Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I claim to, own RWBY or any other media that is referenced in this fic. All rights go to their respective owners. The only thing I lay claim to are my OCs (which still haven't arrived).

It took two days before any of them woke up.

Rosa is the first. She exhausted her aura, and has a head wound, but she is by far the least wounded of them.

Yang wakes up next, tired beyond belief and crying in relief that she's managed to survive, before the crying turns to despair for her still unconscious teammates. Her shoulder has to be kept still, so her entire right arm is immobilized in a sling. Using her non-dominant hand frustrates her, but she's thankful that she - somehow - managed to come out alive.

Blake is the next to wake, groaning as she comes around to an aching, burning back. Her bed has been modified so that she isn't lying on it, and simply being able to hear Yang and Rosa isn't enough, she wants to see them, see that they are okay. When she's finally allowed to sit up, she cries at the sight of Yang in her sling.

Doctor Oobleck is awake next and is strangely silent. He doesn't say anything to the girls, but the tired smiles he does give them reassure them that he's okay. Zwei curls up on his bed next to his broken leg, and the two spend their time giving each other comfort.

Weiss is the last to wake up, a full week after they were brought back to med bay. Her arm aches something fierce, but she doesn't pay attention to it. She smiles at her team, her friends, and cries with them as they reassure each other that they'll be okay.

It's after Weiss wakes up that Doctor Oobleck speaks for the first time.

"I am sorry that I couldn't do more to assist you girls. You shouldn't have to be here, I feel that - in some way - this is my fault," he admits to them.

Rosa scowls at him, then winces as the action pulls at the still healing wound on her forehead. "You aren't at fault. I am. If I hadn't rushed into that situation, we could have handled that better."

Doctor Oobleck shoots her down. "No. As your teacher and the professional huntsman you were shadowing, I should have done more. I should have asked you to explain your thought processes before we acted on anything. I failed you girls."

"You didn't," Yang scolds him. "This was a mission, and we all signed up for it. We wanted that mission. Any other first year team wouldn't have been able to do what we did. If we hadn't been there, if we hadn't done what we did, Vale would have been attacked. Yeah, we almost died, yeah, we're sitting on our asses feeling like shit, but we all agreed to go. We knew the dangers, and we still went. Us sitting here now feeling like crap means that hundreds if not thousands of civilians got to live their lives blissfully unaware."

"I almost can't believe I'm saying this, but Yang's right," Weiss quips.

"Hey!" Yang protests.

"We argue on most things, but she has a point. We signed up for this, knowing full well what the risks were and agreeing to take them. You don't get to say you failed us; even if you're Rosa's favourite teacher, she'll call you out on your flack if you fail us. You didn't fail us; this mission was just larger than we could really tackle alone. But we did our best with what we had, and we're alive now," Weiss lectures their teacher.

Doctor Oobleck smiles warmly and tries not to let the tears forming at the corners of his eyes, fall. "You girls are by far, some of the best students I've had the honour of being shadowed by."

Yang chuckles. "If we were allowed out of our beds, I'd suggest a group hug."

"I'm allowed to move around," Rosa points out as she gets up. She goes around giving hugs to each of them, leaving Doctor Oobleck last. "It was an honour to shadow you on this mission. I'm just happy that we survived," she tells him.

With that, he starts to cry.

Over the next few days, they receive a lot of visitors.

JNPR's visit is filled with tears and worried laments. They had been pulled from their mission briefing on that first morning with the news that the other half of their squad was being rushed to med bay with extensive injuries. Despite that, they hadn't been allowed to see them straight away. Something about being in a room of unconscious people they care about being detrimental to their own mental health. As soon as they were allowed to see them, they did just that. They clung to their squad mates as much as they could without aggravating their injuries. No words were needed, they just needed each other to see they were going to be okay. (Pyrrha even had the foresight to bring Rosa's spare goggles for her.)

Sun and Neptune come and just ramble about their own mission which they had still been forced to go on despite what they had found on the way out. The knowledge that their friends were so badly injured weighed on them, so they rambled. They rambled about all the things they did, and were careful not to say too much about the thoughts that plagued them. They sat with them for hours, the topic shifting from their mission to what it was like back in Mistral, and even in Sun's native Vacuo. All to reassure themselves that their friends came out okay, battered, bruised, and broken, but okay.

Team CFVY came to visit. Officially it was to thank RWBY for taking care of the Dance for them while they were away. In actuality, it was to reassure the younger team that not all missions are like that, and that they can't let one mission that's gone south hold them back. Coco also praised them for being able to handle the situation so well. "I don't think I would have been able to do what you guys did at your age. Heck, I don't think I'd be able to pull off what you did even now. There are so many ways that could have gone wrong, and in the heat of battle, there is every chance I probably wouldn't have been able to figure out a way to stop that train from breaching the city."

"I just knew we couldn't let the grimm into the city. One of them was... it is more deadly than any other grimm," Rosa tells her.

Velvet cocks her head. "What do you mean?"

Weiss nods. "I didn't recognise it, but Rosa did. She's not scared of grimm, but she almost sounded like she was scared of this one."

Rosa sighs. "Because there isn't a way for us to fight that type of grimm. They're called The Apathy. They are extremely durable, blades and bullets do practically nothing. They're slow, lethargic even, and they aren't exactly strong, but they don't need to be fast or strong when their mere presence is enough to kill you. They drain you of your will to fight, run, live. Their screeches accelerate their ambient power. If a pack of The Apathy got into Vale, there would be no way to save anyone. Any hunter that goes in to fight them would just drop like flies. Civilians would be downed in an instant. They'd be able to amble unchallenged throughout the entire city, and there would be nothing anyone could do to stop their death march," she tiredly lectures.

"My Abuela taught me about them, told me that if I ever saw them, to run the other way. In the face of those monsters, there is no shame in running. She's never been afraid of grimm, but she is afraid of those grimm. She's always told me that there is a way to beat every grimm, there is always a solution to win - boarbatusks have no armour on their belly, sea dragons have flimsy wings, nevermores' eyes are unprotected, so on and so forth - but The Apathy have no solution. You run from The Apathy. But I couldn't run. There was nowhere to go except into the city, and that would be dooming everyone there. I couldn't do that."

"If they're that dangerous and that unkillable, how did you survive?" Velvet asks them.

Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Doctor Oobleck exchange glances, asking each other if they know what happened. Rosa just sighs again. "We didn't."

"They're still down there?!" Coco yells.

"No. They're dead. We just weren't the one to do it," Rosa admits.

"Then who did?" Velvet pushes.

"I was barely awake, the others had all collapsed by this point, but I saw someone else. They had a scythe in each hand and they were wreathed in flames. They cut through all of the other grimm down there and set fire to The Apathy. Then, a white light filled the tunnel, and I heard all of the grimm screaming in agony... I've never heard such a sound before. When the light faded, there weren't any grimm left. The figure came over and I blacked out as she started taking us upwards," Rosa recounts.

The older team exchange glances.

"Do you think...?" Velvet nervously asks Coco.

"That the Grimm Reaper saved them? I think so. I've only ever heard of one person being able to dual wield scythes, and that's the Grimm Reaper. It would make sense that the Grimm Reaper would have a way to kill any grimm, even the ones we can't," Coco muses.

"The... Grimm Reaper?" Weiss asks.

Blake is the one to answer her. "Supposedly, there is a hunter that can kill Grimm that regular hunters can't. They dual wield scythes, and cover their face in a skull mask. They first appeared fifty years ago but after about... ten years, they stopped appearing. No one knew where they went. Then, three years ago, the Grimm Reaper resurfaced. No one knows what happened during the years they disappeared, or even if it is the same Grimm Reaper. If it is the original, they'd be quite old now, but from the stories that are circulating, they seem to be even younger. Some people say that the Grimm Reaper died and has come back from the grave as a ghost to continue their crusade against the grimm."

Yang nods. "Uncle Qrow's told me about the Grimm Reaper. He based his weapon off of theirs. He saw her three years ago. She decimated a massive hoard of Ursa, he said it was hundreds. He couldn't believe his eyes."

"So, could she have saved us?" Weiss asks quizzically.

Doctor Oobleck nods solemnly. "It seems like the most logical conclusion."

Oscar, Penny and Maria come to visit together. Oscar clings to his sister while Maria sits at tells them about how proud she is of them, all of them. Penny tells them about the mission she had gone on that week and informs them that she doesn't think she would have been able to do what they did.

When Qrow comes to visit, a week after the five of them had woken up and Doctor Oobleck had been relocated to a different room, he bursts through the doors, chest heaving as he pants, and he bursts into tears as he wraps his arms around Yang.

"I almost... I almost lost you. I should have come sooner, I... I... I almost lost you," he sobs into her hair.

"I'm okay, Uncle Qrow, I'm okay," Yang reassures him.

He shakes his head even as his face is buried into her good shoulder. "I was out of signal range on mission, and then when I get back into range, I get all these missed message notifications from the school and there's one text that says you've been brought to med bay with serious injuries, and... and... I came immediately. You're more important than any mission, and I was so scared. I almost lost you."

"We're okay, Qrow. We're all alive and our injuries will heal," Rosa assures him, only to get smothered as well when he leaves Yang's side and engulfs her in a hug.

"I couldn't take it if I lost you again," he cries.

Rosa awkwardly pats his back. "We're okay," she reminds him.

"I only just got you back," he murmurs.

"I'm not leaving you that easily," she jokes, her laugh catching in her throat.

Qrow pulls back and glares weakly. "Don't even joke about that."

She gulps. "Sorry."

He shakes his head, tears still flowing. "I don't think I could take it if I lost you so soon after getting you back in my life," he tells her before turning to look at Yang as well, "I don't think I could handle losing either of you."

Yang smiles softly. "We aren't going anywhere, Uncle Qrow."

"I'm so proud of you for what you managed to do. At least, I will be once I stop being so terrified of almost losing you," he tells them, as he wipes tears from his eyes. "You stopped an attack on the entirety of Vale. That's no small feat. I can't think of any student team of hunters who've done anything on that level, let alone first years. You did a good job, even if you scared the shit out of me in the process."

It's three weeks after their 'training' mission that Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin come to see them about their participation in the Vytal Tournament.

"Ms Schnee and Ms Xiao Long are too injured to have sufficiently recovered to safely compete in the tournament," Goodwitch states.

"And Blake and I?" Rosa pushes.

Ozpin swirls around the coffee in his mug. "You two have been ruled as being able to recover enough to safely compete. However, it is recommended that you pull out as you will be at a severe disadvantage in the first round," he informs them.

"Is that allowed? I thought it had to be teams of four in the first round," Weiss inquires.

"The rules are... flexible. There have been occasions in the past where teams have been a member short due to illness or injury, even one case where a team member died the week before the tournament in an unfortunate car accident. Ms Belladonna and Ms Calavera would be allowed to compete as a pair due to the extenuating circumstances, but yes, in a regular case where all four team members are combat capable, the option for a smaller team is not allowed," Goodwitch informs her.

Blake and Rosa share glances. "May we have a few moments to speak about this?"

Ozpin nods. "Of course."

The two teachers leave the room.

"Would you be okay with this?" Rosa asks her partner. "You're the more injured of the two of us."

Blake sighs. "I'm not sure. My back is healing, but we've always worked in such a large group. Would we even be able to handle to do it just us two?"

Rosa nods. "I'm sure we can. Learning to work in big groups was a learning curve for me. I have always been more used to working on my own or with just Oscar. If I have to, I'll start using my seconds more."

"Wait, what?" Yang startles.

Rosa sighs. "Yeah. My swords are my thirds. Daggers are my seconds."

"That's why you were so much more violent when I saw you in the clearing over break," Yang realises.

"Yeah. I haven't used my firsts in a while. I haven't been challenged enough. I would have used them in the tunnels, but I didn't bring them with me. I don't know why I didn't, it was stupid, but I didn't bring them. Sorry," the youngest of them lies.

Weiss snorts. "As stupid as that was, we do make mistakes. At least it didn't get it killed. Even with the tip off, you couldn't have anticipated us getting trapped in that tunnel."

"Thanks. Can we get back on topic though? Are you okay with us fighting as a pair against a full team?" Rosa asks.

Blake nods in reply. "I think so. I'll have to do some training to get back my strength once my back is fully healed."

"Okay," Rosa replies. She walks to the door and lets the two professors back in.

"Your answer?" Goodwitch asks.

"We'll do it," Blake tells her, conviction in her voice.

Ozpin gives a slight smile. "Very well. We shall let you rest."

Their second term passes by quickly. Filled with study (and rehab for Weiss and Yang), there isn't a moment to spare as the short summer holiday draws closer.

This time, they don't spend their break at Qrow's place in Patch (he's busy with a mission out towards Mountain Glenn, helping to piece together what happened), and instead the squad chooses to spend the break at Beacon, albeit with many trips into the Kingdom.

One memorable day is when Yang takes Rosa to Summer Rose's grave.

Rosa stands at the cliff top, looking at her mother's grave, looking at her own grave.

"There's nothing buried there, obviously, since we never found your body. But Summer is buried here. I come here about once a year to talk to her, usually in the winter since that's when she died. It lets me feel like I'm just that bit closer to her, and I guess I thought that maybe you would like that too," Yang explains as the wind blows in their faces. Maria and Oscar are standing a bit further away, respectful of the two sisters.

"Thank you," Rosa chokes out. "Do you think I could... maybe... have some privacy as I talk to her?"

"Yeah, sure," Yang says, a strained smile on her face. She pats Rosa on the shoulder with her good hand before walking back to the others.

Rosa reaches into her titanium box and pulls out a single red rose, which she places on the grave. "Hi, Mamá. I'm sorry I haven't been by to see you before this. I... I didn't know where to find you," she whispers. "I wish I got to know you, Qrow's told me some stuff about you, and you sound like you would have been an amazing mother. Don't worry, Abuela has been taking good care of me. Abuela is the woman who raised me, she sees me as her granddaughter. I also have an adoptive brother, Oscar. He's always trying to get onto the battlefield. Then again, I was the same. Abuela's been trying to teach me how to use the Silver Eyes, she had them too before her accident. I'm getting better at it, but I still can't just use them immediately at will. Oh, I'm also training at Beacon now. It's probably the best thing I could have done, really. If I hadn't, I never would have met Yang, and then Abuela never would have met Qrow and figured out where I came from."

Rosa lets out a short laugh. "I've done a lot of things in my life, but I never planned on going to a hunter school. Didn't think I need to. I was fine with my little family and being a lone wolf when fighting. Now, I've got a whole squad at my side. Yeah, a squad. I'm the leader of Team RWBY and the captain of Squad RRAYNNBW. We're the youngest squad in the history of the schools, and as a result, I'm by far the youngest Squad Captain too. Pretty sure I'm the youngest Team Leader too. I'm partners with Blake, she's a cat faunus and she has a bit of a... turbulent past, but she's a staunch believer in equality. Yang's on my team, and I won't bore you with talking about her, I'll just say that I'm so grateful that I met her, otherwise I wouldn't be here talking to you. She's a really good fighter too. She is one of the heaviest hitters in our grade. Weiss is the last of my team, and she's had a few issues with revaluating her opinions regarding faunus, but she's getting better. I think her harsh personality is a defence mechanism, at least just a bit. She's got a lot on her shoulders."

A soft wind blows up the cliff as Rosa thinks about her friends and she sits down on the ground.

"Team JNPR is the other half of the squad. Jaune is their leader. He's caused some strife if I'm honest. He snuck into Beacon if you can believe it. He could barely fight when he arrived. He's getting a lot better though. Then again, I am drilling him pretty hard. Nora is the other heaviest hitter of our grade. Honestly, you don't want to take a swing from her hammer when she's been charged up with electricity. Even without her weapon and semblance, she can bench press a scary amount. We had a food fight once, and she used a watermelon on a pole as a makeshift hammer. She slammed Yang through the roof of the cafeteria, breaking the watermelon in the process. That's how hard of a hitter she is. Next is Pyrrha. She's almost overly nice and polite, but she's protective of her team at the same time. She's a champion fighter and second in our grade in combat class. I'm first purely because my semblance is - as Oscar puts it - OP. It helps that I'm very well trained thanks to Abuela. But yeah, she's a great squad mate and is very helpful when I'm trying to convince the others to do drills and they aren't so sure about them. Lastly is Ren. He's practically a ninja, but honestly, he's quite thoughtful and helps diffuse tension during arguments and stressful study nights. Part of that is his semblance, but I think it is also just who is too."

Rosa leans back, closes her eyes and imagines that it's her mother sitting beside her, and not a grave.

"Blake and I are competing in the Vytal Tournament at the end of next term. Weiss and Yang would be joining us, but they're still recovering from our training mission. Yeah... that went south. At least we managed to stop a grimm invasion of Vale. We would've been grimm food if the Grimm Reaper hadn't shown up to take out The Apathy hoard that showed up. We were kinda trapped in the tunnels between Mountain Glenn and Vale. You know, the ones that were used for the Subway? Yeah. I thought I was going to die. It was pretty scary. Qrow was a mess when he first visited us in the hospital. I mean, so were we. I was the least injured and it still took me two days to wake up from aura exhaustion. But yeah, Vytal Tournament. Hopefully I can bring a win home for Beacon. I'll certainly try my best." Her eyes open as she gives a weak smile to the fantasy of her mother.

"As for my studies at Beacon... well... I butt heads with a few of the teachers. I've pulled my squad out of Port's class. He's a negligent, egotistical, idiot. I teach my Squad and most of my grade Grimm Anatomy. Goodwitch and I got off to a bad start, and I kinda get bored in her class since I really don't get challenged enough. Honestly, I'd like to be allowed to fight my squad during a sparring match. But, apparently, I'm not allowed to spar seven people at once. It's annoying because I know I can handle it. Not like I can do that now anyway with Weiss and Yang injured. I like Doctor Oobleck, Professor Peach is okay. Professor Ozpin is... he unnerves me a bit. I respect him though. General Ironwood too. That I respect him I mean, not that he unnerves me. Despite all that, my studies are going well."

Rosa leans forward and presses a kiss to the grave marker. "I promise I'll come back and visit again," she says as she sits up, caressing the edge of the stone and letting her fingers trace the grooves of the words carved into stone. "It was good to talk to you, even if I don't get to hear you talk back."

With that, she stands up and returns to Beacon, a weight lifted off of her shoulders.

A/N: Welcome back to the Grimm Reaper! Hope you enjoyed this one, because writing it was a fun experience. (Fun fact, after writing Qrow's scene, I told my mum about it, giving her an equivalent of what he was going through and she just about cried at the thought, so I think his reaction was reasonable... huh, no wonder he's been focusing his semblance on me). I also have my computer back and fixed at long last, which I am very happy to have.

As always, leave a review with your thoughts, and if you need someone to talk to, feel free to drop me a PM and I'll get back to you ASAP. Otherwise, I'll see you next week with another chapter.

- RebeccaMagic9