"Is this really necessary?"
"There is no other way to do this, Ozpin. Either now or never."
Ozpin and his comrade Ironwood waited outside of the academy. They both stared the flying vehicle which was about to land near them. The deafening sound that the engine made was a minor obstacle when compared to the problem that needed to be solved. While the headmaster wanted to solve it trough simple talks and other such means, Ironwood chose a more radical approach to the subject matter. And his method included eight robots in front of them. Eight well-equipped robots.
"So you are going to do it just because he has the right to not speak if he doesn't want to?"
"Believe me, his type need a boost to make them sing."
"I will remind you that he is my student."
"And I will remind you that he might have important information about it. I know he does."
"And how exactly do you plan to make him talk?"
The two just exchanged a brief look. Ozpin immediately knew the answer.
"Ironwood, if something happens to him-"
"You have my word that he will be under protection."
The Bullhead landed and the door opened. Team CFVY was the first to exit and reach Ozpin. All four of them were puzzled by the robots, but decided to remain silent.
"Miss Adel, I expect your full report on my desk by tomorrow." He ordered to the teenager in front of him, who saluted and went along. He had other plans for RWBY.
Curiously, the leader of RWBBY appeared to be depressed. Something that was unusual for Miss Rose. Even the other girls were just sad. Unlike CFVY, they barely noticed the robots. Understandable since they had other things to worry about.
"Headmaster." The team leader muttered, her head lowered to the point that her eyes were hidden by her hair. Ozpin glanced at Miss Schnee, Belladonna and Xiao Long. Clearly they were all concerned for their teammate. His stoic facade hid well his sadness for witnessing such sight. Another reason to discuss about the fifth member. In private.
"Miss Rose." He nodded. "We need to talk."
"It's... about Braylon, sir?" The girl asked hesitantly.
"Yes. There is something that I need to discuss with you, along with you three."
"Yes, headmaster." She sighed.
Miss Xiao Long wanted to protest but he quickly raised his hand.
"Whatever you have to say can be said in my office. The subject is rather delicate to be discussed in public. Now, if you will follow me..."
He didn't lie to them. He really wanted to tell them about Mister Braylon's... illness. But there was also the fact that he wanted to shield the girls from the sight that was about to happen. No need to traumatize his students.
It took Braylon at least ten minutes to realize that everyone else was already gone. That alcohol was really making a number on his brain.
He shook his head and slowly got up, stretched, and made his way towards the exit while trying to look as sober as possible.
"HALT! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"
Braylon shook slightly when he heard a robotic voice yelling at him. He rubbed his eyes and found a sight that was really unexpected. Eight robots were pointing their guns at him, with the asshat general behind them trying to look as mad as possible. Braylon resisted the urge to laugh like an idiot.
"Harump! ...Hey-general! What- what's with the firing squad?" His lips curled into a smile.
"Mister Braylon, you are under arrest in the name of the Atlas kingdom."
This statement puzzled him. His smile turned into a frown.
"Say what now?"
"Drop your weapons and place your hands behind your head."
"Pft. Watch out, we got a badass over here..." The guns hummed. "...Fuck."
"Do as requested and we will do no harm." The general calmly responded.
God, what a mess. The crowd that was gathering didn't help jack shit. Why does this imbecile want to arrest him? He did nothing wrong...
He could just destroy the robots and rip his head off but that would cause more harm than good. Braylon now needed to act carefully. One bad move and he could screw everything up.
This just gave him an idea...
"Alrighty." Braylon shrugged and materialized all his weapons on the ground in front of him. Ironwood quickly approached the boy and cuffed him. He then leaned closer.
"You brought this upon yourself, son." He whispered. "It's for the good of everyone."
Braylon growled.
"Fool. If only you knew..."
"I'm also taking your device-"
"Sorry, but this thingy is wired to self-destruct if removed from its owner. Try, and this place along with half of the kingdom becomes a crater."
This was only half-true. The PDA will self-destruct only if it is forcefully removed from its owner while still alive. Various defensive measures will make sure that something like that doesn't happen. Should the owner die or loose the arm which held said device, it shuts down and ereases all the previous data that the ex-owner gathered. Not that the dear general over there needs to know.
Ironwood was surprised (much to Braylon's amusement) when he heard that. He frowned and decided to simply let it go.
"Okay, you can have it. But if you try anything stupid-"
"No worries, general. I'll be a saint." He smiled innocently. "I promise."
Now he was the one who let out a growl. Braylon watched as the idiot gave orders to those tin cans and then called "specialist Schnee", requesting a Bullhead. Luckily he also forgot to take his pendant. Too bad.
"I feel lucky today..."
"He is a ruffian!"
"He threatened us."
"He hates on everything!"
Ozpin sighed. This was going to be a bigger problem than he thought. He really should have told them sooner.
"I brought you here because I have something important to tell you about your teammate." He took a sip from his ever-present mug. "More precisely, it is his... health." He handed a medical paper to the three older girls. They needed to know. Rules be damned. Miss Xiao Long was the one who took it. As her eyes darted from left to right repeatedly, her expression changed. Ozpin could see the look of horror slowly creeping on their faces.
"You mean he is sick?" Ruby asked innocently. "But... that doesn't excuse him from being a big jerk and-" Ruby then felt a hand on her left shoulder. She looked up and saw Yang with a... sorrowful look?
"Sis..." Ruby raised an eyebrow as she noticed the same look on both Blake and Weiss... well, the Ice Queen not so much as the other two. "You have to know that there are some types of sickness that... that cannot be cured and... they stick with you till the very end."
"What are you talking about?" Asked Ruby, freaked out by the sudden emotional change.
"She is saying that Braylon has mental health problems, you dunce!" Weiss yelled.
"Oh." It would be nice if she knew more about the subject... and if Weiss stopped her calling "dunce".
"Yes, indeed. Although I wouldn't phrase it like that, Miss Schnee."
"Excuse me, headmaster." Weiss quickly apologized and lowered her head in embarassment.
"Miss Rose, your teammate... from what I understood during our private talks in my office and from that analysis, he..." He was really having difficulty to express what was on his mind. "...he was forced to commit things that I'm sure he would never do in any other circumstances. And now he is suffering greatly because of it, even if he doesn't openly show it to anyone."
"But we are his teammates! We are supposed to trust each other in everything, no matter how difficult it is to talk about!"
"True, but try to place yourself in his shoes. He is injured, both physically and mentally."
"Then why didn't he told us before?! Why keeping it a secret?!"
"Hey..." Blake raised her hand. "Excuse me for interrupting, but remember those guys back then? You know, those that attacked us and him?"
"Yeah, so?"
"They tried to kill us and him."
"What are you trying to say, Blake?" Yang asked.
"All I'm saying is that we basically don't know anythong about him. Take us for example. We know each other well enough to write an essay on it... but don't know virtually nothing about him. Where is he from? What's his hobby? What color does he like? We didn't really do anything that would earn his trust..."
"A bit too late for that." Weiss mumbled. "It is all your fault, Xiao Long!"
"What?! Why me?!"
"You were the one who came up with the idea to call the headmaster. Did you forget what your sister told him back there?!"
"Well sorry if I couldn't take his "all mysterious" crap anymore! It's his fault, really!"
"Are you kidding me? Have you read this paper? He has paranoia! Of course he wouldn' trust us! Then there is also his alcohol abuse, ASPD and schizophrenia! Do you know what this means?!"
"Wait." Blake interrupted again. "I remember once seeing him in a hallway during one of his attacks. He was yelling and it looked like he was having a panic attack." The other three just stared her. It was a bit uncomfortable.
The headmaster sighed once again, thus gaining back the lost attention.
"I am sure you realize how much he needs help as soon as possible. And who else could help him more than his own teammates? Don't rush things, give him time, help him. Please, Miss Rose. Be patient with him. When I look him, I see a hurt and lonely person with lots of unsolved problems."
Ruby gawked. "Yes... headmaster... I... Now that I think about it he is kinda cold like Weiss when we first met her (Hey!)." A small smile formed on her face which quickly gave her back the confidence she lost. "You are right, headmaster. He acts all icy around us, but if we show him how much we consider him as a friend, that may change! And he will finally stop being mean! Go team RWBBY!" Ruby fist-bumped the air only to turn sad again. "But we still cannot forget the fact that he... he..."
This was one of those rare times when the headmaster expressed his emotions visually.
"I know, Miss Rose, I know very well. But that is something that you need to solve."
"Sorry, Headmaster..."
"Yes, Miss Schnee?"
"Why were those Atlesian Knights back there armed? Actually, why were those Knights there in the first place?"
"General Ironwood wants to interrogate Braylon on certain topics. To do this, he says, he needs to take Mister Braylon to the kingdom of Atlas."
"Will he be okay?"
"Of course, Miss Rose. I will personally make sure that nothing happens to him." He took a sip. "You are dismissed."
"Thank you, headmaster."
Ozpin sat up and went towards the window where he could see the whole academy. What caught his attention was a Bullhead slowly departing from Beacon.
"I hope you didn't make a mistake, Ironwood."