Quick note before we begin. I found that the document was getting too long in terms of pages so I've split it in two. Let me know if you find this format better or if you would prefer it all in a single document.

Also, my time-zone is GMT, so that will be when I'm writing and publishing.

Inspiration: Joss Whedon's Firefly

Ruby, sat on her bed, was conflicted. Not about silly things like revising for exams, but over the disk she held in her hands. The mockery and embarrassment of yesterday was still fresh in her mind, something which made her pout.

"Rubes," Yang called, "Are you really getting bent over a bit of joking?"

"It wasn't nice!" the leader countered, "I'm not a kid anymore, I deserve more respect!"

"You're certainly acting like one," Weiss said, "Are you so weak that you can't even take a little teasing? Need I remind you that I was mocked yesterday, too."

"Yeah, and you were just as mad as me."

Weiss sighed, "At the time, yes, it felt terrible. However, it was ultimately harmless, none of you think any worse of me for it," she glared at Yang, "Even if some won't shut up about it…" She turned her gaze back at her leader, "The point is, there's nothing wrong with a little mockery. And you have no room to talk since you make fun of the teachers and myself."

Ruby flushed as red as her namesake, feeling indignant and somewhat ashamed at being called out.

There was a knock on the door, JNPR entering. "Hey girls," Jaune greeted, "We were wondering if there was a new movie today."

"Yes, Ruby's got it," Blake answered, "Although, she seems reluctant to watch it."

"Aw, come on Ruby!" Nora whined, sitting herself down, "Those movies are great! Can't we watch it?"

The young girl pouted childishly, "Fine. But I'm staying up here!" She handed the disk to Ren, who calmly inserted it in the video player.

In the deep void of space, a wrecked ship drifted by a lone planet, the twinkling stars dotting the inky ocean.

The two teams, having seen nothing of outer space aside from blurry telescope images, were awed at the sight. "It's so big…" Nora noted.

"Really makes you think about just how small we really are," Pyrrha added.

Ruby, Pyrrha and Yang, wearing environmental suits, hovered just above the metal shell. "I'd say it's about here," the silver-eyed girl said, "Yang, hand me the thermal glue."

The elder sister carefully glided over to her captain, making sure not to push herself off the derelict and fly into the black, and handed over a gun.

Ruby placed the muzzle atop the metal sheet and pulled the trigger, trailing glue with a red wire inside into the shape of a rectangle.

"What are we doing?" Yang asked.

"I think…" Weiss began, her eyes slightly wide, "I think we're salvaging that ship's cargo."

"Why are we doing that?" Ruby asked, still grumpily frowning from her bed.

"Well, the SDC will often send salvager's to reclaim lost cargo in the ocean, though they need a licence to do so."

Ruby gently pushed herself away and pulled another trigger. The glue began to glow red with heat, melting through the hull. The air locked within began to escape, the pressure forcing the metal sheet to fly away violently.

The three women peered inside, shining a flashlight on the cargo within. Ruby smirked, glancing at her comrades, "I'd say we're getting paid well this time around. Let's get this back onto Serenity."

Suddenly, the radio came to life as the pilot, Jaune, was in the middle of speaking, "Yes," he said, "This is fertile land. We can build here, and we shall call it… This land.

"I think we should call it your grave!

"Ah! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

The dorm room was filled with giggles at the childish display. "You playing with dinosaurs there, lover boy?" Yang teased.

Jaune, though flush with embarrassment, laughed as well, "I wouldn't be surprised."

The only one not laughing was Ruby. Her eyes were focused on the first friend she made at Beacon. Weiss' words came back to her as she gazed at how Jaune, though humiliated, was able to laugh alongside everyone. It made her shame ever more pronounced, making her feel like a complete child. Regardless, she said nothing, focusing her attention back to the film.

"Hahaha, mine is an evil laugh. Now die!" he continued.

With a sigh, Ruby turned on her own radio, "Jaune, we can hear you."

There was a crashing sound, like someone falling out of a chair, before Jaune answered back, "Oh, uh, Captain, didn't realise you were listening!"

"Not that I wanted to," Ruby added, "Anyway, we've got the goods, so prepare to get us out of here. I don't want any Alliance vessels catching us by surprise."

"Alliance?" Nora questioned.

"I'd imagine that's the name of the government," Ren answered.

Weiss sighed, "Of course, it just had to be that, didn't it?"

"What, Weiss Queen?"

The heiress sent a glare at her teammate, "You lot are criminals! This is an illegal salvage!"

"Why'd you marry him, again?" Yang asked, directing her gaze at a very irritated Pyrrha.

"We're married?!" Jaune and Pyrrha cried out, quickly looking away from one another bashfully.

"Huh," Yang grunted, "I never saw it before, but you two actually make a really cute couple."

"Yang," Blake warned, as Pyrrha quickly moved as far away from Jaune as possible.

"What?"

"You're only making things more embarrassing."

"You can talk about this later," Ruby interjected, "Right now, we need to get these crates loaded up."

"Captain," Jaune called again, this time more worried, "We've got an Alliance vessel closing in."

The women glanced around, until their eyes settled upon a large cruiser, its four large spires glittering like jade in cold, grey rock.

"That thing is massive…" Weiss murmured, "Easily larger than anything in the Atlesian Navy."

"Jaune," the captain called, "Turn off all systems except the life support." She turned to Pyrrha and Yang, "Let's move this stuff on board."

Jaune turned to the cockpit's doorway, shouting, "Nora, we're going blackout mode!"

The ginger girl rushed through the hallways to the ship's engine, climbing up to flip a switch, "Going blackout!" she declared, as the lights went dark, "...Now I can't get down."

"So, Nora's an engineer?" Ren asked, somewhat surprised.

His partner groaned, "But Maths is so boring!"

Jaune sat quietly, until a siren blared, "Dammit…" He pulled the radio down and said, "Captain, we've been humped!"

Ruby, Pyrrha and Yang stood at the cargo bay's doors. "Open the doors and initiate the Crybaby; we're getting out of here."

"Yes ma'am," Jaune replied, turning the systems back on and opening the door, "Cry baby, cry; make your mother sigh! Activating the Crybaby." He waited a moment, watching the movements of the cruiser as it began to change course, a smile coming to his lips, "Looks like we're in the clear."

Pyrrha and Yang pushed the cargo on board, Ruby following behind and closing the airlock. Pyrrha approached the captain, taking her helmet off, "Do you think we've been tagged?"

Ruby sighed, removing her own helm, "Won't know till we land on Persephone…"

"Hey!" Yang cheered, "If you walk away, I'd say that's a win!"

Ruby's frown deepened, as a sombre light took hold in her eyes. "Yeah," she muttered, "We win…"

"You didn't sound too happy there, sis," Yang noted, gazing at her sibling in worry.

"No…"

"It sounded like something happened in the past," Blake observed, "Wonder what, though."

Later, after putting their suits away, the crew gathered around the cargo, Ruby prying it open to reveal bars of protein. "Look at that!" Nora awed.

"Hope it was worth the trouble," Jaune said.

Yang glared at him, "Yeah, that was some real dangerous sitting you did there."

"Oh, of course they wouldn't arrest me, I'm just the pilot," the blond man replied, "I could always say I was flying the ship by accident." Ruby picked up one of the bars and inspected it, finding an engraving.

"Damn, Jaune, where'd you get such a tongue?" Yang asked, smiling somewhat proudly. JNPR's leader merely rubbed the back of his neck.

"Zhùkǒu," Ruby commanded, forcefully shutting the crate.

"Something wrong, Captain?" Pyrrha asked.

"Can't say," she lied, "For now, let's get these in the safe spot," the captain gestured to Yang, the two women picking the crates up and moving them to the back, "Don't want any tourists tripping over them." Yang pulled a grate off the wall, she and Ruby storing the cargo inside.

"We taking on passengers?" Nora asked excitedly.

"That's the plan," Ruby answered, "Earn a few extra coins between jobs."

"I hate tourists," Yang grumbled, "Nothing but trouble!"

"Well," Yang sighed, "Don't I just sound like a barrel of laughs…"

"Well, I imagine you're saying that because you're a criminal," Weiss reassured, "Passengers would be trouble when you have stolen goods."

"No!" Nora argued, smiling, "They've always got such interesting stories to tell. It's shiny!"

Yang glared at her sister, "Can she stop being so gorram cheerful?"

Ruby chuckled, "There ain't a force in the 'verse that could stop Nora from being cheerful. Sometimes you just wanna gag her mouth shut and throw her in the brig."

The mechanic kissed Ruby's cheek, adding jokingly, "I love my captain."

Yang and Nora burst into giggles. Ruby's heart contracted in guilt and shame, still nursing some resentment at the mockery she endured the day before.

Ren, noticing, stealthily leaned up towards Ruby, saying, "There's no need to feel bad," he assured quietly, stunning his young friend, "There was a time when Nora couldn't handle criticism or humiliation either. She'd lose her temper very quickly, but she eventually grew out of it."

"I just…" Ruby muttered, "I just feel childish. I want to be able to laugh it off, but it just makes me more upset."

"Growing up isn't like a switch, Ruby," Ren added, "You don't just flip from being a child to an adult. It happens over time. It's good you feel the way you do, because if you didn't it would mean you're not learning. Nora won't think bad of you because you can't take a joke, so just put it behind you."

The young leader smiled, "Thank you, Ren." Her friend smiled in kind, before heading back to his seat.

Ruby entered the cockpit, finding Jaune and Pyrrha, "Set a course for Persephone, and tell Roman we've got his cargo."

"We're working for that slug?!" Ruby exclaimed in anger.

"Yes ma'am, but are you sure we should head to Persephone?" Jaune asked, "It'll be crawling with Alliance."

"It's either that or not getting paid," Ruby reasoned, making Jaune hum in agreement, "Besides, we need to pick our illustrious companion up."

"Companion?" Weiss murmured, "That strangely sounds high class. I wonder why someone who is 'illustrious' would hang around a bunch of crooks."

"Weiss has given us her timetable," the redhead stated, "We should be arriving just when she's… finishing up."

Ruby hummed, "That's good. Wouldn't want to interrupt the most respectable one of us," she said with some slight venom. The captain turned and left, leaving the married couple alone.

"Not too happy with Weiss, Rubes?" Yang asked.

Weiss scoffed, "She's probably upset that I don't have to resort to crime."

"The Captain seems stressed," Pyrrha noted concernedly.

"We're all stressed, honey," Jaune responded, "As exciting as being a criminal is, we could all use a break." They were silent for a moment. "Why don't we just tell Ruby we need a day off instead of just asking her?"

Pyrrha chuckled in disbelief, "She's the captain!"

"Right, and I'm just the husband. Look, once we get the money from this job and are filthy rich," Jaune shrugged, "Well, less poor than before, we can go to Boros and live in brief luxury."

Pyrrha moaned delightedly, "A proper bath sounds really nice."

"Right," Weiss stated, "So, you lot are really impoverished."

"Well," Pyrrha began, bashfully avoiding Jaune, "Water would be very precious in space."

Weiss scoffed, "If you were doing alright financially, you wouldn't be criminals."

A few hours later, Serenity was approaching Persephone. Jaune picked up the communicator as it started to ring.

"Hello, Serenity," the receiver sounded.

"Weiss, hey!" Jaune replied, "We'll be landing at the Eavesdown Docks in about ten minutes. We missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Aw, Weiss, you're so sweet!" Yang teased, pulling her pale friend into a hug.

"Let go of me, you brute!" Weiss hissed, "You're crushing me!"

Ruby jumped from her bunk, throwing her arms around Weiss' neck, smiling happily. "I would miss you too!"

"I thought you were sulking!" the heiress spluttered.

Serenity touched down at the Eavesdown Docks, an eclectic mix of culture and nationalities, predominantly Chinese. The cargo bay doors opened and the crew stepped out.

Ruby was checking her pistol, "We'd best get to Roman as quickly as possible," she told Pyrrha, "Don't want to miss out on our pay."

Nora bounced over, "Captain, can we get a new compression coil?"

"No."

Nora chuckled, "Geez, way to talk to a girl."

Ruby was confused, "But, I'm a girl too…?"

Nora's smile fell, "But if the coil busts then Serenity's driftin'!"

Ruby gave her a smile, patting the ginger girl's shoulder, "Best not bust then. Now, set up camp and see if you can get any tourists willing to part with their money." With that, Ruby left with Pyrrha and Yang while Jaune left on a quad-bike to go shopping.

Nora huffed, grabbing a deck chair and a parasol. As she sat down, waiting, she spotted an old man wearing the vestments of a preacher.

"It's Ozpin!" Nora cheered.

"I didn't take him for the religious type," Blake added.

"You're gonna come with us," she smiled.

Ozpin turned to face her, "Excuse me?"

"You like ships. You don't seem to care about the destination, what you care about is the ship," the engineer pointed at Serenity, smiling, "And mine's the nicest. You ever sail in a Firefly?"

Ozpin smirked, "Long before you were crawling. Not an 02 though, it didn't have the extenders and tended to shake."

Nora stood, approaching the preacher, "How come you don't care where you're going?"

"Because how you get there is the worthier part."

"Wise words," Ren stated quietly.

"It does sound like something he'd say," Ruby added, remembering the headmaster's words when she was butting heads with Weiss.

Nora's smile grew, "You a missionary?"

"Of sorts. I'm a shepherd from the Southdown Abbey, but I'd like to be in the world for a spell, maybe spread the good word to those who need it. My name's Ozpin."

"Well, I'm Nora," the mechanic replied, shaking his hand, "And this here is Serenity, and she's the smoothest ride from here to Boros for those willing to pay. Can you pay?"

Blake chuckled, "You'd make a great saleswoman, Nora."

"Hell yeah I would!" the thundering girl replied, "I would be totally convinced to catch a ride on Serenity!"

"Well, it's good to know you think so," Weiss muttered, trying in vain to push the two sisters off her.

Ozpin smirked, "I've got a little cash, plus," he pulled a small, wooden box from his trolley, opening it and revealing some strawberries.

Nora's eyes widened, "Wow…"

Ruby, Pyrrha and Yang entered a hovel, guarded by greasy men armed with rifles. Inside, they found Roman, inspecting a girl's teeth.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I found that crook in a dirty hole like that," Ruby grumbled.

"What's he doing to that girl?" Pyrrha asked concernedly.

"Probably checking for transponders or microphone," Blake answered, "I wouldn't be surprised if Roman was the type to be absolutely terrified of the law."

"Good," Roman stated, ordering the girl to be dragged away. He saw Ruby enter and went to his desk, sitting down, "You're late."

Ruby and her crew entered the den proper, "No we ain't."

"Excuse me?"

"We're two hours earlier than agreed," Ruby informed, "Which means you want to put us on the defensive."

Roman smiled sinisterly, "You're later than I like," he said, lifting up a bulletin, "Got here a little sooner and you would have missed this; Firefly class vessel spotted conducting illegal salvage on a derelict transport. And now, you want to hand me imprinted goods!" Pyrrha glanced at her captain, who was glaring at the floor. "Noticed that, did ya?"

"You little rat!" Ruby screamed, "Sticking us up like that!"

"We didn't pick the cargo," Ruby replied, hoping to salvage what she could from the job.

"And I didn't flash my ass at the gorram law!" Roman countered, "The deal's off, you see."

"Only thing I see here is the puddle of piss refusing to pay us our wage!" Yang growled.

Yang and Nora burst into laughter, while Weiss, finally freeing herself of her teammates, scowled, "You're somehow even more vulgar in this than you are in real life."

The entire room was filled with clicks and whirs as all the bodyguards drew their weapons and aimed.

The room suddenly went deathly quiet at the sight, filled with tension.

Yang was about to draw her own gun, but Ruby stopped her. The captain turned her focus back on Roman, smirking, "It doesn't have to be this way, Roman. We both know you can take those goods and be safe."

Roman narrowed his eyes at her, "Weren't you in the war?" he asked, Ruby's face immediately frowning.

"War?" Yang asked worriedly.

"That big ol' war of independence you lost. Sergeant Ruby Rose of the Balls and Bayonets Brigade. Now you're a captain. 'Cept I think you're still a sergeant, still a soldier; a woman of honour in a den of thieves," Roman glared at her, standing to his full height to intimidate the young captain, "Well, this is my gorram den! I'm a businessman, you see? Roots in the community. I'm above you, better than! And I don't like the way you look at me."

"Well," Ruby said in a low tone, "I may not be a fine gentleman such as yourself with a… very fine hat. But when I do business, I do business."

Roman smirked, "Deal's off," he finished, sending them away with a flick of his wrist.

With a sour frown, Ruby led Pyrrha and Yang out of the den, "The wheel keeps turning, Roman."

The crime-lord smirked, "That only matters to people on the Rim."

"I have no experience of the actual man," Pyrrha said in a low growl, "But he is low down."

"You got that right," Yang stated.

"Petty criminals rarely have the greatest sense of morality," Blake added sarcastically.

The three women were walking through the streets of Persephone. "Why didn't we just kill him?" Yang asked angrily.

"We'd be dead," Ruby replied simply, though just as enraged, "Can't get paid if you're dead."

"Can't get paid if you crawl away like an itty bitty bug, neither!" the mercenary continued, "I was supposed to get ten percent of the pay. Let me do the maths here; nothing to the nothing…"

"Sir," Pyrrha spoke up, ignoring the blonde "Where will take that cargo?"

"Not to Boros, that's for sure," Ruby replied, "It'll be crawling with feds."

"You think Roman might sell us out?"

"If he hasn't already," Ruby stated, glancing at two Alliance soldiers staring at them suspiciously.

"That lowdown scoundrel!" Ruby seethed.

"Ruby, calm down," Weiss said, "It's not real."

"If we get caught with government goods, we could lose the ship," Pyrrha continued, "I think we should just dump the cargo."

"Hell no!" Yang interjected, "We hauled our asses for that, no way I'm just gonna throw it…"

"Yang, your mouth is running, best look into that," Ruby stated, irritated.

Ruby and Weiss burst into laughter while Blake and the others tittered. Yang was less happy, "Quite a tongue you got there, sis…"

Ruby turned her attention back to her first mate, "She is right, though. Last few jobs were weak tea. If we can't sell this cargo, we won't be able to fuel the ship, let alone keep and repair."

"So, what do we do?"

"Patience might take it," the captain suggested.

Pyrrha glanced at her as if she'd gone mad, "That's a good idea, Sir."

Ruby was confused, "Why not?"

"She shot you."

"She what?!" Yang demanded, her eyes turning red.

"I'll break her legs!" Nora added.

"Well…" Ruby spluttered, "yes, but for a very valid conflict of interest, I ain't got a grudge! Besides, she owns half of that damn moon now, she has nothing to fear from us."

"What about Mercury?" Pyrrha suggested.

"Can't afford it."

"Malachite twins?"

"Wouldn't take it," Ruby responded, "Want me to go through the list? Emerald got her brains blown out, Cinder's dead."

"Dead?!"

Ruby sighed sombrely, "Town got hit by reavers, burned it to the ground."

"I ain't going anywhere near reavers!" Yang added fearfully.

"These reavers must be bad news," Blake shuddered, "There aren't many things even our Yang is scared of, let alone this brutish one."

"Not only that, they burned a town to the ground," Ren added, "They sound exceedingly violent."

"Still don't think it's a good idea."

Ruby sighed, "Didn't say it would be easy."

They arrived back at Serenity, spotting Nora welcoming a nervous looking man onto the ship. "Welcome aboard, mister…" the mechanic began.

"Dobbs," he replied, shuffling his duffel bag.

"I don't like the look of him," Nora muttered.

"Why not?"

"He just seems up to no good."

Ruby laughed, "I'm sure he's a nice man!"

Nora spotted Ruby approaching, "Oh, captain!" she called, and gestured to a very wealthy looking man, "This here is Ren!"

"You look very fancy there, Ren!" Nora cheered.

"Those glasses actually make him look very suspicious," Weiss stated.

"I doubt Ren's a bad guy," Jaune said.

"I wouldn't say that just yet," Pyrrha argued, "After that… first one we saw, it's clear that any one of us could do something awful."

Ren glanced at the captain, "Greetings." He turned his attention to Jaune, who was driving the quad back onto Serenity with a large metal box. "Careful with that!"

"Hello," Ruby replied, smiling in a friendly manner "Don't just stand there, let's get on board."