AN EYE FOR AN EYE

This is it, the most important day of this mission. I'm about to juggle two different tasks at the same time. Team RWBY or the mission, and I decided to choose both. Money is difficult to turn down when you and your family's welfare is on the line, but so does turning down friends. It's a romantic notion, thinking that everything will work out in the end and the power of friendship will overcome any obstacle that comes to pass. But life doesn't work that way.

[Cousin N: I'm in position]

I looked down on my scroll, as I read Neo's text. I kept myself at the back of the group, as me and the rest of Team RWBY- minus Blake, walked down the streets of downtown Vale, awaiting the proper time to execute our plans to rescue Blake tonight.

[Stand by. Almost in position.]

I replied then quickly slipped my scroll back in my pocket, carelessly walking without looking at the same time - a mistake that would eventually lead into me, bumping into Ruby who abruptly stopped walking.

"Sorry Ruby, wasn't really paying attention there."

I quickly looked up and tried to apologize, but she doesn't seem too bothered about it, cause she herself wasn't paying attention. She was more focused on the person right in front of her than the one that bumped her.

"P-Penny..."

Penny Polendina smiled, excited to see us. She raised her hand and rendered a salute.

"Sal-u-ta-tions! Friends!"

No.

"What're you guys up to?"

Ruby, still concerned, hesitantly answered back.

"We're looking for our friend Blake."

Penny raised an eyebrow, trying to remember who Blake is till she finally placed a face on a name.

"Oh, you mean the faunus girl?"

The four of us stared at Penny, wondering how in the world she figured that out, till finally, Ruby's curiosity couldn't be contained any longer, and she finally asked the question the three of us have been itching to ask.

"How did you know?"

Penny pointed at the top of her head then answered back as if it so matter of fact.

"The cat ears?"

Yang laughed a little after hearing what she had to say, then attempted to correct her.

"What cat ears? She wears a bo- ohhhh."

I had an inkling that Blake was a faunus, based off of her knowledge of the race's history in our classes. That, and her passion about them is so deep that she could only have been a faunus or raised by one. No, I was pretty confident she was one before she even blurted it out. Though, I have to admit, this obvious fact escaped my mind as well. A bow IS the perfect way to hide cat ears. I just thought she had a tail folded on her back or something like that.

"She does like tuna a lot..."

Ruby whispered.

"You said she's missing Ruby? Well don't you worry my friend, I won't rest till we find your teammate!"

Well, no. It's time to bail. I tapped both Yang and Weiss's shoulders and quietly suggested we leave, but before I could say anything, the two were already shaking their heads and were getting ready to leave anyways. We ran as fast as we could, laughing our heads off till we turned the corner at the end of the block. We all rested our hands at our knees, huffing and puffing, then looked at each other, worried whether or not leaving Ruby there was the right call.

"What about the plan? Should we get Ruby back?"

Weiss questioned me. I wiped the tears off of my eyes after laughing so hard, while I secretly sent a message to Neo behind their backs to set the plans I had in motion.

"It'll be fine for now, we have a couple of hours. We'll text her and meet up later. Besides-"

Before I could even finish my sentence, a person, whom I assumed to be Neo, wearing the uniform of a white fang grunt ran right in front of us.

"WHITE FANG!"

Yang yelled while she and Weiss quickly chased the person in question. Before she could close in however, two more members of the white fang sprinted across us, stopping Weiss and Yang in their tracks. I continued to chase the one who I knew was Neo and made a beeline towards the alleyway while I turned my head towards my teammates.

"I got this! You two go chase after the other guys!"

With a nod, Weiss and Yang immediately chased after the decoys, as I slowed down on the nearest corner in the alleyway.

"Ghost is clear-"

I cut myself off, surprised that Neo already dropped her disguise. She had a bag in her hand that contained all the gear I needed for my... secondary operation tonight. Without hesitation, I grabbed the bag out of her hands and stared at her with a straight face.

"Let's go."

Hours passed and night took over all of Vale. I stood on top of the tallest construction crane on the abandoned docks, as my robe danced gently with the cool ocean breeze. Perched on top of this crane, I can see fully all that I need to see, and thanks to my OWL eyes, I can see just as well as a faunus could at night. So clearly, in fact that Blake and Sun's efforts to hide themselves became pointless.

"Roman. They're here."

I placed my finger on the side of my mask, and contacted Roman through my radio.

"Well then. Let's give them a show, shall we?"

As soon as Roman's voice crossed through my radio channels, three cargo ships flew over my head and swiftly landed on the open bay below me. I stood there motionless, patiently waiting for the right opportunity to intervene. The mission is simple: make sure Roman's operation goes off without a hitch, and make sure Team RWBY is safe. Right now, Blake being here is the only problem so far, one that's easily handled. The decoys are doing their job perfectly, steering Weiss and Yang away long enough that this heist is sailing as smooth as it can be. Everything is going according plan, but in this profession, it's naive to think that plans always follow through their intended course. Something always goes wrong, even in times when a plan is followed through and through, it's often an indication that something has already gone wrong. You just haven't caught it yet.

And sure enough, out of the corner of my eyes. I spot the first stain in my plans.

"PENNY! WAIT!"

Her persistence never seizes to amaze me. Inspiring, truly, but Ezra I am not. Tonight… tonight, I must put my feelings aside and stand as OWL. Even if it is against my friends.

"Penny! I said wait!"

Ruby struggled to keep up with a charging Penny. She galloped across the docks without even so much as catching a breath. She looked back at Ruby without losing the smile across her face and waved at her.

"Hurry Ruby, I see the White Fang! And your teammate Blake!"

It seems Penny's making a beeline towards the inevitable fight that Roman, Blake, and Sun were having. Two against one is hardly fair, but Roman is effortlessly holding his own. That however, will change the moment Penny and Ruby join in. Meaning I have little choice but to fight, so with the intent of not losing anymore time, I jumped off of my spot and glided through the sky, and swiftly landing right in front of Penny.

"HALT!"

Penny yelled as her shoes slid against the concrete beneath her. The smile on her face was gone, her brows furrowed, and her eyes pointed at me like an animal ready pounce on her prey at any moment.

"Penny, what is it?"

Ruby bent down, exhausted and breathing heavily, desperately trying to catch her breath. She slowly walked besides Penny as she lifted her head, and in that brief moment, her eyes cleared and her gaze met mine.

"Wh-who are you?"

Ezra. Underneath this mask at least, but she's never gonna know that.

"OWL."

Hearing my name from someone other than my employers is definitely enough to pique my interest. Using the voice alteration device in my mask, I asked.

"You know my name?"

Penny simply nodded in response. She slowly spread her feet apart and raised both her hands, palms facing forward, ready to fight at any moment.

"Of course. According to the Atlas criminal database, the mercenary OWL is guilty of multiple counts of theft, arson, espionage, assault, and treason. You've been recently active in my home. It is my duty to put you down and bring you to the police. Resist, and I will personally see to it that you no longer will be able to commit more heinous crimes."

Flattering, though heinous is a bit too old fashioned for me. Penny slowly bent her knees, getting ready to launch herself at any moment. Three swords began to float out of her backpack that twirled gracefully in the air before stopping themselves the instant the blades' tip were pointed at me. I too, would pull out my sword, but seeing as how Ruby and Blake are here, that would be a pretty dumb decision on my part. In times like these, I brandished a special weapon that I'm only allowed to use as OWL. I pulled out a white painted gauntlet and braced it against my right arm. The weapon itself is a perfect fit all the way to my finger tips, where sharp talons immediately protruded as soon as I twisted the weapon, locking it in place.

"Penny, I think we should call for help."

Concerned, Ruby placed her hand on Penny's shoulder. Penny on the other hand had other ideas. She looked back at Ruby one more time and smiled.

"Don't worry Ruby, I'm combat ready!"

And with that, Penny rushed towards me at an incredible speed. Before she could land, she tossed two of her swords at me like missiles. I backflipped away to dodge her attacks, but in the time it took for me to move away, Penny was already right in my face, gracefully swinging her hands left and right as her swords danced along with them, forcing me to constantly back pedal away.

"You're pretty agile OWL! How about this!?"

She ducked down and dashed forward with all three of her blades positioned right in front of her, forcing me to jump away. Little did I know that that was her goal. Two more swords ejected out of her backpack rocketing up towards me.

"Nope!"

I pointed my gauntlet at one of the blade, aiming the muzzle that's placed above my wrist, shooting the sword, and knocking it off course, while I quickly slapped the other one away with my talons. I swung my robe open, changing its form into that of a shape of a bird's wings, swiftly changing the timing of when I landed, catching Penny off guard. The moment I saw Penny stutter and hesitate, I instantly closed my robe and pointed my gauntlet up and shot a round that propelled me downward at a speed that Penny wasn't expecting.

I aimed my talons at her face, but she hastily clumped all her swords together, forming a makeshift shield, blocking my attack. As soon as I landed on the ground, I shot another round at her swords, scattering them around and breaking her shield. I rapidly slashed my talons left and right, forcing Penny to back away. this time around, it was her who was on the defensive. With her eyes focused on my right arm, I randomly threw an uppercut on her jaw with my off hand that connected cleanly, but as expected, a human's arm ain't really strong enough to knock a robot off her feet, but it did rattle her… and my hand.

"Ow."

Before she could react, I punched her gut and fired a bullet that sent her flying backwards, but not before I grabbed one of her swords with my left hand and severed the wire attached to it with my talon.

"That's more like it."

Penny lifted her head and wiped her face with her hand. She grinned at me, almost as if she's enjoying the fight. She rolled backwards while she swiftly stood up at the same time, with more of her swords behind her back.

"Round 2 OWL! No need to hold back now."

Indeed. We both ran as fast as we can at each other, but just before we collided, I slid down on my knees, slashing the sword on my left hand at her ankles. Seeing this, Penny instantly jumped up, tilting her body horizontally in the air, as she gracefully spun above me. She swung her hands downwards, as she was landing causing all her swords to slam down on me, but I was able to block most of them and dodge the others.

[OWL! It's about time we end this!]

Roman yelled through the radio. As annoying as he is, he's right. I have to end my fight as well, before he seriously hurt Blake and Sun. I focused my attention at Penny who began throwing her swords at me with pinpoint accuracy. I jumped back and used my semblance and created a small mist around me thanks to the ocean water right beside docks, completely hiding me from Penny's view.

"Where are you? Coward!"

Her insults mean nothing. Winning is winning. I throw her sword straight at her, which she quickly dodged. Impressive, seeing as how the blade came from the mist, giving her almost no time to react, but I expected that she would. It was never my intention to hit her with it. It was however, my intention to sneak up behind her and slash her face.

"GOT YOU!"

Slashing her eyes should be an easy repair, yet would be severe enough that it would disable her here, effectively ending the fight. I can see it now, the tips of my talons mere inches away from Penny's horrified eyes. Inches away from victory.

"NO YOU DON'T!"

I was too distracted by Penny that I failed to take in account that there was another person here. All of a sudden, I could feel a sudden pressure from the side of my gut, so strong that my head was forced to tilt towards the direction of where that pressure… that pain was coming from, and to my surprise, I saw Ruby with both her foot placed squarely right across the side of my body, her scythe fully extended outwards. It would seem she launched herself with her weapon to save Penny and knocked me down to ground. She hit me with so much force that I rolled dozens of feet away, knocking the air out of my lungs.

"Are you alright Penny?"

Ruby grabbed Penny and pulled her up. Penny nodded and resolved herself once more to fight me, this time, with Ruby. The two charged at me together with Ruby effortlessly twirling her scythe right in front her. Her weapon is heavy, too heavy for my gauntlets to block effectively. Her strikes are slowly knocking me off balance, while Penny on the other hand jumped up high in the air, constantly bombarding me with her swords. Ruby's close range attacks and Penny's long range support coupled with the fact that Ruby's last attack probably fractured a couple of my ribs, if not outright break them, put me in a disadvantage that was simply too much for me, even if I used my semblance now, it still wouldn't be enough and soon, the two of them overpowered and cornered me easily.

"Give up OWL."

Ruby pointed the muzzle on her scythe right at my face, as I fell down and grabbed the side of my body, desperately gasping for air. The plan is definitely going haywire, and it seems that I've been defeated. Soundly.

[What are you doing down there OWL! Hurry up and let's go! Look UP!]

Hearing the sound of Roman's voice jolted the pain out of my chest. The immense force of the turbulence that was blowing out of the cargo ship's propellers surprised the three of us, as it hovered above. I looked up and saw that Roman was hanging on one of the side doors with his arms stretched out. I instinctively grabbed one of my wired grappling hooks in my back pocket and loaded it on my gauntlet, quickly launching it upwards towards Roman's hand. I pushed a button on the side of my belt activating the motor on my belt to pull me off the ground, catching both Ruby and Penny off guard.

"AH! NO!"

In a panic, Ruby blindly swung her scythe, trying to cut the wire, but instead, clipped the side of my mask and it's left eye. Only fitting that she got one of my eyes after I tried to blind Penny. An eye for an eye.

"You're not getting away!"

Penny yelled at the top of her lungs. She swung her arms in front of her, causing her swords to spin around her back before finally focusing their tip at our ship. In a panic, I grabbed hold of whatever sturdy piece of metal I could and yelled at Roman.

"Move the ship!"

Without looking back at me, Roman yelled back.

"Way ahead of you bud."

The instant our ship tilted, beams of fiery green energy began to erupt out of the blades on Penny's sword, missing us by mere inches. I looked at the two of them as the doors began to close, and was met by a gaze from Ruby that pierced through my mask... through my soul. Her eyes were full of anger, sadness, and fear yet also somehow was very passionate, fierce, and oozed determination. It's eerily similar to the looks Cinder gives me. Frightened me it did not, but something about it made me question the integrity of what I was doing.

"For my family..."

I whispered to myself, rationalizing what I'm doing and to not be swayed by Ruby's paralyzing gaze. Roman walked closer to me the moment he deemed we were far enough from the fight. The grin on his face seem to indicate that he didn't hear what I said to myself.

"Ohohoho. Good job, though it would seem like you took quite a beating down there. Are you alright?"

The sarcasm in his voice made it pretty obvious that his concern for my well being wasn't real, and it would be stupid of me to expect anything remotely close to something emotionally legitimate from Roman other than his displeasure of working with me.

"I'm fine."

I replied while I grabbed on to my ribs.

"Look, you don't have to pretend we like each other, so let's just get this over with and drop me off the location we discussed will you."

Roman rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders as a sign of compliance, and dropped me off to an alleyway far enough that we would be out of sight from any policeman and other prying eyes.

I immediately took off my gear, patched myself up and switched to the makeshift Beacon Academy uniform that professor Goodwitch hates so much and quickly made my way to docks. Just in time for me to meet up with Weiss and Yang.

"Ezra! You're bleeding!"

As soon as I made my way towards them, Ruby rushed beside me and stared at the wound under my left eye. Funnily enough, she was the one that gave me this wound. Here's to hoping she wouldn't be able to put two and two together.

"I'm good. I got split off from Yang and Weiss and I got into a scuffle with one of the White Fang thugs. I'm okay though, no worries."

Ruby nodded, opting to let the topic go, but only because Yang waved her hand at us, urging me and Ruby to join the rest of the team where Blake and Weiss were having another confrontation. This time, it would seem Blake is less inclined to have another shouting match with Weiss.

"Weiss listen, I'm no longer part of the White Fang-"

Blake tried to explain, but in classic Weiss fashion, she interrupted her.

"Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" She paused, then began talking again before Blake could answer back. "36 hours! That means I've had 36 hours to think about this, and I've decided..."

Weiss furrowed her brows. All of us looked concerned as to what she might say next, but to everyone's surprise…

"I don't care. You said you're not with the White Fang anymore right?"

Blake vigorously shook her head in response, still not being able to utter a response to what Weiss said.

"Great… then promise me. Promise that when something big comes up that you'll come to us first, because as Ezra said..."

Everyone then shifted their gaze towards me.

"You being a faunus doesn't invalidate the feelings we shared with each other… as Team RWBY. Faunus or not, I like to think that the five of us are teammates... friends."

I jam both my hands in my pocket and looked down, while I gave them a smug look in a desperate attempt to hide my embarrassment. With all eyes on me, I felt it was my obligation to answer back.

"We all have problems in our lives Blake, reasons why we came to Beacon. I don't know what happened in your past that led you to here, away from the White Fang, but I do know that whatever that reason may be, it led you to us, your team. You don't have to carry all this on your own. Not anymore."

Blake shed a tear which she quickly wiped away, and with a smile, Blake answered back.

"Of course!"

Hearing what Blake said, Ruby enthusiastically jumped up with her fists pumped up into the air.

"YEAH! Team RWBY is back together!"

She grabbed Yang by the arm, and wrapped the other arm around Weiss' neck, while Blake hesitantly joined in and hugged the other three. I slouched my back and smiled, perfectly content at watching them get together, till Ruby and Yang extended both their arms.

"You're part of Team RWBY too Ez."

I looked at them shocked. As to why, I don't really understand. I guess I myself, even though I've said it a dozen times already, didn't really believe that I was part of the team till now.

"I-I… ah..."

Ruby looked at me with the softest smile, full the same fiery passion that she showed me earlier, yet different… it was she like she knew that OWL was me, but I know deep down that she couldn't have. Maybe instinctively, but even if she does, the fact that she's welcoming me right now, means that I'm being given a chance.

The moment I reach for their hands, is the moment I begin my journey of a life after OWL.

A part of me wonders if I can, a part of me wonders if I should, a part of me questions whether this is something I really want to do, but all my hesitation were blown away when Yang looked at me with a blush on her face.

"Ezra."

I looked at her and took a deep breath and made my way towards them. I extended my arms and wrapped them around MY team, giving them the biggest hug I've ever given anyone in all my life.

"Team RWBY. We gotta find a way to fit your name in there somewhere Ez."

We all laughed at Ruby's badly timed joke, as this wild night came to a close.