36

Courtesy Call

Jacques Schnee's hands trembled as he avoided slamming them on the desk in front of him, his teeth grit as he glared at the man on the screen in front of him. General Ironwood sat unfazed on the other side, his voice coming through clearly on the very expensive call system attached to the Schnee patriarch's terminal in his private study.

"Don't play dumb with me, James." Jacques continued once he'd gotten his temper under control. Normally such a display would never be a risk but the past few months, and Ironwood himself, had been testing the limits of his patience, "One of our old mining colonies lit up the other day. It's supposed to be abandoned but now I apparently have squatters on SDC property! There's no way the Atlesian military is so incompetent that you wouldn't notice."

"I wouldn't say we're incompetent, Jacques." Ironwood grumbled. It sounded like he had words but held them back, "We noticed but frankly we have better things to do than to chase people out of abandoned areas."

"And the fact that these people got past your blockade?"

"Is something we will be looking into. I'm sorry but I need to go now, Jacques. It's been a pleasure." His tone indicated it was anything but and Jacques could agree. With a frustrated push of a button, the video winked out and returned the terminal to his desktop. The ice in his tumbler clinked against the rim as he took a long drought from the amber liquid there, it burned down his throat like a good Scotch should.

His attention returned to his other guest and what a surprise the guest was. Arthur Watts back from the dead. Certainly it was unfortunate to learn the man had died in an accident some years ago, it looked like there was more to the story. Regardless the two had been acquaintances, sharing a drink on occasion the brilliant man had been responsible for much of Atlas' superior robotics alongside Doctor Polendina and their team.

Obviously Watts had his own motives. No one just faked their own death, not without a reason. It wasn't his business, what was his business was the information Arthur had brought to his attention. Several days ago an old mining facility out on the tundra had gone active, the communications suite had reconnected to the SDC network for a short time before going offline again. The older tech had tried to connect to Atlas but had failed and connected to the Mantle network instead which was operating until they could update other old facilities to newer technology. What Arthur was doing snooping around in the reserve network he didn't know but would let it slide, for the moment.

"You were right." Was all that Jacques said.

"Of course." Arthur drawled, "To be completely honest, I cannot come out with any evidence against Ironwood due to… obvious reasons. But I can pass it to you."

"Evidence you say?" This did indeed intrigue him as his hand came up to stroke his mustache, deep in thought, " What kind?"

Arthur smiled, his hands steepled before him, "I know who has taken up residence in your mining camp, and so does Ironwood." His grin widened when he saw Jacques' eyes narrow, "Yes I'd go so far as to say Ironwood was complicite. Raven Branwen and her tribe of bandits."

"Branwen…" The Schnee rolled the name around for a moment, remembering distant information, "They were a blight in Anima, weren't they?"

"Indeed. I can provide evidence that Ironwood has been seen meeting with Raven Branwen personally. I'm sure that would be quite the valuable bit of information, especially with the upcoming election."

"Yes. Yes it would. What do you want in return?" Jacques knew how things worked. Arthur hadn't come to give this to him for free.

"For now, nothing. The ideal payment would be seeing Ironwood removed from the council."

A favor, then. Rather vague and not something Jacques was in the habit of handing out but this evidence could secure the council seat and see James removed. It was a favor worth far more than it looked on the surface. With Ironwood gone, so too would his sanctions meaning the SDC could stop hemorrhaging money and return to making a tidy profit.

"Very well then, Arthur. I assume the information is on your scroll?"

Watts nodded and handed his scroll to Jacques after bringing up the relevant files on it. Placing it on the desk, his console automatically identifying the device and connecting to it after authorization. Transfer only took a few moments and he handed the device back to its owner.

"It's been a pleasure Jacques." Watts held his hand out.

"It has, Arthur, I'm glad you are still alive. You always were the most brilliant mind in Atlas." Jacques took the offered hand and shook it. A little flattery could go a long way, "It's a shame you can't come to the charity event I'm hosting next week. It's going to be the perfect platform to address this issue with Ironwood."

Arthur released his hand and straightened his coat, "A charity ball you say? That is a shame, Jacques, you always hosted the finest parties. I'll be in touch."

Jacques watched as the man left before sitting back down at his desk and opening the new information he'd just obtained. A picture of a striking woman dressed in red and black filled his screen, standing next to James in a photo that could only have been taken on Atas Academy grounds. How the man had gotten his hands on it were beyond him but he was glad it had found its way into his lap.

It's always about who you know, isn't it?

-SY-

Arthur Watts paused as the door to Jacques' study clicked shut quietly. He brought one of his scrolls out from his jacket and thumbed it open to see a notification that brought a smile to his face.

New connection established

Now he was connected to Jacques' terminal and through it the SDC, which had also been upgraded after the beacon incident to the new network. He hated to admit it but Cameron McCloud was just as brilliant as he when it came to programming. It would have taken him months of work to crack into the new Atlesian systems, but if he had a backdoor like access to the SDC? Well it would make much shorter work of giving him free reign in Atlas

A charity ball, eh? Well it looks like you'll be paying back that favor sooner rather than anticipated.

Watts hummed to himself, pleased that things were going so well. Soon enough he found a message from Jacques to his secretary, it was a guest list. Arthur couldn't attend himself but surely his old friend wouldn't mind an alteration?

-SY-

The first thing Ruby noticed when Jaune walked into the enormous pool room was his new scar. It was mottled pink, the main mass of tissue the size of her fist with snaking tendrils reaching out from it in every direction. It was easy to see what the Grimm parasite had attempted to do to him, she shuddered at the thought. If she had been a little bit later in using her eyes, she shook her head to clear away the bad thoughts. Jaune was alive. He was okay and right there.

And he was looking at her.

Ruby couldn't help it and did what she always did. Panic, "Better! You're all Jaune!"

It took a moment to sink in but an embarrassed flush creeped across her neck and she wished she had her hood to hide in. Settling for covering her face with one hand and flailing the other about she cringed at the roaring laughter coming from her own sister as the woman in question slung an arm around Ruby. Even Jaune was chuckling as she wished a hole would open up beneath her feet and swallow her.

"I'm glad you're better!" She eventually shouted, though she knew the worst was to come from Yang.

"He is all Jaune." She said, tightening her grip so Ruby couldn't escape.

Drats! Cursing internally her brain finally noticed something.

She was in a swimsuit.

In front of Jaune.

Ruby would have killed to have her cape back, to disappear back into the lockers and never be seen again. It was made all the worse with the suit that Yang had forced one her, the small, frilly skirt was at least some semblance of familiarity. Feeling the flush continue to spread she decided to enact her back up strategy.

Hide behind Yang.

In a burst of rose petals, her sister lost her grip as she disappeared behind her bigger sibling. A lone silver eye peered out from behind the glorious golden locks as Yang cackled louder with Jaune trying, and failing, to hide his own laughter.

"You suck." Ruby complained to either, or rather both, of them.

"Relax Ruby." Yang finally stopped laughing but the mirth was still dancing in her eyes, and the bright smile she wore, "You don't have to be so embarrassed in front of us. It was just a little slip."

"But that's why it's so embarrassing." She whined back. In a desperate attempt to take the attention away from her she grasped at a change in topic, "Jaune! Don't you have something to say to Yang?"

Jaune looked between the two of them, confused for a moment as Ruby silently gestured at her sister and Yang, knowing what Ruby was getting at, suddenly became more bashful. There was no mistaking the flicker of her lilac eyes conveying the hope of what she wanted to hear. When he finally caught on, Jaune looked her up and down before realizing he did and looking away. Ever the gentlemen the gesture had Ruby almost giggle.

I wish he'd look at me like- No, no no!

That thought was dangerous.

However her gambit had borne fruit, "You look good, Yang."

"Good?" Like a cat seeing a mouse move, Yang perked up, virtually pouncing on his words, "Is that all?"

With a massive grin on her face, she moved in for the kill, Jaune turning his head, obviously confused as to where he could look with all of the tantalizing flesh on display. If Ruby noticed then it was obvious to her sister and that had the girl zeroing in on him even more. His fate was sealed.

"You're stunning." Jaune mumbled and it was enough to have Yang stop in her tracks.

Yang was used to compliments. Ruby had heard them all before, the different adjectives often ascribed to her sister. Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful, bombshell. Her sister had heard it all before from guys only into her looks. But the look on Yang's face when Jaune said that? It was priceless. It looked like fishing for compliments had backfired on her but she did notice the pleased smile creep across her stunned face.

"You're not so bad yourself, ladykiller." Yang winked and slowly slid her eyes up and down, milking the moment for all it was worth and ending it with a growl, "Definitely need to stop hiding under that hoodie."

"Yeah well I have reason to now, don't I?"

Yang frowned a bit and even Ruby felt like she should take offense to that.

"So should I hide behind a hoodie?" Yang asked, her hand coming to the scar on her own chest, the one that was on display for all to see. All the more Ruby started feeling a twinge from her missing arm.

"What no!" Jaune backtracked his arms coming up and it was then that Yang struck, hand lashing out in the blink of an eye to catch his. She could see the panic in his eyes and could admit to some shock as her sister brought his hand to her chest, right to the ling thing scar she sported. He flinched when he felt it, though Yang showed no reaction.

She suspected Yang knew he wasn't flinching at her scar but rather how close his hand was to one of her most prominent attributes. They both stood as still as statues for a few moments before his face erupted scarlet.

"Yang what are you doing!?" His voice rose several octaves as he tried to pull it back only to have Yang catch his other hand and pull him closer, her face close to his and despite Ruby suppressing her own laughter at Jaune, her sister's face was set in stone with a slight frown.

"My scar. Your scar. Ruby's arm-" Ruby flinched, "-are all things we obtained from our choices in our lives." Releasing one of his hands, her own came up to rest lightly on his still healing scar, "You got this defending my sister." She squeezed the hand still touching her scar, "I got this trying to save Blake from Adam." She turned to look at Ruby, who wanted to hide even more, "And Ruby lost her arm trying to save Pyrrha. Should we be ashamed of those actions?"

"Of course not!" Jaune looked appalled at the very idea.

"Then why hide the results of those actions?"

The question left Jaune speechless, he contemplated, staring at her scar and even running his thumb over it. Ruby noticed how Yang shivered under his touch and even the splash of red creeping up her neck. Before the younger sister could call her out on it they were interrupted.

"You were getting flirty and forgot to invite us?!" Nora screached, dramatically holding her hands over her heart, "I thought we were friends!"

"Nora I don't think friends invite friends to that sort of thing." Ren's eyes narrowed as Nora opened her mouth, "And you had better not invite anyone, either."

"Oh?" She tilted her head to the side, "Invite anyone to what Renny?"

The quiet man leaned over and whispered into her ear, Nora's face quickly flushing at whatever it was Ren had said to her. By the time he leaned away she was off in her own little world, giggling to herself. One by one the others started filing out of the locker rooms, dressed in their own swimming suits.

Blake had on a simple black and white bikini, a very Blake choice since she didn't seem to be someone who wanted to be noticed much. Not that it stopped her from turning heads. Neon had on a eyesore of a bright one piece suit that looked a patchwork of neon colors, how she found something like that mystified Ruby. Cole was in black trousers, accented with white.

"Weiss?!" Ruby choked as her eyes bulged at her partner who emerged last from the lockers.

Hair in a long braid, Weiss was dressed in the smallest, most revealing bikini Ruby had ever seen. It was more string than cloth and she heard a smack as Yang covered Jaune's eyes. There was a similar reaction from Nora as she grabbed Ren's face and hugged it into her bosom, where he started struggling to get away, or breath. A slow, sensual smirk came from the ex-heiress as she put a hand on her hip, a voice screeching from the lockers.

"NEOPOLITAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" A furious, red faced Weiss came storming from the lockers, dressed in an ice blue one-piece. Her mistake was trying to grab hold of Not-Weiss who pieroetted around, her foot catching Weiss' ankle and with a yelp the white-haired girl splashed into the pool. When she came up she was spitting and hissing about getting revenge. With a snap of her fingers, Not-Weiss shattered into the form of Neo wearing a tritone bikini in her signature colors, the sound of glass tinkling as the girl bent over laughing silently.

Jaune smiled wryly as Yang took her hand back. They both looked relieved and, if Ruby wasn't imagining it, a little more relaxed. At least until arms hooked around Yang's middle, causing her to tense up. A grinning Nora poked her head around the side.

"Let's get this party started!" She shouted as she tightened her grim, hands linking just under Yang's breasts.

The blonde's eyes went wide, "Nora don't you-!"

She was cut off as Nora lifted the girl up, suplexing them both straight into the pool. Jaune and Ren looked at each other with the latter shrugged and calmly got into the pool. Ruby looked to Jaune and he looked back at her. There was nothing else to do so they both jumped in after. The water was a shock to her system, while heated it was still fairly cold. Her head broke the surface and she shook her head, wet hair flying around her head.

When was the last time she'd been swimming? Five years ago? Six? She couldn't remember but thankfully her body did. It came to her as naturally as if she'd done it yesterday and it felt great.

-SY-

Ruby pulled herself out of the pool, muscles exhausted after spending hours in the pool. By this point it was empty save four people. She and Weiss had just been eliminated, her dainty partner succumbing to Yang bearing down on them both with the height advantage Jaune posed. Blake never participated, opting instead to read by the side of the pool and Neo had been a menace on her own, pulling on ankles whenever someone was distracted.

Ren stood in the center, water up to shoulders as Nora rode upon them, his hands holding firmly onto his knees. Face blank but a competitive gleam in his eyes he stared down Jaune who was a dozen feet from him, Yang perched upon his shoulders, glaring down her opponent.

"I'm queen of this castle!" Nora harrumphed and crossed her arms.

"Queen Nora!" Yang pointed dramatically out at her, "This is the day you fall to the might of Queen Yang and Castle Jaune!"

Both 'castles' could be seen rolling their eyes.

Ruby sat on the sidelines watching the clash of the ages as the two teams collided. In terms of power both Yang and Nora were pretty evenly matched. Hand in hand the two tried to overpower the other and push them into the water, their mounts having trouble keeping them balanced and holding on for dear life.

Suddenly Yang reversed, pulling the ginger forward and twisting her arms. With her arms locked with Yang's it was all Nora could do to clamp down on Ren with her legs to avoid spilling into the pool. With tremendous strength the sat upright and pulled Yang back into their stalemate position before, with a yelp from both Ren and Jaune, everyone's head disappeared beneath the surface.

Pink and brown was the first to rise and the mischievous grin on Neo's face spoke of exactly who had interrupted the fight. A glaring Yang and Nora resurfaced and both made to tackle the diminutive girl. Her arms held up like a champion in victory she shattered as the two butted heads, meeting in the middle and catching nothing but each other.

"Hey." Jaune said as he pulled up beside Ruby, hauling himself up to sit next to her.

"Hey, Jaune. Have fun?" She asked, eyes catching the way the rivulets of pool water dripped down him.

He chuckled, "Yeah, it was fun. Did you?"

Nodding Ruby looked out as Neon jumped back into the pool to taunt Nora and Yang, "I don't have the same stamina so I'm pretty tuckered out."

"Yeah, I think we'll all sleep soundly tonight." Jaune agreed.

Silence fell down around them, this time no longer comfortable but rather awkward. Ruby felt a compulsion to fill it with something, anything, but was beaten to it by Jaune.

"Hey Ruby?" He started and when she looked at him he continued, one hand scratching behind his head, "About… about before. In the woods."

Her stomach roiled and heart pumped. She felt like running and hiding, but she couldn't do that. This was Jaune, her friend, "What about it?"

Jaune looked nervous, he glanced around, making sure no one was near to overhear.

"You told me to forget it." He finally answered, eyes her locked on his legs, "But I can't. I feel bad, because I've left it hanging for so long."

Panic threatened to overtake Ruby, "No! It's okay. I don't need some kind of closure or anything Jaune! Just… just take care of Yang."

"Ruby." Jaune turned his head to look her in the eyes and she felt the heat rise in her. His expression was sad, pained, "I think we do. Both of us. You are my friend. My first real friend and I treasure you. I love you, Ruby. But not like that."

She sat there for a moment, a stone like weight settling in her stomach, as if she were falling. She'd known. Of course she'd known. Ruby had seen the way Jaune looked at Yang, and the way her sister looked at him. She'd known but deep down she'd hoped that if there was never an answer then she wouldn't have to feel this way. That she could keep on loving him.

Of course that couldn't last.

Maybe that is what he'd meant. That it was unhealthy to hold onto these feelings.

At the moment? She couldn't care. She felt like she was torn in half and she could see in his eyes how much he hated doing what he was doing. Hurriedly she looked away and took a deep breath. Several, even. She was fine. Better than fine. She wouldn't let this come between the two of them. He cared about her, said so himself. So what if he didn't think of her that way she was still precious to him.

That's what she told herself.

With one final, deep, breath she turned back to him with a gentle smile on her face, "I know. That's why I said to forget it."

He looked relieved, and smiled back, "Good. I just wanted to clear the air. I don't want anything to come between us."

Her heart twisted, "Neither do I!" Stretching her arms over her head she stood up, "I think I'll go take a shower now, I'm pretty tired."

He looked a little disappointed but nodded all the same, waving, "I'll stay here 'till Yang gets tired of trying to throttle Neo."

With a wave and a smile Ruby hurried back to the lockers but never made it to the shower. Instead she collapsed into one of the benches, unable to bear it anymore and unable to hide it. Slowly her face scrunched up, and her throat tightened. She opened her mouth but no sound came out, too choked up to even sob as the tears started welling up in her eyes. With large, shuddering breaths, Ruby began to cry.

She sat there letting the tears fall. She didn't know why it hurt so much. It was expected. She knew it was going to end up like that. Jaune loved Yang and Yang loved Jaune. She could see it, everyone could. So why did it hurt so much to hear it put to words? Had she really not given up on him?

"Ruby?" She started as someone called her name and standing there in the entrance to the lockers was Weiss, her expression one of shock turning to rage upon seeing her crying state, "Ruby?! What happened? Are you okay?" Her partner rushed up to take a seat on the bench next to her, fussing over her incessantly.

"'M fine, Weiss." Ruby got out through heaving breaths. She felt ashamed of her partner seeing her like that but her attempt to avert her eyes was thwarted by Weiss forcefully grabbing her cheeks and moving her head so their eyes met.

"Don't lie to me, Rose! You're obviously not fine." The angry glare in those piercing crystal blue eyes made her want to shrivel up.

"I'll be fine." She answered more carefully.

With a rather suspicious glare, Weiss let go, "Who did this? Was it Neo?" Ruby shook her head, "Jaune?" Weiss caught the hesitation and stood with deadly determination and almost made it to the door if Ruby had not grabbed her wrist and held her back.

"What are you doing Ruby?! I'm going out there and giving him the lecture he deserves! How dare he make my partner cry!" Weiss tugged back on her arm but Ruby wouldn't budge.

In the misery she was experiencing a small bundle of warmth flowered in her chest. When she thought of Weiss, she almost couldn't remember the insufferable girl she'd once been. Now it was all replaced by this fiercely protective woman in front of her. Friends were family to Weiss and it felt amazing that she would show so much care for Ruby. It made everything feel just a little bit better.

"It's not Jaune's fault." Ruby got her partner's attention, who finally stopped trying to leave and listened, instead, "It was my fault for falling for him. Of course I'd feel like this if he didn't feel the same."

Weiss' eyes softened and her expression fell from one of anger to one of sadness, "Ruby… I'm so sorry."

Ruby leaned her forehead on her shoulder, "Don't say that Weiss. I'll be fine, I just need time. And a distraction."

Slowly Weiss nodded, gaining a little confidence from the suggestion, "I can provide that. This one time we can go get some cookies. It'll be my treat."

The distraction had worked and with a great exhalation she let go with it the dregs of her bad feelings. It wouldn't do for her to mope about and dwell on things. Instead she'd distract herself and try and get over it and the first step towards that would be to go out on a partner's night and get some u healthy snack foods.

"Alright! I think we can take the transit out to the public sector and find a good bakery, let us get cleaned up. I refuse to let those chemicals sit in my hair a moment longer." Weiss strolled over to the locker where she'd stored her belongings, setting her neatly folded garments out before removing her scroll, stopping for a moment as she noticed the notification light. Extending the screen she looked at the message, "What?!"

"What's up?" Ruby asked and looked over her shoulder, the warm steam from the shower she'd just turned on.

"It's… an invitation. From my father."

A.N: I cannot believe I had so much trouble writing this, you guys. I sat down, determined to finish this chapter, so many times but just ended up blankly staring at the screen. For months. I feel like I just got over a huge obstacle with this and I really hope you all like it.