Later that evening, Julius sat in his room, strumming his guitar and resting from the long day he and the others had. Qrow had decided to visit with the girls first, and he could hear Ruby yelling at her uncle from the other room, which only meant she was either getting angry, or competitive…or both.

"You're going down, old man!" he heard her yell, and he chuckled to himself; she was definitely getting competitive. Just then, a knock came at his door.

"Come in." he said, and the door opened to show Weiss and Winter as they walked in.

"I just came to get the song you finished." Weiss said.

"Sure," Julius replied, pointing to the folder on the desk, "It's right there."

"Wonderful," Weiss said, picking the folder up, "I'll just drop this off in my room and look it over later."

Winter looked around the room.

"Your room is a lot cleaner than I thought it would, considering someone of your type." She said.

"What can I say," Julius said, putting his guitar down, "I'm a man of many surprises."

"So it would seem. Well, we should be going. It was a pleasure meeting you again, Julius."

"You too, Winter!"

Winter simply nodded as Weiss led her out of the room. A few minutes later, Qrow came in through the connecting door to team RWBY's room.

"Hey, Julius," he said.

"I see you sparked my sisters' competitive sides." Julius said with a smirk

"Ah, well you know, competitive is practically them in a nutshell sometimes. So, how've you been? I see you got a new eye."

"Yup. Raven gave it to me before I left for Beacon. Said she had a connection in Atlas who had one he could spare."

"I see. I can also assume you and Raven are still in touch."

Julius nodded.

"So, anything interesting happen lately?"

"Well, if you count fighting a cyber monster, beating the crap out of a school bully, helping save a city overrun with Grimm, and all in the course of a year interesting, then yes."

Qrow chuckled: "Yeah, that does sound pretty interesting." Then Qrow noticed a picture on Julius's desk; it was a picture of Julius and Blake at the dance.

"Ooohhh, who's this beauty?" Qrow asked, smirking. Julius blushed, snatching the photo out of Qrow's hands.

"Just a childhood friend," he quickly said, "She's actually on Ruby and Yang's team, believe it or not."

"Uh huh, I'm sure that's it." Qrow said with a smirk, knowing Julius was hiding something.

"Alright, fine," Julius snapped, "We're also dating now. Satisfied?"

Qrow simply chuckled: "You know you don't need to be afraid to tell me about stuff like this. I know you have your big no-no secrets, but having a girlfriend shouldn't be one of them."

Julius sighed as he calmed down: "You're right. I've just been so wound up lately, trying to focus on the threat in front of us."

"Still running that underground team of yours?"

Julius nodded: "The main team is complete now. We're calling ourselves Team JRHD."

"Nice name." Qrow said, then he walked over and put a comforting hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"Listen," he said, "I appreciate what you do around here, working in the shadows like we do, but whatever burden it is you've been carrying…you don't have to carry it alone. Me, Raven, Ozpin, we're all here to help you."

"I know. But I don't want anyone else to suffer as I did. The things I've seen, what I've gone through; no one should have to experience it. Especially those I care about. If I tell you guys, I'm putting you right in the crossfire."

"I appreciate your selflessness, kid, but you gotta see that we need to be united if we are to actually stop her. Ozpin may not seem like much, but he actually knows more than you realize. You should definitely talk to him when you get a chance."

Julius sighed; his uncle was probably still a bit drunk (he could smell the liquor), but he had a point.

"I'll try," he finally said.

…

Back in Penny and Novus's room, the two sat across from each other on their beds.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Penny asked.

"I want to know how you do it?" Novus replied, "Your strength and speed are nothing like I've seen before, you have some weird storage space for those blades of yours, and to top it off, a hatchet blade snaps over your head. What the heck is going on?"

Penny began to get nervous: "I…don't like to talk about it. It's supposed to be a secret."

"What's supposed to be a secret?"

"I'm-I'm not a real girl."

Novus was confused: "What do you mean?"

"I'm a synthetic being. The first one to have an aura."

Novus was taken aback as he slowly walked up to Penny and tapped her head with his knuckles, the straightening up in shock as a metallic clanging could be heard from his taps. He stumbled back, grabbing the desk to steady himself.

"Not what I was expecting at all." He said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was planning to," Penny said, "But then we became friends and then started liking each other; I didn't want the fact it to get in the way of it. You're one of my best friends, Damian."

Damian managed to sit back down on his bed and buried his head in his hands; it was all happening faster than he could process. Penny, worried of what was to come, walked over and sat down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I was scared," she said, "if I told you, then you probably weren't going to like me anymore; that you wouldn't see me for who I am and not what I am. I know that's kinda selfish, but…" Penny stopped there as she began to tear up. However, Damian realized that she had a point; he probably would have.

He then sighed: "You're not the only who's been hiding something." He said as he brought his hands up to his helmet. As Penny watched, he took his helmet off with a soft hiss of air escaping through it. Then, she let out a small gasp as she saw the boy underneath; he looked around 17 and had light brown/olive skin that complemented his cream white hair that was probably spiked before, but was flattened by the helmet. Most surprising, however, was his face; three massive scars went diagonally down it crossing over one of his eyes, which was now pale white, unlike his other normal eye, which was a soft brown.

Damian put the helmet down on the bed next to him as he spoke: "I'm not from any of the kingdoms. I'm not even fully from Remnant."

"You're not?" Penny asked.

"No. I'm from a different world outside of our own; it's where my father comes from. My mother was from Remnant, but she had to send me to my father when I was young because…well, let's just say my father is a pretty important figure, and that put a huge target on both me and my mom."

"Hence the scars?"

"That was from when I was older, but yes. Since then, I've been trained to be a warrior; I never really had time for friends, which is why I never told you; it was one thing when we became friends, but after the dance…I can't really explain it, but…"

"You had a different feeling about me?" Penny said. Damian nodded: "Yeah, something like that."

"Well, I have that same feeling about you, too. You've become more than a friend to me."

"I have?"

Penny nodded: "Of course. I don't care that you're not from Remnant or that your face is seriously scarred. I like you for who you are, just as I wanted you to like me for who I was. You're kind, considerate, a great fighter, among a few other things."

"Heh, I guess you're right," Damian said, putting an arm around Penny, "I mean, your pretty kind too. A little overly curious half the time, but still, you're a great friend to anyone, and not a bad fighter yourself. I don't care that you're synthetic, you're too human for it to show."

Penny giggled a bit, then asked: "Damian, can I tell you something?"

"Sure." Damian replied. Penny used her hand to gently move his head to face hers, then brought her face in and kissed him on the lips. Damian became wide eyed at first to what was happening, but he slowly melted into the kiss after a few moments. He didn't care Penny was a robot at that point; this felt way too real.

Penny pulled back after a few moments and softly said: "I love you, Damian."

Damian slowly smiled: "I love you too, Penny."

Penny smiled back, then leaned in for another kiss, which Damian obliged with.

With all secrets being revealed and forgiven, the two spent the rest of the evening together in peace; at least a peaceful as possible when Penny decides to bring Ruby to hang out with them, yet it was a sense of peace and joy Damian had never before felt, nor would he ever forget.

…

That same evening, Hector ran through the marketplace in the campgrounds to meet up with Coco, who was waiting outside of one of the booths.

"Took you long enough," Coco said when she saw Hector run up, out of breath.

"Sorry…" he said, "Lost track of time."

"Well, at least you're here. You bring the mask with you?"

Hector held it up for her to take: "Here you go."

"Excellent," Coco said, taking the mask and bringing it to the shopkeep.

"Can you see if you can get rid of the slit eyeholes?" she asked, "Maybe make it a little more practical, but still cool to look at?"

The shopkeep nodded, taking the mask and bringing it to the back of the shop. Coco and Hector waited outside.

"So," Hector said, "What's with the whole fashion obsession?"

"If you're going to defeat your enemies," Coco replied, "You might as well do it in style."

"I see."

"I mean, you want to stand out, don't you?"

"I never really have. I used to be a spy; standing out was the LAST thing I wanted to do, and I stand out enough already with all this." Hector said, gesturing to the physical features he got as part of the experiments the White Fang preformed on him.

"Y'know, you and Velvet would get along pretty well. She tends to hide a lot too. Can't really blame her though."

"Why's that?"

"She's had the usual faunus target painted across her back, but her bunny ears make her stand out more so than most. That leads her to being the primary target of a lot of bullies."

Hector sighed: "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. It's just that she's not quite sure how to deal with it, so she hides."

"The way I see it, you should stand up to bullies. Show then you're not weak and they'll quickly back off."

"I don't know if she'll listen to that kind of advice, but I'll let her know."

A few minutes later, the shopkeep returned, holding the new mask for Hector to take a look. It retained the angular shape, but the former slit eyeholes were now replaced with a singular visor that spanned to both ends of the mask, giving it a sort if futuristic look, and as Hector tried it on, he realized he actually could see a lot better through it.

"Well, whatya think?" Coco asked.

"I actually really like it," Hector replied, "I guess you were right."

"I told you," Coco said with a smirk, "I'm an expert at this stuff."

"Indeed you are."

Coco nodded to the shopkeep and handed him a few lien.

"Wait," Hector said grabbing her arm as she handed the lien out, "This is my mask. Shouldn't I be paying for it?"

"I appreciate the gentleman attitude, but I offered to help fix your mask, and I intend to help you fully." Coco said with a smirk, "Maybe some other time, though."

"If you insist." Hector said, letting go after a moment of thought. A few minutes later, the two were walking back toward the dorm building, talking with each other as they did.

"Let me get this straight," Hector said, "You made that purse to not only carry your stuff, but also somehow fit a giant minigun as well, which also makes the purse double as a hammering weapon."

"It's a handbag," Coco corrected, "But yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"Dang. I've seen some crazy weapons, but yours is in a whole different ballpark."

"I'm going to take that as a complement."

"I meant it as one."

"Good, cause I was going to have to break your face in otherwise."

Hector tensed up, and Coco then broke out laughing when she saw his expression.

"I'm kidding, geez. Relax, you'd have to do something REALLY annoying for me to do anything like that."

"Like what?"

"Hey, chica!" said a voice behind them. Coco growled in frustration.

"You're about to get an example," she said, and the two turned around to see a group of boys who were definitely Atlesian judging by their gear and outfits. They were smiling at Coco and occasionally winked at her.

"Who are they?" Hector asked.

"Atlas military fanboys who won't stop trying to get me to go out with them. One of the more regrettable downsides to having a fashion statement like mine."

"Aw c'mon, babe!" the lead boy said, "You're just too attractive to ignore."

"I'm flattered," Coco said, "But sometimes a woman should be left alone, especially when she said no to each one of you morons already."

"Man, that really hurts, chica."

"And stop calling me chica!"

"Fine, I'll stop that, but come on, just one time?"

"Hey," Hector said, stepping in between them and facing the boys, "If the girl says no, it means no. Now back off!" he said, deploying his arm blades and causing the other boys to stumble back in fear. Coco simply looked at the blades with a mixture of surprise and interest.

"What? C'mon, baby," another one of the boys said, "You're gonna reject us, but you're fine hanging with this crazy faunus guy?"

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing," Hector said.

"And fyi," Coco added, "That crazy faunus boy has more respect than all of you have brain cells combined. Now, last chance, leave me alone, or bite the bullets." She said, morphing her purse into a minigun. That did it for the gang, and they slowly retreated from the two. Once they were sure the gang had left, Coco retracted her minigun back into purse form while Hector retracted his blades.

"How do those even fit in your arms?" Coco asked.

"It's complicated." Hector replied, "I'm actually not quite sure, to be honest."

"I see. Well, we should get back to the dorms before anyone else decides to harass us."

"Agreed."

The two made it to the dorm building without further distraction. They stopped by Team CFVY's room first, and Coco turned to Hector before going in.

"Thanks for helping stand up for me back there." She said.

"No problem," Hector replied, "And thank you for the sweet new mask."

Coco smirked and said: "No problem" before briefly hugging Hector and then going in her room. Hector stood there for a few moments in surprise; of all the girls to like him, he wasn't expecting Coco to be one of them at all. Yet, when Coco hugged him just then, it felt different, more genuine. He cracked a smile after a bit as he made his way back to his room; if he was going to have a girl like him, Coco was certainly one he would be okay with.

If you have an idea for a ship name with Hector and Coco, feel free to let me know.