If her life with the Xiao Long family had taught her something, it was patience. Yes, she got angry easily. Yes, she hated authority. But she had the will to resist doing anything about it, for her own benefit.

"…I can't believe you took on a terrorist organization without backup! Not only that, but you also put the public in danger by taking control of a speeding van! Do you understand what I'm saying?!" Glynda Goodwitch leaned forward to emphasize her point. Ruby and Weiss flinched, while Blake and Yang looked own to the ground.

"And you!" Glynda pointed to Cinder, who kept her eyes narrowed and her posture straight. Internally, she was about done with this conversation. She had done the right thing, she had stopped that traitorous bastard for good. She did not need a lecture. "You are supposed to protect the students, not put them in danger! What were you thinking!"

Cinder clenched her teeth internally before coming up with an answer. "I did what I had to do. There was no time, and Team RWBY was available. You can't blame me for taking what I had," the huntress waved her hand around to signal the four teenagers standing behind her.

"That is NOT the point!" Glynda argued.

"You want me to go at it alone?" Cinder stepped forward, closing the distance between them.

"I want you to think about your students. About their lives," the older huntress also closed the distance, narrowing her eyes with danger as their noses almost touched. The Ember of Mistral did not retreat.

"Glynda" – both women turned to Ozpin with the ire of an alpha sawtooth. He flinched, but remained stoic. – "That is quite enough."

The blonde woman growled and retreated, giving Cinder some breathing space, but she still glared at her, and the young huntress made sure to return it. She had always found Glynda to be irritatingly strict, and it was no different here. But her undertone of care was surprising. So much that it made her anger not bubble up as much as it should.

"So, Professor Cinder. Is your account of the events correct?" asked the headmaster.

"Yes, sir. All of it." she had told him almost everything. She avoided the subject of Winter and how her sisters had gotten involved voluntarily, while everything else was as it happened. She did not like taking the fall for others, but Yang and Ruby were the big exception.

"Do you all confirm this?" the teens all nodded somewhat hesitantly, but Ozpin said nothing if he noticed that.

"Then, you're all dismissed, except for the professor here. Go now, have some rest, you've earned it," said Glynda with a sigh. Team RWBY strode off the office, leaving the huntress with her superiors.

The Ember of Mistral crossed her arms, waiting for either Ozpin or Goodwitch to say something.

It was the blonde professor who spoke first. "So, was it really him?" she asked as if afraid of the answer.

"I told you, yes." Cinder answered.

"And he attacked you first." Ozpin asked. The huntress was getting agitated at this point. She had already given her report, and this repeat questions where getting to her.

"Yes" she replied, doing her best to contain her emotions.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Glynda asked once again. Cinder had enough as she strode to the professor to the point the older woman retreated on instinct.

"Yes. He appeared out of nowhere and threatened take Ruby and did this –"she pointed to her bandaged chest. The wound was closed but it was covered just in case. –"to me! What else is there to say?"

Glynda said nothing, backing away with a mortified expression. Ozpin remained in his place, with his chin resting atop his knuckles and a pensive expression.

"It's just, It's hard to believe…" For the first time since forever, the strict combat professor looked weak, vulnerable and sad. It was like her strenght had been sucked away. She hated it, she hated Isshin, and she hated betrayal.

"But it's true. Deal with it." she said, looking at the older woman straight in the eye.

"I see. So there's been a breach…" Ozpin muttered. Both women turned to look at him, and he noticed. This prompted him to correct himself. "He wanted Ruby? Did he say why?"

"No. He mentioned silver. Maybe her eyes?" Cinder did not believe in fairytales or legends. If they existed, then her life would not have been so shitty. If prince charming was real, he had not come to rescue her.

Ozpin said nothing once again, only grunting.

"Oz?" Glynda asked, tone unusually soft.

"That's all for now, Cinder. We must investigate further, we'll call you again. However" –Cinder groaned, she had already turned to leave. – "I can not let you go just like that. While I appreciate your efforts, you did put your students in danger."

Cinder looked at him with irritation. "What will it be?" she asked.

"You'll remain in Beacon for the next two months. No going to Vale without supervision. No missions. You'll also patrol the grounds for any weak points Isshin may have exposed in our security. You'll still have to give out classes, so It might do you some good to rest well at night."

"Really? House arrest? For disposing of a traitor and discovering a terrorist cell that slipped under your nose? Are you kidding me?" Cinder snapped. At this, Glynda stepped forward, her stern expression having returned.

"Watch it Cinder. You are not above us, or the lives of your students."

And that was the problem. She wasn't above them, so she had to be below. And she wasn't going to be below anyone, not again.

But patience. Taiyang had taught her patience. If a problem could not be surmounted by force, you could do it with wit, or avoid it altogether. It was just a few weeks. Besides, they couldn't really keep her there if they tried.

And Summer, she had taught her that even if someone was above her in power, one could still be higher up morally or rationally. She did not believe that fully, but it remained in the back of her mind and helped temper her decisions.

Cinder took a breath to relax. She wasn't going to let her have the last word, however. "I know what's right and what needs to be done. But fine, I'll play house arrest," with that said she headed to the elevator. Neither the headmaster nor his right hand woman tried to stop her.

As she neared the elevators, one pair of doors opened to reveal Winter and Ironwood. The latter only gave her a nod of acknowledgement, but the later grabbed her shoulder with a grip of cold steel.

"Tomorrow night, Simulator F-3. We need to talk," she whispered into Cinder's ear. Despite her best efforts, a chill ran down her spine. Maybe because it had been some time since anyone had been that close to her; and the fact that her most hated rival caused this reaction disgusted her.

Winter let go before she could answer. Not caring to overhear what the group was discussing, Cinder descended into Beacon proper.

Upon exiting the elevator, she was greeted by Yang and the rest of the team, who looked exhausted.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked. They were fighting for their lives a few hours before. Luckily for them, tomorrow was Sunday.

Yang sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "We should but, I wanted to thank you, for not ratting us out."

"Well, you owe me one now. And make sure you don't forget that." Yang smiled at this.

"Of course sis. No problem," Cinder spared a glance towards her other sister, who was sitting in a bench near Blake whose eyes seemed to be falling down along with her entire head. Ruby was unusually quiet, and seemed… afraid to look at her, and it made her chest feel cold.

"So… what now?" asked Blake, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" It was Weiss who spoke before Cinder could even process an answer.

"We need to stop the Fang." The cat faunus replied as if the answer was obvious.

"That's… kinda what we did. We even got that big box thing," Yang turned to address her partner with a confident smile, but Blake only glared at her.

"We pushed them back, but Torchwick still got away. We need to do everything we can, right now." Blake got up from her seat. She was agitated for some reason.

Cinder did not care. The look the black haired teen was giving their teammates was one of fury and guilt. The same one the Ember of Mistral herself had worn in her days at Beacon, when the images of that night came back to haunt her every waking moment. When her confidence in herself and trust in her new family were at an all time low.

"Calm down, Belladona. We need to rest first. Besides, I got house arrest, kind of. So I'm not going anywhere, not for some time," This did not calm Blake.

"I don't care. We can still research, we can look for clues. We have to act," she was more like a raving lunatic rather than a huntress-in-training now. Cinder did not know what had gotten into her, but something did during the mission. Stranger was, Ruby still did nothing to mediate.

It was Weiss who put a hand on Blake's shoulder, but it was quickly brushed off.

"It's okay, Blake. We'll stop them, but like Cinder said, all in due time. We promised to work together, and a huntsman must keep to their oaths," Weiss said with a lecturing air that the huntress found amusing. At this, the cat faunus simply glared daggers at the heiress before storming off.

"I'm gonna do my part anyways. You guys do whatever you want," With that, she was gone, every step showing her anger. Both Cinder and Weiss scoffed at the childish display, which led to them looking at each other with an arched eyebrow.

Yang did not catch on. She simply ran a little to attempt to bring her back. "Blake! Wait!" Blake did not wait, and Yang did not give chase.

Seeing Yang's dejected posture, Weiss turned to the sullen Ruby.

"And what's with you? You should have stopped her! Or said something! You're the leader!" Weiss said with indignation and a step on the ground. Even so, Ruby was slow to react.

"Oh, sorry." There was no energy behind those words, which made Weiss recoil slightly. Yang and Cinder looked at each other with worry. They did not need mind reading to know something was wrong with their little sister. Nothing got to her, unless it was really bad. It something did, this reaction normally happened, and that required a good talk.

"Hey Weiss," – Yang put a hand on the heiress' shoulder with a smile. – "you go to the dorms, we need to have a 'sister talk'. We'll be right behind you," Weiss nodded before walking away, leaving the three Xiao Long/Rose sisters on their own in the empty hallway.

Cinder took a breath. It had been a long time since she had actually talked deep and meaningfully with her sisters. But she knew this was her fault. Everyone reacted to death differently and Ruby, being a simple and honest soul, was bound to be hit hard. She'd hoped she would be a little more hardened by the combat academies when it happened, but it seemed it was not the case. Worse still, it was her 'super sis' who had killed a beloved teacher in front of her, despite him being a traitor.

"Oookay. Tell me what's wrong Rubes, I know something's up," Yang said, walking towards the Red Reaper.

Ruby looked up, and her surprised expression turned to a happy one, even if it seemed forced.

"I'm super duper fine sis, what are you talking about?" She asked with a forced jovial tone. Both Cinder and yang winced at this.

"Ruby…"

"I'm fine, Cin. Really," Ruby tried to move, but Yang held her in place while Cinder kneeled besides Yang.

"We're here for you Rubes. You can talk to us," said Yang, worry plastered all over her face. The Red Reaper's facade slipped away, somewhat, but she still said nothing.

"Is this about Isshin?" Cinder asked, straight to the point. Ruby looked away, pain evident on her face.

"You... killed him." she muttered. Yang looked at Cinder with surprise, and it hurt the huntress. That look of terror, that same one her only mentor and friend gave her when he and Summer Rose found her in the Glass Unicorn's attic.

"I did." Said Cinder, putting her hands on Ruby's shoulders while fixing her with a gaze of steel.

"But, a huntsman is supposed to protect the people,"

"Sometimes, we have to make choices. I chose our safety," Cinder replied. Ruby looked her in the eye with a serious expression. Her silver eyes hid something behind them, she could not put her finger on what.

"You shouldn't have to. It's not right," The older huntress had no reply to that. She had made choices her entire life. She did not like many of them, but her options were limited. What could Ruby know about that?

Luckily for her, Yang picked up her slack.

"Ruby, we're not going to start killing bad guys, if that's what worries you –"

"I know things may get bad sis, but I still want to try and save everyone. I'm not stupid." Ruby smiled once again, warming the entire hallway. Yang did the same, and hugged her.

"You kind of are, sometimes. But that's why you have us to help you," Said Yang in her ear. Cinder looked at her step sisters, her own smile creeping up on her face. They were so close, it seemed like nothing could tear them apart; no disagreement or event. Some part of her wanted something like that, someone who would not abandon her due to her mistakes.

The sisters separated, and the Red Reaper turned to Cinder.

"Thank you for saving me Cin, I just wish it didn't come to… that." Ruby said.

"Well, it's the duty of the elder sister to protect the younger one, so I'd do it again, if it came to that." she gave her little step sister her best smile, but Ruby simply walked up to her and gave her a tight hug. She was still short and her head barely reached the base of her neck.

Cinder did not know what to do. She could hug her but, did she really deserve it? She tried to keep Ruby safe, and had failed utterly at that. The image of Isshin pummelling her into the ground sprung back into her mind, and her chest tightened.

She could not protect her sister. She could only kill the aggressor.

'That is all you'll ever do.' Those words were etched into her mind.

Without smiling, Cinder patted Ruby's head, but did not return the hug. The Red Reaper didn't notice.

"Alright you two, I think it's time we hit the bed," Said Yang, watching from afar with a cocky smile.

Ruby released her step sister, and fixed her with her classic toothy grin.

"So, did they punish you?" she asked, now gliding towards Yang. The three sisters set off to their respective dorms. Cinder still had her teacher room from the previous weeks in Beacon.

"I have to stay at Beacon and patrol during nights. It's horrible."

"At least you still have a job," Said Yang nonchalantly.

"You know, I don't think I would miss it,"

"What?! How could you say that? What about us?" Ruby said with an exaggerated expression.

"What about you," Ruby's groan was worth it in her eyes.

Unfortunately, Cinder's week was not over yet. The next day, she found out her classes would have transfer students. She still pitted teams of students against hordes of Grimm, but now she had to adapt to the different teaching styles of the other kingdoms, which was a hassle on itself. She managed to spot, between the many new faces, the blonde monkey faunus along with a very distinctive boy of blue hair.

She had no time to waste on that however. She had to deal with Winter's version of anger, which she wanted to experience while at the same time feeling irritated her day was interrupted like this.

She arrived at Simulator F-3 after the day had ended. It was closed after dinner, but her teacher credentials gave her access anyways. Inside, in the circular arena, was Winter facing away from the entrance. The professor had to roll her eyes at the specialists' cliché waiting strategy.

"Can we please get this over with?" Cinder asked, letting an arm rest on one of midnight's handles. She had managed to somewhat fix the blade mechanism, but one of them was still out of shape. If the specialist really wanted to beat the turd out of her, she would have a hard time defending herself.

"I asked you one thing," – Winter said, barely turning her head. – "Just one."

Her voice was more chilling than before. But Cinder found it amusing, seeing the Ice Queen melt in anger. Still, the topic she referred to was serious. Weiss had not been severely hurt, but she had still gotten into the line of fire. While the huntress had taken the blame with Ozpin for her sisters' sake, she was not going to take another lecture from her rival.

"Your little sister got into this all by herself," Winter turned, eyes narrowed and face scrunched up.

"Don't blame this on her. You are a professor! You should not be putting students in danger!" Cinder groaned at this. She was done with it.

"I'm not a babysitter."

"All I asked, from one sister to another, is to please keep her safe, but you can't even do that. Do you even care about anyone? How selfish can you be?!" Winter said, raising her voice and advancing towards her rival.

"Of course I care! Unlike you, you cold hearted wench!" Cinder screamed, also stomping to meet Winter.

"At least I'm trying to keep her safe!" The Ember of Mistral greet her teeth, hand nearing Midnight.

"You can't keep her safe forever. She chose this. Maybe, if you are so concerned about your sister, you should be there for her instead of expecting someone else to do it for you!" Realizing what she just said, the huntress shut her mouth immediately.

"Look who is talking," Winter said with snide.

"I know," Replied Cinder, her anger deflated. She had left her sisters alone for so long, oblivious to their plight, for no good reason. Winter didn't say anything else, but it seemed that seeing Cinder's mood had also calmed her down some.

Both women just stood there, looking at the floor. "Guess we're both pretty shitty sisters, huh?"

Winter only nodded solemnly. "I could have done so much more."

"From what I heard, at least you checked on her and trained her. I left as soon as I could for no good reason," she admitted, although the huntress felt awkward about it, mostly because of the place, time and person she was talking to. It was also not completely true.

She had left because she wanted to experience freedom, or what she thought was freedom. With no attachments except to herself. At the same time, she thought she was protecting her sisters from being with a tortured murderer.

"I won't say I understand you fully; but dealing with family is hard, especially when you have shitty parents like mine." Winter said. Cinder scratched the back of her head. How did this all turn so personal?

"Well, tell that to my first adoptive family. They were the worst." Said Cinder.

"They couldn't have been that bad, could they? I mean, my father didn't even love my mother. He just wanted the company." Cinder's eyes opened wide at this.

"Wow, that's shitty. But if you think that's bad, my first step mother put a shock collar on me." Winter's horrified expression was priceless. The Ember of Mistral herself was surprised at how easy it was to talk about her past to her. Minutes ago they looked like they wanted to tear each other's throats out.

"By the gods. Cinder…" Cinder glared at her for a moment. She still did not like pity. Not one drop of it.

"Well, It's in the past now." With that, both women fell into an awkward silence.

After a while, Winter cleared her throat and returned to her usual military pose.

"I apologize for my rashness, and what I said. It wasn't fair," her ability to alter her demeanour was impressive, Cinder had to admit at least that.

"It's fine. Really."

"Good, good. Just make sure they are safe, at the very least."

"I'll try." This time, Cinder made sure not to make any promises.

"Well then. I'll be on my way. Sorry for taking your time." As Winter left, Cinder noticed she looked tired. And not just physically. She knew because, she was too.

"Hey, Winter." – She called out. The specialist turned back to look at her. The huntress hesitated, she still disdained her a bit, but she felt that they had at least something in common now, even if it was shared pain. – "Want to go grab a drink?" she asked. Winter narrowed her eyes.

"I'm on duty, professor. Tomorrow will be a busy day." There it was. Her cold and professional demeanour returned. Why did she expect it to last?

"Your loss," Winter said nothing else before exciting.

Cinder left after her. She still had classes tomorrow, and her chest still hurt from her battle. She hoped the next few days would be a little quieter, for once.

A/N: Sorry it took so long! I've been dealing with some stuff, which includes what to do with college and searching for a job.

The next few chapters will deal with some interactions and bonding between Cinder, Team RWBY and Team JNPR along with the dance, but it shouldn't be more than two. Afterwards we go to Mountain Glenn for some more sweet sweet plot.

As always, reviews are appreciated. That is all for now.