

Reid shook his head. "Nope, that guy is way stronger than I am. I don't think I could ever beat him."

George looked at Reid. He was as skinny as ever, but his wiry frame held an incredible power. "I think we're about even. On a good day you might be able to fight me and live."

Reid laughed. "Humbleness doesn't suit you."

George rolled his eye. "Whatever. You wanna train with us?"

"Sure. What were you guys doing?"

"Some aura exercises."

Reid perked up. "Really? I used to do those all the time with my dad." He summoned his aura and in seconds there was a small blue ball on all ten of his fingers. The balls all converged on a single finger became a single large object. He manipulated the ball into various shapes. It was like it was as natural as breathing for him. George couldn't help but be impressed. He had Reid beat in raw output, but Reid's control over his aura was unparalleled.

The boy was enthralled by the display. "You're amazing."

Reid's face went red. "It's not that special. You can do this too if you train hard enough."

George planted a hand on Reid's head. "Nah, he's right. You're something else."

Reid grinned. "Thanks. That means a lot coming from you."

"Don't get all gay on me man. Let's get back to training."

The three boys went back to their meditation. They sat in the field in complete silence. Nothing, not even animals, made a single sound.

At least until George started talking again.

"So how was it?"

"How was what?"

"Maggie. How was she?"

"What makes you think you can ask me something like that?"

"I thought we were friends."

Reid rolled his eyes. "Friends don't ask questions like that."

The boy looked at Reid confused. "Who's Maggie? Is she a friend of yours?"

Reid grinned. "Yeah. She's my girlfriend."

"Is she pretty?"

Reid had to think about that. "She's the prettiest girl I know, in her own way."

George snorted. "I bet. Don't worry lil man. You keep training and you'll have bitches on your dick before you know it."

Reid slapped George's head. "Don't talk like that around a kid."

George groaned. "What? I'm trying to tell him what's up. Maybe if you had someone to tell you about this shit you wouldn't be as fucked up as you are now."

Reid looked indignant. "I'm fucked up? You're worse than I am. At least I'm not some crazy battle fetishist like you."

George laughed. "Nah, you're way more fucked up. Always crying, all nervous and shit, only pussy you can get damn near looks like a man, and-"

Reid had lunged at George and was pounding his head into the ground. He throw blow after blow, each one sending shocks through the ground.

The boy panicked. "Why are you fighting? Aren't you two friends?"

Reid ignored him. He kept punching George, ignoring the growing pain in his hands. He wasn't even that angry. He was just frustrated and saw George as a perfect chance to vent some of that frustration. When he was done beating on George he was exhausted and bleeding from his hands.

George was completely unfazed. "Feel better? That's another thing that's wrong with you: you never talk about shit. You just keep it all inside your head. I can tell you got somethin' on your mind, so spit it out."

Reid got up and winced in pain. It was like George's face was made of stone. Even without his semblance George was tougher than the average fighter. "Since when do you care about how I'm doing?"

George shrugged. "I told you, I worry about you sometimes. You and Iris both get that same look in your eyes when something's bothering you."

Reid sighed. "I don't want to go back to Vale. This is the first time I've actually used my powers to help people. I can't go back to doing what we've been doing."

"I feel you. Been thinkin' the same thing myself."

Reid was taken aback. "You have?"

"Yeah. I've been wondering how this all ends. Either they let us go, or they have us whacked. If it's the former, good, if it's the other one, then that's when it gets interesting. We got a couple more days before we head back, so take some time to think about it. If you do wanna stay behind I won't twist your arm, but Noah might have somethin' to say."

Reid got up and walked away. "No time like the present."

OoOoOoO

Noah sat at a makeshift desk cleaning his guns. He had them disassembled on a table. Each piece seemed insignificant on its own, but without it the gun would fail to function at all. There was something about that Noah found fascinating. It spoke to him in a way. He began to reassemble one of his weapons when someone walked in.

"I see you are hard at work" said Oriana. She had been put back together so well no one would guess that she'd been torn apart just a few days ago.

Noah grinned at her. "Good to see you up and about."

"It was nothing much. I simply needed to replace certain components. It is a practice you are quite familiar with."

Noah laughed. "Well, most people don't just swap out parts on a whim. Either way, I'm glad that you're okay. It'd suck to lose you."

Oriana looked puzzled. "I do not understand. You could have allowed my body to be destroyed. It would not have been the first time. As long as the data comprising my personality still remains I can simply inhabit another body."

"Alright, I'll be sure not to save you next time."

He went back to assembling his guns. Right when he had grabbed a piece he was struck by a sharp stabbing pain in his right arm. One of his fingers detached from his hand and fell to the floor, bursting into a shower of golden light. Noah looked at his misshapen hand and sighed. In seconds the missing finger was replaced by a perfect imitation.

Noah flexed his fingers and sighed. "I hate when that happens"

Oriana was shocked. "What was that?"

"My finger? It's nothing major. Stuff I make out of my Aura tends to fade away after a while. If it's something I only need to use once then its fine, but parts of my body need to be replaced every once in a while. It hurts like a motherfucker, but I got used to it after a while."

"That is quite amazing. It appears that we share more similarities than I thought at first."

Noah grinned. "That's why I like you. At the end of the day we're both just pretending to be human."

Once his weapons were assembled he got up and went outside. Oriana followed behind him.

The two of them went outside and looked at the scenery around them. The air that hung over the village when they first arrived was gone. The people were happier and far more relaxed than they were before. They saw people buying goods, making clothes and weapons, Reid off in the distance playing with a group of children.

"I might sound like a broken record, but this really is a nice place" Noah said.

Oriana nodded, but didn't say anything.

Noah walked over to where Reid was. A group of children were trying to knock him down, but Reid easily avoided their charges. It was an even mix of human and Faunus children. One child tackled Reid from behind and sent him to the ground. She laughed and gently bit his ear, her own cat ears wiggling.

Reid laughed with her. "Argh, you got me."

He grabbed the child and patted her on the head.

"Maybe I should put her on the team instead" Noah said.

Reid looked up at Noah. "What's up?"

"Not much. Gotta send in my report, then we just wait to head back to Beacon."

Reid stood up. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."

Noah noticed how nervous Reid looked. Even more so than normal. "What?"

"Is it alright if I just stay here?"

Noah felt that this was coming. He'd noticed the change in Reid's demeanor since they arrived. He had never wanted any part of this from the beginning. No one could blame him for seeing a way out and seizing the opportunity.

"Is that what you want?" Noah asked.

"I've thought a lot about this."

Noah shrugged. "Then I'm not gonna stop you."

Reid blinked. "Really?"

"What, did you think I'd just shoot you? I'm not like that. If you want out, then you're out. Just, what about Maggie?"

"I'll talk to her, maybe I can convince her to come here."

Noah chuckled. "You can try, but I doubt she'll go for it."

He pulled out his scroll and read a message from Ms. Goodwitch. "Our ship out should be here the day after tomorrow so you've got some time to think about it."

He walked up to Reid and firmly shook his hand. "If this is the last time I'm seeing you, then I want you to know that you were a great teammate, and a really good friend."

OoOoOoO

Oriana stood alone. She thought about what she was about to do, not that she had a choice. The device had been active since they arrived in Lakewood. It was simply a matter of time. She didn't mention it at the time, but saving her from being crushed by the Grimm was a grave error. There were multiple spare android bodies, but only one device had been made. Very few people knew of its existence, and if they had discovered what it was for it would spell the end of the science team. The combat androids were controversial enough among the military, what they had built now would certainly cause the higher ups to come down on them.

She looked around at the villagers going about their day. None of them had any idea what was coming. If it were up to her they'd be able to continue their lives in peace, but some things are beyond her control.

Her ear started buzzing.

"Hope you're not getting cold feet" her handler said.

"Do not insult me. I know what must be done. Besides, even if I had any objections I would not be able to stop it."

The man at the other end laughed. "Now you're getting it. Either way you can't actually stop it. They didn't put an off switch on that thing. If it'll make you feel better you can think of it as what you've been doing, just on a larger scale."

"All for a better tomorrow, right?" The question was dripping with sarcasm.

"Yep. It's not like this is the worst thing we've ever done. Anyway I gotta go, make sure you get some prime data for me, okay?"

"Goodbye."

Everything was set. All that was left was to wait. If things went well, the scientists could get their data, and she could finally rid herself of those three. If they somehow survived, then she'd have to deal with them personally.

Either way, Team NGRO was entering its last days.