Here we go.

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 36

Jaune brushed a damp cloth over Neo's face.

He wasn't sure what else to do. Realistically speaking, the cloth wasn't even necessary, it was just something he'd seen people do on TV to injured people. If she was awake, he wasn't sure what she'd think to him hovering over her with such worry. Probably scoff and roll her eyes. Or kick his ass. Neo wasn't one for such soft displays of affection.

it helped him, though. Helped him feel like he wasn't so useless.

"How is she?" Ozpin asked from the next bed over.

"Recovering." Jaune leaned back and stepped away reluctantly from her bedside. "Tsune thinks the poison has mostly been neutralised. Now, it's just a case of waking for her to wake up, though even then she'll need to regain her strength." With a vast amount of effort, he turned his attention to the young and older man sharing a body. "How about you?"

"Let's just say if we weren't sharing a body, I'd be taken in for child abuse."

"That bad?"

"Dislocated shoulder. A few broken ribs. A fractured femur. Really, it's not as bad as it sounds but Oscar doesn't want to come and deal with it. Rather silly, I say. You do realise I'm hopped up on so many painkillers I can smell colours." The last sentence was said a little louder and most likely to Oscar. "Don't you want to taste purple, Oscar? You should. It's delicious."

Jaune cracked a smile. "I think I need some of what you're having."

"And I think I need what you are." Ozpin nodded urgently.

"I shouldn't…"

"You should, Mr Arc. You really should."

Tsune was out the room, so he supposed it would be okay. Coming over, he sat by Ozpin's bed and held the warm mug to the boy's lips. Ozpin's eyes closed, neck bobbing as he greedily slurped up every millilitre of Jaune's coffee. He might have reached for it himself if his arms weren't strapped down – ostensibly to prevent him `resetting` any more bones, but more likely because Tsune was Tsune.

"Ahhh. I needed that."

"I feel like I shouldn't be helping to get a fourteen-year-old addicted to coffee."

"Better coffee than something like cigarettes or alcohol."

"How about no addictions at all?"

"I would not trust a man without a vice," Ozpin said. "It's unnatural. I have my coffee, Qrow his alcohol and Ironwood his cinnamon buns."

"Cinnamon?"

"Don't tell him I said that. Painkillers making my tongue looser than Peter's lesson plans. And no, that's not an invitation to interrogate me about my past – any of the hundreds of them. Don't test me, Mr Arc, or you might find that several generations ago I slept with an ancestor of yours."

"Did you?"

"Who even knows? The Gods left the world a mess after they decided to act like petulant children, take their ball and leave. I'm still not sure where the faunus even came from. Just one day there were very few humans remaining, I die and the next I come back and there are human-animal hybrids and a lot of very nervous looking people who didn't seem willing to explain how that came about." Ozpin shuddered. "For the sake of my sanity, I've chosen not to think about it."

He really was a lot more verbose with the painkillers running through him. Ozpin didn't usually talk this much, or so freely. Jaune pulled his seat closer, taking the mug away and putting it down.

"If I can't talk about the past then what can we talk about?"

"The future or the present. Those are all that remain."

"Fine with me. I could use some advice."

"I shall try, Mr Arc, but I'm not in the best state of mind to offer it. Although…" Ozpin pursed his lips. "I could use some advice of my own if you're open to a trade. And rare as it is, I think this might be something you can help me with."

"Oh?"

"You go first," he said, likely not wanting to reveal any weakness without someone else doing so first.

"Alright. It's about Cinder…"

Ozpin listened to the story with polite interest at first, morphing into surprise, morphing into a pair of eyebrows that had decided they were going on a grand adventure up into Ozpin's hairline, wishing his face goodbye. By the end of it, Ozpin looked like he wanted nothing more than to place both hands over his face and sigh.

"And now I don't really know what to do," Jaune said. "She obviously wants me to free her and have her on our side – and I can see the benefits of it. But after all the things she did, I'd prefer a few other options. Then there's Ironwood, who's gone really quiet all of a sudden and I can't help but think that's a bad sign."

"Yes to the latter. James doesn't do quiet often, but he can. On Cinder." Ozpin sighed heavily. "I have an idea – and hear me out here, but have you considered putting her in a cannon and firing her into the sun?"

"Still bitter over the murdering you thing?"

"Just a little, yes."

"Understandable." He was himself bitter over all the stress, pain and nightmares she'd caused him. Not to mention getting him arrested by Winter and now causing, even if indirectly, Neo's current state. "And I'd love to launch her away, but I don't have the tools. How about a serious answer?"

"What would you have me say?" Ozpin asked, sighing again. "The obvious answer is to take her up on her misconception. Make of her an ally, use her and hope in secret that she dies fighting Salem or some such. The needs of the many outweigh those of the few – or in this case, our personal desire to see her suffer should be put aside in favour of the good she can do Remnant."

"Yeah." Jaune slumped, the two of them sighing like old men. "I figured that'd be the answer…"

"At least Watts is dead," Ozpin said.

"True. True."

"And you can't make her a teacher. The students would revolt."

"And rightly so," Jaune agreed. "You think I can give her an intentionally shitty job?"

"If you word it so it plays into her misconceptions and comes across to her as a mastermind move masquerading as madness?" Ozpin's eyes glinted. "I think you could pull it off. Better still, she'd give it her all and try to figure out what the ultimate goal behind such a decision was. That would keep her from thinking more troublesome things – like how to escape or whether it's a good idea to side with you at all." He chuckled. "If nothing else, Salem won't take her back and she is neutered as a threat to the students."

"I'm juggling the idea of making her Beacon's janitor just to watch her squirm. Have her clean toilets. All in the name of my `master plan` of course."

"Of course. She'll convince herself it's genius somehow."

Jaune stopped talking. He'd been joking. Ozpin didn't sound like he was. "Are you serious?"

"I don't see why not. It's not like you don't have a record for hiring dangerous individuals already."

"Roman isn't that bad."

"Ahem. I was referring to Neo and Sienna Khan."

Oh. Oh right, yeah. Those probably looked bad from the outside, especially Sienna. Most people didn't see her as the bored, snappy and usually overworked faunus. They saw the leader of the White Fang, a terrorist who led faunus to slaughter hundreds and thousands of innocent people. Though judging from how easily Adam usurped control, her grip over the White Fang had been nebulous at best.

"Well, it's an idea. I'll talk to Glynda about it."

"A good idea. Don't decide anything without her input. Now." Ozpin coughed. "Perhaps you will have an answer for my quandary?"

"I'll do what I can. What's up?"

Ozpin leaned forward as far as he could. "How do I get Team RWBY to stop coddling me!?"

"Eh?"

"Oscar won't take control which means I have to deal with four overaggressive, overbearing and over… over-everything teenage girls. I am about to lose my mind, Mr Arc! If it's not Ruby apologising at four hundred miles an hour for dislocating my shoulder, it's Weiss on another long lecture on the importance of keeping team coherency, Yang making awful puns and trying to convince Ruby to hand feed me, or Blake calling me foolish for running off alone. The latter of which," he added, "is so hypocritical I want to choke!" The bed creaked as Ozpin tried to break free. "How?" he demanded. "How do I make them stop? How do I convince them I won't break apart if they're not here to look after me for more than two hours?"

"Is it really so bad? They're just being friendly." Jaune blushed a little. "And most guys would be happy with the attention."

"You are eighteen! As are three quarters of them. I am not. Those girls are young enough to be my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-"

Jaune sighed and fazed out for a minute.

"-great-great-great-granddaughters!" Ozpin finally said. "And there's a damn good chance they might just be that! I've no idea how far my family tree spreads at this point and I'm not about to dive into that mess of a gene pool and make it worse."

"Okay, okay, I get it. As for making them stop. Well, I don't think you can."

Ozpin let out a desperate gurgle.

"They're concerned for you and want to make sure you're okay. You can't make them stop anymore than you can stop me looking after Neo." He scratched his cheek. "Well, I guess you could just pretend to be asleep whenever they come around."

At that very moment, there was a knock at the door, and it started to open. Shapes behind it showed numerous figures – none of which were Tsune if they were knocking. Ozpin's eyes bulged. "Tell them I'm asleep!" he hissed, slamming his head back down onto the pillow and closing his eyes.

Poor Ozpin.

Or lucky Ozpin. It was hard to decide.

Standing, Jaune made his way to the door and cut the three girls off, standing before them with a patient smile. They jumped – for a moment making him wonder what they'd done that they shouldn't be – but then they all returned his smile with their own. Blake, he noticed, was missing. Not hard to figure out where she might be with the White Fang having been captured.

"Morning Jaune!" Yang quipped. "Looking fine as usual."

Weiss rolled her eyes and elbowed Yang in the gut. "We're here to check on Oscar," she explained.

"Ah." Jaune feigned looking back. "He was asleep last I checked. You might want to come back later and try again. Tsune said he needs his-"

"That's fine," Yang said, breezing past him. "I'll wake him up. Hey Oscar! Surprise! It's your team!"

Ruby darted past with a shy wave while Weiss tried to stop Yang shaking Ozpin to no avail. His façade cracked, Ozpin looked past them and at Jaune desperately, praying for salvation.

"Sorry", Jaune mouthed, slipping out and closing the door.

/-/

"Look at me, Ilia." Sienna gripped the reticent girl's chin and pulled her face up. "Look at me. I did not teach you to stare down at the floor when someone is speaking to you. Then again, I didn't teach you to throw away your honour to follow a madman, either."

Ilia bared her teeth. "At least Adam will do things."

Sienna gripped her chin tighter, making Ilia wince. "Don't test me, Ilia."

"Ahem."

Glynda's pointed cough had the woman easing her hold and letting go. A brief nod back said she accepted the quiet rebuke. Good. While they needed the White Fang interrogated, there were lines that should not be crossed. Sienna had beef with the prisoners both for betraying and daring to fight her, but that couldn't get in the way of Beacon's reputation. That was why she was here, despite having more than enough work elsewhere to keep her busy.

Then again, I'd rather be doing this than dealing with Cinder. Jaune can handle that on his own…

"You're going to answer my questions, Ilia," Sienna said. "It's inevitable. No one is going to come break you out here until I have what I want, so you may as well skip ahead and get to the talking."

"Or what?" Ilia demanded. "You can't do anything anymore, Sienna. And this good cop, bad cop routine is old hat."

"You think she's a good cop?" Sienna looked back at Glynda, who crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Ha! We're not the police, girl. This is Beacon. And unless you've had your head under a rock, you'll know who it's run by and how much he can get away with. Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way."

"What? You're going to torture me?"

"Yes," Sienna said.

"Ahem!"

"Legally torture you," she amended. "It'll be totally legal," she assured Glynda. "But still absolutely torturous."

"I would prefer it if you stopped using that word, Miss Khan."

"Enhanced interrogation methods, then."

"That is no better and you know it!" Sighing, she slapped her crop into the palm of her hand, making Ilia and several other prisoners nearby jump and stare at her with fear. I just said how you wouldn't be tortured. Why are you looking at me like that? Idiots. Idiots, all of them. "We are prepared to offer plea deals for those who co-operate."

"Stand firm, brothers," a random faunus commanded. "For Adam!"

"FOR ADAM!"

Sienna scoffed. "I'm beginning to hate that name…"

Glynda wouldn't admit it but she felt the same way. All that paperwork she could be doing, and instead she was listening to a bunch of tied up idiots sonorously chanting the name of a man she'd have smeared across the cafeteria if Watts hadn't intervened. Luckily, Watts was dead which made her feel better. Unluckily, Cinder was the one that got to kill him, which sort of meant she owed Cinder a `thank you`. Not. Happening.

"Well, it's not like I didn't come prepared," Sienna said. Raising her voice, she called out, "Bring in the booty!"

Blake strolled into the room with a red face. "I resent that title."

"You resent everything," Sienna quipped. "Get over here. Oh, you're not looking so hot now, are you?" she said to Ilia, who had gone pasty white – as in, fully plaster white from hair to toe. "I told you I wasn't above torture."

"Ahe- oh, forget it." Glynda gave up with a sigh.

"Y-You think this will crack me?" Ilia demanded. "Blake is a traitor. She ran away. She-"

"I can't believe you'd follow Adam, Ilia. I just can't believe it…" Blake's disappointment had the chameleon faunus shrivelling up faster than a prune in a microwave. It would have pleased Glynda if it wasn't so galling.

At least have a little backbone, girl. For crying out loud…

Apparently not. As Blake went on about how Adam was a maniac out to kill anyone in his path, and how she'd never thought Ilia might allow that, let alone support it, the girl shrunk further and further, folding like a stack of cards and trying to sink into the floor. At one point her skin colour changed to match the grey carpet beneath her, a half-hearted attempt to camouflage and avoid being told off by the person she so clearly adored.

This is unusual and cruel torture, Glynda decided. And on the other hand, these people attacked my school. Well, it's not like Sienna is making Miss Belladonna act this way so I suppose it's fine.

"-and now you were out there planning to do who knows what to Beacon again!" Blake ranted. "Would you really have killed me?"

"No!" Ilia gasped. "It wasn't Beacon!"

"It was VALE!?" Blake threw her hands in the air. "That's even worse! Innocent people, Ilia. Innocent people who have nothing to do with the discrimination we face!"

Vale, Glynda noted down on her clipboard. For all that her methods were unusual, Sienna and Miss Belladonna were certainly earning results. The Council would need to be alerted, which was good and bad. Good because it would speak well for Jaune in stopping it and bad because it'd stir up more anti-faunus sentiment, which was already running at an all-time high thanks to the White Fang attacking Beacon in the first place.

Ironic since it had been orchestrated and accompanied by humans as well, but then no one ever accused the average person ranting on the street of being a smart cookie. Even though Cinder killed Ozpin and Roman took over the killer robots that Atlas made, the blame fell on the faunus.

"And that's another thing," Blake went on. "How does this help faunuskind? All you're doing is making more people hate us and giving them good reason to! It's one thing to attack SDC mining outposts – those are guarded by trained SDC soldiers and imprison faunus. It's another to attack a city which does well on equality. If anyone, it's Atlas that deserves this, not Vale."

"Ahem."

"Not that any Kingdom deserves it," Blake amended with a nervous little laugh.

"Very good, Miss Belladonna."

Atlas had its problems, Glynda would freely admit. It was a lot more cultural than many understood, however. Proud, patriotic, nationalistic – their very lives revolved around celebrating the greatest achievements of their age, of which Atlas had plenty of right to be proud. However, that also left them agonising over their greatest failure, namely their defeat in the faunus wars. It wasn't an excuse for their atrocious behaviour toward the faunus, more a reason. It did mean that James could not fix it on his own, however.

Stamping out such things was never going to be a matter of individuals standing up and telling others to stop. It would require far more effort to change minds. Effort not best achieved by burning and pillaging homes and families.

As Blake continued to rant at Ilia Amitola, the girl's arguments became less and less confident. Seeing weakness, Sienna had the other prisoners escorted out, nominally so they couldn't bully Ilia into staying quiet, but Glynda personally thought it was to heighten the sense of being alone and outnumbered for the prisoner.

"Adam has to be stopped," Blake said. And amazingly enough, Ilia listened. Not out of pragmatism or Miss Belladonna's incredible orating skill, but because of love. Or lust, Glynda reflected. Hormones. The ever-present doom of teenagers. "This… This won't change anything. All we're doing is spreading more hate and teaching people that it's not just right to hate the faunus, but probably safer to run them out of your town before they can become violent. Adam is going to get innocent faunus lynched."

"I… that…"

"Tell me I'm wrong, Ilia. You know how it was for us. Tell me people wouldn't turn on faunus just minding their own business and blame them for what the White Fang did. Tell them Adam isn't planning just that so he can start another faunus war!"

"But… But we won the last one…"

"Things change," Glynda said, not only to make her talk but to stop that horrible idea. "Atlas' military technology is second to none, while Menagerie is stagnant. Do not make the mistake of thinking the faunus can trick arrogant generals again with night vision. Humans have that now, thanks to Atlas' advancements."

"It'll be a massacre," Blake said. "We'll be slaughtered en masse." Dropping to her knees, she gripped the girl's shoulders. "Please, Ilia. Help us stop Adam. Just tell us what he's planning and we can fix this. We can fix all of this."

Ilia cracked. With a warble, she began to blurt out answers.

Sienna strolled over to Glynda with a proud smile. "She's a natural, isn't she? Cracked her in the space of ten minutes. I'd be proud if I wasn't so disappointed. I trained her, you know. How else do you think she learned the whip?"

"I wouldn't care to guess," Glynda remarked, writing down details as they came. "And this was manipulative. Very much so."

"You say that like it's not worth it to stop Adam."

"Oh, it is. I'm merely saying this kind of emotional manipulation is unbecoming."

"Heh. And we didn't even get to the stage where Blake and I were going to make out in front of her."

"I trust that is a very out of taste joke and not a legitimate scheme." The grin from Sienna suggested it hadn't truly been on the table, which was all well and good for a number of reasons. "Did you coach Miss Belladonna on what to say?"

"Me? No. This is pretty much just her ranting."

Unsurprising. Blake had ranted about the White Fang so much that not even Peter could stand to hear it anymore, so finding someone new she could unleash on must have been pleasant. Well, if it was for a good cause then it was okay. The girl – Ilia, that was – would have to be dealt with. Prison was an option but there were others, including the plea deal mentioned.

Putting her on a team would be a terrible idea, especially with Team RWBY. We hardly have enough proof she'd stay loyal. Glynda sighed. Maybe it would be best to hand her over to Atlas, but that felt like a cruel punishment for someone who had so clearly been thrown away by Taurus. An attack like this had very clearly been a one-way ticket to an early grave.

"Wait." Blake stopped Ilia. "What was that last bit?"

"The attack," Ilia said, head drooped. "They were hopeful it would work but they didn't expect it to. But Adam needed a win and the Albain brothers said it would be safer to just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Mine was one of the wilder ideas, but Adam is leading his himself. This was nothing more than a diversion."

"Where?" Glynda snapped. "Where is Adam?"

"Where else? Atlas. The SDC."

/-/

The SDC was burning.

It was all over the news. TV channels tuned in from broadcasts sent out via CCT from Atlas, hijacked no doubt again by Watts in a last middle finger to them to show Adam Taurus at the head of the White Fang, burning the SDC to he ground. There were dead bodies everywhere, plenty of them White Fang, but just as many if not more being the workers inside.

Jaune watched with his hand covering half his face, staring out from between his fingers in the staff room. Oobleck, Petr and Glynda stood around him, solemn in the face of the atrocity. The volume on screen was muted for now; none of them could stand to hear Adam wax about his actions. No doubt it'd be written on every newspaper on Remnant by the morning anyway. There was no hope containing this with the live broadcasts.

"Winter," Jaune rasped. "Is your family-?"

"Safe." Winter stood tight and coiled, like a spring about to go off. Her voice was clipped. "As much as many might think it, the SDC and the Schnee are different entities. Adam has attacked our largest refining plant in Atlas, whereas my father, mother and brother would be safe at the manor. There are panic rooms installed and I doubt they have been targeted." Her lips peeled back into a sneer. "Taurus would have had them executed on live TV if they had."

"This is still bad," Oobleck said. "The loss of life notwithstanding, this is going to have a knock-on effect on dust supplies. I hate to sound like I'm making economics the worst thing here, but Remnant is experiencing a dust shortage already…"

"Adam wants to exasperate that," Jaune said. "And why not? Cause unrest, get everyone pissed at the SDC and make it so that ammunition becomes more valuable. If the White Fang take over an SDC mine in the frontier, they'll have a stable source, so it doesn't even bother them."

"Essentially. Yes…"

"That can't be the only factory," Roman said. "The SDC isn't a dinky little business. It'll have head offices, subsidiaries, international outlets, logistical firms… the lot. You can't just wipe out the SDC in one attack."

"No, but you can weaken it," Winter said. "We have other refinement plants and those will be working overtime to try and keep up with demand, but the technology isn't cheap. It's much easier to centralise the process – to say nothing of the danger of transporting dust with the White Fang out there. Father liked to keep at least one plant in each Kingdom."

Meaning Vale, Mistral and Vacuo would continue to be supplied, but Atlas would be low on dust. With how greedy the Kingdom was for it with all their military vehicles, that would be a toll to Ironwood and his forces.

A perfect time for Adam to swoop in, and a perfect first strike.

"Would Ironwood let us help?" he asked Winter. "I know he's not my biggest fan, but this is bad for all of us."

"I cannot say. I'm ninety-five per cent sure he would," she assured him when he made to argue. "This is bigger than the issues between us. But I cannot officially say right now, not when my answer would dictate policy. Please understand."

Jaune nodded. It was political, not personal. Winter could talk to him later and hopefully get an answer and then… and then what? What were they supposed to do? Did they go to Atlas and leave Beacon with a skeleton staff? Was that safe?

With Watts and Cinder now dead and disarmed in turn, it might be.

Adam was the biggest threat with the White Fang under his control. At best, Tyrian and Hazel could attack Beacon – but two people, no matter how strong, couldn't take down the school. Even if he took half of them to Atlas, there would be people left behind to look after things. Peter, Bart, Tsune and a few others. Neo would have to stay as well, injured as she was, but she'd be up and about within a week and it was unlikely anyone would attack in that time.

"Talk to Ironwood. Glynda, organise a school speech. I'm going to have to address this. Peter, Bart, Roman, I'm going to be leaving Beacon in your care if we get the go-ahead from Ironwood. I want you all to do your best to keep it standing. Sienna will be staying, too. I don't think it's a good idea to take her to Atlas."

He had no idea what he was doing but the ideas flowed. To be fair, they weren't too hard to figure out. The students had to be calmed down and assured their teachers were doing something. Someone had to come with him to Atlas and it couldn't be Roman after what he'd done or Sienna.

"Glynda will accompany me to Atlas along with Team RWBY – Team RVNN will be staying since I don't dare dangle both me and Pyrrha out in front of Tyrian and Hazel and expect them not to take the bait. Qrow will meet us there."

"You'll be taking Ozpin as well? Is that wise?"

"I honestly don't know. I could use his strength if it comes to it and he knows Ironwood, plus he has experience with political stuff like this. I'm worried it'll draw Salem's attention obviously, but the benefits outweigh the risks." He swallowed. "I hope. Plus, Adam might have something other than just Atlas in mind."

Glynda's eyes widened and she nodded. The Relic of Creation.

If that was under threat from Tyrian and Hazel, Ozpin needed to be there to help them protect it.

"I'll summon everyone for a speech and pack my bags tonight," Glynda said, stepping away. Winter had already left to contact Ironwood. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah." Jaune sighed. "Though I'm not sure any of us will like it…"

/-/

Cinder laid back on her new bed.

Her rooms were cleaner now and much more spacious, including a comfortable bed with a soft cover, a wardrobe and a drinks cabinet. The carrot to go with the stick; Jaune's way of reminding her that he could be a very gracious host to those who assisted him. It wasn't enough to sway her on its own, but she knew he had to make the effort. Go through the motions. She wouldn't complain when it was her benefitting.

A knock came at the door and she waited, allowing the person to knock a second time. Oh? She had the option of accepting or not her guests now? That was nice to know.

"You may enter."

The door swished open and Cinder sat up as Jaune stepped in. A part of her regretted laying down in the first place since it made her seem so unprepared. Another part knew the act of swinging her legs in his direction would draw the male gaze downward. It was any weapon in a storm, or so the saying didn't go.

"Jaune. I didn't expect you so soon."

"I didn't plan to come see you so quickly either," he said.

Something had happened, then. That was as good a code as any. Not in Beacon or she would have heard the disturbance – and she very much doubted Tyrian or Hazel could react this quickly to her defection. News of Watts would have to filter back first, and then Salem would rage for a while. It might even take days for that to end.

"Well, tell me what you desire," she said. "I'm at your command."

"We both know that isn't true. You're here because you want to be."

Mmm. From anyone else she might have taken that as pointless flattery veiled weakly to make it sound like imprisonment had been her desire, but such was pointless from him, so it had to go deeper. Did he mean her decision to come back and not leave with Watts? If so, he was right.

Cinder smiled. "I suppose that's true."

"Adam has made his move. He's attacked Atlas, burned down an SDC refinery and all but crippled Atlas' ability to respond quickly. They'll get there, but not in time to stop the White Fang escaping. And in the meanwhile, Atlas is going to be hit by a drought of dust. The perfect time for Salem to step in and destroy them."

"Or," Cinder said, rising and walking over, "The perfect time for a saviour to swoop in, rescue Atlas and see himself rise to new heights." She caressed his cheek with one hand, tilting her head at the simple majesty of his plan.

So simple. So genius. Where she would have infiltrated and weakened Atlas herself, he sought to let another enemy do it for him, killing two birds with one stone and coming out not only the ultimate winner, but legally and morally shining.

"Adam thinks he's taken the upper hand when in reality he's fallen right into your trap. Isn't that right?"

Jaune paused, considered her words carefully – and for a moment she thought he might reject them. Lie. It didn't last. He threw away all pretences of being shocked or angry; his smile burst back through, that rare and self-satisfied smirk only she got to see, that of the man who would take over the world. His eyes met hers.

"You always could see right through me, Cinder. I should have known you'd realise..."

Pleasure surged through her. Confirmation and satisfaction delivered by those piercing eyes of his. This private moment where that silly mask of idiocy and weakness was thrown away, showing the true mastermind that lay beneath.

One that only she had the pleasure to witness first hand.

"We're going to Atlas," Jaune said. "And you're coming with us."

What plans did he have for her there? For her to be legitimised through grand action? To topple Ironwood? To stun Adam and send a message to Salem? Or perhaps just to show the world how he would take all who stood against him and either crush them or bend them to his will. She wasn't sure, and that, Cinder decided, was exciting. Enticing. A soft purr emanated from her.

"I can hardly wait."

Cinder has gone full crazy…

You should really run while you have the chance, Jaune. Also, poor Ozpin.

I'm not really sure what to do with Ilia at this point. There's a part of me which wants to use her, but not even RT seems to know what to do since I think she just did what Sun and Neptune did and vanished out the story. I assume they'll just pop back for a "final battle" cameo down the line or something.

Omake:

"I need your help."

Summer paused with a headphone in one ear and her homework on her lap, unsure if she'd heard the words correctly. Just in case, she took out her over earphone and turned off her music, putting it down and looking up at Raven, who was stood beside her bed. "You need… my help?"

"That is what I said."

"Oh. Oh wow." Putting her homework aside, she twirled so she was sat cross-legged facing her teammate. "Sure! I mean, it's not like you to need someone's help so I guess I can if it's not too bad. Is it about homework? Do you want to copy mine?"

"No. I copied Taiyang's already."

Of course she did. And of course he let her. No self-control in him.

"Okay. What is it then?"

"It's about my job…"

"Whoah, whoah. You have a job!?"

"I do," Raven said, shocking her further. "It's a part-time job in Vale that I picked up a few weekends back. Remember? When you told me that I should go do something productive with my time if I was so bored of what you and Taiyang were doing."

"You went and got a job? That's… wow, that's surprisingly responsible of you. What do you do?"

"I work in security."

Huh. Not what she'd expected but also not as bad as she'd feared. In her imagination, she'd had Raven in a maid uniform serving cakes, but the more she thought about that, the more she thought about someone complaining about a cake and being decapitated. Actually, it made a lot of sense Raven would be working more as a bouncer.

"Okay. What do you need my help with exactly?"

"Nothing too much. I'm freelance and need to go collect payment from a customer." Raven rolled her eyes. "Obviously, I don't have a bank account in Vale since my background is… let's say spotty."

That was one way to put it.

"So, I need to take my payment in cash."

"Makes sense. What do you need me for?"

"I need you to stand guard while I get my money."

"Oh, because you can't do your job as security well if you're inside talking to the client." Summer slammed a fist into her hand. "I get it. Is it dangerous? Should I bring my weapon?"

"You can do, but I wouldn't expect anything. The work is quiet; I just know the one time I accept that and don't bring someone along is the one time it'll change. Qrow's luck might rub off on me."

"Yeah, that'd be bad. Okay, sure, I'll come. I kinda want to see what you're like when you're working."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

/-/

Summer stood proudly outside the bakery making sure no undesirables came near. It was a little strange to think of a bakery having a bouncer, but times were hard, and she didn't question. Raven was inside speaking with the proprietor. The door opened, the little bell tinkling as Raven stepped out, leafing through a stack of lien.

"All paid. We'll move onto the next one now."

"Eh? Aren't we staying?"

Raven shot her a look. "Why would we?"

"You know. To guard this place." Summer indicated the bakery. "We're security, remember."

"Nah. They're fine now. Come on." Raven dragged her to the next shop on the street. "Okay, you wait here, and I'll go take payment."

"You guard every store on the whole street?"

"Sure. It's efficient and it makes sense. I'm already providing security for one, so why not all of them?" Put like that, Summer couldn't argue. "I'll be five minutes. Just wait for me and make sure nothing happens."

"Okey-dokey."

Summer planted her feet down again and stared out brightly at the people walking by. Just because she was a bouncer didn't mean she had to be a sourpuss. Inside, she heard Raven talking to the owner but couldn't make out the words.

"Hey!"

What she could make out was the five or six people approaching in black suits. They all wore sunglasses and moved shiftily, hands in their pockets or under their jackets. The one in the centre was the guy who spoke, and he had a lazy air to him.

Summer frowned at them. "Hello."

"You the one they call The Raven?"

The Raven? With an obvious emphasis on `The`. Ruby shook her head. "No, that's my teammate. She's inside."

"Oh." The man deflated a little. The others drooped. "Well, that's fine. Just move out the way, girlie, we've got words to exchange with your teammate."

"No can do. I'm here helping her today."

"Tch. So, you're with The Raven. I see how it is." The man swept his jacket back, revealing a handgun in a holster under his arm. "I don't think you know who you're dealing with, girl. We're King's men. We rule the streets of Vale. You come into our territory and start muscling in on our operations and we're gonna have words. Especially if you're not even giving King a cut of the profits."

Summer blinked. "You're… inland revenue…?"

They laughed. "In a manner of speaking. If you don't cough up the dough, things might get a little… rough."

He clicked his fingers and the largest among them moved over and kicked down the small A-frame stand that was the sign of the shop. It fell with a clatter, not a great loss in itself but a message of what was to come. A threat.

"Don't do that," Summer growled. "I promised I'd help my teammate with her part-time job and that's what I'm going to do! I won't let you damage this place no matter who you think you are."

"Tch. Looks like we have a wise-ass."

The door opened. The bell tinkled. Raven came out, stack of cash in hand. She saw the people and tipped a hand down toward her sword. "Problem, Summer?"

"It's The Raven! You're on our turf, bitch. Today, you answer to King! This protection racket is ours!"

Summer faltered. "P-Protection racket…?"

"If you can't protect it from me, you don't deserve to run it." Raven drew her sword. "Bring it, weaklings!"

"N-No, wait," Sumer tried, holding her hands out. "This is a misunderstanding!"

The mobster didn't listen. "Get them! Drag them both before King!"

/-/

"The mafia!" Summer wailed. "Raven has started a war with the mafia!" She gripped her hair. "I've started a war with the mafia! Raven's part-time job is running her own little protection racket out of our dorm. Oh God, we're all going to be arrested! I'm too young to go to prison! You're too hot to be bummed by some random convict!"

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Taiyang said, dabbing a cotton bud on her only wound, a nasty graze on her left bicep. "And I'll pretend I didn't hear that last bit."

Red-faced, Summer looked down. "Thank you."

The door slammed open and Qrow appeared, shit-eating grin on his face. "Holy shit, did you guys hear? There was, like, a brawl in the streets. The newspapers are going crazy about a new mafia kingpin called `The Raven` taking over, with her right-hand enforcer `The Rose`. It's crazy." Qrow paused. "Huh. What's up with Summer?"

Taiyang looked down at his team leader, who had pushed her face into a pillow to muffle her furious screams.

And to be fair, Raven did just sort of pick it up as a part-time job. Just walking down the street, got hassled, beat up the crook and everyone started asking if they had to pay her protection money now. Raven thought for half a second and shrugged. "Sure."

It's called being enterprising. Sheesh. Why is Summer so worked up?

Next Chapter: 28th November

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur