A/N: I just finished the Punisher season 1 on Netflix. Wow, was that a ride. I loved how character-driven that story was. The whole plot flowed naturally from just how dynamic the characters' motivations were. It was incredible. If I can write a story half as good, man.

"Have you found any signs of her?"

Ozpin was sipping coffee at his new desk, a replica of the one he had smashed a week earlier.

Qrow grimaced. "Maybe." He looked as tired as he felt. He'd been in bird form almost exclusively since he'd been tasked with finding Cinder. "She's gone to ground. But her partner's body came up in southern Vale. Came with a message too, to Cinder. Whoever the murderer is, she wants Cinder bad, and dead."

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee. "That must be Neo. She is angry at the loss of her mentor."

Qrow made a displeased face. "Yeah, I don't buy your everyone gets a second chance spiel, Oz. Torchwick died, and that sucks, but he was in Mountain Glenn for the express reason of pulling off the Breach. I don't care how much he was forced into it, his operation almost killed Yang and Ruby. Gods, if it wasn't for Raven, who knows…"

"Neo wouldn't have hurt Yang, Qrow. She cares for her."

Qrow slammed his flask down into this hip holster. "That doesn't reassure me, Oz. That girl is a murdering sociopath that mutilates her enemies' bodies to send a message. I don't want my nieces anywhere near her."

Ozpin finally set down his coffee. "The girl is grieving, Qrow. Give her a chance. She obviously cared for Torchwick. Don't tell me you weren't irrational when Summer died."

"Don't. Go there." Qrow snapped.
The white-haired man held up his hands in apology. "The point is, Neo, however brutal her actions, is on our side in this war. And we have so few allies we can trust. If we can point her anger in the right direction, I think she will be a formidable force for Cinder and Salem to reckon with." He pushed forth a manila folder. "Already, she has brought a great advantage."

Qrow picked up the folder and fingered through it. His normally half-lidded eyes went wide. "This for real?"

"I received it from Miss Belladonna this morning. I like to believe I can trust my students."

Qrow hmmed. "Why is the cat girl running around in Vale anyway? She's Yang's partner, right?"

"Yes." Ozpin started refilling his coffee while Qrow continued to leaf through the documents. "Miss Belladonna has always had a strong sense of justice. Even if you can't trust Neo, you can trust that Miss Belladonna will do the right thing and keep her in line."

Qrow capitulated. "Alright, alright fine. You've made your case. We let them do their thing, we do ours. Got it." He whistled appreciatively at the information. "But wow, this, is a plan. Ironwood's not going to like it. Especially not that part about his baby girl getting cut into pieces in front of all of Remnant." Qrow grinned mischievously. "I kinda want to let this happen just so I can see his face when it happens. I bet it's going to be all:" Qrow finished with an angry, constipated expression.

Ozpin snorted in spite of himself, but admonished. "You will not put our students' lives in danger, Qrow."

"Yeah, yeah, just a joke, Oz." Qrow frowned. "It's a shame this is missing some details, though. How are they planning on executing Penny's death? They say Pyrrha, but even if we assume she makes it to the finals, she's a professional. She doesn't get jitters, even in front of hundred thousands of people. She's not going to make a mistake and accidentally kill someone."

Ozpin hmmed. "Unless she thought she was fighting for her life."

"What? Oh. Damn." Qrow took a swig of his flask. "You think there's some kind of Semblance at play here? An illusion that only the target can see? That's one nasty Semblance. Too much shit you can pull with it." Qrow shook his head in disgust. "Gods, with a Semblance like that you can get a man to kill his own sister without even knowing it. It takes a real messed up person to develop a Semblance like that."

"So, what's the plan?"

Ozpin steepled together his fingers. "We do what we do best, Qrow. For now, we watch, and we wait. And get this info to Ironwood. I'll need his help. A Semblance like this is bound to have prohibitive restrictions. With this, we will have the illusionist by her neck, and Cinder will be forced to come out."

XXXXXXXXXX

Half the school away, Emerald sneezed.

"Are you alright, Emerald?" Pyrrha asked.

Weiss tsked. "Goodness Emerald. Don't be getting sick right before the dance. It's tomorrow. We're already missing half our team."

Emerald rolled her eyes. In a week, nobody here would be worrying about a stupid dance. And she'd be back together with Cinder. Emerald smiled as she leaned against Pyrrha.

Pyrrha had been a comforting presence in the past few days, in the absence of Cinder. She was mature, like Cinder, and kind, like Cinder too. They'd had connection on the roof that night, when Emerald had thought she was alone. Obviously, Emerald knew now that Cinder hadn't abandoned her, but at the time that meant something. Still meant something.

Pyrrha had helped Emerald connect with her team and Team RWBY, which had been hard in the beginning, since they blamed her (rightfully) for the cat girl faunus' disappearance. But they'd bought Emerald's bullshit about being uninvolved with Cinder (as if!) and they trusted Pyrrha's judgement enough to accept her.
Blake reappearing out of nowhere had nearly scared her witless, but Emerald had diverted the situation easily with her Semblance. Too easy, she thought. Her enemies were all stupid, like blunt instruments, designed to be manipulated, just like Cinder had taught her. She shivered in pleasure.

"Emerald, you're shaking. Are you sure you're not sick?" The red-headed Amazon asked worriedly. Emerald nuzzled into her chest and shook her head. Anyway, the point was, Pyrrha had done a lot for her, and Emerald appreciated that, in the way Emerald thought one might appreciate a good friend. Emerald didn't know. She'd never had friends, not really.

"Never make friends, only tools," Cinder had said. "That way you won't feel bad for using them." Emerald felt a little twitch when she looked at Pyrrha, but buried it. Friends were for the weak, Emerald reminded herself. She didn't need anyone but Cinder.

Her mission for Cinder had hit a dead end. None of the girls in Team RWBY had shown signs of being the Maiden. Not that they would overtly erupt in flames in the dorm, Emerald liked to think her new frien-companions were smarter than that. But there were more subtle signs. Covert visits to the headmaster's office during free time, or any late periods. Although the latter might mean something else too. Emerald glared suspiciously at Ren and Nora. She didn't know what was going on with those two, but she didn't like it. Anyways, that was besides the point. There were no missed periods, period, pregnancy or no.

It was worrying, and she was nervous to inform Cinder of her lack of progress. With the revelation of Cinder looking for the Maiden inside Beacon, Ozpin should have chosen a new Maiden by now. Emerald glanced at each of the girls in the room. For some reason she hesitated to think of them as the Maidens. Whoever it was, Cinder would kill them. It was inevitable.

Yes, evidence pointed at the obvious, that he had already given the Maiden power away. It was obvious, now that she thought about it. Was it Blake? No, she had ties to the White Fang. Ozpin would never trust her. Could it be Neo?

It had to be. It was counterintuitive at first, but Ozpin had to know that Neo hated Cinder for what she'd done to Torchwick. He might not be able to trust Neo, but he'd be able to trust that she would do whatever it took to stop Cinder. It would be the last place Cinder would think to look for the Maiden power.

Great. Cinder would be pleased with her conclusions. Emerald snaked a hand around Pyrrha's waist, smirking a little at the small gasp. Geez, what was she so sensitive for? A bit of touching was normal for girl friends right? At this rate, Emerald would think Pyrrha was bisexual...which Emerald found she was strangely okay with.

Emerald sighed contentedly and leaned back, taking solace in the company of friends.

A/N: I just realized how similar Emerald's Semblance is to Aizen's shikai from Bleach.