August 8th
City Of Atlas
Atlas
Uptown
3:13 PM

"I'm not quite sure about this Cinder," Roman said as he leaned onto his new weapon: Melodic Cudgel. "I mean, is this really what -"

"Roman…Roman…" Cinder said, touching his face lightly. "You grew up stealing. I'm sure a small little armed dust robbery is nothing for you. Besides," She gestured to the burly men in black behind them. "You've got the goons for brute force."

"Well…" Lighting a cigar, Roman took a draw before laughing a little. "In that case, I can deal with this pretty easily."

Grabbing him by his scarf and pulling him towards her, Roman thought that she was going to kiss him until she adjusted his black bowler hat. Readjusting his gloves after she released him, Roman smirked and straightened his white jacket before winking at her with his visible, lined green eye. The shop was a pretty standard Atlesian Dust distributor, meaning that the Schnee snowflake was on the side. Roman let out a short, low sound in anger under his breath as he thought of Emmett Schnee and Cristal. That bastard who had been on his 'team' was not be as despicable as the rest of his family, but he was pretty damn close in his book. And, of course, Cristal. He would have liked to have had her too, had she not been with Ozpin. Whatever the case, his team certainly wasn't one anymore.

"Alright," Roman said, flicking his cigar ash towards the side of the small woman who was glaring at him with her hand gripping something under the counter. "Listen to me -"

"No, you listen to me," She growled, pulling out a shotgun and pointing at him. "Take one more step towards me and I'll shoot."

Laughing a little, Roman pushed her gun in a different direction from him. "I'm not here for you or your lien. I just want the Dust."

The woman rolled her eyes. "You think I don't need the money? I need to turn a damn -"

Roman knocked her unconscious with his cane, feeling a little guilty for it for a moment before ordering the goons to steal all of the Dust in the measly shop. It wasn't much, as the place was nearly sold out anyways, but it was enough for it to make the news. That went double for the fact that the shop owner, the currently unconscious woman, was going to likely need medical attention and had her fingers still loosely wrapped around her shotgun. He supposed that the Atlas officials, particularly Ronnie Ciel, were going to be pissed and going after him soon enough but that wasn't something he couldn't handle. He had spent years stealing to keep himself sustained as a child despite his parents attempts to stop him and Lisa. It felt good to be back to doing what he did best. A smirk came over him as he sauntered out and Cinder was waiting for him with the bullhead. Things were perfect - it didn't matter whatever Cinder and her creepy ass boss wanted, it mattered that he survived.

"So, Roman…" Cinder directed one of the goons to take off before she examined the Dust that they had obtained. "Excellent…"

Giving him a half smile, Cinder kissed his cheek before shifting off. Roman blew on his bangs in irritation. He knew just as well as she did that she was trying to seduce him. Resting against the wall with Melodic Cudgel in hand, he sighed and looked around the ship as they flew out away from the city of Atlas. He was fully aware that just as they had been leaving that photographs had been taken of him, and he knew that those were going to getting back to the Atlas officials soon enough. The kingdom was going to be a thorn in his side, he had a feeling, but that seemed to be everyone that he had known. A fleeting thought passed through his mind, however, when he remembered that Nikos woman. She had been incredibly attractive, and he supposed that it was possible that he could have gotten her pregnant given the sheer number of times that they had fucked but the chances of him actually having a child out there were slim.

He wouldn't really care beyond knowing, anyways, and he had a feeling that even if that was the case that he wouldn't be listed as the father as Roman Torchwick or Dean Carson or whoever the hell he decided to be that day. That wasn't to say that he didn't want a more long standing relationship with a woman. At the moment, it wasn't looking like that would be possible, but he didn't stop himself from retaining hope. After all, hope was what had gotten him through his childhood - apart from the petty crimes and what not - and it was also what would keep him going. Apart from his new mantra, that was. Lie. Steal. Cheat. Survive. Soon enough, he figured, that would be what he did best. For now, he was going to keep his more than healthy disregard for local law enforcement and the Atlesian military that he had mostly suppressed during his time at Atlas Academy. Huntsman and huntresses were going to be a pain in the ass for him too. Either way, it looked like he chose the right side to be on. He was Roman Torchwick: he could have anything.

August 15th
Beacon CCTS Tower
Beacon Academy
City Of Vale
Vale
4:12 PM

Emmett wrapped an arm protectively around his fiancée. "Ozpin -"

His brother-in-law sighed and shook his head at what he viewed to be severe misinterpretation. "I didn't mean that in that way, Emmett, and you -"

"That's exactly what you meant," Glynda snapped in spite of better judgement. "You have more than enough evidence in front of you and yet you refuse to take even the slightest bit of action." Sending a slightly narrowed look to Emmeline, she added. "Though I don't think that bringing the Atlas military to Vale was strictly necessary. I was raised in this kingdom and seeing those ships brings a lot of questions to the table."

"The Kingdom Of Vale is slipping back into duress quickly, and it's not as if the entire fucking military is here - just a small part of it." Emmeline attempted to keep her tone even. "And it wasn't on my orders. The order came from the top of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Military Action and I happen to agree with it. The tunnels between Mountain Glenn and the City Of Vale are consistently getting breached despite the council's supposed 'action' in dealing with the situation that they are partially responsible for. The Valerian council reached out to the Atlas council for the purpose of support in dealing with the situation and the council, and I deemed it most appropriate for -"

"Which is fair," Glynda said tersely. "But you could have sent a small task force -"

"I agree with Ozpin," Qrow said with a glare to her. "And don't you think that you're just attracting more grimm by having your army in Vale?"

Emmeline scowled. "I'm not the only one and -"

"No, but you're probably going to be one of the ones that the council trusts the most," He shook his head. "Of all of the members of the Atlas military, you are going to be one of the ones that the Atlesian council shows the most favoritism towards despite the fact that you're also probably going to be one of the youngest and -"

"Shove it, Qrow." Rosalinde Varna, the headmistress of Shade Academy in Vacuo, said. "No one asked you and it's pointless to be scrutinizing the Atlesian and Valerian council's choices. And, frankly, Emmeline didn't have anything to do with that decision. Let it go."

"Rose -" He began.

"Varna, to you, Branwen." She warned him, adjusting the rose pinned in her high, tightly coiled bun.

Despite how small she was in size compared to him, she was perfectly dangerous in her own right as a huntress. Her violet eyes were sharp and never missed a beat despite her usually indifferent nature. She was not the shortest woman in the group, however, that went to Cristal who was, naturally, only 4'11''. Her sister-in-law was not much taller than her, either, at 5'2''. Glynda, however, was the tallest, naturally 6'2'' but Rose was 5'6'' and she never wore heels. Though she kept it to herself, knowing better than to say everything that she was thinking, she found it slightly amusing how Cristal was the shortest of the women and Ozpin was the tallest of the men. Ironically, neither Schnee sibling was particularly tall and it was Emmett who, at 5'11'', was two inches shorter than Qrow, who was 6'1'' and an inch taller than Leo, who was 6'0''. Irony seemed to abound everywhere in the group, in her mind. Then there was the anger. They all had it, although it was usually directed to people outside of their little circle. Not with her, though. She resented Cristal, and it was by no means because of her work.

"Speaking of Atlesian affairs…" Varna turned on Cristal with her magic pulsing in her hands. The prosecutor pulled her infant daughter tighter in her arms. "What really happened with your sister when you all were –"

"No," Cristal said shortly, trying to soothe her baby girl. "Not until you stop threatening me and my daughter."

Varna raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

"Rose," Ozpin said, pulling his nervous wife into him while she held their baby girl protectively. "We're all allies and there's no -"

"No reason? Ozpin, are you serious?" Rose looked back at Lionheart who was shifting. "What do you have to say about this?"

The man hesitated. "I…"

"Are you a double crosser?" Varna glared. "Well, are you? Or are you just too afraid to take a real position?"

"Rose, are...are..." Leo bit his lip. "Are you sure that you aren't over reacting or reading too far into things?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rose snapped and out of the corner of her eye she saw Glynda tighten her grip on her crop.

"I mean…" Leo looked down at her pulsing hands and met her narrowed gaze. "Are you sure that you are able to...perceive things correctly at the moment? You've been stealing again, haven't you? Bribing other leaders, and you know that -"

Rose was outraged, and she had a half a mind to end him. Her voice slow, she narrowed her gaze further and when she spoke it was deadly. "You would do well to remember your place. And, because I know you're going to ask it, I support the choice that the Atlesian council has made and the Valerian Council has been involved in. The reports of late from both of the councils have been concerning. They not only include information about this...Roman Torchwick and have been more than informative as well as -"

"The accuracy -" Leonardo argued.

"All of the reports that I've forwarded to this group have been verified, I assure you!" Emmeline cut across the man, irritated that that could even be questioned. It wasn't as if she was unused to her judgement being called into question, but this was ridiculous and therefore pissed her off. "The recent reports on the state of Vale – that both James and I have done – were concerning to the council and they took what they deemed to be the most appropriate course of action!"

"Since your father's death, it seems the Council's been acting more and more paranoid -" He interjected.

"Paranoid?" She demanded, wrenching free from Emmett's tight grasp. "Excuse me, but have you looked in the goddamn mirror? You are, out of all of us in this room, the most afraid of Salem! And don't you dare drag my family into this! I don't have that much authority and, even if I did -"

"The Que -" Leonardo started.

Everyone's eyes narrowed further.

Leonardo sighed as he finished. "Salem is dangerous, you have no -"

"Don't I?" She asked, a hand on her hip while Emmett came over to her and pulled her back into his arms. "I know full well how dangerous the woman is. Have you forgotten that she controls the creatures of grimm?"

"Emmeline -" He tried.

"LCDR Ciel," Emmett insisted, angered at the nerve of the man and nervous about how far he was pushing his fiancée's temper. "And she's right, her -"

"Emmett -" Glynda started reproachfully.

"Glynda, he's -" Emmett protested.

"I know that perfectly well, thank you for spelling it out for me." She snapped, with a sharp look at everyone. "Honestly, I don't know how we ever get anything done when I consider how often we're at each other's throats."

There was a temporary silence, but Rose nodded, glaring at Ozpin. "And you," She said. "You don't even try to stop us."

"Glynda's right, though," James said, meeting her gaze for a moment in which her eyes softened.

"Well," Emmett glared at Leo for calling Atlas' judgement into question. "I still -"

"The Atlas military has no business in Vale - what do the people think?" Leo stated, but he didn't continue when he saw that Emmeline was clenching her fists.

Emmett pulled her as close to him as possible and caught her hair in between his fingers. "It's fine, really Emmy, it's fine…" He whispered, trying to calm her. Despite knowing that it was a risk to reassure her further than that, he kissed her gently before finishing. "Emmy, there is nothing wrong with your judgement. You did what you thought was right and you were, more or less, backed into a corner. You told the truth and they acted accordingly. I know these aren't easy calls, but you're doing what you think is right."

The anxious silence that followed only seemed to highlight the tension between them all.

August 25th
City Of Atlas
United Kingdom Of Atlas
Downtown
11:42 PM

A girl with wavy blonde hair and piercing eyes turned around in shock. Her green eyes were vibrant and were made even more distinctive by her thin, round glasses, glasses that looked similar to Glynda's though they were more rounded than Glynda's which were smaller and more pointed towards the top. This young woman was pale and was wearing a grey turtleneck blouse that was tight and paired with a few thin gold necklaces. These both, in turn, were matched with a black skirt, leggings, and boots. She was also wearing a long necklace that hung with a dark pendant at the center. The jewel was a very dark blue that glinted and seemed almost to have the perfect cat's eye effect.

There was also a gold ring on her left middle finger, shaped like a blooming flower with a pearl in the center. She seemed damn near hyperventilation, too. Then, despite the Atlesian Knights guarding the door, she buzzed into it where an older James was lecturing four girls. One them with white hair that looked similar to Willow. Was this Winter or another child? The blonde girl adopts a hard look on her face, but it softens to one of sympathy when she looks to the slightly busty girl with long, thick hair who is sitting in both nervousness and a little bit of shame. Turning around and sighing irritably, James sent the dark-haired girl a glare and that was when it became clear that this wasn't some random girl. This was one of his and Glynda's daughters.

"Cate," James looked at his daughter sternly who only hardened her expression and crossed her arms, adjusting the glistening, jeweled shotgun on her hip of habit rather than aggression. "Apart from how you got in here, what are you –"

"Ivy gave me the code," She muttered, restraining herself from fighting too fast.

"Cate," James shook his head while his daughter folded her arms across her chest. "You can't do things like this. You're studying law. You know that."

Regardless, the young woman, incensed at what she was clearly seeing to be injustice, began to scream in a way that seemed distinctly reminiscent of her mother.

"Daddy, you can't disqualify her!" She exclaimed, her hair giving the appearance of almost being on fire with the lighting. "She didn't do it unprovoked! I swear to -"

"Cate -" He said, his voice sounding exhausted.

"Yang would never hurt anyone ruthlessly! Ivy could probably tell you better than anybody!" Slight tears of anger laced the corners of her eyes. "Please!"

"Even if that's true, the world has already drawn its own conclusions!" James returned the sharp look and tone to her despite the fact that it was clear on his face that he didn't want to. Turning back to the blonde - Yang - who looked ready to protest again, James sighed. "As I said before, you are disqualified."

"But General Ironwood -" The girl with the white hair protested.

"Miss Schnee -" He said, shaking his head.

"Dad," Cate said quietly. "This isn't going to stop Her."

James glanced to her, shocked for a moment, and then shook his head.

"You were never supposed to know," He finally said. "And I'm sorry you had to."

Jolting awake, Emmett restrained himself from screaming. His breathing was heavy, and he pulled himself upwards, rubbing his arm. He couldn't believe that he had one of those dreams again. The dreams that were almost visions but that he wasn't quite sure if they were. Looking over at his sleeping fiancée, Emmett sighed in relief that she was still alright and sleeping peacefully. He knew that things were stressful for her right now. Aside from the usual shit she had to deal with various parts of the council, they were both nervous about their wedding set for the end of October. Falling backwards, Emmett ran his hand through his hair as he tried to force himself to relax so that he would be able to fall back asleep without her knowing that he had a dream like that again. He didn't get his wish. Feeling him shift that much and being an already light sleeper, Emmeline Ciel lifted her head up and looked at him in concern before sighing heavily.

"It happened again," She said gently, knowing that there was no way that he was awake unless that was the case. Her eyes a little wide, she took his hand and pulled him into her with a kiss to his forehead. "Emmett, tell me about it this time."

He sighed. "Honey, it's okay. I promise it's nothing."

"Emmett," She said, her voice just a little bit sharper. "I swear to god, please just tell me -"

"One of those dreams where I'm not sure if it's just a dream or if it's a vision," Emmett admitted quietly. "Probably the latter. It was too detailed to be a dream and -"

"Emmett -" She began, trying to comfort him.

"It had to be over nineteen years from now," Emmett said tiredly. "Because it was clearly Vale - Beacon - and it was definitely after September and Glynda -"

Emmeline incredulous. "Glynda?"

"And James' eldest…I'm sure…" He trailed off, for a moment, struggling with words. "There was a disqualification – something happened with a Vytal Festival, I think – and I could have sworn she knew the truth of…"

"Emmett, it's just a dream," She murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. "And it doesn't mean -"

"It had to be a vision -" Emmett said, his fear visible in his voice.

"Emmett, stop worrying about your visions," She said softly. "Please. For now, they're just that."

Sighing heavily, Emmett pulled her close and kissed her deeply. "I love you."

"I love you too," She said, sighing blissfully as he continued to draw her close. "Emmett…"

"You really do know how to bring me down from my fears, don't you?" Emmett nuzzled her neck and brought her into another kiss before letting her rest in his arms while they distracted each other with conversation as best as they could.

September 3rd
2nd Floor
Bushwood Apartment Complex
City Of Vale
Vale
11:14 PM

"Damn it!" Glynda stared at the photographs that Emmett had forwarded to her of Ashlynn - Cinder - and Dean - Torchwick. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Caitlin had only just fallen asleep with her bear wrapped tightly in her arms on the floor while Ivy crawled around a little, occasionally poking her sister. It wasn't all that long before they'd be a year, but the stress of dealing with two little girls was still getting to her, and she knew her work was mounting on her. Setting down her scroll in annoyance, Glynda sighed as she watched Ivy curiously look at her sleeping sister's feet. It wasn't long before Ivy was falling asleep as well and, in an attempt to be semi productive, Glynda brought her scroll over and half collapsed into her bean bag near where the girls were sleeping. Though she knew that it was going to piss her off, she looked over the photographs again and admitted, to herself at least, that both of them looked like who they were convinced they were. It was a complicated situation, but it didn't help that the meeting on the fifteenth of August had gone poorly.

Ever since then, although it had been building before then, Emmett was growing more noticeably protective of his fiancée – something that Glynda and James both knew would be stronger after they were married. Of course, the other factor that influenced that even more were his visions that were scaring him. It wasn't easy for either of them. Emmeline had been complaining to her the other day about how Emmett was convinced by his visions that she was in danger but admitted that she was relieved by his concern. Emmett had been forthcoming about that, even to the point of admitting to it being the cause of more than one argument between them because of his fear. The two of them had been around increasingly often which, for most purposes, wasn't a bad thing in and of itself but it was stressful when the two of them fought.

Picking up Caitlin as she stirred, Glynda tried to keep her asleep. The little girl, thankfully, simply curled into her mother's embrace and, although everything about Glynda felt cold, didn't even squirm while she was brought closer. It was a relief that the little girl was being so calm – typically, she leaned towards impatience and being a diva despite not being even a year. Already the girl had shown dislike for clothes that weren't pink. As her mother, Glynda could tell that her eldest daughter was not going to be the most passive person but that was a relief. The fact that she was already showing signs of being considerably temperamental seemed to be an indication of a strong personality. Ivy was similar in many ways, but she was calmer overall. It was going to be interesting to see how those traits ended up expressed later. They were such sweethearts, and both her and James were happy for that.

Sighing, she took both girls and laid them down in their room. Both of them were still asleep. It was late, at any rate, and the fact that it was going to be a little longer before James got home made it all the more worse. He had been in Atlas for the last three days and she had been continuing to work on investigations while doing her best to handle her life in general and the girls. She missed him being around but at the same time she was annoyed with him for not being home already. Tension had been building in her life for a while for a variety of reasons but the primary one was her personal life. It was hard for her, sometimes, being a mother but she still loved them dearly. She didn't want to admit it, but she had cried last night after the girls had fallen asleep because of the stress but also because she and James had gotten into an argument over the line about their schedules.

She was still a bit sick, and it was worrying to her. She didn't want the girls to get sick again, and she was stressed by the fight she had gotten in with James. She wanted him to be around to comfort her, rather than the two of them fighting. Pacing while checking on the girls every so often, she tried to force herself to relax the physical tension going through her. The isolations helped a little but not enough and her breathing exercises only made her feel lightheaded. Taking a novel off her pile, she took a blanket and curled up on the couch with it. Remember Me How I Was. Two sisters who were closer than close before one of them got taken by a demon and the journey to hell and back that the one left behind made alone killed her and, although it wasn't a happy end to their stories, the two sisters ended up tortured in hell together. It was about halfway through the novel that James came in. She didn't notice him until she felt him sit down next to her and push her slowly slipping glasses back up her face.

"You okay?" He asked her quietly as she leaned into him after marking her page and setting the book aside. "I know things haven't been easy, but I'm here now."

"Haven't been easy? Are you kidding me? Things the last few days have been worse than simply not easy!" Glynda shook her head and she gently pushed him away and began to pace again. "James, you haven't been home and in that time the twins have been sick, I've appointments because I've gotten sick, and -"

"I -" He started.

"I don't think you know -" Glynda snapped.

"I don't," James stopped her and she sighed irritably, treading her fingers through her bangs. "I don't know what you've had to deal with and I -"

"I -" She began irritably.

"Glyns, I'm not going anywhere again until January. That I can promise." Kissing her forehead, he pulled her into a light embrace as he knew that she wasn't in the mood for much more than a little gentle affection. "I'll be here to help with the girls. I know they're not always easy and that it's been a rough week for you."

She sighed. "James, I -"

"I shouldn't have gotten mad at you last night for taking Oz's side," He said, biting his lip. "You know Vale better than I do and beyond that there's nothing wrong with -"

"James -" She said, probing her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Glynda, I really am -" He said quickly.

"Shut up," She said, though her voice was soft. "It's not entirely your fault -"

"I shouldn't have -" He protested.

Pulling him in close to her, she brought her lips down on his in a passionate kiss. "I might be a little angry with you, but I know that you do what you think is right. Besides...I still love you."

"I shouldn't have provoked you." He said, and she sighed deeply. "I already knew what you thought and...I...I really hate fighting with you."

"Well...I don't exactly find joy in it." She smiled a little before kissing him again.

James hesitated but then spoke. "Glynda, last night, what happened -"

"I don't want to talk about it -" She started.

"Glynda -" He said.

"I told you," She said tiredly. "I don't -"

"Did you end up crying?" He asked her quietly, almost not wanting to. The slight shift and the pause on her end said it all. "Glynda, I...I'm sorry."

"I know…" She said, glancing at her hands.

"I…" Unable to think of anything else to do, James pulled her into him tightly and rubbed her back while she fought back tears though he felt some regardless. "I really do love you, Glyns…"

"I love you too…" Her voice was almost inaudible, but it was enough for him to feel relief that she wasn't pushing him away

"Glynda…" He said quietly.

"Let's just let it go," She told him. "Please."

Some of her stray locks brushed against the metal of his neurotransmitter for his right side and the others tickled his forehead and the sides of his face. His metal arm wrapped around her to bring her closer and she didn't protest, giving into her emotions. She wasn't sure if there was a right decision for how to handle things. They both had messed up and they had both admitted to it. It wasn't the time for that and, besides, she wanted to stay like this. The feeling of the cool metal of his right arm wrapped around her was comforting for the fact that it was normal. Her eyes closed soon enough and, as she fell asleep, he brought her close and eventually drifted off as well with her still tightly in his arms in a moment of temporary bliss that seemed, for just a moment, like it could last.