Chapter 23: Moments Of Peace

(Evernight Castle)

Salem's patience for failure was running dangerously thin, and the Grimm that typically congregated in her presence were showing it, by getting uncomfortably close to the remaining members of her inner circle.

"Tyrian is dead, Emerald and Mercury are captured, and Raven betrayed us." Salem hissed, "How did this happen?"

Cinder gulped, "Ma'am, I-"

Salem held up her hand, stopping Cinder in her tracks. "Think very carefully about what you're going to say, Cinder. Take your time."

Hazel glanced over at her, "If I may, you told us, through Cinder, to make them pay for every inch of ground with blood. We did that, but they met us head-on."

Cinder nodded, grateful that Hazel had effectively thrown himself on the metaphorical grenade. "Even that loser was strong enough to challenge me."

Watts, who was off to the side, watching gleefully as Cinder got the reprimand that he believed she deserved spoke up, "I assume you're talking about the Arc boy."

"Tell me more, Watts." Salem said. Anyone who could stand up to Cinder deserved some attention.

With a hand motion, Watts projected an image of Jaune's Beacon ID to the rest of the room. "Jaune Arc, Second year, former partner of Pyrrha Nikos, leader of team JNPR. Got in with fraudulent transcripts, which Ozpin never expelled him for."

Salem hummed, he certainly was the type that Ozpin favored. "What sets him apart from his peers?"

Watts tapped a few more buttons, then replied, "An abnormally large Aura pool. While his regeneration is nowhere near Hazel's, the sheer amount is nothing short of ludicrous."

"Interesting." Salem said, "We'll come back to this later. For now... who gave the order to retreat?"

"I did." Hazel said.

Salem pressed her lips together. If Hazel had deemed a retreat necessary, then the situation truly had been unwinnable. She would have to amend her punishment for Cinder accordingly, one last chance, perhaps.

However, that left the question of what to do now? With Ozpin's guardians thwarting her at every turn, she needed to send them a message, and strike a blow at the same time...

"We will proceed with our plans to destroy Atlas. Watts, as soon as you've finished with your project, insert yourself into the city." Salem said,

Watts blinked, that plan would only work if they had taken down world communications, which they hadn't. "As you command, Madam. However, how are we going to cut off Atlas from the rest of the world?"

Cinder felt a chill run down her spine as Salem smiled, how could such a motherly smile be so bone-chilling? "The time has come for me to take the field. We are going to destroy the city of Argus before moving on to Atlas."

Watts swallowed, that was certainly one way to deal with the issue. "Very well."

"Hazel, Watts, leave us and close the door behind you. I still have the manner of Cinder's failure to discuss with her."

They quickly left, glad to be excused before Salem started in on Cinder. "It wasn't my fault!" Cinder protested, if it wasn't for the Arc boy and the heiress, then I would've had the power of the Spring Maiden!"

"I am not interested in your excuses, Cinder." Salem flicked her fingers, and Cinder's Grimm hand wrapped around her throat. "I am interested in showing you what your fate will be if you fail me again."

Cinder's eyes went wide in alarm had she grabbed at her rebelling arm with her other hand, trying fruitlessly to pry it away.

Salem snapped her fingers, causing the arm to release Cinder. She sucked in several breaths, then looked up to see a Grimm that she had never seen before standing next to Salem. It looked like an oversized hunting dog.

"Cinder, this is your future if you fail me again." Salem touched it's skull, and it separated, showing the head of a human woman...

Who had silver eyes.

"What is this?" Cinder asked.

"My solution to the problem of Silver-eyed warrriors, I call it the Hound. What better way to deal with them than by setting them against themselves?"

The woman stared at Cinder, unblinking. "Who... was it?" She asked. Cinder couldn't shake the feeling that the woman seemed familiar, despite never seeing her before now.

Salem smiled.

"Summer Rose."

(Beacon Academy, RWBY Dorm)

There were a great many things that Blake loved about Yang. Her drive, her spirit. It wasn't for nothing that she would describe the blonde brawler as warmth. Another thing Blake loved about Yang was her stubbornness, it was endearing... most of the time.

"Yang, are you sure you don't need help?"

Blake winced. She knew that Weiss meant well, and was dealing with her own issues. Namely the fact that Jaune had been uncharacteristically withdrawn ever since they got back from Haven, but Blake had learned exceptionally quickly to only offer Yang help if she asked.

"Back off, Ice Queen! I got this!" Yang snapped. She was currently trying to get the backpack straps of her duffel bag in place on her back with only one arm. She had her left arm through, no problem, but was having trouble with it continually falling off the other side.

Ruby checked her Scroll, it really didn't matter what time they left, but that didn't stop her from being nervous. General Ironwood had invited Yang to Atlas to help create her prosthetic, and Ruby had gotten permission to come along. Because weapons, and not because the scientist that Yang was going to be working with was Pietro Polendina. That had nothing to do with Ruby going at all, no sir.

They were torn away from witnessing Yang's valiant effort by a knock at the door. Ruby opened it to find Taiyang standing there. "Hey, kids. You two ready to go?"

Ruby gave her best attempt at a smile, "I sure am," She said, hefting her bag, "Yang's... almost ready."

"I just have to get this damn strap..." Yang grunted, she now had her duffel bag pinned to the wall, and was attempting to work her shoulder into the confines of the ever-elusive right strap.

Tai glanced at Weiss, and saw a vein pulse in her forehead. "Why is it so hard for you to ask for help?" Weiss said, her tone just a little bit too icy.

"Watch it, Weiss." Yang hissed, "I could still beat you with one arm tied behind my back."

Ruby practically had to stuff her hand in her mouth to keep from laughing. "Are we allowed to laugh at that?" Blake wondered.

Tai just cackled, "Nice one, Yang."

"Thanks, dad." Yang said, having finally gotten the strap to where it needed to be, "Alright, now I'm ready."

"I'm going to the library." Weiss announced, before storming out.

Tai raised an eyebrow, "What's with her?"

Ruby shuffled her feet for a moment before answering, "It's... Jaune. Ever since we got back from Haven, he's been withdrawn, which just isn't normal for him."

Blake nodded, "Normally he and Weiss are on the clingy side, but after what happened, I can't blame him for wanting to get his head on straight."

Tai hummed. From what he understood of the situation, Weiss had been mortally wounded by Cinder Fall, and was then healed by Jaune, courtesy of a miraculous Semblance activation.

"Speaking of being clingy, give me some sugar, babe." Yang said, waggling her eyebrows at Blake.

Blake rolled her eyes at her, "You're incorrigible." She leaned down to give Yang a peck on the cheek.

"Uh, dad? Do you think you could talk to Jaune?" Ruby asked, "About what happened to Weiss at Haven?"

Yang cocked her head, "Rubes, if he hasn't opened up to Weiss, why would he open up to... oh."

Tai had just come to the same conclusion that Ruby and Yang had come to. Jaune clearly still had some unresolved trauma stemming from Pyrrha's death, and Weiss's brush with it at the hands of Cinder had caused it to surface. And out of their group, there was no one better to talk to Jaune about this than Taiyang, because he knew. He knew exactly what Jaune was going through, because he'd been there.

Tai rubbed the back of his head, "I'll give it a whirl, Ruby. I can't promise it'll fix things, though."

"That's fine, dad." Ruby said, pausing to give him a hug before she left, "Sometimes you kind of have to... force Jaune to think about these kind of things. Well, not force. More like..."

Yang ruffled Ruby's hair, prompting Ruby to splutter indignantly as they left. "I think he knows, Rubes." Yang said.

Tai chuckled to himself before turning to Blake, "Oh, welcome to the family, by the way."

Blake looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow, "A bit soon for that, isn't it?"

"Nah, not really." Tai said, "Cause if Yang let you in with the mountain of abandonment issues she has... Well, that's about all it takes."

Blake smiled, "I suppose that makes sense."

Taiyang left the room, and pulled out his Scroll. He then used his "magical Professor powers" as he called them, to query the location of Jaune Arc. Tai frowned, Jaune was in a training room, and judging from what Ruby and Yang had told him about Jaune in the past, obsessive, self-destructive training was a warning sign for him. A warning that he was starting to spiral.

Tai squared his shoulders, and started walking. He might not have been able to rejoin the fight until now, but he was going to contribute in every way he could. Starting right now.

(Beacon Academy, Mercury's Room)

Mercury was rather surprised by the amount of freedom he had, considering that as far as most of the students and staff of Beacon, not to mention Vale's law enforcement were concerned, he was a terrorist, one of the terrorists responsible for the first attack on Beacon Academy.

He had free reign over where he went and what he did at Beacon, he couldn't go into town without a member of RWBY or JNPR with him, but that was more for his protection than anything. Of course, this was all conditional of his willingness to help them fight against Salem.

There was a knock at the door, interrupting his introspection. "It's open!" He called out, there was a low chance that it was anyone outside of the group as the others tended to call it, so he didn't feel a need to check who was at his door.

His suspicions were confirmed when Ren and Nora entered his room. Mercury had to suppress a groan. Nora was a literal walking headache. Ren, on the other hand, Mercury liked Ren. He knew how to be quiet. After spending so much time with Cinder, who Mercury suspected was in love with the sound of her own voice, Mercury had developed a appreciation for people who were quiet.

"Hey, Mercury!" Nora said, smiling as if she didn't have a care in the world. Gods, it made him sick. "We figured you might want to get out of here for a while, so how about you come to the arcade with us?"

Mercury looked at her incredulously. "Let me see if I heard you correctly." He said, "Salem is planning her next move, could strike at any time, and you want to go to the arcade?"

Nora nodded enthusiastically, "Yep!"

Seeing that Mercury was about to blow a fuse, Ren interceded. "Also, to be blunt, we don't trust you. Spending time together would help foster that."

So, Ren was seemingly the only practical one. Mercury casually pointed a finger at Ren, "Good thinking, you'll live longer." He turned back to Nora, and the finger he was pointing turned accusatory, "As for you, why the hell do you think that we have the time to go to a damn arcade? Salem could strike at literally any moment, so why waste time goofing off?"

Nora opened her mouth, but Mercury cut her off. "And you, you're just so damned happy and loud and obnoxious all the time, and it pisses me off! I had to spend sixteen years of my life listening to my bastard of a father berate me and abuse me while turning me into a weapon, and then I had to deal with Cinder for two years, and that woman does not know how to shut the hell up! I just want some peace and quiet before I stick my head in a metaphorical meat grinder, and then you come along! How can you be so happy? Has nothing bad ever happened to you or something?"

Nora just turned and looked at Ren. "Go ahead, Nora. I'll fill in the parts you don't remember." He said.

Nora turned back to Mercury, "Mind if I sit down?" She said, gesturing to the bed.

Mercury shrugged, "Do what you want."

After she had sat down, her body language slightly more reserved than usual, Nora started talking again. "I never knew my parents." Nora said, "My first memories are of some dreadful orphanage somewhere in Mistral. They packed us in there like rats, and if you were lucky enough to get a bed, you didn't have to deal with the actual rats."

Ren winced, he might've been an orphan, same as Nora, but he definitely had the better end of it.

Nora plowed on, "One day, one of the older kids comes to me, I... don't really remember her name, Cindy, I think. Anyways, she tells me that she's helping me escape because of... things. I didn't really understand all of the stuff she was telling me, I was only a kid after all. Anyways, the people that ran the place caught us, and she held them back so I could get away."

Nora sighed when she saw the look on Mercury's face, she knew her story was like a train wreck, but there was nothing to do now but keep going. "I just ran. Eventually I jumped in some trader's wagon just as they were leaving town. By the time they found me and kicked me out, we had made it to Kuroyuri."

"Which is where she met me." Ren added. "Shortly after we met, the town was attacked by a Grimm, what we know now to be a Nucklavee."

Mercury couldn't help but whistle. Those were some of the worst Grimm out there. "And you escaped it? How?"

"I unlocked both my Aura and Semblance, and used it to keep me and Nora alive." Ren explained, "But my parents... weren't so lucky."

Mercury held his hands up in defeat, "Alright, I get it, I'm an asshole for saying that nothing bad has ever happened to you, Nora. You're still obnoxious though."

Nora smiled, "I didn't tell you any of that to make you feel bad or anything. I told you so I could explain why I'm so happy all the time. When we were growing up, Ren didn't exactly have a good handle on his Semblance, so he could only mask us both for maybe an hour or so. So, I had to figure out some way to ward off Grimm on my own."

The pieces had begun to click into place. "So you... forced yourself to be happy?" Mercury asked.

Nora shook her head, "Not quite, more like I learned a very important lesson. I learned to find joy wherever I could, even in the little things, because who knows when I could again?"

"And based on what you just told us about how you grew up," Ren observed, "I think you could use a little of that too."

Mercury was about to throw some snark at Ren and refuse, when he remembered. He was safe with them. No one was trying to point him at a target to kill, they just wanted him to, in Mercury's mind, waste time with them. Playing video games, eating greasy food... all of those things that he had missed out on.

Mercury sighed, "So, the arcade?"

(Beacon Academy, Training Room 3)

Jaune could safely say that he was not having a good week. Between Weiss almost dying, and Jinn showing everyone what he had been feeling right after Pyrrha had died, he was not in a good mood.

No, that was an understatement. He was angry.

He thrust his sword into the training bot in front of him, then took his sword in both hands, and violently ripped it out, leaving a gash from its midsection to its shoulder.

He was angry that Cinder had come within a razor's edge of taking someone else from him.

He pointed his sword at the next one, and unleashed a stream of lightning that only stopped after the bot's head popped off in a shower of sparks.

He was angry that the spirit of the Lamp of Knowledge had forced him to revisit when he had been at his absolute lowest point.

With a yell, he charged the final one, knocking it to the ground with a shield bash. He then introduced its neck to a stab from his sword.

He was angry that-

"You know, I think they've had enough there, chief."

Jaune whirled around, to find Taiyang leaning against the room's door frame, arms folded. Jaune laughed it off, "Oh, I must've gotten carried away!" He said hurriedly, "Sorry, Professor!"

Tai sighed. "Just call me Tai, Jaune. Professor makes me sound old."

Jaune fidgeted for a moment, "Was there something I could help you with?"

"How are you doing? Haven was pretty rough on everyone."

Great, the one thing I didn't want to think about.

"I'm fine." Jaune said reflexively, "It's nothing I can't handle."

Taiyang's expression became tinged with sadness. "Really? Then why was Weiss projecting onto Yang? I believe her exact words were... Why is it so hard for you to ask for help?"

Jaune averted his eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about, Tai."

Tai started to walk over to him, slowly, so Jaune didn't get spooked. Godsdammit, this is why I hate this war. These poor kids aren't ready for all the baggage that comes with it, hell, I'm in my forties and I still have bad days... "Jaune, I know that look in your eyes."

In addition to the melting pot of emotions bubbling over inside his head, Jaune was not in the mood to be psycho-analyzed. "Really?" He spat, "Then please, tell me what I should be feeling."

Tai swore internally, there was more going on here than just what had happened at Haven. "I won't do that, cause that did jackshit for me after Raven left, and after Summer died." He paused for a moment, his eyes becoming unfocused as he remembered... something. "Made it worse, if I'm being honest."

Jaune realized that he still had his sword out and sheathed it. "It's just... when Weiss got hurt, in that moment, nothing else mattered. Not the Relic, not Cinder. Hell, Cinder could've walked right up to me and stabbed me in the back, and I wouldn't have noticed until the blade was in me."

Tai shrugged, "But that didn't happen. So, why are you torturing yourself?"

"Because it's my fault that Weiss got hurt!" Jaune yelled, "I thought I had my hatred for Cinder under control, but I didn't!" Jaune turned away from Tai, and viciously kicked the head of a training bot, sending it flying. "I lost control, and Weiss would've died if it wasn't for my Semblance!"

Tai placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Believe me, I understand that hate. I've dreamed of lodging my boot firmly up Salem's ass more times than I'd like to admit."

Jaune half-turned his head towards Tai, "Does it ever get better?"

"There are good days, and there are bad days." Tai explained, "It helps to talk about it, though. And I think you and I both know that there's someone else you should be talking to about this."

Jaune's eyes went wide, "Oh, gods, I'm an idiot."

Tai chuckled, "Go, she might still be in the library. Since you've got a fire to put out, I'll clean up your mess, just this once."

Jaune booked it out of the room, leaving Taiyang behind to clean up the mess he had left behind.

Taiyang smiled, "I'm glad I could help, kiddo." He said to an empty room.

(Beacon Academy, Library)

Weiss was trying and failing to catch up on her History homework. Mainly because she couldn't concentrate, since her absolute dunce of a boyfriend insisted on brooding about what had happened at Haven instead of talking about it.

The only reason that Weiss hadn't dragged Jaune into an empty room and locked the door until they talked about the situation was because she knew that he probably needed time to get his head on straight.

She had almost died, after all.

Weiss narrowed her eyes as she flipped through her notes, she knew that she had taken meticulous notes on the Battle of Witch's Pass, one of the first battles of the Great War in Vacuo. So where were the-

Weiss tossed her pencil on the desk in frustration as she realized that she had left the notebook that contained what she was looking for back in her dorm room. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, the only thing that could possible make this week worse was if Salem attacked.

"Hey, Weiss."

Weiss turned towards the owner of the voice, to find Jaune in his armor. Had he be training? Weiss internally kicked herself, of course he had. He seemed to be breathing heavily, had he run here?

Weiss decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, as he had probably been wrestling with any number of unpleasant emotions, but why did he feel the need to isolate himself?

He pulled up a chair, and sat facing her. "I'm sorry." Jaune said, "I've been an idiot."

Weiss frowned, while she thought that was true, she hated it when Jaune would put himself down like that. "You're not an idiot, Jaune."

He swallowed, "Right. But I still... It's my fault you got hurt. If I hadn't lost it in the middle of the fight with Cinder, then-"

The proverbial lightbulb went off in Weiss's head. He blamed himself for Cinder impaling her and leaving her to die. "Did you throw the javelin?" Weiss interjected.

Jaune blinked, "Huh?"

"Did you throw the javelin? Weiss repeated.

Jaune shook his head, "No, of course not, but I still-"

"It is not your fault. The blame for my injury lies squarely at the feet of Cinder." Weiss said, "Yes, you did lose your cool, but you got it back immediately after."

"But..."

Enough of this. Weiss grabbed Jaune's hand and placed it over her heart. "Do you feel that, Jaune? My heartbeat?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

"That is your fault." Weiss said, a smile finally coming to her lips, "You unlocked your Semblance and saved my life."

"I just... felt guilty, I guess?" He explained, as he let his hand drop from her, "I know that you can take hits, and that you don't need or want to be protected, but in every big fight we're in, I just do it anyway."

How long had this been eating away at him? "I would never think to demand that you ignore your instincts in a fight, Jaune. Especially against the likes of Cinder or Adam. Ozpin may have given us all the title of Guardian, but out of all of us, you live up to that title the most."

Jaune nodded, "Thanks, Weiss. I needed to hear that, I think." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Is there anything you need to talk about? I've kinda monopolized this whole conversation."

Weiss gave Jaune a blast of the loving version of the Schnee Glare, "Well, I am a little miffed that it took you so long to come and talk to me."

"I'm sorry." Jaune said automatically, "I had to work through some stuff first."

Weiss smirked, "Oh, really? How many of Beacon's training bots met their demise while you were working through some stuff?"

Jaune abruptly sat up straight. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Weiss." He deadpanned.

Weiss would have retorted, but she was lost in thought. She was trying to figure out a way to set Jaune's mind at ease about protecting her mid-battle. Any verbal... thing was out, as he would reject it immediately. Weiss's mind flew back to her earlier years, back when she had been trying to figure out what kisses meant, since she clearly wasn't going to learn from her parents.

One thing that she had discovered was that certain kisses meant certain things. In this case, a kiss to the back of the hand meant that you pledged to protect that person.

Weiss took his hand, and looked him in the eyes, "Jaune, did you know that certain kisses mean certain things?"

Taken aback by the sudden change in topic, Jaune simply shook his head.

"For example, a kiss to the back of the hand means that you pledge to protect the person that you kissed." Weiss raised Jaune's hand to her lips and ever so gently kissed him.

Jaune's eyes went wide as she then presented her hand to him. "Weiss, are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes, I am." She said, "I think it'll help you to not feel guilty about protecting me in the heat of battle."

Jaune returned the gesture, planting a kiss on her hand. "Thanks, Snow Angel."

Weiss leaned in, and pressed her forehead to his. "You're welcome, my darling Knight."

(Atlas, Military Compound, Science Division)

General Ironwood had expected Ruby and Yang to be impressed with Dr. Polendina, his "armchair", as he called it, and the technology available to the Atlas military. He hadn't expected the sisters to be on the same level as most of his scientists!

"But, Yang how do you keep your weapon from, ah... degloving your hand each time it cycles?" Pietro asked.

"That was actually a tricky bit." Yang explained, "Me and Rubes had to put our heads together for a week to solve that one. Effectively, every time Ember Celica fires a round, instead of cycling as you'd expect, it partially mechashifts."

"Outstanding! But the mechashift engineering required to get that to work is beyond intricate, and the both of you did it!"

Ruby let out a nervous giggle, "Not quite, Doctor. Yang did that all on her own, she's the engineer, I'm the mad scientist."

Yang snorted, "That's one way of putting it, Rubes. When Professor Smoke told you that Crescent Rose would never work, you took that as a challenge!"

The Battle of Haven, and the revelations that had come from it had forced Ironwood to reconsider his stance on his distaste of guardians. After all, Haven had been a battle of guardians, and his soldiers would've done nothing to help win the day. On top of that, the plan to defeat Salem, as revealed by the Lamp of Knowledge, required that the final battle be a battle of guardians.

So, Ironwood had brought in Winter, the Ace Ops, and Doctor Polendina on the secret, and did something he thought that he would never do.

He green-lit the reconstruction of Penny Polendina.

With the successful defense of Beacon, it had been child's play for his men to recover Penny's remains from Amity Arena. Upon returning them to Atlas, it had been discovered that Penny's memories and personality, her "brain" for lack of a better term, was completely intact. At the time, he had told Doctor Polendina not to rebuild her, stating that it wasn't necessary.

However, events had unfolded in a way that required guardians, and while Ironwood did not agree, and even though his Semblance was itching at the back of his mind to stay the course, and rely on the strength of the Atlas Military, he knew that would only lead to ruin.

"Now, before we get started on your arm, Yang, there's a couple things I wanted to show the both of you." Pietro said, as he stopped in front of a retinal scanner. After a moment, the scanner blinked green, and a door slid open.

The room was just as cold and clinical as the rest of Atlas seemed, however this lab seemed well lived in, robot parts strewn across workbenches, sticky notes next to terminals, and at the center of the room, a hologram projector displaying a new kind of Atlesian Knight.

"I'll take over the show and tell for this one, Pietro." Ironwood said, "This is the AK-250, the newest generation of Atlesian combat drone."

He took out a laser pointer and began to highlight aspects of its design. "At seven feet, this is the largest combat drone we've ever made. Shoulder mounted Dust cannons, a Variable Firearm system built into its arms, and our latest development, the Grimmsbane Close Combat Countermeasure System."

Yang whistled, "This is cool and all, General, but what's it got to do with my arm?"

Ironwood chuckled, "I'll leave the tech talk to the doctor, it's a bit above my pay grade."

"Put simply, Yang, your new arm is a AK-250 arm scaled down to human size and proportions." Pietro said, "The Variable Firearm system will enable us to effectively build in one of the gauntlets of Ember Celica."

"It will also afford you new tactical options, between shotgun, autocannon, and bomber modes." Ironwood added, after being prompted by a nod from Pietro, "We'll also build this capability into your other gauntlet."

"Hold on a second, what's bomber mode?" Ruby asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Ruby," Pietro said, pressing a button on his chair that caused the hologram in front of them to change to a picture of what seemed to be a grenade of some sort. "In Yang's case, bomber mode will allow her to leave behind these sticky grenades when she punches."

"Nice." Yang said, "Didn't you say that there was something else that you wanted us to see?"

Ironwood nodded, "Yes, there was. Follow me."

Ironwood led the group past several security checkpoints, as they went, both Ruby and Yang noted that even the security cameras were armed.

"This is a lot of security, what are you guys trying to protect?" Yang asked.

"The Winter Maiden, among other things." Ironwood said, "I am taking you to see one of those other... projects. I believe Miss Rose is rather invested in this one, if I understand the situation correctly."

Ruby did a double take, "What are you talking about?"

Ironwood simply put his finger to his lips in a shh gesture, and led them to a new area, bringing them to a lab that had even tighter security. They stopped in front of a metal door that looked like it could hold off a rampaging Beringel for roughly two weeks. Both Ironwood and Pietro took out a metal key and inserted them in slots on either side of the door.

"Three, two, one, turn!" Ironwood said. They both turned the keys, and one of the locks on the door opened, after that a computerized voice spoke.

"Speak both pass phrases in turn."

"Alpha seven gamma five epsilon." Ironwood said.

"The dream is not dead." Pietro said.

Two more locks opened, and the door swung open, beyond the threshold, there was a dimly lit laboratory with a metal cylinder in the middle that seemed almost unused.

"Alright, enough of the cloak and dagger. What is this place?" Yang said.

With a few keystrokes on his Scroll, Pietro turned the lights on, and with the lights came the view screens. Screens that contained blueprints. Blueprints for Penny.

The cylinder in the middle of the room became transparent, revealing a green sphere floating in some sort of suspension field.

"What is this?" Ruby asked.

"After the Miracle at Beacon, my men recovered Penny's remains, and brought them to Atlas. Doctor Polendina discovered that Penny's core, or brain, if you want to be specific was perfectly intact. Memories and all." Ironwood ended his explanation with a pointed look at Ruby.

Ruby leaned against a nearby table for support, taking several deep breaths to steady herself. "You mean... my girlfriend has been alive this whole time... and no one thought to TELL ME?"

"Uh, Rubes?" Yang said, wincing, "You kinda just let the cat out of the bag."

Ironwood chuckled, "Well, that certainly confirms my suspicions." Noticing Ruby's deer in the headlights look, he continued, "I'm not against it, I do understand why you tried to hide it from me, however. I noted several times where Penny would elude her handlers for several hours, only to show up right where she was supposed to be."

Now secure in the knowledge that General Ironwood wasn't going to put an unceremonious end to her relationship with Penny, Ruby pressed on. "If you suspected or whatever, why didn't you tell me that Penny was alive?"

Pietro stepped in, figuratively speaking, "You have to understand, Ruby, while Penny is absolutely a real girl by every metric that matters, her existence is classified at the highest level."

"And we didn't have clearance at the time." Yang said, "Wait a second here, doc. Why does Penny have your last name?"

Pietro took off his paperboy cap and scratched his bald head, "Well, she's my daughter."

Ruby paled, "Oh gods, I just yelled at my girlfriend's dad."

Pietro unleashed a hearty belly laugh, "Water under the bridge, Ruby. It's actually fortunate that you came here with Yang, you see, I need your help."

Pietro continued, "One of my conditions for rebuilding Penny was that she not be susceptible to being killed the same way again, and I was hoping that you could help design her new weapons."

"Oh, I am not missing this." Yang said, a grin on her face, "Count me in too!"

Ironwood chuckled, "Well, in that case, it's probably a good thing you're here for a week. I'll show you to your lab."

Ruby was practically vibrating with nervous energy. She had come to Atlas expecting just to help with Yang's arm, but she had found so much more.

A/N: Just a quick fluff and plot driving chapter. Next chapter is where things will get going in a big way.

Next Chapter: Salem attacks Argus, and teams RWBY and JNPR take issue with that.