The Beacon dormitories were ripe with potential loot. The moment the sappers had blown through the debris, Cardin and his fellow contractors rushed in ahead of the waiting RDF platoon to clear the remaining Grimm. Nothing serious. As soon as the last of the soulless beasts ceased to move, the mercenaries and the infantrymen commenced their systematic looting.

Though, not much could be salvageable. Other than a few broken trinkets, some dusty jewelry, outdated lien, and the mess of tattered clothes, there was not much of value. That was until a couple of RDF soldiers meandered into a room where a few personal effects caught the eye of a certain Private Dern.

"Holy shit. Hey, Fritz! Come look at this!"

Corporal Fritz made his way across the room to his squad mate. In his hand was a set of faded printed photographs salvaged from a tin box in one of the drawers. Both men went pale after seeing the faces on them—this confirmed whose room this previously belonged to.

"Is that...Lieutenant Red?" Fritz gulped.

"I know, man. And that's the Captain right there," said Dern.

The photographs were clearly marred by age but still held the full image. Two dorky-looking teenagers in stupid poses. And their friends joining in later shots. No doubt about it; those were two bright silver eyes and that one held a white shield with a very familiar crescent emblem.

"This is...LT's old dorm room."

"No shit, man. Look at all this..."

"Never thought I'd see them...like this..."

"Adorable, huh."

Fritz cracked a smile and so did Dern. "Yeah, man. Cute, too."

They flicked through the pictures. "Check it. Teenaged Cap and LT in school uniforms." A laugh. "Man, the Captain must've been a klutz back in the day. He keeps getting his ass handed to him."

"To think he's handing us our own asses on a silver platter," mused Dern.

"Whoa. Are these their teammates?"

Both soldiers squinted their eyes to see. They were old enough to recognized the previous (and most famous) mascot of Pumpkin Pete's. Pyrrha Nikos, her soul rest in peace even though they barely knew her outside of her marketing. Fritz raised a brow as he ran a finger at the expression on the late champion's face.

"What is it?"

"I think the Captain had a girl crushin' on him."

Dern snatched the photo out of the bunch. "No shit, really? Holy shit. She's got them goo-goo eyes."

"Captain's first girlfriend?"

"Maybe."

The corporal whistled. "Celeb for a first girlfriend? Man, I'd be devastated if my chick ended up dying the way she did."

A sigh from the private. "Yeah, I can understand that. Guess that's why the Captain's so uptight."

"That ginger over there." Fritz clicked his tongue. "Well, she's got that green guy in a bear hug."

"Check out LT's teammates, though. Damn. Is that..." Dern felt his eyes bug out of its sockets. "Hey, that's the General's sister!"

"What!?"

"The General's little sister!"

"General Schnee? Give me that!" The corporal snatched the image to see and yes, it was exactly who he thought it was. "Holy... Weiss Schnee. Wow. She looks... She looks just about how I thought she'd look."

"Just like the General," added Dern, a cold shiver running up his spine for some reason. "Nobody crosses the Schnees, man."

"Shit, and that's gotta be LT's sister, Yang. And that right there is, uh..." He snapped his fingers, eyes running across the deserted dorm room. "Belvedere? Bellamere?"

"Bellahoozy?"

"No, no! That faunus family ran big with the White Fang back in the day."

"... Belladonna!"

"Yeah, yeah! This is that Belladonna chick! The one with the shadows."

"Holy shit. That's quite a team right there."

Both men dug through the drawers, finding more personal effects and...a journal? A few faded stickers dotted the nondescript front cover. Fritz blew off the dust and carefully pulled to the first page, revealing the name of the owner. The soldiers paled.

Property of Ruby Rose, in hearts, spirals, and colored squiggles.

"... Oh, shit..."

The moment passed in uneasy silence. Then both soldiers shared a knowing glance.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Blackmail material."

A cheshire grin creeped to the edges of Fritz's cheeks. "Oh, yeah, baby!"

Dern pumped his fist in the air. "We are gold! Now we gotta find the Captain's diary somewhere—"

"Ahem."

The two soldiers froze, all the lively color draining from their skins before they could even muster up the courage to turn on their heels. They stood at attention, their hands behind their backs to hide the potentially juicy secrets of the RDF's expert reaper who currently glared at them with the eyes of a hungry Grimm.

"Lieutenant!" they squeaked more than saluted.

The red demon paced towards them, taking her time, until she was less than a foot from their faces. Those silver pupils bore into their souls, eliciting streaks of sweat that beaded down their foreheads. She held her hand. "My personal effects. Please."

Fritz gulped. Dern nudged him.

"Do I have to repeat myself?"

If it wasn't for the built-in filtration system in their bodysuits, their piss would be running down their legs to their boots. The corporal shakily handed the reaper the photographs.

"And you, private? My diary?"

Dern prayed to all that was divine and holy to spare him her wrath. His survival instincts advised him to keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, his paralyzing fear brought on by Red's signature glare disabled any rational thought. "I didn't look, ma'am!"

Fritz kept from snapping his head at him. But he did see the flash of emotion across Ruby Rose's face. Well, it was nice knowing you, Dern.

"I'm sure you didn't," she seethed through clenched teeth as her journal finally landed in her open palm.

She turned on her heels and marched to the door, stopping shortly to say, "I expect you both to behave appropriately. Do not test my patience again." Then she angled her head over her shoulder towards them and said, "And thank you. For finding these."

With a smile.

With a fucking smile.

The red demon smiled and walked off.

First Lieutenant "Red" Ruby Rose, experienced Huntress, castrater of unruly men, and the waking nightmare of every undisciplined soldier gave them a warm smile of pure gratitude and relief.

Had Fritz and Dern been more grizzled, they would have taken the compliment in prideful stride. Of course, they were both grunts with only a year of field experience who greatly feared Red's wrath. So that left them stunned, confused, and gawking like fishes out of water. Another couple minutes passed before their brains finally processed what had happened.

"Uh, Dern?"

"Yeah, Fritz?"

"We, uh... We don't talk about this."

"Agreed."

Both men released a long built-up sigh then walked out of the corridor. In time to see Captain Arc coldly chewing out another squad for digging through the drawers of the room across from them, a set of faded photographs pinched between their commander's fingers.

ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: March 8, 2018

LAST EDITED: May 8, 2018

INITIALLY UPLOADED: March 8, 2018

NOTE: This chapter idea came up last night before I was about to go to sleep. I had to write it down. Anyway, hope you like it. Can't guarantee I'll be adding more after this, though. I've got other fics to work on.