00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

~Beacon Academy~

By the end of the day, Ozpin's orders were already being carried out to the letter. Security was put on high alert and were patrolling the entire campus, with guards permanently posted outside of the CCT building, the Cafeteria, and the elevator that led up to Ozpin's office. Most students were moving around in pairs, and staff members were on high alert to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. And while the police still had yet to come up with any hard evidence pertaining to Cardin's murder, there were a couple of officers interviewing students and staff alike to try and get that problem rectified.

"I still can't believe he's dead... I mean, nobody really liked Cardin, sure. But murder? That's a little extreme," Jaune said when everyone sat down at lunch. "You know what I mean?"

"I agree with you, Jaune. We should totally go looking for who did it! We can be like... a bunch of detectives from that one TV show! It'll be fun, we can get matching outfits, and cool nicknames, and-"

"Nora, please. Now's not really the time," Ren said as he looked up from a cup of tea he'd been idly sipping at.

"I dunno, I kinda agree with Nora on this one. I want to find out who did it," Weiss muttered, having not really touched any of her food. "I don't like the idea of a killer being on the loose. And if this maniac was able to kill one of the tougher members of the student body, then I want them caught and found... quickly."

"Yes, that's a good point. But you all heard what Professor Ozpin said. He wants us to stay out of it and let the police handle it," Pyrrha said solemnly.

"And when has that ever stopped us from doing something before?" Blake asked, earning a grin from Nora and Yang.

"Blake's got a point. Besides, we'll be fine! We can take care of ourselves. And with all of us working together, e can catch the guy faster! It'll be a piece of cake!" Nora cheered.

Yang smirked a little as she listened to Nora, then realized that Ruby had been quiet the entire time. Turning her head to look at her sister, Yang saw that Ruby had been quietly playing with her food, separated the different foods from one another, and even picking the chocolate off of the few cookies that Yang had gotten her. It was a little strange, but nobody decided to look into it too much.

"What about you Ruby? What do you think?" Yang asked before taking a drink from a can of soda.

Ruby snapped her head up, blinking a few times before she noticed everyone else staring at her. "Wait what? What's up?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes at the reaper and crossed her arms before she shook her head. "We were talking about potentially trying to figure out who killed Cardin. Nora and I think we should search the school and try to catch the killer. But what do you think we should do?"

Ruby looked at everyone for a couple of seconds, humming briefly before she smirked and nodded her head. "I think it's a good idea. We might get lucky and catch the killer before anyone else gets hurt. Maybe search in partners? That way we can cover more ground!"

Weiss blinked a couple of times, then dropped her arms with a shrug. "Alright, I guess that works. I guess we can start looking after classes today. Everyone stay with a partner and keep your scrolls on you. That way, if anyone finds something, they can tell everyone else."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Weiss peered over at Ruby for a moment as her partner had started cutting her food into very tiny, oddly shaped pieces.

"Which means you're with me, Ruby."

Ruby looked up from her food again and smirked at Weiss in a way that sent a chill down the other girl's spine.

"Cool! This'll be awesome," Ruby said in a voice that sounded almost like a purr.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

~Merlot's Hideout

Dr. Merlot's small, office sized laboratory was filled with the sound of classical music as the man hummed to himself and used the many scientific instruments he had to go about performing the many tests he was hoping to accomplish for the day. A centrifuge whirred as a few vials of blood spun at insane speeds, the contents having their many components separated as Merlot himself typed away at a computer, entering the results from a different test he had performed earlier that morning. As his fingers danced across the keyboard, a small high pitched beep sounded, signaling the centrifuge was finished, and as Merlot turned around to pull one of the vials of blood out of the small machine, his gaze swept over the other person that was in the room.

"I know you hate me... But think about how many years forward my research with soar with your help," Merlot said with a grin as his cybernetic eye whirred and clicked as it looked at, the currently restrained, Ruby Rose.

Ruby was basically strapped to the top of a gurney, with leather straps holding her down to the cold metal surface as an IV fed low-grade sedatives into her arm. She'd been there for the better part of two hours, and she hadn't said two words to Merlot, despite his many attempts at trying to strike up some semblance of a conversation.

"I don't care about your research... you're insane. And as soon as I figure out how, I'm going to smash every bit of your previous research," Ruby said, finally looking at the man.

"So angry... such a shame too. No matter, I have what I need; Watts will be here this evening to take you off of my hands. After that, it's straight to Salem with you," Merlot explained as he loaded one of the blood samples into a mass spectrometer.

"Salem..? What does she want me for?" Ruby asked, a bit more concerned now.

"How should I know? I merely was told that I would receive plenty of specimens to complete my projects if I gave you to her."

Ruby went slightly pale at that and looked away for several minutes as she thought about the implications of getting handed over to Salem. Was she going to be tortured? Experimented on? Turned into some sort of creepy Human-Grimm hybrid? All three of those things scared her to death.

"My my my... how interesting."

Ruby looked back at Merlot, concern visible on her face as she craned her head a bit to try and see what was going on. She was barely able to see the screen of the computer he'd been working at, just barely able to make out a few words that didn't make much sense to her.

"What? What's interesting?" Ruby said craning her neck to the side a bit.

Merlot was quiet for a couple of minutes, typing away at the computer before he started laughing. "Oh this is just perfect. Absolutely perfect!" He said before looking at Ruby again, a wide smirk on his face. "Oh my dear, you have no idea how much your blood will help me. It seems as if I may be able to genetically enhance my newest creations into being immune to that wretched ability you have with your eyes."

Ruby felt a knot form in her stomach as she looked from Merlot then to the computer, and back again. "No, you can't! If you do that the Grimm-"

"Will be the perfect specimens. Stronger, faster, smarter... and those eyes of yours will have no effect on them," Merlot explained. "Why didn't I think to capture you before? The miracles I could have accomplished in my labs with access to all of the blood and tissue I could get out of you." Merlot paused and walked closer, leaning over Ruby slightly as he let out a low chuckle. "Perhaps I can convince Watts to leave you with me... after all, I could still do so much more with your help."

"If you think I will help you with anything, you're wrong. I'd rather die than help you with anything you psycho," Ruby practically growled.

"Oh... see that's the thing, my dear. You won't need to do a thing... All I need is for you to be sedated for a while, just long enough for me to take what I need." Merlot clarified as he grabbed the controls for the IV machine, keying a couple of buttons before he walked away.

"Merlot! Don't do this, please. You can't, the Grimm are hard enough to fight without you trying to make them stronger!" Ruby pleaded as she tugged at her restraints.

"Quiet now... I have work to do, and I don't need your bleeding heart getting in the way." Merlot chided as he sat down at his computer.

"Merlot! I swear..." Ruby trailed off as she felt the IV in her arm pushing more sedatives through her veins, making her have a harder time thinking straight. "When I get out of this... you're a dead man..."

Merlot turned in his seat and merely smirked as Ruby lost consciousness, then went back to his work as he let out a laugh. "Watts... you idiot. Why didn't you tell me, I should have asked for much, much more."

AN: There's chapter 5!

Not gonna lie, this chapter was kinda stuck after the events of chapter 4. Took me way too long to figure out what should come next, but I ultimately decided on a filler chapter. That way we have a bit of a follow up to Cardin's death to see what everyone's plan is. And it was a good chance to show how Ruby is actually doing.

Hope it wasn't too bad, I know it was short, but I was stuck with it for so long and wanted to update with SOMETHING. So I hope you guys liked it. Let me know what you think!

As Always,

SR