(AN: So before you guys start reading, i want you to know I'm not exactly a hundred percent satisfied with the way this chapter was written because it was a filler and kind of rushed so I won't blame you if you don't like it. Anyways, I'll let you get to it.)

During the final day of our stay at my parent's house, my family and Velvet simply decided to watch TV and play a couple video and board games until midnight when we decided to fly back to Beacon. After bidding them a goodbye and a promise that I'd keep my parents updated on my progress at the academy, we were wished well and given hugs and handshakes.

The week after we got back was spent with our own individual teams as Velvet and myself agreed unanimously while we loved each other, we did need our own time apart. As I regrouped with my team, I found that after Nora had gone berserk Dustmas eve, accidentally kissed Ren in the heat of the moment and he had reciprocated the gesture and declared his love for the bubbly grenadier. Jaune and Pyrrha's visits with each of their families had gone swimmingly as Jaune's seven sisters had happily accepted her as an eighth while Pyrrha's parents approved of our team leader without any qualms.

"But my sisters decided to go ahead and put makeup on me while I slept and Pyrrha didn't do anything!" Jaune regaled us with his visit while Ren made hot chocolate in the kitchen, Nora jumped on her bed, I sat in my desk chair and Pyrrha hugged her partner from behind, stifling a few laughs.

"In their defense though, he did look even cuter than usual." The Champion declared, adding a light tinge of pink to Jaune's cheeks.

"So overall everyone had good visits?" Ren asked, handing a mug of the hot liquid to each of us.

I nodded and clasped the cup with both hands. "Yeah and it sounds like your stay was even more eventful."

Jaune smiled from ear to ear and gazed at the Ninja and Grenadier. "So how does it feel now that you guys are officially together-together?"

"It's insane!" Nora said ecstatically. "I mean, he's not insane, but the situation's insane. And not like the crazy insane I mean the happy kind like…"

"Nora?" Ren cut off his partner and girlfriend.

"Yeah?" He said nothing in return but gave her a light peck on the cheek, sending her into a silence.

"So it's back to classes tomorrow." I declared.

Jaune nodded as he took a sip from his mug. "Yeah and I'm curious as to how our third and fourth semesters are going to go."

"Do you think we'll get many more missions?" I asked the room.

"Of course." Pyrrha replied. "Otherwise the rest of the school year will be pretty stale and we all know that the Headmaster wouldn't let that happen."

I scoffed. "Yeah, he just loves putting us in dangerous situations."

"Well…" Jaune spoke up. "They seem to help."

I agreed with a smirk and a nod as we then spent the remainder of the day catching up with RWBY who all had a good time on Dustmas but Weiss seemed happier than usual. It seemed that Neptune had finally cracked the Ice Queen's cold shell and she was now much more friendly to everyone and now held an air around her that declared so.

The morning after, I found it very tough to get out of bed due to the fact that it'd been a while since I had to get up at eight in the morning. Begrudgingly however, I lifted myself off the sheets with a yawn and trudged into the bathroom with my Beacon academy uniform in hand. After a nice hot shower, I clasped the necklace with Velvet's symbol behind my neck and smiled to myself at the memory. As soon as the rest of my team was up, we headed down to the cafeteria for our regular breakfast and made for our regular classes.

It took until the end of the month, but I finally managed to get back into the regular routine of getting up, showering, eating, then classes and the odd study date with Velvet.

During that time, Ruby had repaired my gauntlets by installing a new blade in Pollux and reshaping the metal on Castor, making them good as new and I repaid the little Reaper with a box of chocolate chip cookies as promised, which Yang was… less than happy about when her sister was talking at the same speed she moved as she zipped around Beacon grounds.

I had also gotten some training with Ren on how to properly use Dusk. I wasn't exactly a master with my old friend's sword, but my skill had definitely been improved. Jaune had also become quite a bit stronger thanks to his partner/girlfriend's training regiment but it didn't show very much. His voice had also become deeper but he was still the same old Jaune; compassionate, friendly, a little socially awkward and sometimes clumsy but my loyalty to him didn't waver for a second.

Yang had become a little more serious as she joked a little less and appeared to have a more mature take on matters. Unfortunately for Jaune and myself however, Vomit-boy and Blay-boy weren't going away any time soon.

As for Blake, I don't know whether it was Sun's presence or just something that occurred within the faunus but I found her smiling a lot more often than she used to.

Ruby hadn't changed mentally one bit as she constantly gave serious advice when it was required and joked to lift all our spirits. Physically though, she was slowly growing taller into the young woman she was destined to be and the rest of her body followed suit, which is a subject I would rather not think about for fear of Yang bringing down the full extent of her wrath on me and the fact that I had a girlfriend.

Along those lines, the intimacy between Velvet and myself had not lost its flare and neither did the sensations that came with it; the intoxicating scent of her shampoo, the feeling of her silk-like skin and the sight of her beautiful smile in the morning light. Even though we still hadn't crossed over into third or fourth base, I very much enjoyed her company and it appeared that she enjoyed mine as well. Both of our nightmares had finally dissipated and we still cuddled four times a week at minimum, an activity that was either spent watching movies until we fell asleep or just in total silence. The necklaces we wore were more or less permanently attached. I only took mine off to shower or go to the gym but any other time of day, Velvet's symbol could be seen hanging around my neck and mine around hers.

Then, two months into the New Year, Professor Ozpin approached Jaune with a mission for us, team RWBY and apparently team CFVY as well.

"So where are we going and what are we doing?" Ren asked the same evening in the cafeteria with RWBY across from us.

The leader of the other team gave the Lotus Ninja a shrug. "Sounds like we're going to be helping this village just north of here get back on their feet by eliminating grimm, gathering resources and making sure that their fortifications are good." Ruby replied, taking another bite of her chocolate chip cookie.

Just north? "Did he happen to mention the name of the place?" I inquired to both team leaders.

"Hash-no that's not it. Heha..." Jaune started.

"Hishan?"

His eyebrows shot up and gave me a nod. "That's it! Hishan. Why, you know the place?"

"It's where Ozpin sent me to take care of the Omega." A dead silence followed my statement as everyone looked down at their trays and kept eating. "Guys… we can talk about this whenever you want. Look, I should've died but I didn't and I don't see it as something that should be avoided."

"Yeah but the problem is Blay-boy, that wasn't just a traumatic experience for you, it was also pretty hard on all of us." The blonde brawler declared.

I mentally slapped myself for not realizing that it also might be tough for my friends to think of the time when I came dangerously close to leaving this mortal coil. I let out a deep breath and let my head hang low in shame. "Okay, if you guys don't want to talk about it, then I won't bother bringing it up again."

With a grateful smile, Nora clapped a hand on my shoulder which I could swear left a small bruise. "Thanks Jojo."

I gave the bubbly grenadier a small smile while Pyrrha questioned Jaune about the mission.

"But why would they need thirteen students just to help out one settlement?" The crimson-haired champion asked.

"Well, even though it's only got about eighty people in it, last time I checked it was pretty banged up." I supplied. "Buildings were half-destroyed, supplies were running low and of course there were quite a few grimm close by. Then again, that was when the Omega was still alive so they're probably gone by now."

Weiss held up a finger with a grimace. "Actually, they wouldn't." She said in a slightly disappointed voice. "Just because an Omega dies doesn't exactly mean that every single one of the grimm following it are going to leave the area alone. There will probably be a few stragglers and if they sense aggression…"

"They'll attack the settlement again." Ren finished grimly.

I let out a deep breath and looked to my team leader. "So? When are we going?"

"We're leaving tomorrow at noon, so we should probably pack up either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning."

We all nodded in agreement and Blake gave me a curious look. "Anything you can tell us about the place that we should know?"

I pondered the question for a moment. "Well, they'll probably set us up in a single house for all thirteen of us, so sleeping bags would probably be a good idea and if you meet a guy named Henry, just stay out of his way."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow at the statement. "Why's that?"

"He's uh…" I let out a humourless chuckle. "I'll just say that he likes to go by the book." I left the rest of the table confused as I returned to the dorm and packed up once again to leave for Hishan. As I slipped my hands into my gauntlets and tested the pressure switches, a brief image of the Omega biting into my mid-section and its massive black figure against the grey of the rainclouds while lightning flashed in the background popped into my head.

I fell backwards onto the floor and found my breathing heavy and quick before reality dawned on me.

Not a great start, Joe. My hands then removed themselves from the weapons and I resumed filling my duffle bag with everything that I needed for the mission.

The next day after breakfast, our team and RWBY regrouped at the road to the airship docks as we waited for team CFVY and the bullheads that would deliver us to our destination. Snow still decorated the ground, but the air was fairly warm and the mid-day sunlight was starting to melt it away.

Idle chatter was present among each of our small groups as the fashionista, the human giant, the blind brawler and my badass, hand-to-hand proficient, beowolf jaw-kicking beautiful girlfriend Velvet approached from the dorms, a duffle bag over each of their shoulders save for Coco and Yatsu, the team leader with only her gatling-gun handbag while Yatsu shouldered two.

With a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face, Coco looked at each of us then her eyes settled on Yang. "You guys able to keep up?"

The blonde brawler scoffed and folded her arms. "If you can stop checking your shoes for dirt every five seconds, maybe you guys can actually gain some ground." She replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

All eyes widened and no one spoke as Coco frowned and after a moment, began to chuckle and enveloped Yang in a one-armed hug. "Good to see ya, firehead."

The rest of us relaxed as Yang returned the hug and chuckled back before they separated bearing matching smirks. "You too, puffs."

Puffs? I thought. As if to answer my question, Coco spoke up. "Like the cereal, guys." She addressed everyone.

We all let out understanding ahhs while Fox shook his head in disgust. "Eugh. Shit's nasty."

Nora furrowed her brow. "What's to hate? It's pure chocolate!"

"Yeah, that's my point!" He objected. "A cereal should have something other than just one flavour!"

"You can always add in fruit." Yatsu added.

My fellow blind gauntlet user pointed a finger at him and lowered his voice. "Chocolate and fruit do not belong together."

"There's chocolate covered strawberries." I pitched in.

Fox gave me a confused look. "You high? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

What happened next was the following: Yang lost it on Fox when he called the chocolate covered fruit dumb while Nora agreed with Fox and started a heated debate about what was good when combined with chocolate which went on far longer than it should've. The two bullheads then arrived and we boarded, team RWBY except for Yang and the rest of my team taking one bullhead while CFVY, myself and Yang boarded the other.

"So Yang tells me you've been to this place before." Coco stated as she looked to me.

"Yeah, it's where I fought against the Omega." I replied as the engines whirred to life and we took off.

"So what can you tell me about it? Why would Ozpin send thirteen students to make sure it's alright?"

"A safe haven for ex-military personnel?" I offered with a shrug.

"Ex-military?" Velvet echoed.

"Yeah, most of the people who live there served in Vale's armed forces before they got out early. I've seen them fight and they're pretty good."

"An outpost then." Yatsu added. "Think about it, if a horde of grimm approaches from the north, then these people would be able to hold them back the longest and send Vale a warning to evacuate or bunker down."

While the others discussed the mission, I ended up getting lost in my thoughts as we neared the familiar forests and mountain range. I continued to gaze out the window of the dropship as the horrid memory of making the discovery that the Omega had gotten through my aura and blood stained through my shirt and onto my hoodie flashed through my mind. I remembered the pain and the realization that I was living my final moments and it terrified me.

A hand placed itself on my shoulder, snapping me back to the present as Velvet gave me a concerned look. "You alright? You looked like you just spaced out."

I mustered the best smile I could and shook my head. "I'm fine, baby girl. Just thinking about some stuff."

She smiled back, gave me a peck on the cheek and lay her head on my shoulder before whispering; "You're such a bad liar." I grimaced and mentally kicked myself for believing that I could lie to the one person who knew me the best apart from my family.

Hishan came into view and rather than performing a shock-drop like last time, the dropships actually landed in the small clearing just a few dozen feet away from the southern barricade. The thirteen of us disembarked our airships and they flew off, the sound of the engines being replaced by Nora's talk about candy. Thankfully Ren had the sense to shut her up with a kiss and our bubbly grenadier blushed and went mute as I led the group towards the settlement.

"Well look who it is!" I heard a familiar voice call. I looked up as Grace approached with a smile adorned in a pink jacket the same shade as her hair, a t-shirt and blue jeans. "Good to see ya walking straight again, Wardog."

I extended my free hand as my other grasped my duffle bag and she shook it hard before releasing it. "Good to see you too, Grace." I replied. "So Ozpin told us to assist you guys in rebuilding?"

She nodded with a slight frown and gestured to some of the torn up buildings. "Yeah, we just need you guys to give us more of a kickstart in repairing the structures, killing a few grimm we've seen around the area and re-establishing our supply lines."

I nodded. "Oh, by the way, this is my team, JNPR and our leader Jaune, team RWBY and their leader, Ruby and this is team CFVY and-"

"Coco Adel pleased to meet you." The fashionista interrupted me with an extended hand.

Grace smiled and returned the gesture. "Same. Alright, Henry's designated three houses for each of your teams for the duration of your stay so if you'll just follow me…"

Jaune stepped forth with a raised hand. "Actually Ma'am, I don't think that we need three buildings for all of us. Just one will do." I made a mental note to thank Jaune later for bringing it up.

Grace looked back, slightly confused. "Are you sure you won't be cramped?"

My team leader chuckled back. "I grew up in a house of nine, Ma'am. I assure you that I an our teams have no issues sleeping in the same house, right guys?" We all gave nods of agreement and Grace nodded back with a small smile.

"Okay, if that's the way you feel, then follow me." We complied with our bags in tow as she pointed out a two-story house that was similar to the one they had converted into a mess hall during the Omega occupation. Featuring a living room, which we'd probably have to turn into the dining room/ large shared bedroom, a kitchen with a wood stove, three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

"Sorry about the small space, but if you guys ever want to occupy the other two houses, all you have to do is ask." Grace declared apologetically.

The three team leaders turned around to face her while the rest of us walked inside to explore our new quarters. "It's really no problem at all, ma'am." Jaune declared.

"Exactly. We'll make it work." Ruby added.

"If we need anything, we'll be sure to ask." Coco added.

"Okay then, I'll leave you all to get settled and meet with Henry and myself by the watchtower in an hour." Grace said before departing.

"Did you guys happen to see a watchtower?" Coco asked.

"Nope." Came Ruby's simple reply.

"Uh-uh." Jaune grunted.

"It's the town hall." I declared before dropping my bag in the living room. "They probably took it down after I left."

Before anyone could say anything else, Fox and Yatsu's voices could be heard shouting at each other from upstairs.

"No way, big man!" Fox yelled defiantly. "I'm getting the bedroom!"

"Yeah fat chance, white eyes! I'm bigger and I need more space to sleep!" Yatsu objected.

Coco heaved a frustrated sigh while I struggled to hold back my laughter and keep a straight face.

"Neither of you is getting the bed!" She shouted as she ascended the stairs. Coco then proceeded to use her authority as team leader to end the heated debate between her two bickering teammates and explained that the other two bedrooms would be for the leaders of the other teams. Her other two teammates descended the stairs with dejected looks and we divided up the sleeping quarters into the following: Ruby and Coco would take the bedrooms while Jaune and his partner would share the other one with Weiss, Blake and Yang taking the dining room as the rest of us would spread out over the living room with Yatsuhashi taking the couch instead of the bed. After getting settled and unloading our supplies, we met with Grace and Henry in front of the town hall, the older veteran's face still bearing that ever-familiar scowl.

He gave me a quick glance before looking to the others. "On behalf of everyone living here, I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude towards each and every one of you for coming to our aid."

"No trouble at all, sir." Jaune replied. "Everyone deserves to live in peace, especially our veterans."

Henry gave Jaune what almost looked like a smile before continuing to talk. "As I'm sure Grace has already informed you, we are low on resources, require rebuilding and extra safety precautions. Gathering resources will be easy once we re-establish supply lines but until then, we have to gather what we can from the forest. Firewood, berries, meat, anything. Rebuilding is self-explanatory; we need a few of you to assist our construction workers in repairing the houses and other structures while the last of you search the surrounding area for grimm and eliminate them." He explained. "These assignments should take no longer than two weeks, so divide up your time accordingly." With that, Henry turned on his heel and entered the town hall.

I folded my arms and scoffed at Grace. "Henry's still Henry, huh?"

She nodded back with a grimace. "Yeah, sorry about him guys. You'll get used to him eventually."

I leaned in next to Velvet. "You actually don't." I whispered. She smiled back as we began to divide up the assignments.

"Okay…" Jaune started with a deep breath. "So how about this; since rebuilding probably involves heavy lifting, we get Yang, Nora, Yatsuhashi and myself to help with that?"

"Sure you can handle that, Arc?" Coco asked doubtfully.

Jaune merely shrugged back. "If I can't, I'll swap with someone else." The statement seemed to satisfy her as my team leader continued. "As for gathering resources, how about Ruby, Fox, Weiss and Ren get on that?"

"Why me?" The heiress asked.

"Easy. Some berries may be poisonous and I think that with your knowledge, you can probably tell if they are or not, am I right?" In another reality, that probably would've sounded like another attempt at courting coming from Jaune but now it was just a sincere compliment.

The Ice Queen smirked and nodded. "Yes, that's true. I've studied vegetation and my knowledge is quite extensive."

Jaune nodded back. "Okay then, that leaves Joe, Pyrrha, Velvet, Coco and Blake for search and destroy duty."

I gave him a confused look. "Wouldn't I be more suited for resource gathering?"

"Nope. You know these forests better then any of us. Without you, we'd literally be lost." He declared.

I gave him a quick nod as we dispersed and I led the way out of the south barricade with Velvet at my side while the others trailed behind by a few feet.

"So are you sure you're okay?" She asked.

I gave my girlfriend a nod. "Yeah. I mean, it's not exactly a vacation to be back to the place where I nearly died but it's something that has to be done." I admitted.

We started heading towards the cave where the Omega had made its den for about half a kilometre before heading west, hoping to form a larger safe perimeter around the settlement. Our first engagement was quick and easy with two beowolves and half a dozen ursai, Coco cutting down the wolf-grimm like wheat in a field with her gatling gun while the rest of us dealt with the ursai. Velvet sent one straight up in the air with a devastating kick to the jaw and I planted myself where it was going to land as I extended my blades and impaled it in the chest. By the time I pushed the heavy corpse off my body, Pyrrha and Blake had already eliminated the other remaining five ursai.

Man I'm rusty. Better train more often. "Nice job guys. Let's keep moving before it gets dark." The girls nodded in agreement as we continued to move north.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful as we only found two more groups of creatures before it got dark and we met up with the others at our temporary house in Hishan. The second I opened the door; I was greeted by the scent of venison. We were spread out across the first floor with some in the dining room and others seated in the living room, some of them on the couch and the rest on the floor.

Coco gave Jaune our report of the day's events and he nodded happily. It sounded like everyone else was fairly successful as well with construction now moving exponentially faster and the settlement's food stores quickly filling up after being near empty.

After three days of more scouting and more killing, the memories starting coming back in long recollections rather than just quick flashes. Velvet took notice of it after we duelled with a group of beowolves with an alpha at the head. The thought of having to face a tougher opponent with underlings as backup sent a long vision of the Omega stomping out of its den coursing through my mind.

My nerves froze as I backed up and tripped over a stone, causing me to fall flat on my ass as the wolf-grimm continued to advance on me. The alpha leapt at me but thankfully the girls had my back as Milo lodged itself in the beast's ribcage and Blake decapitated the creature with a single slash. Coco annihilated its underlings with a wide sweep of her gatling gun as shell casings fell to the forest ground. Once all were defeated, Velvet looked at me with a concerned look and helped me to my feet.

"You're done." She declared.

"What?" I replied.

"You're done. Get back to Hishan, go to the house and get some rest." She repeated as she turned her back to me and began walking away.

I followed her and began to object. "Velvet, I'm fine. I-"

She turned around in the blink of an eye and slapped me so hard the mask I wore flew off my face. I returned my gaze to Velvet's eyes and looked to her with sadness that I hoped was veiled.

She shook her head still bearing that same expression. "Joe, you're clearly not fine. You've been having flashbacks, haven't you?"

I gazed down at my feet. "That's what I thought." She then wrapped her arms around my neck and the building amount of stress finally came out as I returned the hug and cried into the crook of Velvet's neck, tears streaming down my face and onto her shoulder.

"I just- I just don't want to be useless." I managed to choke out between sobs.

"Joe, the only way you'd be useless is if you were dead. And if you continue denying the fact that you can't fight right now, that's going to happen." She released me from the embrace and I reluctantly let go. "For the good of your team, get some sleep and take a few days off if you need to."

I weakly nodded back and began to head towards Hishan before Velvet spoke again. "Pyrrha, can you make sure he gets there okay?" Nothing was said as the crimson-haired champion walked beside me and handed me my mask.

She escorted me to the house and headed back to presumably catch up with the rest of the group. After changing into my sleepwear I obeyed my girlfriend's orders and recuperated.

The next three days were rough as Velvet had apparently informed Jaune and Ruby of my condition and denied my every attempt to try and help out. I was frustrated that I couldn't assist but I couldn't get angry either. They were only trying to do what they thought was best for me. Thankfully though, Ruby took me along on a berry-picking trip and after hours of listening to the relaxing quiet of the birds chirping and the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees, I felt at peace.

That night, I slept unusually well and Jaune decided to allow me to help out with lifting the lumber needed to repair some of the houses. Casual work, that was all I needed, nothing too high stress or menial.

After the first week, I found myself with more strength than I arrived with and once the second week was over, any previous visions of the Omega could no longer enter my mind.

As we packed up our gear in the house, I shot Velvet an apologetic look. "Hey, I'm sorry I went a little overboard. I just didn't want everybody else doing the hard work while I sat around."

Before she could respond, I heard Jaune descend the stairs and interject. "I feel your pain Joe, but believe me when I say you have to follow other people's advice in those situations." He advised as Pyrrha smiled at him and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"He just doesn't realize how much he's actually worth, Jaune." Velvet called. I gave her a sheepish smile and she returned it before leaning in for a kiss, the connection slow and sweet until we parted.

"I ever tell you how much I love you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Maybe once or twice, I haven't really been keeping track." She replied with a chuckle.

"Jeez, I think if I listened to every conversation you two had together I think I might actually puke my guts out." Yang added with a shake of her head as she headed out the door.

We merely smiled at each other and interlaced our fingers as we headed out to the pick-up point with the others. Soon enough, the airships arrived and we boarded, eager to get back to Beacon with one more mission under our belts.

I leaned my head up against the headrest of the seat and sighed happily as I continued to hold Velvet's hand. One less thing to worry about.