Hmm, well, brace yourself, really. Some of the stuff is a little disturbing, really. Sorry 'bout that. Anywho, shout out to my two followers for this story. Yes, 2. Jack Hunter and Servant of the Underworld! Jack, you kinda might not totally count, but I'm glad that you read it. And big thanks to you Servant of the Underworld. I don't even know you, so thanks a bunch for reading this. Hope all you readers enjoy this next chapter, however creepy or depressing it may be.

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Chapter 10: Internal Affairs and Nightmares

Beacon Academy, Hours Later: Ozpin

I look out the window, the view presenting me with a splendid enjoyment. Sipping from my mug, I shift my attention to the ten people in my office. "You have all done an interesting bit of investigation, but now, are all officially on leave from any mission for the rest of the year, but I'm sure that since the Vytal Festival is coming up, you can deal with that. School trips are the only exception. Do you understand?"

They all nod, and some of them even start bouncing in their seat with excitement.

Winter stands up. "Sir, I'm not a student, so may I leave?"

Corinthe stands, too. "Me either."

I look at the two. "Hmmm… I have a proposition for both of you, which I do not make lightly. Would you consider taking a job here, at Beacon?"

Winter is taken aback by this invitation. "But, sir, I'm only twenty-three. I have a long career of hunting ahead of me. I don't think I should."

I sip tentatively at my coffee. "I understand this. I suppose it can't be helped if you want to continue your successful work. Just be safe. You may leave whenever you wish." I turn to Corinthe. "Well, Miss Facsimile. You haven't voiced your answer yet."

I see her contemplate her answer. Her eyes shift to each of the children in the room, but they especially linger on Jack Revenant. 'Interesting. Interesting, indeed.' She gives a deep sigh then speaks. "I would like to take up your offer, sir. There is no way that I can continue my previous mission. At least here, I know that I'll be safe from the clutches of that woman."

I nod in acknowledgement. "Of course. You may start next semester. For now, you may room with Team JARZ. I'll have a room readied as soon as possible." I look at each of the students in front of me. Winter has left, as I thought she would. "You may go to your dorms now." They all say their goodbyes and start toward the elevator. Before the doors close, I shout out to them. "And have a lovely time at the dance in a few weeks."

That statement affords me startled and realizing expressions from each of the students. I laugh as the elevator doors close, leaving me alone in the room. I look out the window once more, trying to decide whether or not I should have just let Winter leave.

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Team JARZ Dorm: Corinthe

I look around the room and admire the decor. I pass my hand over the chest with Jack's emblem on it. "So, where am I going to sleep?"

Azura and Ravena give each other a look and nod. Ravena turns to me. "You can have my bed." Azura gathers her stuff and goes to the bathroom.

I look at the girl that's left. "So. That one?" I point to the one with purple sheets.

She nods at me. "Yep." She then gathers her stuff, too, and just walks into the bathroom with Azura still in there.

I look over at Jack in confusion. "Why did she…"

Before I can finish my question, Jack stops me. "They have a right to privacy. If they wish to share that privacy with each other, I have no right to go against their wishes." He runs a hand through his dark hair. "You are afforded the same privacy. Now, do you have clothes to change into?"

I look down at my blood stained, tattered clothes that I had borrowed from Azura. "No, no I do not."

Jack nods in understanding. "Hold on, and I'll find you something to wear." He walks over to his drawer and pulls out a black t-shirt and a pair of boxers. "They're clean, I swear."

I take them and sit on Ravena's bed. "Um, thanks." I look down at the clothes. "What am I supposed to wear tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day?" I put my head in my hands, tears starting to gather in my eyes. "I have nothing anymore. What little I did have is back in Mistral or in White Fang main headquarters. I'm never getting it back." Small sobs begin to wrack my body as I pull myself into a small depression with my words.

"We can go shopping. We still have the week off, so tomorrow, why don't we all go out and get some new clothes to replace the ones that are now ruined?" Jack sits next to me and pulls me into his warmth. Instinctively, I nuzzle into his shoulder, unable to help myself.

"But how am I going to be able to afford it?"

He scoffs. "Ravena's loaded. She can definitely afford a small wardrobe for you."

"I don't want to be a burden." My voice comes out as a bit of a whine, then I catch myself. I pull myself away from him and put up a mental barrier, containing my sadness and self pity. "Nevermind. I'll find a way to get my own clothes."

Ravena walks out of the bathroom and apparently catches the last bit of our conversation. "I wouldn't dream of depriving you of the essentials. But, if you don't want to spend my money, why not spend Jack's?"

Jack faces away from me for a second while having a weirdly silent conversation with Ravena before turning back toward me. "I'd be more than happy to contribute to your welfare."

I nod, not knowing what else to do when in my position. I've never been in this position before, though. I feel so helpless, but I refuse to give in. "Thank you." I hang my head in shame. I've never really had to rely on someone for financial needs before. I suck it up and enter the bathroom to change as soon as Azura exits.

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Team RWBY Dorm: Weiss

"So, aren't you and I planning this dance, Yang?" I sit down on my bed and discard my bolero jacket. My combat skirt didn't fare well in the conflict. It's covered in blood and dirt and shredded to high heaven.

Yang looks at me from Blake's bed. "I think so. Maybe? We can always ask Goodwitch, ya know?"

I sigh. "Of course." I stand up. "I call shower first." I gather my bathing things and walk into the bathroom. After getting a shower and washing all of the gore off of me, I stand in front of the mirror. 'I can't believe that we're suspended off of missions. This is the last semester of our first year. It should have been perfect.' I sigh again as I brush through my long, ivory hair. 'But, it's been pretty close. I have a wonderful, beautiful, kind hearted girlfriend. I have a wonderful team. I'm top of my class. I've improved immensely, both in combat and socially. I'm not who I used to be.' I put down my brush and lean over the sink. My hand automatically goes to my scar. 'I'm not who he made me anymore.'

Tears drop into the sink as a knock sounds on the other side of the door. "Weiss, are you okay? You've been in there a while." Ruby's voice is soft with concern but loud enough for me to hear through the heavy wood.

I wipe my tears, splash my face to cool the redness, and dry my face. "I'm perfectly fine, Ruby. I was just brushing my hair. I'll be out in a second."

"Alright. I was just checkin'." I smile at her concern. 'This is one of the reasons why I love her.'

I open the door, plant a quick kiss on her lips, and go to lie down on my bed. As I wait for Ruby to get out of the shower, I check my scroll. One notification pops up on the screen. 'Son of a bitch! I missed a call from Father!' I pop up from my bed, narrowly avoiding hitting my head on the bottom of Ruby's bunk. "I missed a call from Father!"

Yang and Blake look at me worryingly. Blake gives me a curious glare. "Why do you care?"

I glance between my scroll and my teammates. "I shouldn't. I know, but old habits die hard. I can't help but feel like I should defer to him in all things. It's ingrained into me. I didn't even tell him I was leaving Beacon! And he called me, and I didn't get it." I start to hyperventilate with the anxiety pressing down on me.

A reassuring arm is thrown over my shoulder. "It'll be fine. What's the worst he can do, pull you out of Beacon?"

At Yang's words, my eyes widen. "Shit! I hadn't even thought of that!"

Blake's usually calm voice is laced with anger. "Way to go, Yang. You've scared her half to death!"

I curl into myself as all the possible things my father could do to me set in. With my knees to my chest and my face to my knees, I begin to sink farther and farther into myself, pulling away from the possible pains my father could inflict on me. "I can't go back to him. Do you know what he'd do to me if he ever finds out that I've betrayed him? Do you?"

Blake looks over at me after scolding Yang. "Unspeakable things, Weiss. I've heard about his reputation. We won't let him get you."

Ruby chooses this time to walk out of the shower drying her short hair with a towel. "Won't let who get who?"

My head lifts from my knees. Ruby sees the tears streaming down my face and runs over to me. She cradles my head to her chest and coos softly at me. "My father, Ruby."

She picks my head up until our eyes meet. "I won't let him hurt you. He will never come near you as long as I live, as long as we, as a team, are together. And, personally, I don't plan on leave any of you for a long time."

Yang and Blake agree with Ruby, nodding their affirmations with a steely determination in their eyes. I kiss Ruby on the cheek and wipe my tears away. "Thank you, all of you, so very much. But I can't ask this of you. It's too dangerous."

Yang wags her finger at me. "You didn't ask, princess. We volunteered. You're our friend, our family. We take care of our own."

"And I've run from your father for years, studied him for years. It would be a shame to let all of my knowledge go to waste." Blake gives me a half smile and crosses her arms.

"Right! We'll stick by you 'til the end!" Ruby throws her arm around my shoulder and gives me a crushing side hug.

"Ruby… can't breathe."

"My bad, Weissy." She lets go of me and rubs the back of head head.

I get my breath back and look at all of them with misty eyes. "Thank you." I try to gather them all in a hug, but I'm barely able to wrap my arms around Ruby and Blake. Yang takes the initiative and grabs us all up in one of her infamous bear hugs. We all begin to complain about lack of air, but I know that we'd endure it forever if necessary, just to bask in the closeness we've all come to rely on.

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Private Airship: Winter

I stagger into the med bay. I have kept up the pretense that I was healed in those few hours, but I wasn't. I still have significant damage in my left leg. It's probably broken. If I can align it properly, it'll heal in about twenty- four hours or so. After the fairly simple, yet oddly laborious, task of resetting my bones, I reflect on Ozpin's proposal. 'I know that it's safer here. I know that I could help people here, but I can't stay hemmed in. No matter the benefits, the cons far outweigh the pros in this decision.'

I sigh heavily as I settle into my bed. 'No matter what I do, I have to keep Weiss safe. Last night was a mistake. I shouldn't have let her be near so many White Fang. What happened was not supposed to!' I breathe deeply to try to dispel my growing anger. "What the hell even happened? Why were there so many?" I throw my hands into the air above my chest and let them fall. "Why does everything have to be so complicated!?" I close my eyes and force myself to sleep. As I drift off, I know I'm going to have horrible nightmares for a while.

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Team RWBY Dorm: Ruby

I'm running down a street. No lamps light my way. I hear footsteps stomping toward me, and the only thing I can think about is going faster. I try to activate my semblance, but I can't feel my Aura. The cracks in the asphalt make me trip. I tuck and roll with the fall, trying to avoid further injury. My hands and knees get scraped badly, but I can manage. It feels like the entire world is closing in on me, making me get closer and closer to whoever is chasing me.

Suddenly, I'm caught between a wall and and my pursuer. The shadows end at the wall, illuminating me for the ones that were following me. One of them steps into the light, revealing a White Fang member. He pulls a sword and comes after me. I reach for Crescent Rose, but she's not there. I panic. I never focused on hand to hand combat, especially when I had my sweetheart. A white blur shoots in front of me, taking the blow meant for me. I look down, expecting it to be my mom, just like every other dream, protecting me. I look down at the figure to see, not my mom but Weiss. I gasp and run to her, ignoring the man with a vicious grin on his face. Her alabaster hair falls as her tiara slips. I face her toward me and can only watch as she clutches her stomach in pain. The light in her eyes slowly fades away. Tears gather in my eyes as she touches my cheek with her bloodied hand. She whispers, with her last breath, "I love you."

I scream in rage and pain. The one that I love has been ripped from me by that man. Fear cripples me as I realize there is nothing I can do. Weiss is gone. I'm alone, without a weapon, with a man who has just tried to kill me, but only succeeded in making me go into shock. Of all the White Fang members that I had killed last night, I wouldn't have thought that this man, this lone man, would be the one to end my life. Oh, the irony of this situation. Thinking of the karma I have built for myself, I crack. I begin to laugh uncontrollably.

A voice in the distance calls to me through my hysteria. "Ruby. Ruby, wake up! Please."

I stop laughing to listen to the voice closely. 'I'm asleep?' I follow the angelic voice, trying to find the source. I come upon a light and jump through it.

I come awake to someone shaking me. "What? I was asleep?"

Arms snake around me and begin to crush me in a frantic hug. "Thank the gods. Oh, Ruby, what were you even dreaming about?"

I hug her back, remembering my nightmare. "You died. You died, and I just… I just cracked. I don't know what came over me. All I know is that when I saw you die, my mind just fractured, just like my heart. The moment you died, I just couldn't stop laughing at the irony. Last night, I built up so much bad karma, I just… I killed so many, and then, they killed you. I just cracked."

Weiss wipes the tears from my cheeks slowly. "There is no justice in killing an innocent, true. But you didn't kill innocents. You defended yourself and others. Please don't feel like you did something heinous. You freed people. You saved them, saved me and countless others."

I sniffle. "I know, but apparently my dreams don't. It just felt so real, ya know. Like, if you were to die right here and now, I'd probably crack just like I did in my dream."

"But I'm not going to die. I promise you that I'm not going to die any time soon. Okay?"

I nod and hold her closer. "Okay."

"Now lay down again. I'll try to keep your nightmares at bay." We settle in, me with my cheek on her chest, snuggled into her side comfortably. She strokes my hair slowly, calming me as I close my eyes and pray for a dreamless night.

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Team JARZ Dorm: Ravena

A field of nothingness surrounds me. Not exactly nothingness, but nothing is there. Nobody is around, and if I were to yell, I know that it would be returned with nothing but an echo. I stand up in the field and start to walk, but everywhere I step, a blackened footprint is left. Scorch marks follow me, emanating from my shoes. One lone ember is all it takes to start a blaze unlike any I've ever seen before. I turn toward the fire and bask in the warmth the nothingness never provides.

Through the flames, I see faces appear. My team, Team RWBY, Winter, Cori, that boy from the slave quarters, random faces. I try to reach for them, but they all get farther away. Eventually, they disappear, only to be replaced by Avery. His entire body emerges from the flames, walking toward me. "How could you break your promise? How could you kill so many Faunus?"

Guilt begins to swallow me. "I had to! I had to defend myself, defend my friends. I needed to save those people." I hug myself, my arms crossing over my stomach.

"It could have been done differently. You and your friends killed hundreds of under trained men and women. You could have avoided it."

"But I couldn't've! Don't you see? I just… I couldn't." I start to pull in on myself. I fall to my knees and look up at Avery.

"I can never forgive this misuse of my faith. You were selfish in this." Avery turns away from me and walks back into the flames, which had consumed the nothingness around me.

I sit there and stare after him, long after he leaves, tears streaming down my face and evaporating as they hit the fire. 'I… I didn't uphold my promise?' More tears spill forth. 'Was I selfish?' I think back to the reason I wanted to do this. 'I didn't even get to face Adam. After we sprung into action, I totally forgot about my revenge. Was I selfish?' Even more tears leak from my eyes. 'I've lost Avery.' I curl into a ball and just let the tears out. From nowhere, I feel a slight pressure on my cheek. I open my eyes and find myself back in the dorm with Azura's arms around me. She makes small cooing noises in my ear. I look around the room and sigh in relief. 'It was only a dream. Thank the gods.' I hug Azura tighter, never wanting to let her go again.

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Team JNPR's Dorm: Nora

I dance through the cady street, admiring everything from the gingerbread mailboxes to the candy cane light poles. I frolick down the road, making my way toward the syrup waterfall and syrup forest. I reach the river of sticky, sweet goodness and dip my hand in. "Mmm. You know what would go great with this? Pancake!" I spring up in bed when I yell pancakes.

Beside me, Ren shifts a little in his sleep. "Not now, Nora. I'll make you pancakes in the morning." He mumbles through his cover.

"Yay!" With that, I lay down and go back to my sweet, sticky dreamland.

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A/N: Well, I thought I'd leave you with a small comical moment after all that despair. Sorry, I think I was depressed or something when I wrote this chapter. Idk. Anywho, follow, favorite, review!