Author's Note: Okay, let's put this out there again. Please review, so that I can make improvements and adjustments to my writing style as need be.

In other news, Ant-Man comes out this Friday. That's exciting, right? Anyone?

Disclaimer: Let's see if I've got this… RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth. Fate/Stay Night belongs to TYPE-MOON. A Certain Scientific Railgun and it's parent series Magical Index belong to… some guy with a "K" in his name. And Code Geass belongs to… Shaft? Not Shaft? Well, it belongs to someone who isn't me. Otherwise, Shirley would not have died. On the other hand, if I owned Code Geass then I don't think it would be very much like Code Geass… I digress.

Falling Stars

Have Nothing to do with This Chapter, so Forget Them

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Owen asked.

"Are you feeling well enough to drive?" the Elder asked.

"HOW DID YOU FIX IT IN TWO DAYS WITH A HEAD INJURY?" shrieked the brown-haired woman, who had been introduced to Adam as Hanna.

Lancer shrugged and smirked, then winced, and turned back to look at the RV. Patches along the side that had been red or white now shone a metallic grey and jutted out like a nail that had been hammered through a board that was too small, but it looked far better than it had when they had arrived at Sina. The four travelers, the three children who had met them, the Elder, and the brown-haired woman who had been following Lancer around and pestering him about being able to do impossible repairs stood before it, looking over it—except for Eric, who Adam noticed was looking out the mouth of the cave contemplatively.

He wasn't entirely sure what Lancer had said to him, but it seemed to have gotten him thinking.

"One," Lancer said, counting off on his fingers, "They took us by surprise. We'll be ready this time. Two, I've done so in worse conditions. Three, I'm a bit of a renaissance man." He turned to Misaka. "You wanna get set up on top?"

"'Misaka agrees that that would be tactically expedient,' Misaka replies," Misaka said, turning to Adam. "'Misaka requests—'"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Adam replied, yanking the door to the RV open and stepping in. A second later, he returned with a folding ladder which he proceeded to unfold and lean against the side of the RV. Misaka climbed up and stood on the roof. Closing her eyes and exhaling, she placed her hands at the base of the tower and screwed up her face in concentration. With a loud crackling and a low grinding sound, the tower split apart and tilted. Then, because Lancer was something of a nerd, it made a five-tone sound and reformed itself into a two-pronged contraption that no one could mistake for anything other than a—

"Is that a TV antenna?" Eric asked.

—okay, almost no one. Author's mistake.

"Well, the concept is the same in general," Lancer admitted, "but the execution is quite different… Actually, the concept isn't even close. Sorry, bad comparison. Think of it more like… I don't know, a pump? No, that's no good…"

Hanna collapsed, twitching. The Elder walked over to her prone figure and poked her twice. When that failed to gain a response, he pulled out a permanent marker. Maya gave him a curious look and held out her hand. The Elder pulled out a second marker and handed it to her.

Eric stepped forward and looked Lancer in the eyes. "I'll see you again when I'm a huntsman," he vowed. Lancer grinned.

"I guess we will," he said. Then he turned around and climbed into RV. "Adam! Milly! Battle stations!"

"We don't have battle stations!" Milly snapped as she helped Adam re-fold the ladder. The Elder paused in drawing a third eye on Hanna's forehead, and pointed out that Maya had misspelled a word.

"A minor detail!"

Still bickering, Adam carried the ladder into the RV, followed by Milly. The door shut, and the RV began to back towards the mouth of the cave. Misaka waved to the onlookers in a way that seemed almost mechanical. The Elder finished his eye, and joined Maya for a game of tic-tac-toe.

"'Goodbye,' says Misaka, expressing regret at having to leave her new friends," she said. Then the RV rolled into the morning light.

"Hey, what are you doing that for?" Owen asked Maya and the Elder.

After five minutes, it had been decided that 'battle stations' meant 'pick a window. 'Thus, Adam had situated himself in his customary place (perfect for quickly climbing out and dislodging hangers-on), while Milly had installed herself at the table on the Driver's side, flipping a catch and pushing the window open. Reaching under bench, she pulled out a sub-machine gun which she checked to see was loaded. Adam simply sat in the driver seat, but he was driving with one hand—ready to summon Gae Bolg at the drop of a hat.

And on top of the RV was Misaka.

When Misaka had joined him and Milly in the RV, Lancer had had one of those ideas that is either inspired or moronic. It had proven itself effective, though, in that ace-in-the-hole manner that a really big gun pulled out of the most unexpected place seemed to have. Lancer had attempted to explain how it worked once, but it had entirely flown over Milly's head and Adam simply hadn't cared. So for now, we'll chalk it up to "science."

What it did? Simple.

The Nevermore, having rediscovered its perch, dropped out of the air to take it once again. A bolt of lightning ripped through its body, and it turned to dust.

"'First contact,' says Misaka confidently," a small speaker situated just above the radio announced. "'Misaka is looking for the tyrannosaurus,' she adds, with a fascinated undertone."

"Anyone know why a dinosaur is out there in the first place?" Lancer asked. Milly shrugged, and Adam cocked his head to one side, which was the closest thing to a hug you'd get from the ex-terrorist. There was a sound like thunder, if thunder was directly above your head and coming out of your car.

"'Second contact,' says Misaka."

"Yeah, we got it," Lancer replied, "You can stop calling them out now."

"'Understood.'"

There was a roar, and Lancer glanced out his window. Summoning Gae Bolg, he hurled it out the window. There was a loud, feline shriek that was silenced by the rooftop cannon.

"How many more shots do you think she has in her?" Milly asked.

"Six or seven, tops," Lancer replied. The rooftop cannon was essentially an amplifier for Misaka's electrokinetic abilities, but anyone, psychic or no, was vulnerable to fatigue. "Hey kid, don't be trigger happy. We don't need to beat them, just escape them."

The cannon went off again.

"Think she was listening?" Adam asked. Lancer groaned. "I'll get up there." The faunus rolled the window down, grabbed the top of the RV, and flipped himself out. Milly ran up to take his seat. The cannon fired again, this time one continuous burst that Lancer could see out his window, boring through a Deathstalker's armor.

"Misaka, listen to me. You're going to burn yourself out like this. You hear me?" Adam called to Misaka 10033. She wasn't wholly paying attention, focusing instead on the Deathstalker.

/10032/ He is correct, you know, Misaka points out.

"'Misaka believes that the best strategy would be to heavily use the cannon early on, in hopes of inducing fear in the attackers,' Misaka justifies her strategy," Misaka said.

/19090/ When did you start doing that? Misaka asks.

/10033/ Doing what? Misaka answers with her own question, thoroughly puzzled.

/17055/ You aren't using first person pronouns, Misaka explains.

/10033/ What does that have to do with anything? Misaka argues.

/19090/ Fine, fine, Misaka grumbles. It was just an observation.

"Misaka, you're going to hurt yourself!" Adam shouted, apparently having covered the distance to her as she conversed with her sisters. Misaka hadn't been paying attention to him.

"'Misaka already explained what she was doing,' Misaka complains," she retorted,shooting down a closing Ursa. That was a question.

/10033/ Can anyone explain to Misaka the reason for the number of unusually-sized Grimm around here? Misaka asks.

/19090/ NEVERMORE! Misaka says by way of warning.

Misaka swiveled the cannon about, and fired on the incoming Grimm.

/19090/ We don't even know where you are, Misaka points out.

/10032/ I am presently conversing with Onee-sama, Misaka reveals. She says to knock it off and not to act like an idiot, she states, hoping to lend the weight of authority to her argument.

"'Misaka is almost finished,' says Misaka as she prepares to lay down a brief curtain of cover fire," Misaka said, bringing the cannon around to face toward the rear. She focused, mustered the energy…

And couldn't.

Huh?

She could make out Misaka 10032 berating her, pointing out that having her power amplified externally didn't increase how much she actuallyhad, could hear Adam moving towards her, feel her hands slipping from the controls…

Huh. Misaka was a lot more tired than Misaka felt, she thought.

"… know that the rooftop cannon was not designed to be used that way!" Misaka could make out Lancer saying. "I mean seriously, aren't you supposed to be smart?" She flopped over on the bench at the table, and Lancer was standing there beside her talking irritably, as if… Oh, right.

"'Misaka's strategy was… there were a lot of them,' Misaka…" MIsaka attempted, and gave up. All things considered, she would have preferred sleeping.

"Yeah, there were a lot. But you don't have to emulate Milly!" Lancer replied. Oh, drat. He wasn't letting her get back to sleep.

"'Misaka's purpose—"

"You explained your purpose," Lancer cut her off, "but it was no less monumentally stupid! What were you thinking?"

"'Can't Misaka—"

"No," Lancer replied. "Not until you tell me—"

"'Misaka wanted her gun back,' Misaka grouses," Misaka said.

Lancer gave her a short stare. "What?" he asked.

"'Misaka does not have much to call her own,' Misaka explains," MIsaka replied. Lancer was giving her an look that was growing odder and odder, as if he couldn't understand that she was feeling anything in the first place. "'When Misaka started out, all Misaka had was her clothing, that rifle, and some clean underwear,' she continues. 'Misaka wanted her rifle back, but there was no way to get it back, and Misaka took it out on the Grimm,' she finishes emotionally."

Lancer gave her an odd look for a few more seconds, and then sighed. "Well," he said, "I guess I can relate to that. I must have trouble thinking of you as anything other than a weird, smart girl."

"'Where is everyone?' Misaka asks, changing the subject swiftly and artfully," Misaka asked.

Lancer shrugged. "Well, Adam's running around looking for a job so that we'll be able to check into a hotel in the foreseeable future," he explained. "And Milly? She's…"

"Come on," Milly whispered into the payphone, biting her lip in nervousness, "Pick up pick up pick up…"

Click

"Hello, this is Ashford Academy," a familiar voice said. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Lelouch," Milly said, trying not to laugh or cry. It had been two years since they had last talked, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. "How are you?"

"Milly!" she could hear the surprise in Lelouch's voice, pleasure creeping in. "I'm fine! Everyone's fine! Kallen's stopped riding motorcycles through the walls, Nunally's walking better, heck, Suzaku's got a girlfriend, I—"

Milly decided on laughter. A big, roaring laugh—though she would never admit it—that tore it's way out of her throat and left her gasping for breath. "Okay, okay, I get it," she giggled. "That… That's not what I'm calling about."

Lelouch's voice went somber. "Oh, yes. That. Are you going to be there for the funeral?"

"He's family, Lelouch," Milly replied. "I'll be there soon as I can."

There was a pause. Milly had no doubt that Lelouch was working some sort of dial or switch, trying to glom in on her location. Too bad she wouldn't be there by tomorrow.

"Hey, Lelouch?"

"Yeah?"

"How's everyone else?"

"Everyone else? Shirley's fine too, she's thinking about becoming a professional swimmer," Lelouch confirmed. "Rivalz is actually a pretty capable vice-president, too. Nina's… been acting a little strange, come to think about it. Maybe I should have her see a therapist? The guys from the Black Knights have all readjusted nicely, it's… It's pretty peaceful out here. Can't wait to see you again."

"Yeah. See you soon," Milly replied, then hung up the phone before they could continue the conversation.

She hadn't been prepared for how much it would hurt. To hear a dear friend's voice for the first time in so long, and to tear herself away before anything too important, too personal, could be said. Still, it sounded like everything was nice and calm over at Ashford.

Maybe, if they were quick and sneaky about it, she might enjoy a little calm herself. Before everything went to hell.

Author's Note: Production note: Everyone in Sina was supposed to be based off of/parody someone from Attack on Titan, except for the Elder. He was meant to be a knockoff of Monk Gyatso from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but he didn't act like it. Therefore, I let him act silly in this chapter, and Maya (who was meant to be super-serious) follows along! Aren't characters supposed to do what the author wants them to?

Next time, the crew boards a ferry that will take them on the next step of their journey… and something else happens… All of a sudden, I realize that I'm going to have to wing this one.