...I won't lie to y'all; this chapter was a battle. Must be all the new anime taking my attention away from this story. And if any of you guys are seeing this chapter, that means I've decided to keep this story going. But it might seem a little rushed from here on in, so please enjoy.

3rd POV

"Mmm…," Ruby moaned, shifting ever so slightly. The warmth under what she assumed to be her blanket was so welcoming that she didn't bother opening her eyes to the blinding sun that was surely peering through her bedroom window. Her lips curled into a slight grin as she reached around, trying to find the other source of warmth that she had fallen asleep with the night before. However, when she reached out, she felt nothing. Furrowing her brow, she reached even further, trying to find her fiancé, only to reach the back rest of the couch. Her eyes opened a crack, her brow still furrowed in a bit of annoyance as she looked at the end of the couch, seeing Delta looking at his scroll.

With a smile, Ruby lifted her hoodie that, unbeknownst to her, they had used as a makeshift blanket as she crawled up to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Morning," Ruby cooed, only to be replied with silence. Blinking, Ruby glanced at him, seeing his face with a serious look on it. He didn't reply. He was too into whatever he was looking at on his scroll.

"Delta?"

Delta continued to ignore Ruby.

"Del?"

Ruby pushed him a bit, causing him to flinch and turn to her.

"O-oh! Morning Ruby!"

Ruby frowned, unimpressed, as she asked, "What's going on that you were staring at your scroll?"

Just like that, Delta's expression changed from a surprised look to a serious one. Ruby felt a sense of worry creeping up on her as he turned back to his scroll, a white speech bubble present on it. Ruby, with a slight groan and little pain shooting in her thighs, crawled over and looked at the communicator, seeing Qrow's name up on the top of the screen.

"'Found your teammate. Get to Beacon so we can talk,'" Delta stated as he closed his scroll.

"What's up, kid?"

Delta walked through the elevator door, Ruby close behind. Qrow, who was leaning against Ozpin's desk, closed his scroll, a surprising feat considering said man almost never answered it or sent out messages, then kicked himself to a proper standing position. Delta approached the desk, Ozpin looking down at his desk, seemingly at a conflict as to what to do. Ruby was quick to follow, only to get stopped by Qrow, who said, "Sorry Ruby, but could you leave?"

"Huh?"

Qrow then approached his niece, placing a hand on her shoulder as he stated, "This isn't something that you should be getting involved with."

"Qrow," Delta spoke up, catching the man's attention. Delta proceeded to turn around, about to open his mouth to speak, only for Ozpin to clear his throat, catching all of their attentions. All three turned to face the man, who glanced up and said, "Ruby, Qrow is right. May you please leave?"

"But-," Ruby began, only to see Delta holding the locket he gave her, causing her to look up and lock her eyes on his. Delta blinked, then pulled her into a hug, surprising both her and Qrow, the latter still unused to seeing his niece in a man's arms. Delta thought to himself for a moment, wondering why they didn't want Ruby being in the room with them as he said, "Sorry Rubes…I'll see you later…okay?"

"But-," Ruby began again, only to be shushed by Delta, who continued, "In the meantime, go finish making Alternate Echo for me, will ya?"

The young woman opened her mouth again, but then sighed as she pushed herself away from Delta and stated, "…fine."

Delta's POV

I watched as Ruby promptly turned around and walked into the elevator, just barely catching Ruby's hurt expression as the doors shut. I felt my gut wrench slightly, but then recomposed myself as I turned to face Ozpin, who was now sternly looking at me. I felt a chill go down my spine as he said, "Now…I take it that you're wondering why you've been called here?"

"Qrow said he found Sierra," I replied, turning to Qrow, who began walking back over to Ozpin. I then heard the elevator door open behind me, causing me to turn around and see Glynda and James with Hotel and Lima, the latter with slightly red eyes. I felt my gut wrench again as she walked up to me, ears flapping sadly as she mustered up her best smile, the pain evident in her eyes. I then felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn and see Hotel shake his head. I grimaced, then turned my attention back over to the adults standing at Ozpin's desk. Qrow scoffed at the sight of General Ironwood, but then said, "Okay…so without further ado, let's get this thing over with."

"Per information from Qrow, it seems that Sierra is being held at a complex that's hidden near Atlas," Ozpin stated, catching us by surprise. Ironwood turned away for a moment, seemingly embarrassed or ashamed, but then mustered the courage to turn back to us. I glanced at him momentarily, then turned back to Ozpin, only for Qrow to say, "And good ol' Jimmy there didn't tell us about a little abandoned prison now, did you Ironwood?"

"Abandoned prison?"

"Damn right," Qrow continued, "hidden deep in the mountains. Jimmy here claims that-."

"Qrow," Ironwood interrupted, "I'll explain it to them."

I glanced at Ironwood with a raised eyebrow, growing somewhat annoyed as he stated, "A long time ago, after I became general, I made a prison to keep any prisoners. It was a maximum security prison that I had hoped we would be able to bring to use in the near future after we abandoned it, so it was never torn down."

"Oh sure," Qrow sarcastically remarked, "So we'd need to use some random prison in the middle of bumfuck nowhere just to keep a couple of bad guys."

"It was necessary," Ironwood replied.

"It was a joke," Qrow shot back, laughing at the general mockingly as he continued, "the security in that waste of building space was terrible enough, not to mention that you were only there for select moments when the guards didn't know what to do!"

"Qrow, that's enough," Ozpin finally interjected. Qrow and Ironwood glared at each other, then turned back to me. I, along with my two teammates, stood quietly as Ozpin then turned to Qrow, who in turn turned his attention to Ozpin as the older man stated, "This is going to be a rescue mission to bring back a comrade in arms. A dear friend."

A team leader.

"Yessir," I replied as Qrow then took another drink from his flask. Ironwood then made to speak, only to get cut off as I took notice of Lima's ears twitching from the corner of my eye. I turned to said partner, about to ask what was wrong before she herself turned to the elevator, looking at it quite…well…annoyed.

"What's up, partner?"

"…kids…," Lima replied, definitely annoyed as the elevator door opened, revealing Sakura, who gave a small flinch of surprise at the sight of Hotel, Lima, and I. I raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised as the girl immediately ran up to me. I could sense the obvious hurt, shock, disbelief, and a whole myriad of negative emotions in her eyes as she said, "Tell me it's not true…tell me my sister isn't…!"

"She's not dead, you know," Qrow stated behind me, "But she is in pretty rough shape."

I looked at Sakura's team, then down to the girl who was literally on the verge of tears. I then glanced at Lima, who immediately comprehended the silent message, albeit somewhat slower than usual, and walked over, taking the girl from me in an attempt to comfort her as I turned back around, not really liking the idea of kids coming along to help. However, as I opened my mouth, Ozpin stated, "Do not worry, Sakura. Team SHLD will bring her back."

I proceeded to approach the girl, watching as Lima stepped aside, revealing that the girl was in a flat out cry-fest. I furrowed my brow, feeling somewhat uncomfortable as I reached my arms around her, receiving a gasp of surprise as I closed my eyes, taking notice of her slightly smaller frame compared to Sierra.

"Don't worry," I stated, "We're bringing her back."

"B…but…!"

"You have my word," I continued, "You'll know if this mission is successful if we come back alive or not."