Sorry that this is a week late folks. Stuff came up and I got sick from a flu shot which has never happened before. Anyway, I'm here now with the update and it's a decent sized chapter. Thanks again for the continued support, it really means a lot to me. Now, sit back and enjoy. I'm going to go see "The Last Jedi" and catch Toonami later.

Italic: Thoughts/Letters/Journal Entries/Flashbacks/


Blackburn walked beside Coco as they made their way to the exit of the mall. The early afternoon had thinned out the crowds that took to the food court for a break. He had kept quiet for the most part after their conversation about Alison. He hated awkward silences, but he was not sure what to say next. What could be a good conversation starter after discussing a breakup?

He shook his head as they rounded the corner and continued down the large hall. Sunlight poured in from the ceiling and heated the hall as they passed under the window. It was a scorcher of a summer day, reminiscent to his days back home in Oklahoma. Nice hot summer days where he would be outside spending time with his friends or at his grandfather's shop working when it wasn't unbearably humid. It even made him wonder how many storms hit in his absence. Living in tornado alley did give a front row seat to some incredible weather that he often went out to observe when the opportunity presented itself.

A shiver went down his spine when he went under an air vent. He returned his focus to the front and could see the exit ahead. Freedom from the confines of the mall was just ahead, and he could almost hear a choir of angels singing Hallelujah. He was about to pick up the pace, but something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

Off to his right was a small hallway that led to the restrooms. Inside the hall, he could see a small kid sitting against it with his knees tucked into his chest and his face buried in his arms. He came to a dead halt and looked around. No one seemed to notice the boy alone. His sudden stop got Coco's attention.

"What's wrong?" She glanced back at him.

He nodded back at the hall and she walked back to take a look. The brunette blinked in surprise and looked between him and the boy.

"What's he doing by himself? Shouldn't he be with his parents or his friends?" She folded her arms.

"Not sure, but I'm going to find out," said Blackburn.

His feet carried him over to the hall and he set his bag down at the entrance. He then walked over to the boy who seemed to shrink into the wall as his shadow loomed over him. A frown spread across his face and he squatted before the boy.

"Hey buddy, what're you doing in here by yourself?" He asked him.

The boy said nothing and a muffled sniff escaped him. His shoulders shook with silent sobs. His voice was very quiet when he uttered his response.

"I can't find my mom. We were in the hall, but I stopped to tie my shoe."

Coco made her way over to them and stood beside him.

"When I looked up, she was gone. There were so many people and I couldn't…"

The boy let out another sob and sniffed again. Blackburn had his hand up and was about to place it on the kid's shoulder to calm him down, but stopped. He didn't want to scare the kid any more than he was and offered a sideways look to Coco who only nodded back. Taking the chance, he put a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

"It's okay, buddy. You got scared. It happens," said Blackburn.

"Dad always said to be a big boy, but I can't stop crying," the boy said with another sniff.

"Worry about that later. Right now you should try to find your mom. Do you remember if she told you anything about getting lost here?"

The boy's shoulders stopped trembling and he finally looked up. His green eyes were shimmering with tears, but they were gone with a wipe of his hand. He managed to calm down enough to think about his words. When he shook his head, two additional ears popped out from under the mop of black hair. He was a Faunus to boot, too. It was no wonder he was alone. He was more than likely afraid of talking to people for fear of being scared off.

"She… she said something about a big room. It had a bunch of tables." The boy shook his head.

Blackburn blinked when the boy replied back to him. The only room that came to mind was the food court. He looked back at Coco and then to the boy who wiped his nose.

"You want us to help you find her?" He took his hand off the boy's shoulder.

The boy shook his head and looked back at him and Coco with cautious eyes.

"Mom said never to talk to strangers or go with them," he answered back.

Blackburn almost laughed since the boy broke the rule when he first spoke to him, but kept it down. Instead he smiled and held his hand out for a handshake.

"Well, I'll tell you what, your mom is a smart woman," he began. "But not every stranger is bad. It'd be no different if you were to talk to a security guard who works here to help you."

The boy eyed his hand and raised his own.

"I'm Connor, and this is Coco," said Blackburn as he pointed to himself and then to the brunette. "What's your name?"

The boy gripped his hand and shook it. His grip was strong and it screamed discipline, more than likely instilled from his father.

"Cole," the boy answered back.

"See? We're not strangers anymore." Blackburn stood up and pulled him to his feet. "Let's find your mom."

Cole nodded back and did not let go of his hand.

Blackburn guided Cole out of the hall and waited for Coco as she picked up the bags. When she got beside him, they started their trek back to the food court. He looked down at Cole and could see he had brightened up from earlier, but lurked behind him as they made their way through the masses of people.

"Aw, are you shy?" Coco smiled down at him.

Cole's face burned red and he poked his head out from behind Blackburn and stuck out his tongue defiantly.

"No!" He retorted.

"Oh, I think you are," Coco teased back with a wide smile.

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

Blackburn rose a brow at Coco's childish behavior to which she beamed back and giggled as Cole took refuge behind him again. He stopped and knelt before looking back at him.

"You want to hop on?" He asked with a small grin. "You'll be taller than her."

He ignored Coco's sideways glare at him, and Cole nodded and climbed onto his shoulders. Once he had a grip around the boy's ankles he stood up and started walking again. He could feel Cole's small hands resting on top of his head as he walked.

This time on their walk he felt more eyes drawn to them. If one were to look at it, he, Cole and Coco would have looked like a family out for a day together. The looks varied from smiles to mild confusion as they looked up at Cole's ears and back to him and Coco. Trying to piece together information that didn't make sense provided for some good entertainment, and Blackburn only smiled as they walked by the onlookers.

By the time they reached the food court it was jam packed with barely any wiggle room. Tables were full and the talk that filled the room was easy to drown out anyone who wasn't speaking loud enough.

"What does your mom look like?" Coco looked up at Cole.

"Um…" Cole looked around the food court for her. "She's short and has long black hair. She also has two ears like me."

He stroked his ears up to emphasize his point and returned his focus to the sea of people before him. His description easily matched a good chunk of the women there. A lot of dark haired women met their eyes, but only a handful had Faunus traits visible that sat atop their heads.

"Let's keep looking. She's probably looking for you and you'll be easier to spot." Blackburn began moving through the tables.

"Mom!" Cole called out from above him.

They continued their walk around the food court, all the while checking on the women that matched Cole's words. Each one they came across, the boy's face grew less and less bright as the hope began to leave him. In an attempt to keep the boy hopeful, he gave his ankles a reassuring squeeze.

"She's here, buddy. We'll find her," said Blackburn as he tilted his head up to look at him.

He, Coco and Cole made their way out of the center of the food court and lingered near a couple of concession stands. As they continued looking for Cole's mother, Coco made her way to a nearby stand and came back with a small soda to cheer him up. When the boy took the soda from Coco he thanked her and sipped on it calmly through the straw.

"Aw, look at you being the substitute mom," Blackburn whispered to her.

"Shut up," Coco muttered back with a somewhat red face.

"That was a compliment."

"I know, but still. I'm young and hot and have no intention of pumping out any kids until I'm older."

"I'm sure that becoming a mom doesn't lower your beauty. Haven't you heard of the term MILF?"

Coco's brow furrowed in thought before she nodded with a light shrug.

"I guess you have a point," she said. "What do you think?"

"What do you mean?" Blackburn looked back at her.

A wicked grin spread across her face and her arms folded just under her breasts to puff them out.

"Think I'd make a good MILF?" She asked.

Blackburn cleared his throat and his face went flat at the bait she tried to hit him with. He had been taking her flirting in stride all day and even flirted back once or twice, but he really needed to draw the line. The fact of the matter was she was a student and he was her teacher. There needed to be a professional relationship between the two of them as long as their tenure was at Beacon, lest he wanted to be fired for fraternization. He was already treading on thin ice by spending time with her like he was.

"Okay, seriously, you need to stop," he said.

"Oh, come on. We're just having fun," Coco replied with a roll of her eyes.

"There's a fine line between fun and being professional, Coco. Asking me to answer that question is one of them."

"Even though we're good friends and I'm willingly engaging?"

Her brow arched up in an exaggerated movement.

"Yeah, even then." Blackburn nodded back. "Look, don't get me wrong. I've had a lot of fun hanging out with you and you've cheered me up about Alison, but we need to be professionals. You're my student and I'm your teacher. So long as we are both at Beacon, we have to maintain that relationship. We can be friends, but anything outside of that is a no go."

Coco was silent as she stared back at him. It was difficult to read her since she offered no visible emotion to be seen. No glare. No frown. No cross of the arms. Just a long stare back. She finally shrugged back and offered him a small smirk.

"Okay Connor, I'll humor you if it helps keep your pants on," she answered.

"Thank you," he said with a small smile of his own.

"But when I graduate, it's game on."

He was about to retort, but held his tongue. She agreed to stop and that was all that mattered for now. And at the end of the day they were still good friends, and her friendship was something he wanted to hold on to.

Blackburn looked up at Cole after the boy lightly poked the top of his head.

"What's up, buddy?" He asked him.

"What's a MILF?" Cole looked between him and Coco.

Blackburn felt the color drain from his face and Coco didn't look much better. They had completely forgotten they were supervising a lost child who was ignorant to the context of their conversation. He looked at the brunette who adamantly shook her head and pointed a hard finger at him.

Neither of them said a word, but their stares and gestures were more than enough to have a conversation.

"You said MILF first!" Coco's eyes gave him an expectant look.

"You said it, too!" Was his silent reply.

"This is your fuck up. Not mine!" She pointed a hard finger at him.

"Bullshit! You stirred the pot as much as me!" He pointed back.

"But I didn't start it, you idiot! You're the man, you fix this!" She glared at him.

Their silent argument was disrupted when a woman's voice caught their attention. Turning their heads to the source of the voice, they spotted a woman with long black hair and a set of ears atop her head hurrying towards them.

"Cole!" She called out.

"Mom!" Cole shifted on top of Blackburn's shoulders.

He dropped down to let Cole hop off and watched him run to his mother. The boy hugged the woman tight like his life depended on it and the woman did the same to him. Tears were trailing down their faces, but their smiles were wide and happy.

The woman pulled back from Cole and pressed her lips hard to his forehead and brushed his hair out of his face.

"I'm so glad you're safe," she said to him.

The woman then turned her gaze to him and Coco. She took hold of Cole's hand and guided him back over towards them. The boy's face was bright with a wide smile as he beamed up at the two of them.

"Thank you so much for helping my son," said the mother.

"Don't worry about it." Blackburn shook his head.

"I'm serious. You two found him and took the time to help him find me. It's people like you that give me hope for equality between humans and Faunus."

He cleared his throat and could feel his face growing warm from the praise. Sure, they helped a lost kid find his mother, but it wasn't something to really gush over. It was just being a good citizen.

"Well, thanks. And you've got a good kid, too," said Coco as her eyes flicked down to Cole.

Cole shyly retreated behind his mother when Coco looked back at him, earning a smile from the brunette. The mother smiled back at Coco and steered Cole back out in front of her to keep him from hiding.

"What do you say to these nice people, Cole?" His mother looked down at him.

"Thank you!" Cole beamed up at them with the widest smile yet.

Blackburn grinned back and squatted to hold up his hand for a high five. Cole stepped forward and slapped it as hard as he could.

"Remember what we talked about, buddy. You need to be strong and be sure to take care of your mom," said Blackburn.

"I will!" Cole nodded back.

Blackburn stood up and nodded at Coco and she picked up the bags, handing one to him. They offered Cole and his mother a parting smile and made their way towards the exit again. As they walked off, Coco glanced to him.

"You handled that really well. Is that from experience?" She asked.

He nodded back. Although he kept quiet about one of the additional reasons he helped Cole, it was also because of his tours. He had to learn how to interact with people from Afghanistan and often times he and some of his fire team got caught up in small games with kids while doing patrols or meeting with village elders.

"Yeah, but I wanted to help him because I could relate to what happened," said Blackburn.

"Really? Did you get lost in a mall, too?" Coco smirked back.

"I did. Got separated from my mom when I went to look at some video games."

"Did you cry?"

He bit his lip and sighed. There was a big chance he was going to regret his response to the young woman.

"Yeah. Cried like a little bitch. Ended up asking a security guard to help me find my mom," said Blackburn.

"Oh my god, why would you tell me that?" Coco asked through her laughter.

"I can laugh at myself."

"I'm going to be busting your balls for a long time. You know that, right?"

"Oh, I know. So, how are your friends going to act when they know you played mom today?"

Coco's smirk soon vanished and was replaced with a thin line. It was no secret that she was a respected upperclassman and had a reputation to keep as the calm, spunky badass. If anyone heard that she dropped that persona to act mom-like for a little kid, it would serve as good teasing material.

"If you do that I'll push you straight into traffic." She glared at him.

He never got a chance to respond courtesy of a shrill voice from the mother that was on the other side of the food court.

"Where did you hear that word?" Cole's mother yelled.

Blackburn and Coco snuck a glance at the woman and then exchanged looks before hauling it down the hall as fast as they could.


Weiss and Winter were making their way back from the combat arena where they had finished practicing. For Winter, it was a somewhat slow process with helping Weiss. She had been trying to practice her summoning, but it needed a lot of work. She was able to keep focus enough to get a partial summon, but it was quick to fade with each attempt. It did not take her long to pinpoint the problem her younger sister was having.

Although she was focused, her emotions weren't calm. While it was true that emotions often served as a good trigger for the summoning, it was important to be able to do it with a calm mind. What she saw with each of Weiss' failed attempts was uncertainty and a lack of confidence which she made sure to bluntly point out. It was the way she knew after commanding soldiers and it seemed to click with Weiss. The words were curt and harsh, but it seemed to motivate her.

"Was it this difficult for you when you were learning?" Weiss asked.

"I had my struggles too, Weiss. It took me two years to master it, and that was on my own," said Winter.

"Right…"

Winter had driven herself into the ground and spent endless nights and days when she was preparing for Atlas Academy. Without the help of anyone to guide her, it gave her the extra push she needed to accomplish something that took one in their family years to perfect. Hard work and devotion paid off in the end, and it was something that Weiss was no stranger to.

"If you want my honest opinion, I believe you have the potential to master this faster than I did," said Winter.

Weiss perked up and a hopeful smile was on her face.

"Really?" She asked, excitement evident in her voice.

She smiled back with a nod.

"I do. The only one holding you back is yourself," said Winter. "Your determination knows no bounds and that will be the key to making it happen."

Weiss' face flushed a light pink at the compliment and she thanked her quietly.

They rounded the corner and continued their trek to the upper floors. The school was almost deserted with everyone out and about in the city to enjoy the weekend. Only a handful of students were seen in the courtyards or talking in the halls.

"Is there anything new with you?" Weiss broke the silence.

"Pardon me?" Winter looked back at her.

"Is there anything new with you? Personal wise, I mean?"

"Not really. I've been working a lot and training Blackburn in my spare time, so there's nothing new."

"Oh? And what about father's banquet? Did you ever resolve that issue?"

Winter slowed for a just a moment and mulled it over. She could talk to Weiss about anything, and that did fall under something new since she made sure to come up with a cover to avoid a suitor. She started walking again and gave a small nod.

"I did, yes," said Winter.

"And?" Weiss asked.

"Well, naturally he wasn't pleased with what I told him."

"Naturally."

She let out a small chuckle.

"So, did you find someone to pose as your date?" Weiss folded her arms behind her.

"No… not yet," said Winter.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but you should get a jump on that sooner than later."

"I know, I know. It's just…"

She trailed off and turned away in minor embarrassment.

"Just what?" Weiss prodded.

"I don't know who to take," said Winter. "I'm not insecure about my looks or being able to get someone to go. It's a matter of who."

Weiss bit her lip and nodded back, understanding the dilemma. That was the only thing that was holding her back from following through with her task. The few people she considered were either scattered across Remnant working jobs, or it would have been unprofessional with some of the men she served with. It would have to be another officer or someone around her age that she could tolerate. Problem was, there were only a handful of male officers outside of General Ironwood, but none of them could tolerate her personality. It was a hard pill to swallow, but she also knew that being General Ironwood's best soldier garnered some dislike as well.

"Well, why not Professor Blackburn?" Weiss suggested.

She snapped her gaze back to Weiss who looked a little sheepish when her eyes fell on her. Her face was twisted into one of disbelief.

"Excuse me?" Winter spoke up.

"You heard me," said Weiss as she regained her confidence.

"You think I should ask Connor to go with me?"

"I think you should."

Winter straightened up and felt her fists clench. It wasn't anger that was flowing through her, though. It was uncertainty.

"I can't do that," said Winter.

"Why not?" Weiss crossed her arms as she stopped walking. "You both get along well from what I can tell and he's your friend, isn't he?"

"That's beside the point!"

"Then what's the problem that I'm not seeing?"

Winter took a long breath and pinched the bridge of her nose to calm down.

"It feels unprofessional, Weiss. He is my friend, but I'm essentially his mentor since I'm training him," she answered.

"That sounds more like an excuse than anything, Winter," Weiss frowned. "I'm sure he will go with you if you ask him. Besides he's not in the Atlas Military, so he's fair game."

She shook her head again. Weiss presented her with a challenge and had her backed against the wall. Although she believed in her sister's words, she was having serious reservations about them. If she were to ask Blackburn to attend the banquet with her as her guest, what could come from it? What would change with their current relationship?

They had grown closer since she first met him that night at the White Fang compound that they ambushed. It was almost hard to believe how far they had come together. Not just from a mission sense after being paired together by Ozpin and Ironwood, but the level of trust and friendship between them. It started as one of little respect and strong dislike, but it grew with each moment they spent together.

They both adjusted and adapted to one another and helped each other develop where the other fell short. She had only a handful of close friends in her life, and she was happy to add Blackburn to that list shortly after he kept his word to her and protected Weiss on the last mission.

"And you don't find it odd for a woman to ask a man to a formal gathering?" Winter asked.

Weiss merely shook her head and smiled.

"Not at all! Back when we had our dance here, I even asked a boy that I've been interested in to go with me," said Weiss.

Winter blinked in mild surprise. Her little sister and her were similar, yet very different in certain regards. In this case, she was bolder in terms of relationships. Something she found commendable at the end of the day.

"And how did that go?" Winter asked curiously.

Weiss' face blanched and a grimace spread across her lips, giving her answer.

"He turned me down. Later I found out the reason why was because he couldn't dance," said Weiss.

"That isn't very assuring," said Winter.

"My point is that I tried. Looking back at it and knowing what I know now, I would have done things differently."

"Which would be?"

Weiss was silent for a moment before she sighed and smiled lightly.

"I would have gone with the first boy who asked me," said Weiss. "I couldn't stand him at first since he tried asking me out constantly after a misunderstanding, but he was the one who got the boy I wanted to dance with to meet up with me at the dance later."

Winter blinked and a teasing smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Oh? So you do have someone you like?" She asked.

Weiss' face flushed and she sent her a sharp glare.

"Of course I have someone I like, but I didn't say it was him," Weiss held up a finger. "Second, we're talking about you here. Not me."

Winter frowned in return and they started their walk again.

"All I'm saying is that your friends will do anything for you if you ask. I would do it for mine, and they would do the same for me. If you ask Professor Blackburn to go with you to the banquet, he'd do it because you're his friend. I mean, it's not like you're asking him to be your boyfriend or anything," Weiss continued.

Winter nodded in agreement, all the while trying to ignore the burning sensation that returned to the back of her neck.

"I suppose you are right," she said with a small sigh. "I just don't want it to be awkward and make it weird for us."

"Then I guess that's something you both will have to figure out," Weiss said with a small shrug.

Winter smiled at Weiss and had to give her credit. While younger with tons of things to experience yet in her life, she had the capability to bring out incredible and simple wisdom. Something she never really noticed until recently.

She watched Weiss pull out her scroll to look at a message that came. Her curiosity rose when her sister grimaced at what she read.

"Is something wrong?" Winter asked.

"Not yet," Weiss answered back.

"Not yet? What do you mean?"

"You remember my teammate Blake, right?"

Winter vaguely remembered the girl from Weiss' team. The girl had been very quiet compared to her sister's other teammates. Not speaking unless spoken to and having her eyes fixed on a book. What she really knew about the girl was that Blackburn was not happy with her because of what took place on the mission.

"I do," she said as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Well, she's been acting difficult since the mission to put it simply," said Weiss.

"How so?"

Weiss paused for a moment and the small shift in her brow suggested she was trying to find the right words to say. Something like a lie.

"I believe it has to do with what Professor Blackburn did on the mission," she began before turning her eyes back to her. "Do you remember what I told you about him killing that Faunus to save me?"

"Of course I remember," Winter said back.

"Well, all of us saw him do it. I think Blake's shaken over the whole thing and now she wants to talk with him."

"I see."

Weiss looked uncomfortable about the potential talk to take place with the young professor, and with good reason. She remembered the last talk she had with her sister about Blackburn and it revolved around the end of their mission. The belief that his killing of the Faunus being similar to a cold blooded execution was because of a repressed memory. She never followed up with Blackburn about the memory since he had been in a coma and their last conversation got off topic.

"When did she plan to talk with him?" Winter asked.

"Right now. Ruby said he just got back from Vale and is in his office," said Weiss.

"I'll walk you there. I want to hear this for myself."

Weiss bit her lip, but ultimately nodded in agreement.


Their walk was faster this time as they changed course to make their way to Blackburn's office. It did not take them long to reach it. His door was ajar and they could hear voices coming from inside.

They reached the doorway and found Blackburn sitting at his desk with a fresh bottle of beer while Ruby, Yang and Blake were sitting in some chairs that they pulled up.

"There you are!" Yang held her arms out wide. "We've been waiting for you, Ice Queen!"

"Hey!" Both Winter and Weiss retorted.

Blackburn raised a pair of fingers to greet them as he swallowed whatever beer was in his mouth.

"You guys come to join us?" He asked.

"More or less," Winter replied casually.

"Come on in."

Winter waited for Weiss to enter the room before shutting the door behind her. She lowered her fingers and gently scratched Zwei behind his ears when he scampered up to greet her.

"You want a beer?" Blackburn asked.

Winter looked between him and her sister who looked very intrigued with whatever she would say. She wanted to remain a professional in her sister's eyes, but she didn't want to turn down Blackburn's offer.

"Sure." She clapped her hands to signal for a catch.

He opened his fridge and returned with an ice cold bottle. The bottle sailed through the air and she caught it with her outstretched hand and twisted the top off.

"Cheers." Blackburn raised his bottle to her.

She sipped her beer and welcomed the icy beverage as it graced her tongue. It was something that she and Blackburn did frequently whenever she visited his office. A quick beer and a small chat about whatever came to their heads.

"Hey, what about us?" Yang held up her hand expectantly.

"You eighteen?" Blackburn leaned back in his chair.

"Not yet."

"Are you a student of mine?"

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with…"

"Then the answer is no. You're not old enough and I don't want to get fired."

"Party pooper."

Winter smiled into the tip of her bottle as she leaned against the wall near his desk, opting to stand and listen to the conversation. Her eyes flicked over to Blake and she silently observed her. Looking at her posture tipped her off that the girl had a lot to say. Her hands were balled into fists as they gripped the hem of her shirt and her gaze was piercing.

The air around the girl was hostile, but only she, Weiss and Blackburn seemed to pick up on it. This was about to get ugly, but Winter would be lying if she said she was not curious about how it would play out. How would Blackburn react and carry himself in this type of situation?

"So what's going on with your four?" Blackburn broke the ice as he looked at them.

"Not much," said Yang with a wave of her hand. "Been kind of bored lately."

"Sucks to be you."

Yang gave a lighthearted grunt and propped her foot to rest on her knee as she got more comfortable in her chair.

"What about you? How have you been feeling since you got out of the hospital?" Ruby asked.

"Can't complain. Got out of there the second I was cleared," Blackburn replied.

"I don't blame you. I'd go crazy if I got stuck in there, too."

The man acknowledged her with a raise of his bottle and drank to her words. His gaze then fell upon Blake. It did not hold any trace of defensiveness as she continued to eye him. In fact, it looked very calm.

"What about you, Blake? Something on your mind?" Blackburn asked her.

All eyes in the room immediately shifted to the girl in question. Her eyes narrowed just a little bit when he called her out.

"I want to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me," said Blake.

"Go ahead," he answered back.

"Why did you kill that boy back on the mission?"

Straight to the point. All the air in the room seemed to be sucked out along with the high spirits of Ruby and Yang who became very quiet. All of the girls looked at Blake with mixed expressions, but she did not falter. She wanted answers and would not let up until she got them.

"Is that a trick question?" Blackburn rose a brow.

"Don't play this game with me. We all saw what you did that night," said Blake.

Blackburn took another drink from his beer and leveled Blake with an even stare.

"I'm a soldier. I was trained to kill my enemies to ensure mission success, so that's what I did," he said calmly.

It was faint, but Winter could hear the edge in his tone. His eyes were bearing into Blake and seemed to grow sharper.

"Even when they're incapable of defending themselves after being harmed?" Blake challenged.

"Yeah, even then," said Blackburn. "You don't have time to think in those situations, Blake. You don't know what that enemy is going to do once he's incapacitated. He can still have fight in him and try to lower your guard to strike or he could be willing to surrender."

"So when he was bleeding out on the ground he was still a threat?"

"Yes."

"He was unarmed!"

"His gun was still by him and could be grabbed. Shock makes it difficult to function."

Back and forth the conversation went. It was getting more intense by the second and the discomfort was growing more apparent. Weiss had her hands folded and was staring down at her lap. Ruby was squirming lightly in her seat and Yang was looking back at Blake with a small frown.

"When you assault through an objective you eliminate the threat and that's what I did," said Blackburn. "Honestly, I'm surprised you're even acting like this. Out of everyone on your team, I figured you'd be the one who'd understand this the most, but I guess I was wrong."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake glared back.

"You know full well what I'm talking about. Remember our talk back at that noodle shop?"

Blake's lips curled into a small scowl and her eyes glared at him warningly.

"If you're about to say that I'm like you…" She began.

"I wasn't going to, but you know exactly what I'm getting at," Blackburn's voice rose a little bit.

A sharp breath escaped Blake and her hands gripped the arms of the chair so tight her knuckles were white with stress.

"I don't murder people in cold blood!" Blake retorted.

"There's a fine line between murder and self-defense." Blackburn's eyes narrowed. "I was doing my job keeping you all safe from harm. If I didn't do what I did, Weiss wouldn't be here right now."

Weiss flinched lightly at his words and seemed to retreat deeper into her chair when he said that.

"Yeah, she was safe the second you had that kid on the ground! That didn't mean you had to go up and shoot him in the head afterword!" She snapped back.

"Did you see how many times I shot him? He was dying slowly, so I gave him a mercy killing. Would you rather I let him suffer and bleed out for those two minutes he had left?"

"You can try and defend that stance of yours all you want, but that was not necessary! He could have been given medical attention by the QRF when they came!"

Blackburn took another gulp from his beer and set it back on his desk. His fingers lightly tapped against the bottle as he continued his stare down with Blake. Neither of them were budging on their stances and that only prodded them to continue.

"Would you be this bent out of shape if it was an adult in that kid's place?" Blackburn asked.

"Yes, I would! It's still murder! Self-defense ends the moment the threat is gone, and that boy was not a threat after you did that to him!" Blake snapped back.

"What exactly are you trying to say, Blake? You're a big girl, so use your words."

Blake growled under her breath and jumped to her feet. Her eyes were alight with newfound anger as she leaned forward and rested her hands on the front of his desk.

"I'm saying that no matter how hard you try to justify your actions, unnecessary violence is all you soldiers know at the end of the day! You say you're peacekeepers, but you showed me that you're no different from terrorists!" She yelled.

By this point Winter was ready to intervene and calm the situation, but she stopped. The look in Blackburn's eyes shifted and grew dark. Something that she had never seen before. It was one of fury that was begging to be unleashed. His calm demeanor was gone and replaced with rage. He glared up at the bow wearing girl and came unglued.

"SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Blackburn pointed back at her chair.

His words came out loud and angry like the crack of a whip. The yell reverberated around the office and froze everyone to the spot. Blake even took a step back in surprise at his roar of anger. She looked unsure of what to do as she looked at him and then back to her seat. Her words had died in her throat and she retreated to her chair.

"I'm a killer, I won't deny that. But I will not sit here and allow you to call me a terrorist because of a decision I made at the end of the day that you didn't agree with!" He continued.

Silence flooded the room to the point that one could hear a pin drop.

"The fact of the matter is that I did what I did because it's my job to keep you all alive when we're out in the field. What we do out there determines whether or not we get to go home at the end of the day, and you can bet I will do everything to make that a reality. I killed that kid and I don't regret that decision one bit. If I didn't do that, Weiss would be dead and I would have to live with that failure again."

At this, Winter and Weiss glanced at each other and then to Blackburn. The younger Schnee was the one who suggested the possibility of a repressed memory in the first place, and from the sound of it, she was right.

"What do you mean again?" Ruby managed to find her voice.

Blackburn took another swing from his bottle and briefly glanced at Ruby before putting it back on Blake who had yet to say a word since his outburst.

"Back during my first deployment, my squad got caught in an ambush while doing a patrol through a village. We ended up taking out an MG nest that was fixed inside a house. We blew that house wide open and I was assigned to clear it with my friends Jason Harvick and Thomas McDermott. When we went to clear it we took fire again and Tom got hit in the throat," he said, all the while pointing to his Adam's apple.

Ruby only frowned and spared a sideways glance to her teammates who didn't look much better than she did.

"Jason and I lit that house up again after Tom went down and killed the guy that shot at us, but that wasn't the end of it. A kid was still inside of the house, probably the son of one of the guys we killed in that fight. He came out of the house with a rifle and came at us. That kid was angry with what we did and he meant to hurt us. I did what I was trained to do because if you killed kids without a justified cause, you got sent to a military prison for a long time."

Blake's face had softened somewhat from its furious state and she had taken a more reserved look. There was still fight in her eyes for the argument.

"How old was this boy?" Blake asked.

"Probably fifteen," said Blackburn. "Old enough to fight, but not enough to understand why."

"And what happened?"

He was silent for a second before speaking again.

"I tried doing what you accused me of not doing. I followed the escalation of force to try and get the kid to drop the gun and surrender because I didn't want to kill him."

"Did you kill him?" Blake quickly asked.

"No, I didn't. I kept trying to get him to surrender up to the point he shot me."

Blake swallowed lightly and her grip lessened on the arms of the chair. She tore her eyes away from Blackburn's in an attempt to recuperate and find her words again

"After that, I promised myself that I would never let that happen again." His hand gripped his bottle tightly.

Blake looked back up at him with a frown.

"You lost your composure. Aren't you supposed to keep that from happening?" She asked.

His eyes narrowed again at the girl.

"When I went through that back then it was pretty traumatic. Where I come from we don't have Aura to call upon and shield us. We got cheap body armor and helmets that can stop attacks to an extent. If I wasn't wearing my IBA that day, I would be dead," his voice was a little shaky.

His hand started to tremble as it held on to the bottle and it rattled lightly against the wood of his desk. He continued talking and his voice got louder

"And if I recall, Weiss and Ruby both had their Aura shattered when I found them. So when I saw history about to repeat itself, I lost my shit! What the fuck would you have done, huh!?"

Blake flinched again at his words. This time she had guilt etched on her face as she looked back at him. She only shook her head silently to answer him. He continued to eye her as he finished the rest of his beer.

"Next time you want to accuse someone, do yourself a favor and keep your mouth shut. The fact is soldiers and terrorists both kill, but both of them are motivated by different goals. One is a radical and one is a peacekeeper and both sides can be seen as justified because of the grey area they fall under. No matter what side you are on that spectrum, the views are subjective to the witnesses of both parties."

Silence filled the office again and it was uncomfortable. The atmosphere was heavy and offered no chance of shifting to something pleasant. Words were spoken between teacher and student and tempers were tested. Now that everything was out on the table, it was time to mull everything over and give each other space.

Blake got up from her chair and made her way to the door, not saying a single word. She opened it and disappeared from sight a moment later leaving her teammates behind.

"I'm going to go check on her," said Yang as she got up and took after her partner.

Seconds continued to tick by and Blackburn finally broke the silence again.

"I'm sorry," he said as he looked to Winter, Weiss and Ruby. "I didn't mean to go off like I did, I just… sorry."

Ruby offered a small smile and Weiss only shook her head.

"Don't be sorry. I think Blake needed to hear that," said Weiss.

"Yeah, just give her some time to think. I'm sure she'll come to talk to you again about today," Ruby offered her own input.

Blackburn only nodded back and reached for his fridge to pull out another beer. A hiss sounded as he twisted the top off and took another drink.

"We should go find Blake and Yang," Weiss said to Ruby.

Ruby nodded and got out of her chair with a long stretch. She followed Weiss to the door, paused and turned around to wave goodbye to Blackburn. The two of them vanished a moment later, leaving Winter alone with him.

She had come there earlier to ask him about the banquet, but that was the last thing he needed to be asked given his current mood. He needed some time to calm down before being hit with another question and she intended to let him be. She walked over to his desk and dropped the empty bottle in the garbage bin beside it.

"Do you want to talk?" She folded her arms with a small frown.

He shook his head.

"No thanks. I just want to be alone for a bit," he answered as he looked back at her.

"Okay. If you change your mind, you can call me to talk any time," she said.

After he offered to lend an ear to her long ago, she returned the favor. She gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze before turning on her heel and making for the door. Her hand rested on the knob and she was about to close it behind her, but he spoke up again.

"Thanks, Winter." He looked back at her.

"Any time, Connor." She smiled back warmly.

The door closed behind her softly and she started back for the landing zone. Her heels clicked against the floor and her eyes trailed out to the setting sun and she shook her head with a sigh. This was the last thing she expected to be doing on her day off.

"What a day," she muttered.


Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, folks. It was kind of difficult to write because of Blackburn and Blake's conversation. They will have a follow up later, but the tricky part of this was to show both sides of the argument. Bottom line, Blake came off hypocritical, and Blackburn came off as an unreliable narrator since his views are based off his experiences, but I did what I could to make it relatable to both of them.

Statements:

1.) Next update will be 12/22/17, and I plan to update again on the 30th because of the story's two year anniversary. Plus, it'd be a good way to polish off the year for this story and as thanks for your support.

2.) I decided to set up a poll for potential romance for Blackburn in the story that you can vote on. It by no means confirms a pairing. It is just out of curiosity to see whether or not readers feel the choices had any potential at all. You'll find it on my profile page.

3.) If you like this story, check out my new one "Butterfly Effect". It's an SI/OC story for RWBY.

Military Terms:

MG: Machine Gun

Review Responses:

Infinity Unit 13: Thank a bunch for the review, man. Sorry that the whole backstory with Alison hit close to home for you, but I'm glad I was able to evoke emotion out of you because of it. Hopefully that doesn't make me sound like too big of an asshole.

Hellwyrm: We discussed the contents over your review in the PM, but thanks a bunch for the review and the support of the story. I'm still on the fence about the romance, but we'll see with that.

Cyrus Snow: The story never died, bro. She's still alive and kicking.

PyromaniacRabbit: Thanks for the review. Now, soldiers typically get up at 5 in the morning, so getting to sleep in until 7 is considered sleeping in and not something a soldier will complain about if given the opportunity.

Goldspark1: Thanks for the continued reviews as always. Although, I'm not sure where you're getting the whole idea about Winter's outfit "hides nothing to the imagination". Her outfit is actually one of the most conservative in the show compared to some of the other girls like Pyrrha, Blake or Yang. I'm glad that I managed to get Coco's interactions with Blackburn written to the point you think that. That' s a good sign on my end.

wpago: Been a while since I've seen something from you, man. I listened to the song, but I'm not sure if it's something I'll bring in because given Blackburn's music taste, it doesn't suit him and wouldn't be found on the abyss of songs on his scroll.

redx1221: Thanks for the review, I appreciate it! I'm happy to see so many people thought Coco and Blackburn's interaction was great. Now Winter only thinks that because she's confident about her looks and has reflected on it a couple of times in the story.