More than one way to protect you

by Z-ro

It were the huntsmen who told him, his spirit was willing, just not able. What else is a thirteen year old kid supposed to do? Jaune did not know what a patrolman was, but it was his only chance to be someone that could protect people. Picture by Perfilles-Studio.

11. Chapter 11 Hollow-hearted

Jaune ran faster than he really should have this morning. But his chest no longer hurt. He could breathe! Jaune slowed and pulled up the collar of the shirt to wipe the sweat off his eyes and nose. He had missed not being able to do his work out routine. And with the doctor's ok he finally could really push himself again. He flinched at his hand. It still burned and was tender. A point in his run he needed to pull it close to his chest to not let the blood rush to the angry welt in his palm. That would still be a few weeks where he would have to work around that annoyance.

Jaune glanced at his scroll. Coco would be in class for a few more hours. The day had been one of the few days where no third years would clear the forest. Jaune had taken the chance to actually train himself. It had been something he had neglected for weeks. While he had been keeping active by helping Coco and her team for a time, that was more like a coaching session for her team rather than training for himself.

Coco was good natured when she teased that she could sic the whole team on him. Jaune was still not sure if they were fast enough to pull that off and still be effective. At least Jaune felt like Velvet and Fox were getting there.

Jaune sprinted from one tree to the next. Punch, low kick, palm hill upwards. The tack sound of contact broke the silence in among the trees. After a combo, Jaune would move to the next tree and perform another combination.

Jaune panted and looked at the forest while he wiped some spittle from his mouth. To his eyes, there were hundreds of practice targets. He roared a charge and sprinted at top speed and rebound off one tree before he moved to the next.

The morning wore on with his one good hand covered in small ping markings from times he hit the tree too hard with his good hand. He shook off the ache and noticed the time while he walked around in a slow circle to cool down. Jaune stretched for a moment to admire the forest. The teams have done a great job curating it of grim. The forest was alive with the noise of birds and animals. The sweeps did their job. Jaune would never allow civilians to wander around now, but the huntsmen would have to really search for a threat in the area.

Jaune took two steps to accelerate into a good speed around trees until he found the main road. Jaune felt the concrete press back against his soles and couldn't help the grin on his face. The world began to blur around his vision. It was a speed he rarely was able to run. Trees would never allow it, and paved roads were a rare thing in Anvil. This one stretched on for miles.

It was times like this he missed actually training with Tripod. The morning ache and the rush of blood he felt was something he had almost forgotten. The training was not much different from what he did with Coco's team. The difference was Tripod had trained with him for so long she was always a threat to him she had always been just almost able to land a hit. Jaune knew he developed his own speed because she kept getting faster to match.

And I do miss smearing her face in the dirt. He admitted to himself. Linda. He thought to himself. There is a name I haven't thought of in a long while. It was virtually impossible to track down his best friend. He would need to call Anvil and ask her father to pass a message. Jaune was not even sure Linda even knew he worked in Vale now.

When Jaune returned to Beacon, his legs felt good. The last sprint was barely half a mile but Jaune felt like he had run ten. Spots on his legs felt like they wanted to cramp in protest for the sudden more vigorous exercise. Jaune walked around for a bit in front of the staff apartments before he started to walk inside. The patrolman glanced at his scroll and exhaled the exhaustion out of his body.

General Ironwood had decided to visit as soon as the invasion happened. But it took him a few days to get permission to approach Vale. Jaune had no clue that Winter's superior was already enroute when Jaune oversaw her sisters initiation. They should finally have their face to face meeting tomorrow.

-o-

Winter Schnee stood at attention and waited on the landing pad for the General. The small contingent that escorted her stood against the early fall heat. Times for arrival were always approximate but the last communication update said that the General's ship should arrive within the hour. That was an hour and a half ago.

Winter would have been concerned but she peaked at the escort detail the General was assigned. He was coming in The Capitol. It was his personal flag ship. She understood why the ship may be a little late.

The few times she was on board with the General, they had to ferry on a smaller ship to any place to touch down.

"Attention!" Winter ordered. She heard the small engines before she spotted the ships. Three Atlesean ferries lowered from a high altitude almost on top of them.

The three ships landed in a swish of warm air. The hatch to the center ship opened. Winter and her contingent of five soldiers saluted in greeting. "Welcome to Beacon sir."

The Generals' salt and pepper head tilted upward to the tower. "It's been a while. At-ease. Lead the way First Lieutenant."

"Sir!" Winter left-haced and led the way to his accommodations.

"Has Vale completed the investigation of the invasion?"

"Yes sir. Private Pollendina's data allowed the investigation to move swiftly. There had been no sign of White Fang activity since."

"Good. I want you on my ship when we head back to Atlas. The Capitol is on patrol along the eastern ridge."

"Do you think they will find something?" First Lieutenant Schnee asked genuinely concerned.

General Ironwood was straight faced as the group entered the tower. "No. But they needed some busy work for keeping me late." There was only just the hint of a laugh at the end of his voice.

-o-

Private Pollendina stood at attention while the General reviewed her report. She was once told by a fellow private that this was the worst moment for them. The review session where the CO's would evaluate your actions during an assignment.

Penny blinked at the memory. She was not sure what she felt. The General wasn't looming over her like the private said. The air was clean and not suffocating either. Sure she was curious about her progress and what General Ironwood thought of her actions. But she didn't have the 'butterflies' in her stomach when he finally spoke.

"Private Pollendina. You have represented Atlas well during the invasion. The doctor was pleased with the results of the unintentional field tests during the Patrolman Defense. The team that monitored your systems during the incursion found no stress or unexpected anomalies. First Lieutenant Schnee also commended your actions." The General raised the report and read aloud. "Private First Class Polendina has exercised great judgement in seeking the location of the objects and lateral thinking in recording data upon discovering the source."

General Ironwood set the report down and folded his hands on his desk. "Now that you have had some time to reflect on your actions, did you find anything you may have wished you had done differently?"

Private Pollendina stared at the General for a moment before she answered, "I had tracked the number of grim that were created during the defense. However, I had overestimated the abilities of the huntsmen who made their defense. Had I known that the grim incursion could have overwhelmed the defense at any moment, I would have sped up my search for the hearts instead of recording the data."

"And your thoughts on the huntsmen during that defense?"

Penny kept her chin up, "They are huntsmen. I did not mean to imply that I thought less of them. My initial estimate of their abilities were based on my own experiences. Atlas military trains us to fight with one mind, one body. The huntsmen fight in teams. It was a difference I did not fully comprehend until I saw the differences that night. The huntsmen had all fought and bled for the defense. Some lost their lives. I would not want to be dismissive of those sacrifices."

General Ironwood leafed through a packet of papers. It was the report Penny submitted to First Lieutenant Schnee. Eventually the General folded his hands on top of the desk. "Private, we have always known your life and career would take turns we could not expect. The defense is proof that people like you are needed."

Penny resisted the urge to smile at the praise. She received so little of them from General Ironwood himself in the last few years.

"I have spoken to the Doctor about your future. I had planned to enroll you as a student into Mistral Academy to participate in the Vytal Festivals freshman group to give you a field test. The Doctor and I have both decided that is now redundant."

General Ironwood stood up from his desk and walked around it and took a small box that sat on it. "Attention Private." He ordered in a kinder voice than she had expected.

"Sir!" Penny watched as the First Lieutenant stood next to him.

"By the power given to me by Grand Marshal Solun. You are promoted to Specialist. Grim Slayer Division." The General opened the box to reveal a gold on black badge to replace the PFC badge on her shoulder.

Penny inhaled slightly at the surprise. Because she was still in testing phase, she had not expected to be promoted. Many of the General Staff were not happy with her independence.

"Thank you sir. I will not disappoint you." Penny allowed a smile at the new badge slip past her guard.

General Ironwood nodded to Lieutenant Schnee. The Lieutenant added, "Unfortunately, you will not be able to immediately use the badge Specialist."

Penny closed the box and stood back at attention. An actual assignment. She thought to herself. Again she was surprised. It felt like it was all moving too fast now. "What are my orders?"

"Vale still needs help. The chief of staff has agreed to assign you to that position."

"Sir?"

General Ironwood frowned and leaned against his desk. "At ease Specialist. I would be frank with you."

Penny nervously relaxed her arms after watching the First Lieutenant do the same. That seemed to amuse the General.

"Penny. The reason we flew engineers to Vale was to ensure their security was no longer compromised. With Arthur Watts now a person of interest, Atlas has to face the very real fact that we are now exposed as well."

Penny blinked at the implications. It was rare to have anything below a private on the field. The academy trains officers. The rank and file for decades had been automated robots. "That means we would be vulnerable to the same kind of attack."

General Ironwood smiled. "Yes. Already we have our engineers working to address the issue. Atlas had not been as concerned of the security breach until the Grim invasion. Grim have a hard time surviving the cold mountains. Atlas' main city defense was the fact that it is elevated in the air. Our turrets had always been more than enough for the defense for airborne grim. But these grim hearts you found change everything. It was enough that the Grand Marshal has agreed to open our borders. We have requested an open application of huntsmen to Atlas."

"Will it be enough?"

General Ironwood shook his head. "No. At most they would be able to supplement a defense. As we can never guarantee the integrity of our security, huntsmen will be apart of our foreseeable future."

"Then what am I to do in Vale if I am needed in Atlas?"

"You will be assigned to be an aid to Patrolman Arc. We have no system to manage the huntsmen. We know less of the way they would expect to be directed. You will learn that from him."

"Sir. Then I would be taking leave from the Military?"

"Yes. You will receive leave tomorrow morning at O'nine hundred during our meeting with Headmaster Ozpin and be transferred to work under Beacon Academy."

Penny looked up to the ceiling while she processed what Ironwood was really saying. Aside from her mission, this was the first time she was being released from the confines of the military. Penny would not be allowed to wear the uniform. "Sir? May I make a request?"

-o-

James Ironwood started his morning early to discuss the ships departure. He had just arrived and knew the time in Vale was too short. There were so many things he wished he could accomplish while in the country.

When Ironwood walked into Ozpin's office, the first thing he noticed was Jaune Arc and Glynda Goodwitch had flanked their headmaster. While his eyes softened at seeing Glynda for the first time in three years, James looked past her to assess the patrolman. He had heard quite a few things about this man. He finally understood why he could be underestimated. In uniform his own students always looked old for their age. But when he saw the young man in a simple pair of jeans and blue shirt. The only thing that could be noticeable is the strap that crossed his chest for the slim backpack he wore. The first glance would have just dismissed him as a child.

James knew better when he looked at the young man's eyes. Sharp, focused and just as assessing as his own. James had to smile. Apparently he was being judged as well. "Ozpin, It is good to see you. Glynda."

The woman seemed to stand straighter as she barely tilted her head, "James."

James walked up to the desk. "Jaune Arc I presume?"

"Yes sir."

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Both the First Lieutenant and the Specialist had said good things about your work on the defense."

The young man raised his chin, "Thank you sir."

"I wish I could have come sooner Ozpin, what is it you need from me?" He asked while in an official capacity.

The headmaster gestured for Atlesean group to sit. Only General Ironwood accepted the offer. Ozpin and James shared a look as old friends before the headmaster started. "Vale has lost a number of vital huntsmen during the Patrolman Defense. So much so that many of the huntsman have been released from their defensive contracts to be reassigned to more critical jobs in Vale's defensive outposts. The third years have received enough experience to supplement the normal defense functions for the city boarders. But that leaves the city police on their own to handle issues if they encounter aura users."

James looked over to the patrolman. "I see no problem if you have a patrolman on board."

The General watched as the patrolman remained passive but the young man turned to look at Ozpin. Ozpin raised to fingers for the patrolman. Jaune Arc pulled out his scroll and set it on the table. The projector displayed several files in the air. "It is a little more complicated than that. Once the council had discovered my 'value' a few of them have been adamant to renegotiate my contract. Beacon has refused."

Ozpin folded his hands on top of his desk. "This has led to unintended consequences. The patrolman could only be summoned if there is a unanimous vote. Two councilmen have declared there would be no call until the contract is renegotiated."

James understood but shook his head. "Very short sighted of them. Where does that leave you now Patrolman?"

The blonde teen frowned. "While in Vale I am just a citizen. I have no legal standing beyond that. I can't call for support from Vale PD nor can I make arrests. At least one member of the council has been concerned with developments with the Families that reside in Vale. I have been requested in an unofficial capacity to investigate why they have been so hostile to Vale. The councilman I spoke to was concerned that what happened to the White Fang may have been attempted within the families. Which means Watts, or one of his associates may still be in Vale."

James stirred in his seat. "If you are able to share, what will you do next?"

"I need to look for a diplomatic solution. What I lack right now is information. I have a family name I can arrange a meeting due to their low standing. They may be interested in an opportunity to get back into the Families good graces. The other option would be riskier. Junior, who runs the information racket here in Vale, may be willing to help introduce me to the other family. I know their faces but not their names."

Jaune supposed he should thank Miss Xiao-Long for that opportunity. He was fairly sure the woman was a family head. Jaune agreed with Winter's frown. "I know it is not a lot to go on, but it is all I have. I can't start a timeline of events or who would have been receptive to outside influence without their help. The last thing I want is to agitate the families to follow through with their uprising."

"Police would be useless here since the only contact with the families would be within Juniors, James." Ozpin supplied helpfully. That seemed to make the General understand.

James crossed his arms and muddled over the information. He sighed before he gestured to one of his soldiers. The man produced a paper folder to the patrolman. James saw the teens curious look. "That is all we have on Arthur Watts before he disappeared twelve years ago. He was caught selling cancelled projects to an arms dealer in Mistral."

The patrolman gripped his hands together behind his back. "White Wolf?" He had researched the arms dealer from his first real case. He had only given up the search when nothing came of it nearly a year later.

James felt the respect in the young man rise a notch. "Yes. That would be her."

The patrolman smiled slightly. "I might have another point of contact then. Thank you sir." The patrolman opened the folder and gave a brief look to the first page before he closed it.

"It sounds like you have a plan forming." James spared a look to Ozpin before he added. "Specialist Polendina!"

The gingered haired girl snapped forward two steps in her atlesean uniform. "Sir!"

"You are being reassigned to Beacon Academy as an aid to Patrolman Jaune Arc. You will have two Atlas personnel on campus to aid you if you need anything from home Penny. Aid the Patrolman in any way he deems necessary."

The young woman's eyes visibly brightened. "Understood Sir."

General Ironwood turned around to address the patrolman. "Mr. Arc. I would ask you train Penny as best as you can. Atlas has opened its borders to more huntsmen and we do not have the training other countries have in coordinating with and working alongside them."

Jaune's eyebrows rose into his hairline. "I understand. I'll pull up some old incursions I can go over with her. I may have her sit in with me on some classes Barty would lecture that may cover some of these topics. Is that alright?"

The question was addressed to the General, but he looked over to Penny. The girl looked surprised she had any input. "Yes! That would be wonderful."

Jaune smiled. "You seem eager enough. I'll put something together for tomorrow and have you shadow me through the third years while they do forest clearing patrol."

Penny frowned. "Shadow?"

Jaune matched her confused look. "Shadow… follow me around to learn what I do. You'll be my little shadow."

That seemed to enlighten her. "Oh! Very well." She gave a satisfied smile to her General.

James added as an afterthought. "Penny has been raised within the military Mr. Arc. I do not believe she has had experience with anyone outside of the rank and file."

Jaune nodded as he walked up to her. "A military brat. That's alright. I am sure we'll become fast friends. Right Penny?"

Penny grinned with an exaggerated nod. "I would definitely like to be fast friends Jaune." Penny smile was so wide her eyes were nearly closed as she faced the General.

Jaune faced his boss. But the amused look did not fade. "If we may be excused Ozpin?"

"We are done here for the most part Jaune. It will be just minor details from one academy to another."

Jaune smiled and looked over to his new partner. "Come on Penny. Let's get you situated and we'll go into town. I want to follow the lowest risk lead first."

Ozpin hmm'ed a moment and opened his console. "Stop by the main office. Miss Poledina should have a scroll and card ready for her. Your room is not yet prepared yet Miss Polendina. I will have 'Keep and Dorms' message you when one is fully prepared. Let either Jaune or I know if one has not been assigned before five in the evening."

"Yes sir." She saluted in what could have only been habit. It took her a moment to look for a cue if she should continue to salute.

Jaune's encouraging voice called to her. "Let's go Penny. We got work to do." Jaune gave a slight bow to the General and Winter before bid the headmaster a good day.

-o-

Penny stepped up quickly when Jaune made a motion for her to walk alongside him and not behind her. "Are you comfortable running in that?" Jaune asked as they walked outside the administration office.

Penny had been busy marveling at the sheer amount of green around the campus when Jaune interrupted her. Penny inspected her uniform. Buttoned to the collar and supportive around the waist and back. The Atlasean silver accents gleamed in the autumn sun. She looked over to his clothes and thought back to the others she had seen on campus. It was odd to see no uniforms at all. Not even a general consensus on the population on what to wear in general when she thought about it. "It has never stopped me before. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted us to run to Vale. We're going to make a few stops in town Penny. Most of it is to introduce you. But we'll be collecting some information along the way. If you hear or see something you want to ask about, save it until we get back to Beacon. We are going to places were people will sell information they pick up." Jaune started to stretch his legs.

"Alright. Just lead the way."

Jaune smiled. "I'll start slow then start to speed up. Let me know if you want to go faster or slower."

Penny hid a slight smile as the patrolman started to jog ahead of her. Penny was designed to chase airships on foot if needed. After leaving the Beacon grounds to enter the path going down the mountain, Jaune increased his pace. Penny flushed aura into her legs when they doubled their speed. At the base of the hill he picked up the pace again. The patrolman looked over his shoulder and grinned when she was right behind him. He looked at her legs and repressed a laugh.

"If you're using aura, adjust your stride, you will burn through it too fast like that."

Penny looked at her legs and noticed how much more land the patrolman covered with a single step. In comparison her own legs were moving twice as fast in a near blur at a stride made for a much slower run. Penny stumbled for a second as she abruptly changed to match closer to his stride. He was right, less effort was needed to maintain a longer stride. Penny passed him a thankful look. This was easier to manage and less of a drain and stress on her legs.

Jaune sped up a little to test her new stride. "We're about to hit a sand bank." He warned over his shoulder.

Penny knew that the sand would slow her down and thought she made enough of an adjustment on the first few steps. On the fifth step she was fully on sand and her body slowed for half a stride before she kicked off the ground harder to resume Jaune's pace. Penny watched as sand kicked off behind each of her own steps were the sand seemed to barely be disturbed when Jaune ran. She was unsure how he actually managed that. She knew she weighed less than he did, but her feet sank with every step.

"Let's speed up on the sand for a bit. This is the halfway point."

Penny had stared hard at his feet but looked up to give him a bright, "Alright!"

As soon as the sand broke away to earth of the tree line, Jaune's pace increased. His stride broke occasionally to make leaps and shifts of angles to move around trees and roots. Penny barely noticed he leaped with a grunt that kicked his legs forward. He cleared a sudden high root. Penny started to jump as well when she lurched.

THUD

Juane looked over his shoulder to Penny.

Penny released a nervous laugh and a shy wave as she kept running to not fall behind. She looked over her shoulder at what her foot caught. A mass of uprisen roots were now six feet above ground along with half of the tree. The tree disappeared behind them.

"At least you didn't fall. When my best friend tried to keep pace for the first time, her foot caught a root and she face planted into the earth. Don't just look ahead to where you are going. Plan ahead. The faster we move the more you need to think about where you are going and how you are going to get there."

Penny watched as he turned back and picked up the pace one more time. His mind seemed to be on something else. In the back of her mind, Penny saved that bit of advice.

Penny followed Jaune for another eight minutes before they slowed to a stop. The main road was twice as wide as the transport railway tracks. Her boots stomped to a halt at the sudden demand to stop. Her feet slid unsteadily to slow the momentum. Penny secretly envied how gracefully Jaune slowed down in a few short steps.

Jaune seemed to inspect her closely. He huffed once through his nose with a satisfied grin. "Have you done this before?"

Penny swallowed and shook her head. "No. But the running was fun. I don't get to move like that for so long back in Atlas."

"The forest pace is usually what I like to keep moving at regardless of terrain. How long do you think you can keep something like that up?"

Penny smiled a nervous smile. "A few hours." She abruptly hiccupped. She lost her smile for half a second before it was immediately plastered back on her face. She hated those hiccups!

Jaune gave an "Ah." He placed a hand on his hip and pulled out his scroll to flash to the guard on the gate. "I wondered why you weren't breathing hard."

Penny let Jaune walk ahead so could not see her face. She did not realize he had been scrutinizing her so hard during the run. "I had stamina training." It was a weak reply by military standards. It was the kind of vague answer she would be reprimanded for. She felt a small cheer for not letting out an immediate hiccup. Then her chest lurched at a hiccup. Why does this make me so nervous?

Jaune laughed. "I did want to apologize." He waved for her to follow her inside the gates that cranked open for them to enter Vale. "Ozpin said you were fast. But I needed to make sure. No offense to Atlas, but I need to know you can at least keep up with me or there would be no point."

"I understand. I can go faster." Penny offered. She quickly added apologetically, "If we ever need to."

Jaune nodded at what seemed to be her default expression. "Thanks for letting me know. I only know of one other person that has aura and is as fast. So it's interesting to see how aura makes a difference."

Penny hummed. She had never seen nor heard of a civilian move so fast. "You seem to be moving awfully fast for someone who has no aura."

Jaune gave her that. It was true. "I've always chalked it up to these." Jaune patted his thighs. Even through his jeans Penny could see they bulged near the top of his thigh and corded down into his pants legs. "But I've been told by a friend that can see aura and energy that Patrolmen develop weird. I chalk it up to the kind of training and stress we put our bodies under. But he said that we look different from someone that has aura or someone that has it locked."

Penny hummed. She had never heard anything like that before. It was something to ask her father when she made her reports back to Atlas.

Jaune led Penny into the opened tunnel door to walk into Vale. His voice echoed off the stone walls. "Oh, I did want to say, congratulations. You were promoted right?"

Penny blinked at the sudden congratulations. "I did. Thank you very much! I was field promoted last night after General Ironwood reviewed my performance."

"Glad to hear you were given some kind of reward."

Penny was about to say something else when she stopped and gasped. Penny exited the tunnel on the other side to see a vibrant trade district. Hundreds of people walked to and fro. Several trucks filled with beams or boxes rolled by before even more people crossed the streets to go to their next destination.

Penny walked ahead with an almost 'o' shape to her mouth. She had been inside Atlas, but it was the pristine townhouses and residential district of the island. The Vale trade district wasn't dirty like the mines but it wasn't the white washed clean of the upper class. Jaune caught her gaze and nodded his head towards the west side.

"The place we are going is this way. You're welcome to gawk but try and not distract people. They will stop and talk to you and we are limited on time."

Penny blinked and followed him. "Would they get in trouble?" She asked worriedly.

Jaune shook his head. "Not really. If they are not in the actual factories, they are either on errands or off work. It's just that people are pretty friendly from this gate. A few will talk your ear off if you let them. It's the south gate you should be careful of who you talk to. It is the lower income area, and a few gangs had taken up residence there. I am sure they would be no problem for you to defend yourself, but we need to be careful of collateral damage."

"Like shops?" Penny asked confused.

"The people. A lot of homeless people live on the streets. There is no shelter on that side of town. They just live there because it is so close to the factories that would take them when there are openings."

Penny closed her mouth as the two made their way around several factories. Civilians stood and waved to her. She waved back happily. "Everyone is really friendly!" She chirped while Jaune had them go across the street.

"It's actually your uniform. Everyone knows Atlas came just in time to help save us. They don't know the details, but they know Atlas was on the front lines with the huntsmen. Just be careful, not everyone was happy with Atlas' monopoly on automated defense systems."

Penny started to notice it too now that he mentioned it. By the time she was down the street to the shop Jaune wanted to go into she was almost relieved. Her uniform really did bring attention to her. And not all of it good. There were a few scowls she was unsure how to deal with.

"Here we are." Jaune sighed as they finally made their way across town. "This close to the train yard I was worried they were closed."

Penny blindly walked into the store and was surprised at the racks of clothing. Slow calming music rang in her ears the further they walked. The store was divided down the middle for men's and women's with mannequins of each showing off designs of various clothing. "Jaune?" Penny asked unsure why they were there.

"We need to get you something that is not a uniform. You're not apart of the Atlas Military anymore. Where we are going that uniform will send the wrong message. Find something you can put on now and use the card you got from the office to pay for it."

Penny walked further into the store unsure what to look for. She surveyed the store before she glanced over her shoulder to Jaune. He seemed happy to just browse on the men's side.

"What will you do?" Penny wondered at his scrunched up face.

"I lost my hoodie during the defense so I need to find a jacket or something. Winter is coming in soon and the wind chill can literally dry and cut skin when you run fast enough."

Penny felt more nervous as she walked further down the shopping aisles. She felt the woman as she walked around the long way down an aisle. Penny slowly turned to her before the woman could sneak up on her. "Hello?" Penny asked.

The woman with the tied hair asked, "Would you like some help?"

Penny gave a relieved sigh. "That would be wonderful. Thank you for asking." Penny took the woman's hand, happily relieved for some kind of direction.

"What is it your looking for?" The brunette girl asked cheerfully while she took stock of the uniform.

Jaune from two rows down shouted, "Everything! She's fresh out of the military! No budget, but we only have a few hours here!"

The brunette grinned and winked at Penny. "Everything huh? This should be fun! A whole wardrobe is the things of legends miss?"

Penny blinked before she realized she did not introduce herself. "Penny Polendina. And yours?" Penny then noticed the name tag and bit her lip in a nervous apology.

"Bernadette! Come over here. We have things to talk about! Any idea of what you would like?"

"Something that I can wear that would last running for a long time. Nothing that is too frilly…" Penny thought aloud unsure what the woman was asking for.

"Colors?" Bernadette asked as she pulled aside racks of blouses.

"I like brown?" Penny asked unsure if she really did or not. So long as it was not white she did not really care.

Bernadette laughed and looked at Penny's uniform. "Oh, you don't get to decide on what you wear very often do you sweetie?"

Penny smiled to hide her embarrassment. "I don't remember the last time I wore anything that wasn't a uniform." She admitted.

Bernadette gave her a sympathetic look. "Well we'll get you squared away and dressed to impress."

A skirt flew into Penny's outstretched arms along with a number of other garments. "How many outfits do I really need?" Penny asked concerned when dress number seven stacked on her pile.

-o-

Jaune looked through the jackets not too happy with what he found. Several of these things had fur attached to them… Normally not that big of a deal. But these have it just around the collar… No lining at all. He put one back on the rack disappointed. He remembered coming in here with Fox once when he needed something for their mission back in the early summer. Come to think of it, it was Coco that dragged us here to have him dress up like a doll…

Jaune knew he was in for a time when he walked in the door. Even the quickest of his sisters would shop for hours in Anvil and that was a small department store. And expensive as hell since it was all imported from Vale. Jaune nodded to another man who wandered around looking bored. He seemed to be in the same predicament waiting for a female companion to finish shopping. Jaune just took a seat and grabbed a half year old magazine on a counter to look over while he waited. He passed the time that way until he heard a pair of steps walk up behind him.

"Ahem." The store employee cleared her throat expectantly.

Jaune looked up and paused to really look at Penny in her new outfit. It appeared she chose to wear a dark green skirt with a thin yellow belt. The new top was some kind of sleeveless light tan top with a wide v neck that almost made her shoulders bare. Penny was in the middle of fixing her new grey jacket. New dark green running shoes along with tall thigh high dark green socks covered her legs.

But that was not what Jaune noticed. "Huh, you are younger than I thought you were." Jaune nearly cringed at the attendant's sly smile.

Penny looked at herself in the mirror. Her reflection with her hand waving around in her jacket pocket stopped in mid swing. "Really? Is that a problem?"

Jaune answered quickly, "No. I am just seeing it from the other end is all. Did you find anything else?"

"A few things." Penny bashfully looked at the pile of clothes on the counter. "I am ready to pay and go. Did you find a jacket?" Penny asked while she buttoned up her jacket.

"No luck. I'll be outside when you are ready."

Penny smiled at Bernadette as the attendant gushed over Jaune. Penny smiled and nodded. She was aware of what the woman was talking about on an intellectual level. But Penny was not sure what made anyone attractive much less to the point of wishing Penny good luck.

Penny watched as Bernadette struggled to find the best way to fold the military uniform for her. Eventually Penny offered, "Allow me. I get in trouble if they do not get folded properly." Penny started to fold the uniform and then the other clothing in quick precise movements. Penny gave a secretive smile as she was handed the box for all of the clothes to be shipped to Beacon Academy.

"You pick up a few things in the military." Penny said conspiratorially to Bernadette who whistled in surprise.

"Our secret." She said gamely. Bernadette grinned and waved her out the door.

"That was faster than what I expected. I thought you would have taken a few hours to find things. She wasn't too pushy was she?" Jaune actually felt guilty about it now that she was done shopping. Maybe he should have waited a day to get Coco to shop with Penny. But he still needed to see people today and it was better for Penny to come along now….

"I'm more grateful for the help. I've always been issued clothes. She was very friendly." Penny said while she swung her arms back and forth in her new jacket.

Jaune gave her a considering look. He was not sure how it was like in Atlas but then he never really shopped for clothes himself until he came to Vale. Jaune still mostly ordered the same clothes since they were cheap and only had to pay a little extra more when he outgrew the old sizes.

"I'm glad to hear it. We're about to go make a few introductions."

Penny smiled, "Oh? More huntsmen?" She asked cheerfully.

-o-

Penny stood in front of an office building that was setting up a new sign above the third story windows. "Torchwick Mercenaries…" She said aloud while craning her neck.

"Nice to see that the Council honored their word." Jaune muttered as he walked in.

Penny took a moment to see laborers set down the sign into place before she followed in. "What did they say they would do?"

"That they would allow the Torchwick Mercenaries to operate inside of Vale. Most mercenary companies don't get that." The man standing at the counter looked down at Jaune from his shades. "Jaune Arc and Penny Polendina to see Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan."

"Appointment?"

"I am sorry, no."

The man nodded before he looked at his console. "Just a moment Mr. Arc."

Penny watched as the two continued to talk. When nothing interesting happened, Penny started to walk around. Paintings had only recently been placed on opposing walls of various landscapes. She stopped and stared at one that had a green covered cliff face with a waterfall flowing down it.

"Hello stranger."

Penny looked back to Jaune. He teased the woman he worked with during the defense.

Neo moved her hands quickly. The back of one hand slapped the palm of the other while she frowned before she smirked and made a thumbs down.

Jaune laughed. "No Neo, but thanks for offering. Penny let's go. We can't keep Roman waiting."

Penny followed into step with the two. She smiled and waved genialy at Neo. Neo kept her hands behind her back but leaned close to Penny. A little further and Penny felt Neo's cheek would touch hers.

"Is there something the matter?" Penny asked unsure how to handle the scrutiny. She saw Jaune's unconcerned look over the short girls' head.

Neo raised a hand and without turning to Jaune and simply crossed her fingers at him, gripped her hand and then raised two fingers side by side.

"Penny's my new partner."

Neo smiled at Penny before she turned to Jaune and gasped at him and tapped her chest in mock concern.

"I can't afford you every time I need something."

Neo simply raised a suggestive eyebrow at him.

Jaune looked to the ceiling. "Yes, I realized how bad that sounded as soon as I said it. Shut up."

Penny watched as Neo seemed pleased at that. Penny knew she did not understand most of what was going on between the two. For the rest of their chat, Penny followed the woman's hands as she continued to communicate with Jaune. It was enough of a distraction that the long walk down the hallway passed by quickly. The group stopped in front of the double doors.

Neo turned to them both and smiled with a silent exhale. Neo squared up towards Jaune with a serious but thankful look. She touched her lips with her fingers and down to her other hand she mouthed the words Thank you. She raised two thumbs and pointed them both at her self then clasped her hands together.

Jaune stayed silent but patted her shoulder. When she turned to open the door, he said, "I'm happy for you both. Your job isn't easy."

Neo smiled over her shoulders and walked in. The double doors illuminated the hallway with a warm soft light.

"How are you doing Jaune?" A mellow voice greeted them as they walked in.

Penny observed the man with the orange hair that matched her own and a bowler hat. A cigar had just been put out but the smoke was still heavy in the air. He beckoned for the two of them to sit across from him on the couch.

"I've been good Roman. This is Penny Polendina. My new partner."

"A pleasure little lady." The man tipped his hat to Penny as she joined Jaune on the couch. "What do you need from the both of us?"

"Just a heads up and a quick few questions for Neo." Jaune pulled out a folder from the small backpack that laid against his back and set it down on the coffee table. Jaune leaned forward as he pushed the folder towards Roman. He kept his hand firmly on the folder and looked up to Roman. "I am starting an investigation into the families."

Roman lost his smile. His silence put Penny on edge. She looked over to Neo who's friendly smile was gone. Romans' voice dipped dangerously low. "Is. That. So?"

Jaune ignored the tone and opened a folder. "I assume you have heard the talk of revolt."

Roman's hat raised slightly to meet Jaune's eyes. Penny watched as the two seemed to stare each other down. Eventually Roman looked down at the folder. "I see." His voice turned more jovial, "I had wondered if they were always like that. If they were, they would all be bark and no bite. Not a good way to do business."

Jaune seemed to finally relax. "They were not like that months ago."

Neo tapped Roman's shoulder with her hand. He raised a finger to calm her. "I haven't seen this guy while I was on my rounds. But I'll push the picture around my crew." Roman took out his scroll and took a picture. "Neo? Have you seen this guy on our outings?"

The woman shook her head and tried to pull the picture off to see what was behind it. Jaune placed his hand on top of the picture. Neo backed off with a pout.

"As of right now it is just an investigation." Jaune raised his hands to show both in a surrender and moved back from the table. "An assessment. But I have a feeling we will bump heads sooner rather than later now that I am actively looking to speak with the families."

Jaune stood up from his bent over position. Penny blinked as she realized that Jaune had not sat on the couch at all during their chat. He had been bent over on his haunches. As if ready to defend himself. She mentally shook her head. He had been leaning forward. He was ready to attack Roman. Jaune thought they were in genuine danger if he had to coil himself like a spring as he explained everything to mercenary.

Roman nodded with a grunt and pulled out a pen and wrote a note. He handed it to Neo who stepped out to pass it along. "I'll make the necessary clauses in my contracts moving forward. Last thing I want is for my men to fight you to the death due to some poor wording. The families would be amused, but I would not." There was a silent look between Roman and Neo as she left the room.

Penny blinked unsure if she heard that right. Now she understood. "Oh…" She looked over to Roman who simply winked at her. "Sorry. I was not sure…" She felt herself clam up. What do you say without giving anything away?

"It's fine Penny. I brought you here blind. I'll explain a few things when we get back to Beacon. But I did bring Penny here so you would know her face too Roman."

"Patrolman?" Roman asked, a surprised lit to his voice. It sounded almost… hopeful.

Jaune shook his head no.

Roman stood and sighed. He walked over to the wall and opened a cabinet to pour himself a drink. "You're not making this easy for me Jaune. If my men are going to be entering a shit show. I would like to know what it is."

"The man in the picture is Arthur Watts. He was the man who orchestrated the grim invasion. Hopefully Neo could shed some light on that for us."

Penny watched as the man drank a long draught and looked at the cabinet mirror at them both. Apparently the mirror gave him a perfect angle to watch the both of them. "What does Neo have to do with this?"

"She worked for someone that made contact with White Wolf on my first case. Arthur Watts sold tech to her a long time ago."

"Why does that matter now?"

Jaune frown and said, "The grim were weaponized for the invasion. I need to make sure that hasn't found its way into White Wolf's hands."

Penny stirred at the news and thought about the black hearts. She was not able to collect a lot of data. But she knew for a fact that there was no external nor internal components to the hearts that were man made. It was a pure grim mass. She almost stated that fact when she saw Jaune stare back at her. Penny felt like she was rebuked before she even uttered a syllable. It silenced her immediately.

"Shit." Roman sighed out after another long drink.

"My thoughts exactly." Jaune offered.

"We'll wait for her then, she shouldn't be too much longer. I did want to thank you by the way."

"For what?"

Roman simply gestured to the room. "It's been close to ten years since I've been able to have an office, regular hours, hell, I have applicants from the live huntsmen. They already know what we are about. But the publicity was enough to get some on the fence to join."

"That's good to hear. Business is good then?"

Penny watched as the two continued to banter. She wrung her hands. Penny was not sure how Jaune could be so relaxed in what is essentially enemy territory. These are the people that protect the families. How did the council approve of them being in the open?

Penny stilled as an arm draped over her shoulder and a brown and pink head poked into her vision. The woman named Neo's eyes shifted color then smiled widely at her. Now that she knew what they were, Neo's closeness brought a slew of alarms. "Yes?"

Neo pointed at her and tapped her temple with a hand that fanned out with waving fingers before she pointed a finger at her face.

"I think so. It's contextual right?"

Neo pulled away to clap before she hugged Penny again and looked over the red hair's shoulders to Jaune and Roman. She gave the pair a questioning look.

Both Roman and Jaune immediately answered, "No." They looked at each other in surprise.

Jaune waved her hand at Neo to shoo her away from Penny. "Sorry Neo, you can't keep her. I actually have questions for you." Jaune said while he pulled back his folder and closed it.

Penny watched as Neo left her side to stand next to her boss. Neo did not seem to be bothered in the least by the sudden distance and continued to talk to Penny.

Penny listened to Jaune but watched as Neo raised one finger before it went to two. She then gripped per elbows and smirked at Penny. Penny forcefully relaxed her shoulders. Then turned away from Neo. The Atlas soldier had a distinct feeling Neo was laughing at her.

"Neo. During the defense Penny here found the source of the grim. A black mass that beat like a heart and oozed black ink. Have you ever heard of anything like that before?"

Neo tilted her head but shook it in a negative. She tapped her arm with one hand then ran one hand open palm across the other then shook her head one more time.

"You just been out of touch or did business change?"

Neo gave an annoyed huff and ran a finger across her through and gestured to the ground.

"Not since the last mercenaries?" Jaune frowned as he asked more because he was unsure what she meant rather than understanding what she said.

"I can answer that Jaune." Roman started to cut in to the conversation. "The Cin family had a sudden interest in arms dealing a year and a half ago. He started muscling out any weapon dealer in Vale. The families still talk about how weird it was since there has been a popular movement going away from guns to aura users. Export regulations are really tough for Vale, Atlas and Vacuo. Aura users used to be expensive to hire. It was also rare to keep one loyal. They have become cheaper now compared to importing weapons and parts for a full army."

"Are aura users that popular here in Vale?"

Roman laughed. "Oh no. Beacon does a great job in managing things like that. Invites only go out to those who are almost guaranteed to pass. Those who fail get assistance to go into a vocational school if the kids want to give up completely. Or they can try again the next year. Now that I'm here, I'll be picking up the dropouts thank you very much. An aura user is an aura user. The aura users in the families are actual family members if they had the ability."

Jaune pulled out a pad and wrote a quick note for himself. "Thank you for the help. I just wanted to keep you updated. Neither of us like surprises."

Roman nodded as Jaune finally stood up. Penny followed his example. Penny did a slight bow. Roman's voice dripped honey, "We're not the only one. Your girl Penny there seemed to not like them either. That's fairly cruel of you Jaune."

Jaune tilted his head to Penny in a silent apology. "She will have to get used to it. Better we discover how she reacts here than in front of the families where we will both be going in blind."

Roman grinned. "Well have a fine day discovering all there is in Vale little lady. I've discovered there are plenty of attractions when you look for them."

Penny stood up and bowed slightly to prevent herself from saluting. "It was a pleasure to meet you both."

Neo waved at her before she waved a hand in front of her nose. She quickly scowled at her boss. Roman had re-lit his cigar.

After a long puff, Roman called after them. "I look forward to seeing you on the other side of the fence Jaune."

Penny felt more than saw Jaune make a non-committal wave. The door closed behind them. It was only then did Jaune exhaled quietly. He started to walk down the hall in silence. At the end of the passage a mercenary in a suit stood senty to open the door to allow them to exit the building. Penny wanted answers and Jaune seemed to shake his head one more time. "Sorry Penny." He said quietly. "Once we are out of here and back in Beacon I'll explain everything. But we have one more stop before we can go back."

Penny looked at her watch. It was already mid day. "Food?" she hazard a guess.

"I wouldn't want to eat where we are going." Jaune said tightly.

-o-

Penny looked at the sign and recognized the name of the information broker Jaune mentioned that morning. The men standing at the door with axes and red shades nodded subtly to Jaune as Jaune walked in. Penny quickly followed after when she noticed she lagged behind.

Two women immediately walked to the door to greet them. The one in a white dress welcomed the pair. "Welcome back Jaune. I was wondering where you have been. You stopped coming since..."

The woman in red smiled at Penny. "Been busy then?"

Jaune frowned. "You know, you're not even the third person today that has implied that. This is Penny Polendina. My new partner."

"I'm Miltia. This is Melanie. Junior is free if you wanted to speak with him."

"Yes Please." Jaune thanked the girls.

Penny followed Jaune quietly as they made their way down the third floor hallway and into a room. The place looked more like a hotel to the young soldier. When they entered the room, Penny spotted an office desk and console screen open. A pot of coffee sat quietly in the corner but the room had the smell of the fresh brew.

"Jaune. Take a seat. Girls. Clear the floor."

Jaune sat and waited for Junior to signal it was safe to talk. Miltia walked in and gave the go ahead.

Junior looked to the patrolman. "Are either of you actively using aura right now?"

Jaune shook his head but looked to Penny. She shook her head. "I am not Mr. Junior."

The man was tense but almost relaxed at Mr. Junior. "I wanted to make sure before I do this. Less eavesdroppers this way." Junior's shades flashed a deep red. A moment later the room was saturated in red light. "Sorry I needed to make sure nothing like aura was listening in. Velt let me in on what you were going to do."

Jaune sighed. "I am going to need an introduction. Which would be the better option? The woman who held the students hostage or the Cin family?"

"The Cin family would do you no good. They are out of the circle completely." Junior said. He walked around the table and sighed in disappointment. "The fool of a boy messed up the tithe. He won't live long now."

Penny was not sure how she felt at the casual mention that someone was about to die. She tried to look to Jaune to see how he felt but his back was turned away from her and ramrod straight. "That leaves the woman that held the hostages. Can you confirm or deny if she is a family head?"

"Sorry Jaune. I can't."

"How about an introduction?"

"I'll let you know when if she is willing." Junior said quietly. "No guarantees."

Jaune sighed. "It's fine. It just means that I need to start looking for other options."

Juniors' laugh was fatalistic. "Just keep me out of it."

"You'll be seeing us more. If we can't get a meeting… I'll need to find my self made available to them. That means I'll need to have some information leaked. If I can make one come to me I may have something I can work with. I don't like the idea of letting this lay."

"Just be careful not to sell yourself Jaune. If you do, I can't help you."

Jaune nodded as he stood up and gesture for Penny to stand as well. "We'll be on our way. Let me know if they would like to speak with us."

The red saturated lights blinked out of existence. Junior took off his shades. "Good luck."

-o-

Penny followed Jaune out of the club. Jaune looked around the street corner. This early in the day, it was barren of people. Over his shoulder Jaune asked, "Hungry? We got things to talk about."

Penny nodded. "Is it safe to start talking now?"

Jaune visibly flinched and turned back to her. "Crap. I'm sorry Penny. Is that why you were so quiet?"

Penny chirped, "You asked me to keep my questions to Beacon. I took the time to just listen."

Penny watched as her partner frowned and nodded. He added guiltily, "Let's head back and get some lunch. I can explain a few general things over a meal."

Penny felt herself beam. "That would be swell!"

-o-

Penny walked around Jaune's apartment. It only had a few things decorating it to keep her curiosity sated. One was a picture of his very large family. Another picture was of Jaune when he was very young, no more than twelve, with two older men standing together in a group portrait. Each wore matching blue vests. There were two other pictures, one with Jaune when was a few years older than the last picture. Jaune and a woman struck matching poses, legs apart, one hand on their hip and another over their head in salute with their hands making a 'v' for victory sign. He was really smiling in that one. The other picture was more intimate. Jaune looked closer to his current age. His hands were around the woman's hips and they were both smiling at eachother.

Penny started to walk around the apartment but did not see anything else of interest to look at. The rest of the apartment was empty but for the furniture. Jaune apparently had a large family unit he did not feel inclined to fill.

From the kitchen Jaune called, "Have you gotten word about your apartment yet?"

Penny opened her scroll but there were no messages on the new scroll. "None."

"We got some time. Here you go, soup like you asked." Jaune answered as he walked out of the kitchen with two plates. Penny took the plate as it scratched across the wooden table. The meal was a medium bowl of potato soup. "Thank you." Penny said gratefully. Soup was the closest to what she could ingest with no problems. She was not sure how her body would handle a sandwich he offered.

"Was the job not what you were expecting?" Jaune asked around a spoon of soup.

Penny smiled apologetically. "Being assigned to a new mission was not what I expected when I came to Vale. Command had been pretty strict for a few years now. It was rare for me to be given agency like I have now."

Jaune took a bite of his sandwich. He exhaled a relieved sigh that comes from people she observed that enjoyed food. "I am sorry about the confusion in Vale, Penny. Do you have any major questions you want answered first?"

Penny tilted her head. She had plenty of questions but the main one she wanted to ask was, "How can you lie so easily?"

Jaune suppressed a cough and took a sip of water. "Not the question I was expecting." Jaune cleared his throat and took another long drink. "My main goal today was to gain information. l don't know what your duties will be in Atlas but I need to lie pretty often. For this case, I need information while I withheld my own."

Penny's eyebrows furrowed. "But without complete information how could people come to the right conclusion? If the families knew the danger they would stop right?" Penny reasoned.

Jaune shook his head. "If everyone was that reasonable there would be a lot less problems. Less grim actually. Right now there is a lot of bad blood between individual families. You heard how the Cin family leader will probably die this week. There is nothing we can do about it either. I lied because I don't trust anyone with our information. It could put us in danger. Especially when I do not know how others would react."

Penny nodded. "Understood Sir." Penny accepted the answer but she felt like so many other times, she did not understand.

Jaune pushed his plate a way for a second. "No 'sir'. You are my partner now Penny. Not my subordinate. If you are not convinced, let me know. If you are curious, always ask. When I omit information or willfully lie to someone, it is necessary for someone's protection. I will always have my reasons for lying Penny. If you are worried about why I lied, think about it and talk to me. You will need to start thinking like this too. I am sure there will be a time when you will need to start lying to protect someone."

Penny looked at her bowl. Guilt seemed to kill any willingness to pretend to eat. "I-"

"People are brought up to see being honest is a good thing. It is for the most part. I am not here to make you question your morality or honesty." Penny looked up at the look Jaune gave her. His eyes looked right into hers and he leaned back and smiled. "I don't feel guilty if I have to lie to protect someone Penny. Whether you feel the same in the future or never, it is perfectly fine either way."

Penny stirred her soup spoon idle. She set it down and sighed. "Alright Jaune. So why did you lie to the Mercenaries?"

Jaune hummed before he answered. "At the Torchwick Mercenaries, I lied because I needed to know if Roman had met Watts. Or if he was already hired by someone who was working with the man. Toman said he did not see our man, but if Roman was in a contract, could not tell me. So I had to find ways to make sure. Roman showed true surprise when he was shown the picture and what the man did. Did you see how Neo was gone in time for Roman to ask what I needed from her?"

"He gave her something to do to get her out of the room." Penny recalled.

"He wanted to make sure I would not ask anything that was sensitive to one of their current contracts. As soon as he knew for sure, Neo walked in."

Jaune picked up his spoon and ate some soup to let the information float in both of their heads. Penny copied him. Penny felt the silence was a lot more companionable now. Penny looked up when Jaune resumed.

"When I first spoke to Roman privately, he confessed that he just wanted to survive. Now that Roman has a company that can work legally, he will bend over backwards when he is able to keep that spot. You saw how both Neo and Roman expressed a thank you? They were reminding us what they have at stake."

Penny started to understand. "That was why the Council allowed him to work out in the open despite working for the families."

Jaune smiled when she followed his line of thinking. "Roman will always have an invested interest in Vale now. There was no price too expensive to pay for that. If a fight breaks out and we fight the families we will have to fight the Torchwick Mercenaries. I want to avoid that at all costs."

"Why is that?"

Jaune nodded in approval of her question. Penny sat up straighter at the encouragement. "If the Torchwick Mercenaries are caught on the wrong side of this, they will need to fight both of us. They are under the assumption I am working for Vale under this investigation. They do not want to make themselves an enemy of Vale just after they gained Vale's approval." Jaune smiled at Penny's surprised look. Jaune never mentioned who he worked for during any visit. "That leaves Roman in a tough spot. If he steps aside during a fight, he will lose all credibility to the families. You did not see what could happen without the mercenaries. They keep the families in check since one family could potentially insult another. One family nearly started a riot in Junior's for their amusement. Any mercenary group would have stopped that before it escalated."

"They started a fight against each other?" Penny asked. She wondered if that would be useful later.

"No, against Beacon students. A few huntsmen happened to be on the lower levels as well and rose to the girls protection. It started a standoff that ended with a few minor injuries and the girls held hostage. I was called in by Junior before the Vale PD attempted to contact me."

"But you resolved the problem peacefully." Penny offered. Now she could see why he was requested to speak to the Families if he could resolve their issues diplomatically.

Jaune's mouth formed a flat line across his face. "You don't understand how close we were to an actual fight Penny. Had anyone made a wrong move, the huntsmen would have come down on Juniors. It was like… " Jaune frowned and set his spoon down.

Penny said quietly, "If the families were looking at their odds of surviving an uprising they would want to know how you would respond." Penny pushed her own plate away, bowl now empty.

Jaune sighed and rubbed his head. "And they got it. That means we'll need to tread carefully if the woman decides she wants to meet with us."

"Do you think it's a good idea to still see her?"

"The woman I want to see seemed more to have been interested in the students than anything else. It is her companions that seemed ready to fight. Were not going to be able to do any kind of observational work. The families do not have to spend their time at Junior's to conduct business. It was just convenient for them. No, we'll actually need to talk this one out."

-o-

Penny bit her lip as she walked back to position. She raised her fists and watched as Jaune walked up to her and extended a fist. Penny tilted her head to dodge and punched with her right then hook with her left as she stepped forward. She felt Jaune's hands tapped her elbow and shoulder of her hook before she felt her limb was tugged on. Jaune gripped and leaned into Penny's hook and used her arm as a beam to swing around her and kick the back of her knee. Her knee bent slightly from the hit as her aura and body clanged against his steel-toe shoe. Penny's footing remained firm. She swung her arm wide to push him off. Jaune vaulted off her back and landed several feet back before she could touch him.

Jaune frowned. "You will be fighting people that have no aura Penny." He reminded her. "You're going to have to do better than that. That kind of careless swing will kill them."

Penny stopped with her palm fully extended. She nodded as she stood up straight and got back into position.

Penny had been at this training for a while now. She had never needed to restrain her hits before. The fine control Penny needed was not something as simple as reducing the force of a blow. Her whole body ran on aura. Every movement was suffused with it. If Penny simply let her arm drop, she could still destroy a desk just from the aura reinforcement.

Penny found that she had to learn how to manually lower her output with every movement. She listened to Jaunes' sharp critique and tried again. It was difficult.

Jaune raised his hand to stop after another quick exchange. "We'll keep this practice going later. I need to rest before we have an accident. You weren't joking about that stamina training."

Penny looked at her internal clock and realized they had been training that evening for over five hours. When she looked at him she realized his shirt was soaked through with sweat. "Ah. Sorry Jaune. I did not realize it was this late."

The patrolman waved her off as he grabbed a towel and panted into it. His quickly removed his shirt and dried himself off before he pulled on the Patrolman jersey and threw the soaked rag that was his shirt over his shoulder. "Not a problem. I needed the training. Real training. I haven't had a work out like that since I moved here. So thanks. Let's try a different approach tomorrow if you are having difficulty making the adjustment. If you are that experienced with your aura, you probably unlocked your aura very early. Right?"

Penny scratched her head as she looked at her own body. The movement barely exerted any effort other than a mental one. She could sweat, but this exercise hardly taxed her. When she realized Jaune had spoken to her she thought aloud. "I am not sure I remember a time that I did not have aura." Penny looked away half expecting a hiccup to crawl up. She huffed in annoyance when nothing happened.

"Alright then. Did you get an update about your apartment?"

Penny pulled open her scroll and nodded. "It was an hour late but I did. That's a relief. My support team from Atlas had theirs for a few hours now. I will stop by and speak to them before I retire."

Jaune nodded. "Alright. I will have something put together for the both of us for tomorrow. I want you to get a handle on fighting non aura users as quickly as possible. The case is on hold until we get a response from Junior and you wanted some training with working with huntsmen. We'll start that in the morning. Good night Penny."

"Night Jaune!" Penny waved as she started to walk away towards the complex her staff were housed. She looked at the tall building. This far away from the main campus left the building to have its own defensive wall. She walked past the opened gate and down the path to the hangar. Inside, a man and woman were quickly working on a platform.

"Good evening!" Penny said to announce herself.

"Hello Ma'am." They both stood and saluted. "The work platform is almost assembled."

Penny smiled and looked at raised floor. "Thank you very much. May I have one of you help me with my scroll? I want an internal link established. But this is a little before my time."

The woman stood up. "I can do it tomorrow afternoon. Your communication network is a little more advanced than a scrolls."

Penny shook her head. "I am sorry I need it by tonight incase I am summoned."

The two officers paused and the woman volunteer. "I'll adjust it now."

Penny watched as the warrant officer quickly connected Penny's assigned scroll to a terminal as if there was no obstacle at all. "Was there anything else?"

Penny resisted the urge to sigh. It was not the first time someone tried to hurry through interacting with her. It was the same wherever she went. As a combat droid she was given instant deferment from lower ranks and near cautious optimism from the upper ranks. Penny reached out and took the scroll feeling every meter of distance as she took the scroll from the woman's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, and I would like to look at my fine control. My partner said we will be skirmishing with non-aura users. I will need better control to disarm an auraless opponent."

The two warrant officers exchanged glances. "Pardon me for asking ma'am, but isn't it a little over kill to send you here to fight people with no aura?"

Penny frowned at the question. She very nearly gave the reason for their stay out of habit. But Jaune was right. They did not need to know. She still wanted to give an answer and took a moment to formulate a reply. She checked her scroll before she closed it. Immediately she opened it to find she had started a draft message to Jaune as a test. Satisfied she could make commands to the scroll while it was closed, Penny finally said, "Anyone is dangerous if they are desperate enough Warrant Officer. Are you able to help with fine motor controls, or is the platform the priority?"

"I can try Ma'am but those kinds of controls were not something kept in mind when you were designed."

Penny nodded. "I am well aware of that Warrant Officer." Both of the aids lowered their heads and cringed at the flat reply.

"Yes Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am." They both said quickly.

"Just focus on the platform then. I will retire for the night."

Penny sighed once she was inside her personal bed chamber. The room was large with a chair for her to rest, a bed was added more because Beacon was not aware she did not sleep on one, and a desk for her to work with pen and paper. The box of wardrobe she purchased that morning sat on the bed. Penny smiled. There were a few surprises she was not prepared for with Jaune Arc. But the shopping and chat with Bernadette was something Penny had secretly hoped for.

If I could find more moments like that. More time to feel like a human being. Penny smiled at the mirror that hung against the closet door. "Vale would be a nice place to visit."

-o-

Jaune walked to the infirmary and wondered how he would handle his little Penny problem. He never once thought about her ability to fight. She could slay grim and survive the most hostile environment he had ever heard of. It was exactly that strength that had him grimacing when he reached for the door handle to the infirmary. "Hey June are you free?"

The doctor poked her head out from behind an open supply door. "Evening Jaune, you're out late. What do you need?"

Jaune pulled off his gloves and forearm protectors. He hissed as the last part came off. "I need some of that numbing lotion."

June inspected his forearms for the dots of bruises that covered them. Clinically she asked, "Anywhere else?"

"Lower thigh on above the left knee. My new partner is a good sparring partner but has no fine control for her aura. A few hits got a little too close with her full aura."

June went to one of the many cabinets. For just bruises at full aura the hits must have been millimeters from the skin. Anything further would have been serious damage. "Why didn't you call off the training right after the first hit?"

Jaune scratched his head at the scolding. "It has been a while since I sparred with a huntsmen to that degree. I was shaking off rust the first few rounds. The real bad ones were the newest when Penny started to change how she fought suddenly. Nearly broke my arm to that one."

"Does she know?"

"She knows she needs to regulate her aura. But the way she has been using it feels different. Don't know how to describe it. It doesn't move around her body like everyone else's. But she must have a lot of it to have fought the grim for so long during the defense. So maybe that is just normal for her."

June smeared the lotion across the bruised skin and started to wrap his forearms and upper arms a few inches past the elbow. "The lotion will help keep the swelling and bruising down, but those won't heal for a few more days. Come back tomorrow morning for me to reapply it."

Jaune sighed as he realized. "I should have bathed first."

June patted the teen. "Sorry Jaune. Keep those on until tomorrow morning."

Jaune agreed as he walked out of the clinic. He looked at his scroll and sighed. He still wanted to talk to Coco. But after the small introductions that morning, he had to prepare a lot of things for Penny.

-o-

Penny stood up from her chair and stretched. It was finally daylight and she had to report to Jaune Arc's office in an hour. Her two maintenance workers had been quiet outside her room, but she could tell they were working since the early hours of the morning.

The two warrant officers immediately saluted her. It felt odd to salute them back without her uniform on. She had spent the first few hours that morning being bored. The boredom was only resolved when Penny decided to go through the clothing she purchased and tried them on. It was a novelty that had occupied her for the better part of the morning until it was time to go.

Speaking of novelties… Penny looked at the porridge in her bowl. Her spoon raised and the… slop fell in globs off her spoon. Penny did not have to eat, but the doctor had insisted that it is an exercise that she should get used to. Especially if she wanted to experience the human normalcy she desired.

Penny ate another spoonful and swallowed. A sense of taste was one of the more nuanced things that the doctor could not design well. Penny knew by analyzing her food what it should taste like. And she does have a sensation when she does eat food. But it was as nebulous as asking her if she thought flowers smelled nice. They smelled, she could describe how many particles per thousand were from the flower to get an idea of how strong the smell was, but that was it.

Penny finished the porridge and washed her bowl. Once out the door she quickly left such thoughts of taste and smell behind. The doctor assured her that she would eventually come to understand those sensations she analyzed, but it would only come with experience.

Several hours later Penny stood at attention as the small aircraft prepared for take off. Despite not having the uniform, Penny found it impossible not to salute the General.

General Ironwood returned the salute. "We look forward to seeing the results of your training Miss Polendina."

Penny radiated a vibrant smile. "I will sir! Have a safe flight."

The First Lieutenant saluted her as well with a brief sharp nod. "Take care Penny. I look forward to hear how your training experience went."

"Thank you very much Winter." Penny grinned and stood on her toes in excitement before she dropped back to flat feet adn lowered her hand.

Jaune and Ozpin shared quick words with the General before the man and his group boarded the ship and took off.

Penny was reminded they had work to do when Jaune quickly ran up to her. "We got to go Penny. Landing pad seven. The students are waiting for us."

Penny broke into a quick jog until they arrived at the designated bullhead. The students ships were waiting for take off. Penny walked inside the teachers bullhead and sat down. Glynda walked in behind the two in a slow measured pace.

"These patrols may not be needed anymore Penny but they were such a big success for training the students that Glynda and Ozpin have decided to continue them. Towards the end of the year if you are still around, you will see the second years join and mix with the third years so they get some experience."

Penny nodded as she looked out of the window to the forest below. The lush green leaves had turned bright gold color. It was nearly two hours when Jaune's scroll blipped to life.

"Team Navy clear!"

Jaune slowed in seconds. Penny jumped and landed heavily against a tree to halt her progress. The leaves swayed against their branches and fell from the impact. Penny reflexively flinched and gently patted the tree in an apology.

"Acknowledged. Team Tansy, Team Pearl?" Jaune asked into his scroll.

Jaune pulled out a map and gestured to each of the teams approximate location for Penny. Several minutes passed as the second and third teams confirmed the completed their sweeps. "See these markings here Penny? This is where we found the makings of a nest. But it was cleared out before the grim got a foothold. You'll find similar nodes when your teams do a sweep in Atlas. We had two scouting parties sweep the surrounding area before we cleared it. The last thing we wanted was for the grim's numbers suddenly surge in mid combat."

Penny nodded. "What's this marking for?"

Jaune looked at small hook mark that was scribbled on the paper map. "It's a marker I had used for some equipment I left out in the field. Thanks for reminding me. I really should go pull those back in. They were a net cast out to see if any scroll signals would be picked up by the White Fang but they never did catch anything." Jaune admitted. He ignored the embarrassed flush to his cheeks.

Penny hummed and nodded. "The scrolls in Atlas have a longer range due to the tower's size. But we are surrounded by mountains. I will make a note of those extenders and remind you again later."

Jaune laughed before he looked at his scroll. "The teams are making their way back to the bull heads. Let's head back."

Penny nodded and looked around one final time for their own sweep of the south. They had traveled the furthest from the bullheads.

On the way back to Beacon, Penny knew they entered scroll connectivity because Jaune's scroll beeped at him. Jaune gave Glynda an apologetic look for interrupting her work and looked at the message. Penny stayed silent until they were off the bullhead. Something was wrong. Jaune had stopped smiling and had been staring at the screen since he received the message.

Not even two steps off the bullhead Jaune walked ahead. "Penny, let's go see the headmaster. Glynda have a good day. Penny and I may not make it for this afternoons or even tomorrows sweep."

Glynda looked up from her own scroll. Jaune's face had been pinched and he looked tired. Glynda closed her scroll and adjusted her glasses. "I will have someone to cover for you. Don't worry about it."

Jaune started to walk away. "Let's go Penny. And thank you Glynda."

Penny started to follow along side Jaune but turned around when the blonde professor called out. "Good luck."

Jaune had kept walking and tossed a hand over his shoulder in goodbye. Penny scrambled to catch up. "What's happening?"

"I have a reply from Junior. It's not just the woman, it's all of the families. They have requested my presence tonight."

-o-

Ozpin clicked his cane while he thought about it. "I could mobilize the huntsmen again."

Jaune released a nervous laugh. "I don't want to give them a reason to feel threatened Ozpin. Penny will be the one to send a message if we need to organize the huntsmen. The families saw how we reacted last time. If they were trying to start an uprising, it's better to make sure everything we have is on reserve and not wiped at the first fight. It will be just me and Penny. We are due at Juniors tonight. Can I get a limo to give me and Penny a long run around into the city? There are things I need to share with her to catch up and not much time."

Ozpin walked up to his desk. "You will have it. Are you going now?"

"Yeah. I don't know when we'll be back. Can you make arrangements for me?"

Ozpin paused at the terminal and looked up. "You don't have to do this."

Jaune smiled and put his hands in his pockets. "Yes I do. I need to make sure or Vale will have this uncertainty hanging over their heads."

Ozpin lowered his gaze to the console. "Of course." It sounded more of a self rebuke to himself to Penny's ears.

Jaune patted Penny's shoulder. "I'll explain once we are in the car Penny. I am sorry."

-o-

Uncertainty of the unknown. Penny had decided that was what made her feel a hint of nervousness. This apprehension only increased inside the car as the glass separator from the driver to the back was sealed shut.

Jaune opened his scroll. "Sorry Penny, you are about to get a crash course in everything I know about the Families."

"Why now?" Penny asked while she opened her scroll to match his. Immediately he had started to transfer files.

"The families only asked for me. I want you to stay hidden for as long as possible. If the families are asking for me, I am not too confident about what they want from me. I am hoping they want to play ball and just finish this as quickly as possible but I am not expecting it."

Jaune sighed and ran slightly shaking hand through his hair. It was the first time Penny saw any kind emotion about their impending arrival. "The families are more than just criminals, they are old families with old money and they are bored. At least one on the Council is the head of such a family. They are the super wealthy that run cartels and conglomerates. If the Watts had contacted one of them, it would be impossible for us to find them. We need the families to find them for us."

Penny followed along the explanation. "That's why you wanted to see that one person who took the students?"

"Yeah. I need to look for changes in the families. The Cin family for example. If I could get ahold of them. It's a foot in the door. Why did the last head take such a huge risk? Who would stand to benefit? Were there other families who had something similar or had avoided disaster like the Cin? If the families are asking to see me. Someone is pushing them."

"Could the families eliminate you?"

Jaune gave a tight lipped nod. "And they are powerful enough to have the police ignore it. Ozpin may have the option to retaliate but he doesn't want a war in Vale either. Which leads to you."

Penny shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Me?"

"If I don't come back out. It's up to you to keep the investigation going. You have resources. I wish I could do more." Jaune looked at the entrance the car passed through. It took a while, but they were finally in the city. He gestured to a file he sent over the scroll. "This is everything I have on me about Watts that Ironwood passed along. The rest of the data I collected is in my room. I have a back up scroll in my nightstand I made sure it was uptodate this morning."

"You know this would happen?" Penny eyes widened.

"Not this. But Roman gave us a warning as we left. He knew we were going to meet again soon. I needed to make sure you had everything incase the worst happens."

The car halted. Penny looked at Jaune who nearly gasped at the lurch. Jaune quickly took his scroll back. "Just a second Penny." Jaune looked at the time and shook his head. "Classes would be going right now." Jaune looked at his scroll as the picture of the woman stared back at him. Jaune cleared his throat and inhaled. He started speaking with a warm calming voice. "Hey Coco! Sorry I missed you. I've been called away for a mission. Don't know the details yet. I just wanted to say I'll be out of touch! I love you." Jaune closed the scroll and stared at it. "Stay in the car Penny. I'll ask Junior or his girls to come out and keep you updated. If it's midnight. Go back to Beacon. Inform Ozpin. But the case is yours."

Penny nodded. It was not the same as crisis management she was trained for in the event of a grim attack. This was all new territory. "What if I do the wrong thing? Or mess up?"

Jaune smiled. "I could have only gotten this far because of our support team. Ask for help. Ozpin or the staff. Hell, even Junior if you can get the money. People will work with you so long as you ask questions."

Jaune looked at the door handle and grabbed it. "Hopefully this is just a scare. You can make fun of me for being dramatic later." Jaune smiled as if it was a bad joke.

"Good luck Jaune." Penny muttered as he got out. Penny watched as he closed the door behind him then disappeared inside.

-o-

Jaune walked inside. He had not worn his patrolman jersey for the for the sweep in the forest. Since Vale would not call him any time, he felt it was pointless to wear it. He wished he stopped to pick it up. He felt naked without his old destroyed hoodie, he felt powerless without his jersey walking into this den. The sisters flanked him to the elevator. No one said a word as the elevator went up to the fourth floor. The floor bled red light the moment the doors began to open.

Jaune almost asked if he was late, but the question was killed before it touched his tongue. The halls felt longer with the red light. It muted sound as much as it suppressed aura. The double doors at the end of the hallway opened for him. Inside was a high ceiling ballroom. It must have taken up at least half of the building's floor space. Jaune wondered if this was where Roman and the families went on Roman's first night at Juniors.

Junior sat arms crossed against the wall. A chair and five men in black suits and red ties stood at attention. Each armed with an axe. The pairing of Junior's semblance and their axes made more sense now that he saw them together. Huntsmen do wear armor. Dust rounds would be useless against that, aura or no. Hence the axes.

Jaune looked around to the arranged tables. Like a ball room dinner indeed. Tableware had been cleaned and quiet conversations were being made. The twins walked forward and in perfect sync called, "Announcing Beacon's Patrolman, Jaune Arc."

Jaune never felt more like a teenager than he did now. He showed up in simple civilian clothes. The only thing that identified him as a patrolman were the gloves and forearm protectors. The bandages under those chafed him against his bruised skin.

"Good evening. My presence was requested." Jaune said in greeting. He simply looked ahead. With so many people surrounding him in their seats. He could not tell who would have the power here. It was safer to look ahead than to focus on staring at anyone in particular. Especially if that person happened to be a nobody.

"Good evening Jaune." Jaune turned his head slightly. It was the woman who held the students hostage all those weeks ago.

"Good evening Lady." Jaune was escorted by the twins to a seat. Tables were cleared by servants with a single chair placed in the clearing. Jaune felt the twins hands rest on his shoulders to tell him to sit. It wasn't just him that was scared it seemed. Both of the girls tried their best to hide the tremor in their fingertips. That comforted him more than it should have. It reminded him that he had people in this room he needed to protect as well. Just do your job. He thought to himself in a mantra.

The woman smiled and stood up. "I, along with some concerned members asked for the patrolman. He had been asking questions that are close to violating the pact. I would ask he answer our questions in front of us all."

Jaune kept his eyes on the woman. Her own confident smirk waited for him to answer. Jaune cleared his throat. "The man responsible for the grim attack is named Arthur Watts. He infiltrated and guided the White Fang to attack Vale. I suspect he had tried something similar to the families."

Jaune looked around to the people in front of him. They had all stood a fair distance away from him in a circle. No one was set apart from the others like a leader or necessarily surrounded for protection like a family head.

The woman grinned. "Those are some heavy accusations." She looked over to someone who walked forward. A collaborator it seemed.

"What made you think that this Watts approached us?" The man asked. The woman frowned at her companion.

A different question than she was expecting. Juane thought. The patrolman was thankful for that. He already had an idea how to frame what he learned. "After the grim attack, I started to look for names that could be linked to it. In the investigation I found several anomalies. Estates suddenly up for sale weeks prior to the attack and sold days before the attack happened. Companies moved out of Vale over the course of the last year. Normally it would be something I could dismiss. A simple interview would have been enough to rule those groups out. But the estates were all sold under one name. It was a broker that does not exist. There is no such office or company in Vale. No names were attached to the signed documents. The same happened with several estates. Sold with no previous owner though fully furnished. No company or agency brokered the deal for those properties. As soon as the purchase went through they disappeared. You understand why I would look to the families first?"

No one seemed surprised. Jaune was disappointed they were not concerned with the news either so he continued. "Which leads me to the other bit that had me looking into the families." Jaune looked around deliberately. He spotted Roman next to three men and a woman and Neo on the opposite side of the room with another small cluster of people. She was so short, he could only see the top of her head among the tall shoulders. Jaune smiled and looked back to the woman. "The changes in the families. What caused the Cin to collapse? About a year and a half ago, the White Fang started to infiltrate the Vale security system. Their original goal was to shut down the droids and draw grim into the city through the front door."

Jaune folded his hands together. These families were deadly silent. "What did the Cin head do? He tried to commandeer the arms ring in Vale and make it his own. He was killed for it. The attack on Vale didn't just happen. It had been planned for years. Right now. I am curious. Was the Cin family possibly the conspirators I was looking for? Or the only resistance Watts found."

The woman scowled. "Why contact me?" The woman didn't flinch, but Jaune could see that several people against the walls moved.

Ah, Jaune thought. I put her in danger for just asking to meet her. Now this whole thing made sense. She needed to make the meeting public to protect herself.

Jaune looked to the woman then to the back row of people to make sure they saw him follow them. They stilled. He smiled slightly at them before he looked back to the woman. "The first night I met you, you had several associates who had attempted to start a fight with the huntsmen." Jaune offered as an olive branch.

Jaune watched the mass of people. The woman seemed to go back to her group quickly to converse with them. The patrolman waited until she returned. The hostile glare the woman wore when she walked away was smoothed. Apparently she needed a moment to recompose herself.

"Since you are here, what is it you wanted to ask me?"

"I found it curious that the families, any family would test the huntsmen and provoke Beacon. I can only see that as a test to see how Beacon would respond. How I would respond." Jaune stood up slowly. He turned around to look at the people that surrounded him. "I will be very clear with my intentions. The only enemy I am looking for are the ones that would try and destroy Vale. If I ever ask to see a member of a family it would only be for the safety of Vale."

"I've heard enough Priscilla. Thank you." The woman paused and nodded before she turned purposefully away from Jaune and walked back to the edge of people. Jaune looked to the older man. He was overweight and old. His suit jacket hung off his stomach and closed to two buttons below his belly. Grey and brown trimmed hair and short beard moved when he spoke. "Patrolman Arc. I would speak with you myself. Walk with me."

Jaune followed for a moment as the crowd returned to their conversations. Music began to play and tables were once again moved by servants to make room for the floor. Jaune ignored it all and walked next to the rounded man out of the ball room and into a small room. The red light never left the halls and even in this new room, Junior's semblance flushed the room with red light. It only marginally made Jaune feel safer.

"You have me at a disadvantage, sir." Jaune said as he took a seat at the man's waved hand to sit.

The man said matter of factly, "You would be dead if you knew who I was young patrolman."

Jaune swallowed slightly. This was more of what he was expecting when he first entered the ballroom. "Then I am relieved."

The man furrowed his brow. "I am sure you are. You said the Cin family could potentially provide a clue to what happened?"

Jaune nodded. "The time table for the White Fang starts about the same time as the Cin family head started to fight for control of the weapons cartel."

The man stewed at the information. "The Cin family has been liquidated. Only the extended family survives and only because I will it so. None of them were close to the head and none would have had information you would need."

Jaune sighed frankly. "It was a long shot at best. If I had the time before now I would have tried to speak with the family sooner."

The older man shook his head. "It was best that you didn't. You would have been seen as an associate. You would not have lived to have this conversation."

Jaune took the information at face value. "I still intend to look around the families for clues if the man Watts is still influencing the families."

"I will not stop you. The others though. They may take umbrage. I hope you are prepared for the consequences." The man's voice rumbled.

"So long as it's not the huntsmen, the pact will not be violated."

"A loophole. Some of us will not see the difference. That is my only warning."

"Thank you very much for it."

"Priscilla Aquila will be your contact among the families if you must talk with us. But only her."

Jaune blinked. "Thank you." Jaune had an awkward pause before he asked, "Who is Miss Aquila?"

The man smirked under his beard and mustache. "The girl you requested to speak to. A few people have given her a hard time for being apart of that fiasco with Beacon. This will be a good lesson."

Jaune stood up. "Thank you very much. If I may be excused?"

"You may leave Patrolman."

Jaune gave a slight bow and started to make his way to the door. One man stopped as he began to pull the door open. Jaune looked at the man who looked behind to the large leader. Jaune turned around to see the man eye him critically. "How far are you willing to protect Vale?"

-o-

Penny sat in limo for nearly five hours before she looked up at the clock. It was still twenty minutes to ten in the evening. "Driver, go ahead back to Beacon without us. We'll find our own way. Thank you for waiting for so long."

The man simply nodded with a, "Have a good evening miss."

Penny walked towards the club entrance and she inspected her dress and jacket. It wasn't too dressy for a club she hoped. There was no line this evening. She walked up to the bouncer who eyed her with skepticism. "You are a little young for this crowd girl."

Penny tilted her head in confusion. "Oh! Sorry." She pulled her scroll with her identification. It showed her as an employee of Beacon. She may look 16, but Beacon staff were treated like huntsmen.

The man frowned and pulled out a small metal bar. "Can you run your aura through this please?"

Penny nodded and extended finger. The bar glowed a warm red. The light disappeared as soon as she stopped. "Come on in, no cover needed." The bouncer stepped aside. "Have a good evening Miss Polendina."

Penny smiled brightly at him as she passed. Penny walked to the bar and took a seat. The bartender walked up. "What can I get for you Miss?"

"A water, I am waiting for someone." Penny looked at the elevator in explanation

The man frowned. "It is busy upstairs miss."

Penny smiled and pulled out her scroll. "I'll wait."

Wait she did. Penny watched the couples slow dance the night away. Not many Beacon students were there. It was mostly civilians who wanted to work off the stress of their day job. Many people began to disperse by a quarter to one in the morning. Penny just watched the dance floor as it slowly emptied. It looked fun. It was a pity she would never get the chance to dance. Not if she swung her arms like she did during her spar with Jaune.

The place was beginning to close down for the night as two in the morning passed. The bartender seemed fine waiting for her to leave. At one point as the couples were leaving he even offered to pass on a message. Penny found herself politely declining the offer. She needed to know what happened to Jaune.

The first sign Penny saw that she may see Jaune was the sudden activity at the elevator. It opened every few minutes to reveal richly dressed men and women walked out in small groups.

Penny sat by herself and watched as the upper level lights were slowly turned off. There was still no Jaune. That caused all sorts of emotions Penny was not familiar with to curdle in her stomach. She did not even know those could mix together at the same time.

Penny exhaled and looked over to the man on the other side of the table. "I would like to speak to Junior. Tell him Penny wants to know what happened to her friend." The bartender nodded and excused himself.

Some friend. Penny cursed to herself. She followed instructions but she sorely wished she was able to do something other than just waiting. The elevator opened and the bartender walked up to her.

"Junior is ready to see you ma'am." The man led the way into the elevator and opened the box to send a call upstairs. The elevator clanked and then ascended. Penny walked out of the elevator into an office space. The door closed quietly behind her. An office room light lit one end of the hall at the end. The only other light was one that barely lit part of the hallway next to the elevator. Penny walked purposefully to see the twin women look up and step back from Junior's table. Junior was in the middle of drinking something that was dark as amber in his glass.

"Good morning. I have a message for you from Jaune."

"Is he alive?"

The twins shared a hissed breath at the question. "Yes." Said one in red.

"I don't know what happened when Jaune left to speak to someone in private. But he came to see me before he left in the early evening. Jaune said that they wanted him out of the picture for the next five days without killing him. Don't use the huntsmen. Good luck Patrolman Polendina."

Penny nodded. It was only as she tried to say something did she realized she had covered her mouth with her hands in shock. Penny tried her best to focus. "Do we know what will happen to him after the five days?"

Junior shook his head. "I am sorry girl. I wish I had more information for you."

Penny nodded. She felt dumb for doing so. But it was all she could do at the moment. "Thank you for letting me know Mr. Junior. I- I need to go. I have work to do."

Penny was out the door. She needed to get outside. She needed some air. She needed to just be away from here. The elevator was agonizing slow as it made its descent to the first floor. Penny took the ride to force herself to slow down her thinking. She could be sad for Jaune later. She needed to find out what will happen before five days have passed. Why go with them Jaune?

Penny started to run out of the building and down the street. The bull heads would be closed and she needed to get back to Beacon. Penny ran into an alley and planted both of her feet and crouched before her body ascended into the air with a mighty jump up to the roof. What could possibly have been the reason you would willingly leave with them without even saying a word?

She quickly took off her jacket that Bernedette so painstakingly chose for her to impress Jaune. It was confusing at the time and that is what stuck with her. Everything was so confusing. Penny's mind raged as she kicked off the roof into the air. Two black bars that were strapped to her back flew and locked into position behind her and unfolded into two compact jets that revved to life in green energy. Penny rocketed to Beacon. At the bottom of her vision, Penny could see the green lights that reflected off the surface of the lake as she flew by. Can I do this?

Penny ignored the instruction to talk to the headmaster. She was already afraid that Jaune would be right. That Mr. Ozpin would allow Jaune to die to keep the peace. It was the right decision, a part of her assaged her guilty conscience. At the same time it was all so wrong. "I need his notes." Penny tried to reason. She ran up the flights of stairs. The elevator was too slow. At his floor she came to a stop in front of Jaunes apartment. She stopped when she realized she didn't have a key. She tried the door knob anyway. It was locked. Penny extended two threads of thin wire from her wrist. They slid into the keyhole as Penny found the right combination of pins to unlock the door. The door swung open with no resistance.

As soon as Penny walked in she recognized there was someone in Jaunes apartment. All of the confused panicked thoughts halted. The life sign was in a room to the side. Penny walked forward quietly and moved up to rooms' door that was still ajar.

The sound of light even breathing broke the silence of the apartment. Penny pushed the door open further and found a woman sleeping on the bed. She held a pillow tightly to her chest. Penny recognized her from one of the photos on Jaune's wall.

"Jaune… Love you." she murmured sleepily as she pulled the pillow closer.

Penny stopped and watched the woman. Penny finally had a face to the voice Jaune called before he walked into Juniors. This was the one person Jaune loved. Penny looked around while the woman slept. The room was nearly as barren as the living room.

Penny moved around the bed and found what Jaune described as the back up scroll. Penny left the room and was relieved that the breathing of the woman did not change. She was almost out of the door to his apartment when she saw something else she may need. On the floor next to a pile of laundry was a blue vest.

Penny was not sure what she was thinking when she grabbed it. She just felt she would need it. Penny was unsure what her next step will be. She hoped that the notes in the scroll would give her a direction.

"I'm really doing this. Aren't I?" Penny marveled at the thought. She looked at the shirt and realized why she grabbed it. She had already accepted she would do this on her own if she had to. She found the open end and slid it on. The patrolman jersey sagged against her petite frame. Penny's jets carried her to the other side of the campus. Penny touched down in front of her hangar in the early hours of the morning. Her jets that floated above her back collapsed back into two folded black bars that sat on her back on top of the blue jersey.

The warrant officers were long gone and the platform looked complete. Penny walked up to it as it came to life. The terminal station was a massive computer that utilized hardlight dust for all of the interfaces. The edge of the platform came to life as several hardlight screens appeared around the rim of the platform. A hardlight table appeared in front of her. She set her jacket in a neat folded pile on it then set Jaune's scroll on the table too. The table changed to connect to the scroll. With a thought she commanded the computer to start the transfer of all of its files to the computer. Several screens began to form around Penny. Four screens sat only as outlined boxes and unused. Penny stared at those blank screens. She would need permission before she actually started to access what she wanted from those terminals.

Penny found what Jaune had thought about what could happen if one family could start a war. She placed them on a screen. Another group of notes consisted of what it could look like if the uprising was from multiple families. That had its own terminal. "So many things to look and make sense of." Penny finally said after an hour of dead silence.

Penny looked at the clock. It was nearly five o'clock in the morning. "This is a first. I am actually glad I am an android. Jaune could probably only get ten hours of searching done a day." Penny closed four terminals. The hardlight blinked out of existence before a large one formed. A large detailed map of the city formed. Penny started marking different points to look into once daylight appeared. "I get twenty four."

Penny exhaled and looked at the map of Vale before she started to place markers on it. "I can do this."

Penny ignored the hiccup that escaped her throat.

A/N: Finally! This chapter is so late. I wanted this out before the start of VOL 7 and all I could do was swear as things happened in the show. Oh well. I am pretty behind schedule for the story. Real life happened unfortunately. Next chapter should be mid January. If I'm lucky I can still squeeze it out at the end of December.

As a joke during a discord conversation a friend and I laughed at the idea of Jaune and Penny being junior detectives. That seemed to have stuck with me and found its way into the story. Penny had been the plan for a while now. She feels like she is one of those hard characters to write since there are so few interactions of her in the show, and the ones that we see are mostly with just Ruby.