It has been awhile since I got back into this game. I've mostly been posting chapters from my other stories.

So...please enjoy! Also, don't be afraid to leave me some feedback on what you thought, as well as suggestions for upcoming chapters. I'm always willing to hear what you have to say and see if it helps my stories.

Diego watched with amusement and pride as Team RWBY wrecked the opposing team in the arena below him. He was among the spectators and was getting quite the front-row seat. He was waving and shouting loudly at the spectacle before him, which caused a few people to stare at him, but he didn't care. Besides, it was part of his means of blending in with the crowd. Usually he'd be the quiet one in the crowd and in the back, where the authorities would expect to find him. But this time, Diego decided to let some of his happier side shine through today. He watched as a final punch from Yang knocked the remaining members of the enemy team out of the arena and the crowd cheered.

"Yeah!" he yelled, "That's my girl!"

A man nearby gave him a look for a second, before turning back to cheer for the team. Diego didn't care. The tournaments were his favorite spectacles to watch and he always enjoyed watching the outcomes. Although, he also did it partially to observe the tactics of both sides and see what their flaws were or what decisions they had made that ultimately led to their defeat. So far, he had several that he could pin on both teams, but none that he was willing to share at the moment. Besides, he knew that eventually his time in the ring would be coming about, thanks to Ozpin's acceptance of his registration some time prior to the event. He had decided to take on a very rare challenge in the ring: a 1v4 challenge, where it would be himself against a team of four. Diego loved these challenges. It allowed him to test his abilities against skilled warriors and also see just how well trained the huntsmen and huntresses were. It was essentially a two-for-one scenario for him; he got to see how much he had improved or deteriorated over the years, and at the same time check up on the status of the huntsmen and huntresses from each kingdom. Diego watched as team RWBY left the arena and headed for the many pavilions outside that had been placed up for the occasion. Diego followed their example, but from a distance and after a short while. Thanks to Ironwood, the Vale security was high for this year's tournament and Diego was forced to be much more cautious than before. He couldn't afford to have his cover blown yet. No, he still had some business to take care of.

But he first had to wait in a specific place for the right moment...

"Guess Weiss's family is really desperate to talk to her if they're going to go as far as suspend her account," Diego chuckled after watching the short issue concerning Weiss's payment problem. He had decided to grab something to eat before heading out for a while and the festival pavilions happened to be the most convenient place to go to. Apparently, everyone thought so as well, because all of his friends had arrived as well. Keeping a low profile for the fun of it, Diego walked up behind Yang and performed a little trick he had done to her once before out of play: he covered her eyes from behind.

"Hey!" Yang protested, managing to get his hands off her eyes and turned to look. However, at first she saw nothing. Then a voice came from another seat nearby.

"Peekaboo! Did Goldilocks come through?"

This time they all saw him, sitting in a seat across from them with a large grin on his face.

"Diego!" they all shouted as they rushed to him and pulled him into a big group hug.

"Hey girls," he said, "I missed seeing you around."

"We did too," Ruby replied as they pulled away.

"So, what brings you here?" Yang asked.

"It's the festival," Diego stated as he looked around, "I wouldn't miss this opportunity. Besides, I'm signed up in the tournament."

The girls gasped.

"Really? How'd you get in?" Weiss asked.

"Ozpin managed to make a deal with someone who works the tournament. Also, I may have cheated a bit with the systems."

"Which challenge are you doing?" Blake asked. Diego smiled.

"I chose the 1v4 challenge, something no one has taken on for...almost forever. I'm not sure which team will be chosen to fight me, but I'm sure that it will be a fight to remember."

"Well, we'll be cheering you on!" Ruby said.

"Hey, why don't you join us?" Yang suggested, "We were just about to watch Team JNPR in the ring."

Diego sighed. "As much as I'd love to, I'm afraid that I must decline. Oz apparently needs me for something important, and it's best not to keep him waiting. But, I'd be more than happy to come on by afterwards."

"Oh. Well, catch you later then!" Yang replied.

Diego smiled and walked out towards Beacon, disappearing from view as he blended in with the crowd as if he was never there. Although, as he left, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Due to the way things had been going lately, Diego and Yang had not been able to spend much time with each other...or more time than their conditions would allow at the moment. It pained him in a sense, although he understood that it was for greater purposes.

"That doesn't make it feel right though," he muttered to himself, as he cast one final glance back at his golden-haired beauty...

Diego listened in the shadows as the group of leaders argued among themselves in Ozpin's office about a fight that had occurred earlier between two individuals he had not seen for quite some time. Well, one of them at least. Diego had noticed the skirmish between Winter Schnee and Qrow and had found it to be quite interesting. He had always preferred Qrow over the others, even Ozpin. Sure, he frowned upon Qrow's excessive alcohol consumption, but besides that he enjoyed the man's company...whenever he wasn't passed out. Diego sighed as he listened carefully to what the group was saying. Why did Ironwood have to be there? Couldn't he be somewhere more convenient?

"You've been out of contact for weeks! You can't just go dark like that in the field," Ironwood stated.

"I'm not one of your special operatives, Jimmy," Qrow retaliated.

"General," Winter corrected.

"Whatever. You sent me to get intel on our enemy, and I'm telling you our enemy is here."

"We know," Ironwood stated.

"Oh! Oh, you know." Qrow sounded irritated. "Well, thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!"

"Qrow-"

"Communication's a two-way street, pal. You see this? That's the send button."

"They had reason to assume you'd been compromised," Winter informed.

"And I have reason to assume you don't need to be here. Seriously, who invited her?"

There was a short pause, then Ironwood said, "Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back on my ship."

"But sir...!"

"Winter, leave."

"Yes sir."

Winter gave a salute and left the room, not knowing that she passed within an inch of where Diego was watching the events unfold. Qrow looked back to Ironwood.

"Go on," Ironwood said.

"Your infiltrator isn't just another pawn. They're the one responsible for Autumn's condition."

Qrow started drinking from his bottle, while the room was in shock.

"What?" Goodwitch was surprised. Diego also was surprised as he made the connection.

The girl from the dance night! I knew there was something off about her! But what about Autumn? Is she still okay?

Not being able to stand it any longer, he stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself.

"Autumn? Is she...?" Diego started, but then realized the extent of the trouble he had put himself into. Ironwood immediately pulled out a firearm and pointed it at him. Qrow just seemed to see it as a long awaited expectation, while Goodwitch and Ozpin weren't in the least surprised.

"What's he doing here?!" Ironwood demanded.

"Autumn is fine for now, Diego," Goodwitch said in a somewhat reassuring tone.

"Put the gun away, Ironwood," Ozpin ordered, "I asked him to be present."

"What?!" Ironwood looked to Ozpin with utter disbelief. "You asked him to come? So he can give away our plans!"

"Listen Ironwood!" Diego shouted, catching the general's attention and causing him to turn around, "You don't like me and I sure as h*ll don't like you, but I'm not with Her! Not after what she did to me. But right now, you need my help, whether you like it or not. Besides, while I may have lost your trust long ago, I'm still a part of all this."

The kid looked to Qrow and managed a small smile. The drunkard smiled and gave Diego a short fist bump.

"Diego," Qrow stated, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show up again."

"Well, I have your nieces to thank for that," Diego replied, "Especially the older one."

Qrow gave him a look when he said that, then sighed with a slight chuckle and said, "We'll talk about that later."

Qrow turned back to the majority of the group as Diego walked over besides Goodwitch and listened to what Qrow had to say.

"Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers or generals or headmasters, or even vigilantes in Diego's case. The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies; we're the one's that keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about. It's why we meet behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows, why we fight on the opposite side of the law." He looked to Ironwood. "So you tell me, James, when you brought your army to Vale, did you think your were being discreet or did you just not give a d**m?"

Ironwood stared at him, then placed a scroll on the table.

"Discreet wasn't working," he said as a map of Vale appeared. He walked over and gestured to it. "I'm here because this is what was necessary."

"You're here because Ozpin wanted you here," Diego replied, "He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us."

"And I am grateful," Ironwood stated.

"Oh well, you've got a real funny way of showing it," Qrow snapped.

"Personally, I'd have preferred that you were using your army to hunt me down James," Diego said, "Because this is going too far."

"Tempting," Ironwood muttered before continuing, "The people of Vale needed someone to protect them, someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will feel our strength."

Diego and Qrow laughed when they heard this, although Diego's almost made him sound like he was crazy.

"You think they're scared of your little ships? Diego asked, "Qrow's been out there and I was once personally among her ranks! He's seen the things she's made and I've personally helped her with some of them before I escaped her clutches, and let me tell you...they are fear."

"And fear will bring the Grimm," Ozpin explained, "A guardian is a symbol of comfort, but an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now, a question in the back of everyone's minds: If this is the size of our defenses, what is it we're expecting to fight?"

Ironwood sighed and took the scroll off the table, but Diego noticed a symbol appear on its screen temporarily when he did. He felt that it was familiar somehow...

"So then, what do you suggest we do?" Ironwood asked.

"I suggest we find our guardian," Ozpin stated bluntly.

"I agree," Diego nodded as he looked out the window.

"Because at this rate, things might get ugly..."

Things are getting close to becoming a war zone.

"What? Oh, no no, Sergeant! No Grimm here!"

I'm not the Sergeant, but I'll let it slide. Anyways, review and all that good stuff, and I'll catch ya later!

Peace!