There is a lot I have to say about this chapter and things to come. The first being, I'm sorry for the wait. I graduated from college not that long ago and have been trying to find a job. Unfortunately, I'm still trying, so I don't know when I will be able to post another chapter. I ask that you be patient with me, life comes first. Second, I've FINALLY got all the chapters and everything planned out. This time I checked and there aren't any plot holes. Hurray. Now all I have to do is follow the chapter plan…who am I kidding, I'll probably mostly follow it and add some stuff along the way. though by the time this fic ends the actual show will probably have already finished its fifth or sixth volume. Some of you may be wondering if I will be posting a sequel, like I promised, and the answer is yes. However, like I mentioned before, I do plan on taking a break between end of this fic and the beginning of its sequel, so I'll keep you posted. Also, two warnings; first I have never sexted a day in my life, so be warned. Second this chapter has certain things get darker. This goes especially for anyone who has a strong deposition towards suicide. You've been warned.

Chapter 13: Getting Back to Business

The train ride back to Vale was anything but comfortable. Even though the passenger train had been repaired ahead of schedule and as a way of thanking them, since the rail company and the border guards work together a lot, William and Ms. Goodwitch were given a free ride in a private first class cabin as well as a complementary lunch.

Normally William loved the idea of free food- who wouldn't? However, the atmosphere between William and his guardian was so thick you could cut it with a gun scythe. In just one day, in less than the span of a few minutes, the two had shown each other a side they had never intended to show.

William had accidently called Ms. Goodwitch his mom; not necessarily anything bad, but given William's past with people it caught even him off guard. He wasn't sure how it affected his guardian however, she was far to adept at controlling herself for him to get an accurate read even with the ability to read negative emotions.

As for what side of herself the platinum blonde teacher let out well…

-an hour of awkward silent train riding earlier-

Madame Ghoul hesitated for a moment. William even felt a twinge of fear for a moment, "I'm sorry to inform you of this, but she left hours ago."

The second Madame Ghoul spoke those words William felt a anger-no more like rage- he hadn't known since he had first gotten trapped in Grimm Valley. Only this ire was coming from the Ms. Goodwitch sitting at the table.

Ms. Goodwitch wasn't someone to let her emotions get the better of her, especially in front of her students, but in that moment William sensed something similar to an uninhibited ire.

Out of instinct, the young Were-Grimm had jumped back, leaping all the way to the bar, some fifteen feet back. Transforming into a Beowulf and taking a defensive stance ready for battle.

The men standing near or behind Madame Ghoul readied their weapons seeing the sudden transformation.

"Everyone stop!" Madame Ghoul ordered looking nervously at the woman in front of her, feeling some sweat forming on her forehead.

Ms. Goodwitch turned around seeing on William's defensive form, showing a genuine gleam of fear, at least for a Beowulf. Which in itself was surprising. Realizing she had let her emotions show, the blonde huntress tried to steel herself before speaking.

"William I'm sorry you saw me like that." She apologized like a parent who had just cursed accidently in front of their child.

/-/

To make things worse, the passenger train was a straight line to Vale. This meant no flying, no feeling of the breeze through a bullhead as it soared through the sky, and, least he forgets, having to be trapped in what could only be described as the tensest and most awkward silence William had ever felt in his entire life for the next SIX HOURS.

The cherry on top was that he could feel that Ms. Goodwitch was doing everything in her power to keep her emotions in suppressed, so he had literally no idea what she was thinking.

He had learned to spot the signs; having Neo trying to conceal her emotions and just dealing with Weiss in general. Also Ren, but William chalked that up to more of a personality quirk than him doing it intentional, at least he thought so. He never could get a read on the guy. Or Ozpin for that matter.

It was his guardian that made the first sound of the entire trip back, "William, are you… scared of me?" She asked looking almost comedically sad.

Her face said she definitely wasn't happy, but it was so out of place and dramatic that William felt himself suppressing the urge to smirk. He also though it was eerily comparable to one of the sad dog puppy figurines he had seen in her office. Though none the less cute if he was being honest.

"Wha-what, no, no, of course not. I was just…surprised." He said not even fully believing it himself, feeling his throat dry a little. "You're just usually so very calm and composed; I just didn't expect something to make you mad." The Were-Grimm explained drawing closer to her, though still with some attentiveness in his movements.

"I see, I apologize. I did not mean to scare you like that." She said beginning to show signs of returning to her normal demeanor.

William looked at the older woman, not looking at any one thing in particular, more just taking her in as a whole.

"It isn't that I'm afraid of you, it's just… I don't like it when the people I like hold back their emotions just to shield me from them." He admitted, looking like he unsure he had just said that. Whatever was going on with him felt foreign and natural at the same time, but he couldn't seem to stop it. Nor did he notice the small flash of color that appeared on the sorceress' cheeks for a brief moment.

"If you're angry then feel angry. If you're sad then feel said. You don't need to hold back on my account."

She gave a faint smile, "I know you deal with the negative emotions of those around you". She said before that glimmer of a smile slowly rescinded, "…however, I don't want to add any additional stress to you."

"Ms. Goodwitch," William gave her a deadpan expression, "on an average day I have to deal with the negative emotions of what is basically a high school full of hundreds of hormone-deranged weapon-happy huntsmen and huntresses being trained to fight literal walking nightmares."

William believed he made a good point considering the scrunching of the teacher's mouth in a clear attempt not to laugh.

"The only reason I reacted the way I did was a habitual response to a sudden" and monumental, "shift in negative emotion. Now that I know what it's like…well, I don't mean to sound rude, but you being angry is more like a lullaby by comparison."

Glynda blinked a couple of times, seeming to not sure how to respond.

"I've actually been meaning to ask about that," she said finally processing what he had said, "You've said that you could sense the negative emotions of those around you, but just how far away from you can you sense them?" She inquired, trying to conceal the fact she was feeling uncharacteristically surprised and happy about his comment. "I know it is a little off topic, however I have been pondering it for some time."

William turns his head to the right and then to the left, "Do you know if general Ironwood has the trains bugged?"

She expected she would feel surprised at this point, but given his past encounters with the general she could hardly blame him, "No, he would have no means or reason to."

The wolf faunus gave her a raised eyebrow, "I'm not sure about that, you have to remember I've been in the man's head. He, definitely, comes across as the paranoid type who would bug a train if he knew I was going to be on it, and this train was just serviced today. Plus, the last time you and I had a 'private chat' he was listening in." He added not even trying to hide his growing suspicion. Or grasping the irony his current expression presented.

The older woman reached across to William and placed her hands gently on William's, "I give you my word." The blonde sorceress comforted. "And on the off chance, he does, I will…encourage him to forget all he learned." She added with a rather intimidating grin.

Normally, anyone who saw that kind of grin would start looking for the nearest window to jump out of, but for William, it had an unexpected comfort to it.

Willaim smile and nodded, "Like the rest of my Grimm powers," he began. "my range and the clarity I can perceive negative emotions depends on the amount of Grimm I've consume. And even then, that isn't all there is to it. In normal situations, after eating as many Grimm as I did after Ruby dropped me into the Emerald Forest, I can probably most of Beacon. Though it does stop somewhere before airships."

"I see, then how about now?"

William put his finger on his chin, "I would say my range is probably around a fourth of the main campus building, give or take." He added seeming to have trouble giving a definitive answer.

If William had paid attention to the look in Ms. Goodwitch's eyes he would have noticed her intrigue as the scholarly type, though not as much as Oobleck, had been peeked. "I don't mean to pry, but you don't seem definitive about that."

His wolf ears began to wane a little, "Well, it isn't an exact science. Since I can't really tell I can only give you an estimation. Then again that can even change."

"How do you mean?"

"As you know, creatures of Grimm are drawn towards negative emotions. If there are enough people feeling strong negative emotions, then I would be able to pick up on it if even if it wasn't exactly within my usual range."

"Interesting." The teacher said processing the information.

William could tell by her expression that he had unintentionally got a few gears turning.

Her expression jerked a little before settling into a smile.

When William raised his eyebrow she decided to speak again. "William… I… when you called me your mother did you, I mean…do you really see me like that?"

There it was, the question he himself had been afraid she would ask. He had only been her adopted son for less than three weeks, and most of that time had been spent almost entirely separate from her, not counting classes. Sure, there was that time he stayed over at her house and their after-class chats where he'd, admittedly, been looser than he should have been when speaking to her- like he was with Ruby and her team…Oh, but did that mean they were close…or at least in that way?

The wolf faunus' face began taking on some color, "I, well…I-I don't know… maybe. I mean you're the closest thing I have to a mom. I don't know if I see you like that exactly…I mean you look out for me, you've offered me a place to stay, you call me out on things when I go too far…I do care about you. I really do. It's just…if… if you don't want me to call you mom than I won't. It was a slip of the tongue and I'm sorry." He lowered his head as his wolf ears folded down completely.

The two of them remained silent for some time before William, mainly due to the fear of the expression she was making. He didn't know what to expect, but every thought he had wasn't pleasant. Eventually though, he gave into the build of anxiety in his stomach and raised his head.

When the young man meet his guardian's gaze again, he was struck with her rather unexpected expression. It was a mix of confusion and shock at the same time, but with a warm and touched kind of smile. though it was probably more surprising that the expression was coming from none other than Ms. Goodwitch.

"William," she said in a firm tone, but somehow softer than when she was speaking to her students, "While I will admit I was startled by you referring to me as your mother, I am in no way angry about it."

"You're not?" He asked as his wolf ears became more upright.

She only smiled, "Not at all, by all means, call me that if you are comfortable with it."

William's face began to turn a shade of light red, "…Let's just play it by ear."

"Very well." The elderly woman said with a lighter stripe of color in her cheeks.

Unbeknownst to William though, the woman sitting in front of him was secretly very happy she had managed to distract her ward from the subject of her aforementioned ire. The less she thought about Gretna the better it was for the both of them.

-Meanwhile back at Beacon-

A large crowd of people were gathered outside of the airship terminal marching towards the main campus building only to be halted by a line of Atlas soldiers, both human and mechanical.

Many of the people there had signs and pickets each chanting slogans like "Huntsmen should hunt Grimm AND Grimm-spawn", or "Hunt the Monster, It's your job".

Of course, there was also a blowhard with a megaphone shouting "WHAT DO WE WANT?" followed by a crowd responding "A DEAD WERE-GRIMM!"

"WHEN DO WE WANT IT?"

"NOW!"

As an officer in an Atlas uniform stepped forward from the line of similarly dressed individuals to try and persuade them to disperse, three iconic figures were making their way to the scene. One in a dark green suit and the other in a white military-style uniform. Following behind was a scrawny bespectacled man with wild green hair.

"General, please explain it to me, how is it that so many of anti-faunus protestors managed to slip through your perimeter? More specifically the HAND OF HUMANITY one of the most violent anti-faunus groups in the world." the green haired man asked.

"Some of the security guards we asked from a local security firm were bribed. I've already arrested them and have them on camera, but by the time we caught it, it was too late." He growled.

"We are just fortunate that William is away at the moment. He shows control, but I would rather not test his limits with such an unruly mob." The grey-haired man in the dark green suite said taking the corner. "Perhaps even more fortunate is the fact both teams RWBY and JNPR are not present as well."

"What happens if they return and we haven't dispersed the crowd, professor Ozpin?" the green haired man asked.

"Rest assured I have already sent a mass text message to all students on campus to remain in the dorms as well as those outside of campus to not return until I send an 'all's clear'. As for Glynda, I sent her specific instructions to keep William away from the school until the matter is resolved." He nodded. "I've also authorized her to use lethal force if need be." He added grimly.

They all knew what that would mean. None of them wished for such things to happen, but when a protest from the Hand of Humanity is involved…it is FAR better to be safe than sorry. Ever since the death of their late leader Noire Acier, the groups actions have rivaled, if not surpassed, that of the White Fang's in both brutality as well as cruelty.

And now such a group is at Beacon's door. most likely if they can use William as an example, they will try to sway people's opinion of faunus in a negative light. As the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and as a Huntsman sworn to protect the people of Vale, this was something Ozpin could not let stand.

-Back on the train-

William and Ms. Goodwitch continued to chat casually, improving both their moods, when Ms. Goodwitch's scroll buzzes.

Sensing something was upsetting, as she was reading it to herself, William opened his mouth to speak only for his own scroll to go off.

Checking his scroll the Wolf-faunus began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

Rather than say it, William decided it better to just show her and held it up for her to see.

the bespectacled huntress adjusted her glasses before the image was in focus. It depicted two of her first-year students that she was VERY familiar with; Miss Nikos for her unparalleled combat ability that put her leagues ahead of some of her classmates and Mr. Arc for his…well almost the exact opposite. Though she would never actually say that to anyone.

The two appeared to have been leaning close over an ice cream float with two straws in it. Their heads couldn't have been more than two inches apart. Judging by their expression it would seem to almost anyone that they did not intend for the moment to be captured.

The huntress then noticed that the photo was sent from one Nora Valkyrie.

That explained it.

Below it was the message: They r together-together!33. Followed by a picture of a sword, a volcano, a rain cloud with lightning, a boat, a male smiling winking face; and then chains, a candle, and a vice-like object, each with a question mark after it.

The two shared a look, but neither of them seemed to be able to decipher what the symbols meant. As such, they both just nodded in agreement that it was probably best they not know.

"I wasn't exactly aware that Mr. Arc and Miss Nikos were seeing each other." She lightly hummed. "Aw, young love."

"Well, that might have been my doing." William somewhat fidgeted in his seat.

The good witch's demeanor darkened for a moment, "By all means, please explain."

She was still concealing her emotions, though anyone could have probably told William that he should to tread carefully. Very carefully.

"I wanted to thank everyone who helped me get out of the valley." He admitted, trying not to make eye contact. "So I may have pointed them in that direction."

She sighed, "Let me guess, you used your abilities to play matchmaker." She accessed.

The Were-Grimm began to squirm, "Kind of, sort of…"

"William, you of all people should know how dangerous it could be interfering with people's emotions."

"I-I know it's just it worked so well for Blake and Yang, I mean I didn't mean to, but hey it worked out...and I don't know if you know this, but Pyrrha has a huge crush on Jaune, but he doesn't know, well he didn't know. Actually, I'm not sure if he even knows it now. So, I told him it would help him prepare for the Vytal Festival, and it might, well it might help their team…and, um, and…" the young man began to sweat as he hyperventilated.

"William!" she shouted muting the hysteric Wolf-faunus, "Calm down."

William took a few deep breaths before he signaled he was okay.

"So let me get this straight," The blonde began, "You used your powers, and probably by accident, gave Miss Belladonna the courage to ask Miss Xiao Long into a relationship with her." William nodded. "Then, under the guise of helping team JNPR have a better chance in the upcoming tournament, you convinced their somewhat obtuse leader to go on a date with Miss Nikos. This being the way to help their team by alleviate some of her anxiety from her leader's lack of attention to her advances. Is that correct?"

He stared at her for a few moments, honestly just surprised at how she could process all of that so quickly and coherently. "Yeah-yes."

she removed her glasses and began to massage the bridge of her nose. "While I have seen a dramatic improvement in Miss Belladonna's mood -despite her slight increase in her number of detentions- as well as a small improvement in Miss Xiao Long's behavior, though again, it is small" She coughed into her hand, "As for Mr. Arc and Miss Nikos…while I do not necessarily approve of tricking Mr. Arc into going on a date with Miss Nikos, though I am sure she appreciates it, I would like you to refrain from anymore meddling in other people's affairs." She spoke, placing her glasses back on her face.

William intended to object, but the second his eyes meet hers he knew the case was closed, "Okay, I'll stop."

"Thank you William. I know you want to help them, but they didn't help you for any kind of reward."

"I know, and they technically didn't even do it on purpose. I guess I just wanted to help them."

The educator frowned a little. "To me, it seems like you are just trying to distract yourself from something."

William slumped in his seat, "Yeah…Ruby said something like that yesterday. She told me I shouldn't try and shoulder this kind of stuff by myself." Is it really that obvious?

"Ah yes, Miss Rose," She lightly chuckled, "For all of her…quirks, Miss Rose has surprised me on more than one occasion and proven herself a few times." She seemed to muse. Though, given how she would admonish the red reaper so often, one wouldn't have expected her to think so highly of Ruby.

"I just hope that you listen to her advice and aren't trying to pair off any more of your teammates or friends."

"Yeah…ha, ha," he scratched the back of his head. Technically, it wasn't a pair, exactly. Regardless of the number of people involved, there was no way he could tell anyone about "operation: Bee's Schnee" if that was ever an actual thing. Truth be told William just wasn't sure if telling her was worth getting on her, and Weiss', bad sides. Oh who was he kidding, it wasn't even close.

The next couple of hours was filed with minor chatter of various topics, nothing particularly interesting; weather, the upcoming tournament, etc. However, the mood between the two was considerably improved.

"And then I, hwaaaa" he yawned.

"Tired?" she asked looking a little sleepy herself.

"I guess."

"We still have another three hours, if you want to get some rest I don't mind."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be bored or anything."

"Don't worry about me, I think a nap could do us both some good." She smiled taking of her glasses and placing them on the small table next to her. since they were in their own cabin it was probably okay to catch a quick nap, and William didn't see why not.

With that the young man feel into a deep sleep even before his head hit the back of his seat. Ms. Goodwitch wasn't too far after him. only taking a moment to smirk at how quickly he could relinquish himself to slumber.

/-/

Sometime passed before William found himself in an unfamiliar room. It looked like a monitor rooms in security centers. There were monitors and screens filling every direction he turned his head. There wasn't even any visible wall, just monitors crammed, airtight, together.

As one of the monitors caught his eye, he realized he was looking through his own eyes as though he was recalling the day he accidently got gum stuck in his hair and his mom had to cut it out. Confused he began examining the monitors when he discovered that all the monitors were playing different events of his life. It was like watching different segments of his life play through his eyes before his very eyes.

"You've certainly lived a hard life." A woman's voice posed turning in a large swivel chair that seemed to have suddenly manifested in front of him.

William jumped back and took a defensive stance as the woman's face was revealed. She was quite old, probably late seventies early eighties, maybe even older than that. She wore a black blouse with white frills on her waist and edge of her matching skirt.

Her gaze seemed to study William for a moment before she spoke again, "I've always wondered why I find the kids with the worse backstories so cute." She seemed to muse to herself before swiveling back towards the monitors.

Cocking an eyebrow William's posture remained ready for an attack, "Who are you and where are we?"

"Well, you would probably remember all this, so I can't tell you. Just sit in the corner and have some snacks, I'll be finished soon enough." The woman gestured to her left, as if on que, a table filled with various types of snacks appeared out of thin air. "By all means help yourself."

Before the Wolf-faunus could say another word, she spoke again, "Hmmm, never pegged you for someone who'd be into wood carving." She pointed to a screen on the top right. It depicted him when he was four or five etching a crude image of a caped hero into a block of wood.

"That's Mr. Rust, I forgot all about him." he stated losing himself in the memory. Mr. Rust was always known as a skilled wood carver. He would give some of the small children wood carving lessons so their parents could go on with their businesses without worry. He treated every child he called his student with kindness.

William felt a warmth swell in his heart. With so many bad memories of Feign, William had all but forgotten the small handful of people who had looked at him with anything other than distain.

"Seems to me you could have been pretty good. Hell, you could have made a career out of that, what happened? -Oh." She answered herself as they watch some of the local boys intercept him on his way to show his creation to his mother. William felt his heart sink all over again as he watched them destroy his creation for the second time.

"I'm so sorry." She said without turning around.

"You're trying to distract me with some sad memory." He shouted. Whatever was going on, he couldn't sense any negative emotions from her, at all. "Now answer my questions; who are you and why are you here?"

"I thought you asked 'where are we' not 'why am I here', interesting." she replied, more talking to herself than William and still not turning around.

The young man's eyes narrowed, "That's because", He grabbed the seat turning her to face him, "We're inside my head." He said showing her a set of crimson eyes.

The old woman smirked, "Well, color me impressed. Most people if they don't know I'm doing this to them and neeeeevvvvveeeerrrrr figure it out. You are as sharp as they say." She added giving him an approving smile.

William quickly raised his right hand to under her throat. She could see his arm transform into a creature of Grimm's. she even confirmed his arm's finished transformation thanks to the sharp claws now pointed at her jugular.

"Answer my questions or else!" He glared, eyes red as fire.

The woman didn't even seem phased. More accurately she looked like she was being threatened by a toddler with a stuffed animal.

"You and I both know you can't kill anyone." She said taking a sip from a tea cup that, again, appeared out of nowhere. She set it down on a small plate in her other hand, which also seemed to appear out of thin air, before continuing. "You lack the capacity."

"Lady, if you haven't noticed in the last ten years I've killed dozens."

"No you haven't," she said taking another sip, "You let your Grimm side takeover when it comes times to doing the deed." She stated calmly. "You personally, lack the desire to kill someone. That's why your nightmares scare you so much."

William looked at the woman with a more than surprised expression before quickly snapping back to his aggressive stance, "How does that make any difference. Even if that is true, how does that stop you from dying here."

The woman's face said all too clearly she knew he was bluffing, "Because in here, there is only you. No Grimm side to fall back on, thankfully. I've already managed to block that monster from coming near me." She triumphantly smirked. Though William did note that when she mentioned his Grimm side he finally felt a twinge of fear, if only for the smallest amount of time. At least his link to his Grimm powers wasn't completely severed, but nonetheless he could tell she had somehow greatly diminished it.

He was on his own for this one.

"Besides", she continued, "we both know you're not the villain type, if anything you're more that little kid who always runs to mommy when you're in trouble."

"W-What are you talking about?" William pulled back.

"You get bullied you run to your mommy. You get your Grimm powers, you run to mommy. You get hurt at Beacon, you cling to Ruby, her friends, and Glynda."

"I-I don't 'cling' to them. And I wouldn't say having people try and kill me three separate times counts as insignificantly as 'getting hurt'."

"Please," she waved off, "We both know you weren't in any danger. You've fought and survived MUCH worse. And answer me this; if you don't cling to them, then why don't you try to get close to any other students or teachers? And don't give me some lame ass excuse like: 'I'm still new', 'I just don't want to', or any of that bullshit."

"I-, I try."

"Oh please, you've tried to wrap yourself up in your friend's issues just so they won't notice that you're spending so much time with them and to distract yourself from your own demons."

William took a step back, "Y-you're wrong. I'm not running from anything." He shot back, sounding weak even to himself.

"You're just a scared little kid afraid to let go of his safety blanket."

"Shut up. It's not true." He cried fighting the tears forming in his eyes.

"Oh its true, and what's more you also cling to someone else, but for some reason, you're blocking me. I wonder who it could be?" She pondered aloud. "And why you don't want me to find out about her?"

"You leave her out of this!" He bellowed loudly taking on a more monstrous appearance.

For the first time the woman seemed genuinely angered. "Alright, listen you little punk, it's my job to find out what makes you tick and I've had it up to here with you making my job harder." She yelled back raising her right-hand level a full foot above her head.

Suddenly her expression changed, "Oooohhh, she's a thief, is she?" She asked more amused with her statement than asking an actual question. "I wonder what Glynda would think if she knew your secret. Or better yet, the general."

"I said, LEAVE HER ALONE!" His altered form roared.

"Just give it a rest kid. I'll ruin your life and the lives of anyone else I want to. And there isn't a thing you can-" she was interrupted as William's fist crashed her image causing her and everything around her to shatter like glass. Pouring from the cracks and crevasses is an all-consuming light that quickly envelops the young man.

Blinking, William realizes he is still on the train, in the same cabin he was in, but now he was standing in an awkward pose like his fist had just connected with something shorter than he was. At least that's how his hand felt. It still stung as though he had just struck something. Hard.

Suddenly the door opened and Ms. Goodwitch walked in. "William, you're up, good. We will be arriving at the train station any minute now. Did you sleep well?" She asked as if everything was normal.

William, with a stupefied expression, raised his fist to examine it. It appeared to be just fine. There was no discoloration, scraps, or anything to suggest he had struck something. But again, it still felt as though he had just did.

Adding to the confusion was the fact he felt like he had just lost track of what he was thinking of. He felt it was important, but the more he tried to recall it. In fact, it seemed the more he tried to recall it the more it retreated into the void of his mind.

Not wanting to take too long to respond William decided to just forget about it, "Yeah, I slept okay." He stretched his back. "though I don't think I'll take to sleeping in seats anytime soon." He added as his shoulder loudly popped. "I get too stiff."

"That is why I always recommend my students get a good night's rest in a proper bed." She lightly chortled.

"On a more positive note, I was thinking it's such a lovely day and you and I hardly seem to spend much time together lately, do you, perhaps, want to spend the rest of the day with me?" His guardian smiled.

"Are you sure? Don't you have important thing to do at Beacon?" He asked kind of surprised, but in a good way. As his growing smile would suggest.

"Oh I don't think Beacon would crumble if I am not there for the rest of the day." She jokingly waved off.

William smirked, "I wouldn't be so sure of that. But if you're okay with it, I won't complain." He grinned.

The two got off the train and exited the station. The second William set foot into Vale his eyes flew open as his entire body shuttered. He felt as though he had gone from being in a library to Junior's club in under a second.

Seeing William physically flinch; she knew what was ailing him when their eyes met.

"I take it the reason you wanted to spend time in the city of Vale has something to do with the large number of very angry people at Beacon?" William asked in cross between an if-so-facto manner and a mild state of shock.

His guardian sighed, "The Hand of Humanity, an anti-faunus group, managed to sneak onto Beacon and began protesting your enrollment there."

The young faunus looked at her for a moment then turned in the direction of Beacon before turning back to her, lowering his wolf ears. "Do, do you still want spend time with me?"

She was a little hesitant about what to say, she couldn't quite read his expression. "If that is what you wish."

Regaining a little equanimity, she continued, "I have been instructed to keep you safe until the school grounds are safe again. The Hand of Humanity have been known to employ incredibly violent and detestable methods."

"I see."

"However", she spoke up, "I was planning on spending some time with you from the beginning." She smiled producing a small booklet titled "A Hundred and One Fun Things to do in Vale".

The wolf faunus' ears perked up.

"Well, in that case, I probably should dress up for our outing." He chuckled.

The blonde huntress was bewildered by his statement before William laid his wolf ears flat and his pink hair suddenly grew over them. If anyone looked at him they would automatically think he was just an ordinary young man that may need a haircut. She had seen it herself, but not a single trace of his heritage was even remotely visible.

"How…"

He hesitated for a moment, "I was planning on using this if Ironwood ever decided to try and throw me in jail, again." He fidgeted.

She simply smiled. "I won't tell a soul."

William didn't realize it immediately, but he had begun to trust her more than he intended. He wasn't sure what it was that he felt for her. he did care for her, but the whole "mom"-thing kept popping it up in his mind making it really awkward. Given the mood, he decided to just put it on the back burner for the time being.

/-/

After finding that four of the attractions in the book were closed, and they happened to end up next to the Silver Guard Mall and agreed to just do some window shopping. It also helped that William was noticing that Glynda was starting to get frustrated. It's understandable when four of her first planned attractions being closed, but it didn't mean he wanted to see what would happen if her next planned destination was also closed.

The two browsed the various curios displayed as they passed each shop. On occasion, they walked into a store that caught their attention, browsed, but didn't buy anything. It was more just spending time with each other rather than shopping. At least it was, until Ms. Goodwitch stumbled upon a new shop that specialized in porcelain figurines. She paid especial attention to the ones featuring puppies.

This was a new feeling for William, on one hand he was happy to spend time with her, while on the other hand he was beginning to feel a strange fatigue beginning to take root the longer she continued to weigh her purchase options against her weekly paycheck. Never in a million years did he ever expect Glynda Goodwitch to spend twenty minutes comparing porcelain puppy figurines on the same scale as her monthly budget. He doubted anyone would have ever believe, in a million years, she even considered not paying her electric bill to get another six figurines that belonged to a set of the same puppy playing with different children's toys.

He wasn't sure why exactly he felt such substantial relief after they left the store with only three purchases, but he didn't exactly have the desire to complain either. And he was fairly certain she'd be back. He just had to make sure not to tag along.

Huh, so this is what it's like to be bored by a mom's hobby. Now I get what Jaune was talking about when he said he felt exhausted when his mom takes him to go tea cup collecting at the local market.

He was about to make a comment about how she was acting so out of character, but his stomach decided to save him. a loud gurgle could be heard by anyone within ten feet of William.

He blushed. "William, if you are hungry you should have told me, I'll treat."

"Really? You know you don't have to? What about your budget?"

"I know", She smiled. "I want to. As for my budget, well…", she revealed a black card with the word "Beacon" in silver on it, "I would be remiss as a teacher if I didn't feed a student." She said with a smirk.

William had to forcefully stop his ears from perking up. Even he had to emit he is easily manipulated by food. "Okay."

The two made their way to the food court. William got himself an entire pizza with two orders of bread sticks and three sides of pasta. His guardian settled for a simple chicken salad.

The two lightly talked as they ate; nothing particularly important, just casual chatter. It always seemed to be the small things that seemed to be the most meaningful, at least to William. though, the look in the woman across the table from him would tell anyone she was having a similar thought.

Taking a moment to appreciate it, William noticed a familiar set of red, white, black, and yellow. Before he could even say anything, Yang had noticed them and shouted out to them. "Hey Will, Ms. G, how's it goin'." She waved as her team drew near.

As they got closer William became aware that Yang was the only one out of her usual outfit. She was wearing a strapless yellow dress with a light orange trim. She had an orange bow as a belt around her waist and a pair of black platform boots with black accents. When she stopped at their table he noticed she was also wearing a choker with a silver pendant-like object secured with a yellow lace strap. He felt like he had seen that type of dress before, but couldn't place it.

Looking her up and down, "Yang? Going for a new look or something?" He asked.

"well…-"

"William!?" Blake interrupted as though he was profusely bleeding from his face.

"What?" He asked surprised at her sudden outburst.

Her eyes looked over him frantically, "W-what happened to your ears?"

"Oh, that…" He breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm just using my Grimm power to grow my hair over my ears."

"Okay… good." She blushed clearly embarrassed at whatever she had imagined. While most of the group wasn't clear on what she had feared had happened to him, William had a fairly accurate idea in what she had imagined, even without being able to sense her emotions.

"So…returning to the question at hand, what's with the new look Yang?"

Ruby giggled as Yang just lowered her head into her palm. "Please, just don't ask."

He looked towards the giggling reaper steadying herself on Weiss' shoulder, "Ruby-"

Despite her sister's glare ruby was quick to spurt it out, "Dad couldn't pay for all of the damages so-"

"-Ruby…" The brawler admonished.

"-She's working as a bouncer for Junior!" She sniggered before falling on to the floor and rolling around full on laughing.

"Keep it up Rubes, I'll be sure to crumble your cookie stash." She warned cracking her knuckles. Ruby instantly stopped, stood up strait, and said "Sorry about that."

The rest of the group could only snicker to themselves.

"I hope that you will use this experience to learn that your actions have consequences Ms. Xiao Long." The emerald eyed woman spoke returning to teacher-mode.

"Yeah, if I'm going to trash a club, make sure they don't have cameras." She mumbled under her breath.

The teacher shot her a sharp glare, "Care to repeat that?"

"No ma'am." She said standing at attention.

Returning to a sneering expression, "Now that that is settled, would you girls care to join us?"

"With pleasure." Weiss said.

The four girls got their food and joined the two and continued to chat. Mainly just commenting about Yang and her embarrassment about having to work for Junior, dressed as the third Malachite sister.

As the group finished eating they decided to leave and just walk around Vale. The sun had already set and the night life was in full swing.

They walked a couple of blocks, taking in the sights, occasionally stopping to window shop. Seeing the people smiling in such a warm atmosphere reminded William of the night he went to buy Dust. Before he had been attacked by team CRDL. He felt himself starting to dwell on the darkness, but let the warmth of the scenery, his team, and his…family bring him out of it.

Suddenly everyone, except William's, scroll buzzed. Taking her out quickly Ruby read it and smiled. "The protestors are gone and we can go back now."

Going back to Beacon to sleep sounded pretty good after the rollercoaster of a day he'd had.

- later that night in downtown Vale-

In the middle of an otherwise empty parking lot was a parked Trailer that read "Gretna the Great" in big red letters with "Clairvoyant to the Stars" in a smaller font under it in the same colors in front of a purple background next to a picture of a young woman with black hair gazing into a crystal ball. All of which had been faded with the passage of time. In smaller letters on the door, it read: "Know your past, your future and, yourself" on the front door. anyone who saw it would automatically think it was from a carnival.

On the inside of the trailer, the "clairvoyant", dressed in a faded pink bathrobe and matching slippers, plopped herself down the long couch, washed some pain medicine down with a sip of her beer from the cooler sitting next to her, and placed an ice pack on her face.

She had had some rough sessions with people before, but this was the first time someone had managed to inflict physical damage. It was just her luck that the first person to ever to do it was a super strong, even by Huntsmen standards, Were-Grimm of all people.

She was far older than the sign on her trailer would lead anyone to believe. Her skin was long and wrinkled, looking more like it would soon start to fall off of her bones. Her hair was no longer purely black, but mostly a silver grey with a few small spots of black remaining as the vestige of her former youth.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"I'm too sore to get up, either come in or go home!" She hollered to the door.

Testing the door, the knob fully turned and walked in professor Ozpin followed quickly by professor Goodwitch.

"Well Ozzy, what's the special occasion? You usually call be by scroll or send a laky to see me." She said directing her eyes to the blonde next to him.

"Normally" Ozpin almost seemed to grimace.

The old woman smirked, "You still can't stand it when people can tell what you're thinking, do you, Ozzy. Not me twenty-three years ago, not Qrow five years ago, and not William now." She said taking a swig of her beer as Ozpin's brow furrowed, if only for a moment before he calmed himself.

Ms. Goodwitch was taken aback a bit as always, this woman was the only person she had seen to actually managed to get a rise out of Ozpin like that.

The elderly woman turned to the bespectacled blonde, "You're wondering how we meet and how is it I can get under Ozzy's skin so easily, right?" she rhetorically asked.

"Well, yes you know this." She responded without thinking, as though she couldn't help, but answer the question. "Every time we have met I ask you that question and then you don't give me an answer."

Ozpin and Gretna shared a look for a moment, but the grey-haired man yielded knowing all too well she would tell her regardless of his wishes when he saw the woman's smile.

"Given the assignment you've given me, I guess I can fill you in." She smirked.

"Before that, I would like to voice my grievances against you deceiving both William and myself with the stunt you pulled."

The woman only shrugged as she took another drink from her can, "Couldn't be helped, you should know by now that I work best when people don't know I'm messing around in their heads…at least usually." She seemed to hang on the last part.

"Anyway," the elderly woman rebounded, "Like I said, it all dates back twenty-three years ago, when I was doing the same thing I am now- using my semblance to get people to pay me hand over fist." She chuckled. "Now, what I was doing wasn't technically wrong, I mean they literally asked and paid me to do it, but as I have found out that's how a lot of less reputable actions can be described in much the same way." She chuckled even louder than before until she was abruptly stopped by a coughing fit.

After a few minutes to catch her breath, and one and a half more beers, she was ready to continue.

"One day a certain grey haired Huntsmen tracked me down and gave me a choice; either help him when he needs a student evaluated or go to jail. As you know, my semblance allows me to take a person into their psyche and analyze their memories as though it were real. Kinda like those 3D reality goggle things they show on TV. What most people don't know, and your headmaster learned the hard way, is that while I show people only a small amount of their memories, I'm actually storing and processing all of their memories right up here." She said tapping on her left temple. "And before you ask, yes I did get a GOOD look at your boss' mind and let me tell you his life's story is quite the page turner. Especially when he didn't stop wetting the bed till he was fourteen." She chortled again before taking another a sip of her beer to quell the start of another coughing fit.

Before the conversation could go on any further, and his blood pressure got any higher, Ozpin decided to change the subject. "Can we please return to the reason I originally called you here, PLEASE?"

"Alright, alright. Oh and Glynda remind me later and I'll tell you about the time Ozzy and Jamie got drunk and put underwear on an Ursa so he could give it a wedgie." The elderly woman teased.

"Please only refer to me as professor or Ms. Goodwitch, thank you very much." The platinum blonde commented trying to suppress her desire to hear that story, but still trying to covertly signal to the other woman.

It wasn't clear if Gretna got the message or not. If she did she did not show it.

"Yeah not gonna happen, Glynda." She sipped her beer.

Before Ms. Goodwitch could say another thing the elderly woman continued, "gotta say that William kid is one hell of a confusing one."

"What do you mean?" the blonde-haired woman asked with more emotion in her voice than she intended.

Gretna picked up on this almost instantly but simply said nothing.

"In all honesty, I've seen a lot of kids who haven't even been through a third of what this kid's suffered through who have turned out ten times more fucked up than he is right now."

"I told you that William is fine. He isn't the monster people think he is." The Goodwitch shot at Ozpin. She wasn't entirely aware of it, but everyone else was well aware that her maternal instincts had already kicked into high gear.

The old clairvoyant frowned a little, "I didn't say that. I said he isn't as fucked up as some of the people I've seen. You have to remember I've had clients who were murders, human traffickers, White Fang radicals, and so many, many more. I never said he wasn't fucked up." She sighed taking another long mouthful of her beer.

"You think his mind wasn't screwed up just because he is strong willed, but it couldn't be further from the truth. That kid went through hell and like anyone and everyone else, he needed to grieve, cry, and come to terms with what happened. At least that is how you normally get over a traumatic event. But, William didn't get the chance." She paused to finish off her beer and pull another one from the cooler next to her on the couch to start on it.

"I'll give him this, he's a bright one, but that's about it. He understood that if he grieved he would have died in that valley. So he repressed all of it." She said pausing to take yet another long sip of her beer.

Both professors weren't sure if she needed to numb herself that much or if she was possibly Qrow's long lost mother.

"He survived, but this acted in stagnating the coping process. He repressed all those negative emotions for so long that he can no longer handle them all. It never went away and with every new trauma, he had to suppress more and more. I think he's already told you this, but just in case you forgot, the emotions he has been suppressing all this time are flooding out and there's no way he, or you for that matter, can handle it." She said giving a sharp glare at Ms. Goodwitch.

The two women stared daggers at one another for a few moments before Gretna continued.

"As if the poor kid didn't have enough problems he has to deal with everyone else's. Those Grimm powers of his make the drawbacks to my semblance look like nothing at all; at least I can turn mine off."

"I'd probably shoot myself if I were him. I mean a teenage kid has enough shit to deal with under normal circumstances. Puberty, hormones, other teenagers, etc. But William, he's got his past, those ten years of repressed emotions bursting at the seams, and to top it all off he's got to deal with the pimpled, hormone-fueled anxiety of an entire school of snot nosed brats. And that's not counting the stuff from the other schools, so that's four schools' worth of pimple cream-soaked issues." She counted on her fingers. "If I was him, I'd have killed myself already. Then again, if I did it I would probably have as hard a time as he did."

Trying not to notice the troubled look on the deputy headmaster's face, Ozpin was the one to inquire, "Are you implying what I think you are?"

"Oh come on Ozzy, it should be obvious. But if a 'molder of young minds' can't figure it out…"

The two stared at one another for a moment before Gretna yielded.

"Then I'll have'ta spell it out for you." She spat as Ozpin raised his arm preventing Glynda from advancing. "That kid tried to kill himself so many times that he gave up on it. Those powers kept him alive, but also extended his torture."

Glynda's brow furled, "There is no way William would try to kill himself!" She lashed out. If not for the fact it was an abandoned parking lot at night, there would be no way someone didn't hear her.

The elderly woman on the couch felt the edge of her mouth draw down further, "Are you really that blind?!" she spat back.

"Do you honestly believe that someone, anyone -especially a kid- could go through that kind of nightmare and come out okay?"

The blonde huntress took a step back, "I, I…no, but-" She had thought he was too well adjusted at one time or another, but after William's explosion after he was captured by general Ironwood she had forgotten her doubts. At least until now.

"If you care about him, don't look away from the truth or you could hurt him and yourself." Gretna said in a more solemnly tone. With that even her expression began to change.

Glynda just seemed to stare, frozen in place.

"Do you believe he is suicidal?" He asked with the woman standing next to him having trouble even comprehending that William could attempt…suicide. She would never like to agree with Gretna, but the things she could erudite from her time with William told her that what Gretna was saying was the truth. No matter how bile the thought felt to her.

"Right now?" She posed, returning to her more neutral state, "Hmmm, I'd say probably not. Getting him out of that valley, making friends with Ruby and her bunch, basically telling Jamie to suck it," She gurgled, "and accepting his Grimm side are all steps in the right direction. Just don't relax yet." She quickly added sensing Glynda was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

"That kid has a loooonnnng way to go and all those emotions are still swirling around in him as he tries to make heads or tails out of them all. Odds are this is the calm before the storm. He's still holding on to a lot of anger and rage towards Feign Village, not that I can blame him, and a whole lot of other issues. But that kind of unvented emotion can be toxic even if you don't factor in his Grimm side."

"Is there anything we can do?", the platinum blonde came back to life practically pleading. Her eyes showed she was serious in helping her ward.

The elderly woman looked up at the ceiling for a moment, "just do what you have been doing." She shrugged. "If he needs a shoulder to cry on, lend it to him. If he's being a brat, smack some sense into him." She then turned to face Glynda directly, "You want to be his parent, then just do it. Simple as that." She smirked.

"Oh, and watch out for when he pulls a fast one on you." She added out of the blue.

The two looked at each other again. "What do you mean?" It was Ozpin's turn to ask.

"In my line of work, it's called reading suckers, but for normal people that's just reading small facial movements. For William, he picks up on slight changes in people's negative emotion." She said taking another long sip.

"Though, I don't think he does it intentionally. I think he wants to talk to people so badly, that he does it as a type of self-preservation."

"Are you sure?"

The woman on the couch raised her hand not holding a beer and teetered it sideways in a so-so method.

"Is there anything else we should know?" Ozpin asked.

The gray-haired woman put a finger to her chin like she was thinking, but the two hunters knew she was doing it to just annoy them.

"The thing that I'm worried about is his Grimm powers. That…thing, how anyone could can survive it is beyond me. I barely spent ten minutes with it and I was almost devoured by it before I locked it up."

The two still standing shared the same concerned look. "Does that mean William's Grimm power has been suppressed?"

"Not quite, I was only able to isolate it while I was in his head."

"What do you mean?" the gray-haired huntsmen queried.

The normally cranky clairvoyant seemed to be trying to force herself not to shake before opting to use liquid courage to help settle her nerves. Just seeing her like that told them that for once she may have actually, truly, needed that drink.

"I've seen some really fucked up stuff in my life Ozzy. I mean just…so fucked up. I've been scared. Hell, I had to contain the alter ego of a deranged serial killer with multiple personality disorder. But…I don't know what could have happened to me on this one. When William slugged me, it disrupted my semblance- which by the way has never happened before- and afterwards…there was no way I could get that thing under control again. Hell, I got lucky it didn't notice what I was doing until I had already trapped the damn thing. Otherwise I might have had my mind shredded by that monster."

Wearing a troubled look, the caped woman ventured a theory, "You make it seems as thou William's Grimm powers have a mind of their own."

"It might." She moodily supposed before the three went silent.

"Normally, when I look into someone's mind I can roam free within their psyche while they watch some of their memories play in front of them. But William, that kid can actually resist, no repel, that kind of ability. Most likely from dealing with that monster of his all these years. From what I can tell, he has always had to prevent himself from being consumed his darker feelings. Ten years of doing that every moment of every day, he managed to keep me from more than anyone has ever. Even Jamie wasn't anywhere near that much of an emotional tight ass." She chuckled at herself reaching into the cooler for yet another beer.

"So, you were not able to access all of his memories?"

She took a long sip of her drink before coming up for air again, "This was a first Ozzy, but I managed to get a lot out of him, but somehow he kept things from even me. Especially the stuff he is afraid people find out about."

Glynda's eyes narrowed a little, "What could he possibly have to hide from us?"

Gretna made a disappointed expression at the deputy head master, "well, let me answer your question with more questions. This is the stuff I did manage to get before he boxed me, by the way. Why was William so friendly towards your group when he first met you and why did he change his mind about becoming a Huntsmen so easily?"

-Meanwhile in Vale Maximum Security Prison Men's Wing-

"Chronic you bastard, why do I have to keep coming to see you every goddamn time a faunus inmate is attacked?" The warden grumbled as he approached a jail cell with two armed guards posted in front of it.

"What can I say", he raised his bound hands theatrically, "I see a dirty animal I put it down. It isn't my fault you let animals into your jail." He taunted bound with metallic gloves with blue accents chained together. Given that Jasper's semblance was to use his hands to supper heat whatever he touches until it explodes, it was a necessary countermeasure to have him restrained, curtesy of the Atlas Military's mobile lab on general Ironwood's personal ship.

Vale's prisons had held some of the worst of the worst, but even then, they at least seemed to have a method to the madness. But Jasper, and to a lesser extent Iris, seemed completely devoted to getting themselves incarcerated for life and probably wouldn't even stop until they were given the death penalty.

"And you think that justifies melting through your cell, assaulting four guards, breaking into the cell of two inmates, to kill them for being faunus?!" The warden bellowed.

The young man smirked, "That sounds about rig-" he was cut off as a guard brought the but of his rifle to the back of his head knocking him out.

"Lock this psycho in solitary confinement until further notice." The warden ordered.

The guards dragged the unconscious teenager into solitary confinement. It was a small brick room painted grey with a ceiling at least two stories high with only a single bared window at the top of one of the walls. There was only a small bed, a sink, and what might have been considered a toilet, if you consider a hole in the ground with a roll of toilet paper next to the hole a toilet.

They tossed him onto the floor and left after triple locking the door. what they could not have known is that as soon as they left, a piece of paper gently fluttered from the impossibly high window, landing squarely in Jasper's hand.

What he could not have known is at this same time in the women's side of the prison, Iris had received the same exact letter only to find it read: "With love -P." Followed by a bizarre kind of black circular drawing. Jasper had no idea who "P" was or what the diagram meant, so he just tossed it aside and went to sleep. Iris did much the same, but felt the drawing kind of reminded her of Weiss Schnee's glyphs or that weird defensive barrier Ms. Goowitch demonstrated during their first semester.

-meanwhile at Beacon student dorms-

The raven-haired woman sat on her temporary dorm room bed, flicking through her scroll.

"Where you successful?" she asked not even looking up as a green haired young woman entered the room.

"Yes ma'am." She answered at attention.

"Good. And what of Mercury?"

"He's in the cafeteria getting your dinner order."

"ah, yes. Very good." She said trying to hold her composure while realizing she was hungrier than she wanted to let on. Never show weakness of any kind.

"And what of the protesters?"

Emerald smirked, "It went exactly as you planned. The bimbo's mouth was all we needed to find a way to keep William away from Beacon for the day."

"Yes, though there is still the matter of our friendly Were-Grimm." She paused placing her finger on her chin. "Tell me Emerald how have your interactions with him been?"

"Um…difficult. But I- I mean we- can totally handle it." She quickly added.

The older woman finally looked up from her scroll, "Was he able to gleam anything of value?" she asked, her golden eyes displaying more heat than before. Emerald knew depending on her answer that heat might be burrowing through her rib cage.

"No, I do not believe so…but…"

"But, what?"

"He knows about my past as a thief. And that you got me off the streets."

"Does he know of your semblance?"

"No. When Mercury and I were having lunch with team RWBY on three separate occasions, he fell for my illusions. Also, he might think he's going color blind." She added nervously.

Cinder seemed to relax a little. This caused Emerald to do the same, until she continued. "And what of his Grimm form, can you affect it?"

"I still haven't been able to get a chance. The only time he uses it is when he's training with his team locked in a private room or when he's being attacked."

"I see. Thank you Emerald, that is all I needed to know. We will proceed with our plans regarding William as before."

A lot of tying up loose ends there and starting a few more. I want to give a big thanks to LongSean22 for letting me use his OC organization the Hand of Humanity, you can check it and his other great works on DA. I would also like to put a spot light on SuperKamek, here on this site, their carny clairvoyant from their fanfic Oreonna and Friends One-Shots was the inspiration for Gretna. One of the things I always hated about fanfics is how they made the OC have this Mary Sue-like feel and have no real character flaws or much of a personality for that matter. Especially with RWBY OC's, it's usually a wolf faunus with a dark, but cliché backstory that somehow seems impossibly well adjusted despite the supposed trauma. So, when I started this fanfic, I had a crazy idea, what if it starts out like that, and then I have the holes in the façade come to light. I'm so excited at what comes next. Also, I had to have Cinder in on this, I mean a Grimm werewolf, how could she resist. But she knows he can sense negative emotions, so she must tread carefully. So what does she plan to do and what does this mean for him or Heater and her plans for William? You'll just have to stay tuned to find out. Also, before I forget, I'd like people to PM or comment ideas for William and Neo's pairing name. I have a few ideas, but I really want to hear from you guys. As always, if you like my work please comment, every comment helps me improve. And if you really like my work, please support me on P A Treon. Link on my profile.