The Second Step: Chapter Fifteen

Heart of the Storm

A/N: For the handful of dedicated fans that are wondering why this chapter and the last chapter came out in two week intervals instead of my regular weekly schedule, I have the misfortune of admitting that due to stresses of life. I will be slowing the production of these chapters to every other week but I will update regularly and will write as much as I can, I just have to take it slow, Kay?

And on that note, I would like to apologize for taking so long to get to this chapter. I know that the series I called RWBY, but I have more wiggle room with team JNPR and others and I needed to establish their characters. Fortunately, you can get your fix here.

Additionally, I would like to announce that we have finally finished the formative chapters of my fanfic. After this, all characters will act following this logic.

And so, without further ado, let us begin the story proper.

(Friday)

It had been a long week.

For Team RWBY, they had dealt with Blake running away again, Weiss coming out as a pop singer to her team, and subsequently Ruby nearly ruining her friendship with the heiress. Yang, for her contribution, wasn't doing too much...

Yet.

For Team CRDL, they had managed to come together as a team, terrorized some helpless Faunus, and unwittingly teamed up with Headmaster Ozpin to try and take down Roman Torchwick.

For Team JNPR... it had been a very crazy week. Pyrrha was a former child soldier, Nora was, with emphasize of "was", a mob slash mafia heiress, Ren was her bodyguard-cum-accomplice in dismantling her mob connections, all while Jaune contemplated coming out as bisexual to his team.

This didn't even begin to cover what everyone else was doing. Be it Glynda and Ozpin trying to reconstruct the latter's memories, Bartholomew Oobleck and Peter Port trying to track down what may be an assassin, Roman trying to reconcile his disgust and hatred of his former teammates, or maybe there was Cinder's group and the aforementioned mysterious assassin...

Never the less, Friday had arrived. Sunday marked Ruby's sixteenth birthday. The students all had two days off. And most importantly, everyone had every intention in attending their relatively boring and safe classes.

Surely, nothing could go wrong.

"Yaaaaaaahhhhhh." Jaune managed to snap his jaw shut and stifle his yawn before Port took notice and tried to 'involve him' in the lecture more. The last time had been just painful, involving him struggling to recall the anatomy of a King Taijitu.

He didn't even like snakes... well not those kinds of snakes, but the point was the same. He did not want to be caught.

"Hey, you alright Jaune?" At least he had his favorite red-themed fifteen year old as his wing girl.

"Just tired Ruby. Lots of studying last-" another yawn, "night." Jaune tried to blink the sleep from his eyes, thanking all the gods he could recall for hard school benches. "I'm fine, really."

Ruby frowned, but didn't press him. "If you say so."

A moment passed as Jaune tried to process Port's speech into workable notes. Ruby decided to ask another question though. "So, what were you studying last night?"

"Dust combos." Jaune tried not to yawn again. Really, for such a boisterous teacher, Port sure could bore you to death. He was now gesturing at the chalk board, obviously trying to communicate some high level, advanced theory to his audience. Jaune put it at twenty to one that any of them were able to listen.

Ruby looked at her friend, before turning away and looking at the window. "Alright."

Outside, the sky was an almost unnatural blue. Crisp, clean, uncanny in a sense, but still so much more brilliant then she could imagine. If only she hadn't been limited to just looking out the window, it would have been a perfect late autumn day.

A bird flew by the window, its shadow causing a flash of darkness. The flash was almost as brilliant as a camera that had gone off in Ruby's eyes. The red-themed girl groaned and turned back to the chalk board, watching without interest as Port recapped how King Taijitu produced venom and how it would affect prey and Hunters. She disengaged after a moment, looking out into the empty autumn sky again as she wondered why she was going over something that she had learned two years ago.

'Two years... wow. Has it really been that long?' The thought idly meandered into Ruby's mind, bringing more then a touch of surprise. Two years since she had entered the mainstream education system... and four and a half years since her mother had died.

Ruby gulped and set back to work. It was best not to think about that. Not while she was in public anyway.

Up front, Professor Port was bombastically narrating the events of a particularly long hunt he had been involved in. ".. And so, with a mighty swing of my axe, I felled the beast and its reign of terror had finally been put to rest."

"Ahem."

"Oh, yes... and Bartholomew over there did help a tad."

Bartholomew Oobleck took the stage now. "Lest you forget, Port, I was the one who led you to the Beowulf burrow, and I was the person who led our little team into the burrow while you wanted to charge straight through three walls and across a chasm."

"Pish and tosh, good friend. Why, had it not been for my timely arrival, your head wouldn't be here to lecture me."

"I have said it to my students, and I will now say it to another: those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it." Oobleck took a contemptuous sip from his coffee mug. "Though personally, I do wonder why I bother teaching you anything. You would almost certainly try and cut any lecture I gave you in half."

"What was that?" Port turned his attention away from his immediate task to give the attention to Oobleck. "I was too busy cutting the black board in half: you'll need to repeat that."

Up in the desks, but not as high up as Ruby or Jaune, Weiss face palmed. "It's like watching a comedy routine."

Pyrrha shrugged. "I like it. You should learn to appreciate the little things in life Weiss."

Weiss growled a response. "I can appreciate them when I can be sure I can live more than one day without a bodyguard."

Pyrrha tried to respond, but her attempt was lost in a jaw cracking yawn. Weiss rolled eyes. "Where were you yesterday? Your team up and vanishes for the whole day and then you simply walk back into class and it's all fine and dandy? I don't know about you, but I came here to get stronger."

Now Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "I came here... not for that."

Weiss didn't meet her desk mates eyes, now looking down at the antics of Oobleck and Port, who had begun arguing over the importance of experience in strategy. Quite deliberately, she coughed into her hand.

The two teachers ceased their little debate when they recalled that, yes, they were standing in front of several students. Port awkwardly cleared his throat. "Perhaps it is time to enter the meat of the lesson, shall we?"

"We shall." Oobleck stepped out of the classroom, forty sets of eyes following his progress. It had become rather common knowledge that Port, lacking the patience to put up with typical notes-and-paper teacher, opted to spend his educational career trying to prove the saying: "experience is the best teacher."

Such technique involved live fire practice in the Everfall Forest, the occasional camping trip outside the walls of Vale, and every Tuesday and Friday, a Grimm would be brought to class for a fight.

When asked about this method, Port always stated such: "These young men and women are in training to be the deadliest weapons that society has ever produced. They need the reflexes experience hands out." It was actually a rather nuanced approach to education, and one of the reasons the typically bombastic Port remained both on the faculty and on the top of the student popularity polls.

Oobleck came back in, a wrought iron cage balanced on his shoulders, in the image of the Titan Atlas. Inside, a feral Beowolf snarled and slammed itself against the walls of its cage, trying to indulge itself in the enormous buffet suddenly visible.

To their credit, the students began pulling out their weapons, some sharpening them, others comparing their sizes to each other. Jaune kept on groggily laying in the hard desk, wondering if he would be able to sleep through the fight.

Naturally, he was the guy chosen.

"Jaune Arc, if you feel that you could successfully defeat this Grimm in your sleep, then perhaps you'd like to fight, hmm?"

Jaune nearly jumped out of his skin in shock. "What?"

Oobleck merely gestured at the cage, the implications of his motion clear enough. "You can come down here, or we can hand out a failing grade for the assignment."

"And it is a very important assignment. But have no fear; we are here to defeat the beast if you can not." Port's statement did not fill Jaune with confidence. More shame then anything.

But at least he was awake now, so he had that going for him.

As he was stepping down, he passed Pyrrha. The soldier girl gave him her best smile and a pat on the arm. "Just remember your training, and you'll be fine."

Jaune ended up at the front of the class looking more then a bit baffled. 'That has to be the weirdest thing I have ever heard in this context.'

He couldn't tell you why though.

One quick wardrobe change later...

Jaune pulled Crocea Mors from it's sheath, falling to the wide foot stance Pyrrha had taught him. On the other side of the classroom floor, Port had drawn his ax and was ready to release the Beowolf. Up in the desks, the student body mood ranged from cheering him on (Pyrrha, Ruby) to apathetic (Weiss). The only person who seemed both engaged and calm was Oobleck.

Port hefted the ax above his head. "Ready?"

Jaune swallowed his fear and nodded.

Port brought the ax down onto the cages lock. "Begin!"

The Beowolf sprung out of the cage, growling and charging its target. Jaune brought up his shield and managed to block a swipe from its claws. Up in the desks, someone shouted "Get it Jaune!" Another shouted "Go team wolf!"

Jaune ignored that second guy.

The Beowolf snarled and lept at Jaune, nearly taking off his head. The leader of team JNPR righted himself and flipped his sword over, rapping it against his shield to try and boost his ego.

"Aim for the neck and underarms! They have less cartilage!" Ruby called down from her seat.

"How do I-? WOAH!" Jaune tried to ask how he'd manage to hit the neck or arms of the massive beast when the Beowolf jumped back into range and knocked his shield right out of his arms.

Jaune rolled as he hit the ground, a bit of Pyrrha's training saving him from a broken neck. The Beowolf had been tossed off of him by the roll, so there was that as well. But the fact that he was now shieldless was... not as good.

Jaune decided to take the initiative, getting a running start and with a mighty roar of a thousand manly men, swung Crocea Mors into the hid of the beast.

The sword didn't so much as scratch it. The Beowolf looked at him quizzically, looking like it was trying to judge if Jaune was tricking it, or if he was genuinely stupid. Jaune managed to force a small "Heh" from his lips.

The second swipe knocked his sword out of his grasp.

Getting back to his feet from the vicious strike that had thrown him the length of the room, Jaune looked at Pyrrha. "Now what?"

Pyrrha gulped, her gaze flashing from the blade on the floor to the Beowolf and his shield. "Jaune... maybe you should give up."

Jaune's gaze went from the Beowolf, to the teachers prepared to intervene and to his classmates, some cheering him on while others boredly ignoring him. "... No! I can do this."

Jaune concentrated his Aura into his hands, falling into an angled boxing stance. The Beowolf roared at him and charged, lunging and swinging into range...

'...Pour your soul into your weapon...'

And Jaune grabbed the Beowolf and, with a flash of Aura, knocked it aside.

Jaune's focus went from the now shouting students to the Beowolf once again. The Grimm staggered up, growling, trying to shake off the sudden vertigo induced by Jaune's sucker punch. Jaune reached and grabbed the Beowolf by the neck, channeling his Aura into the Grimm. With a heave, he flipped the Beowolf over his shoulder and launched it across the room.

The Beowolf managed to land on its feet, turning and roaring at Jaune. Jaune chuckled and raised his hands, enraging the beast. The Beowolf charged, only for Jaune to sidestep slam a closed fist into the Beowolf's shoulder blades. The Grimm's momentum carried it sliding across the ground, before slamming into the far wall. Jaune turned to the cheering students, raising his arms in victory. "YEEEAAAAHHH!"

Up in the desks, Pyrrha was amazed. Jaune wasn't just holding his own in a solo fight, he was winning easily. Granted, his hoodie was a bit torn up, but other then that, he didn't have a scratch on him. 'Jaune's actually doing this!'

Back in the floor, Jaune turned and waited for the Beowolf to pick itself up. He wasn't disappointed when the creature, with a roar, charged him again. This time he seized the beast's arms and flipped it over his head, launching the Beowolf across the room again. He turned and cheered with the room. "Who's the man!?"

The answer came as the Beowolf charged again, this time only hitting empty air as Jaune reflexively jumped onto Port's desk. For a moment, man and beast stared at each other.

"Is da widdle Grimmy scarred of big bad Jauny?"

The Grimm swiped at Jaune, who executed a perfect front flip over the Beowolf, before grabbing it from under the arms and flipping it over.

Jaune struck a pose, his arms upraised. "Yeah BABY! Ha ha ha."

The Beowolf staggered up again and growled, shaking it's head to clear out the ringing in it's ears. Behind it, Bart and Peter were trying to assess the situation.

Jaune was kicking the Grimm's ass: good.

Jaune was gloating load lay about kicking the Grimm's ass: not as good, and down right strange.

Jaune turned back to the Beowolf, snarling lightly. "Hello beastie." With a flash of speed no one had seen him possess, Jaune launched himself at the Beowolf, grappling with it, before throwing it across the room again.

Jaune turned back to the room, arms wide to accept their praise. "Who's the King?"

"You're the King!" Several students and Ruby shouted.

Jaune leaned, cupping an ear. "Who's the King?"

"You're the King!" More of the room shouted.

"Who's the-" at which point, the Grimm tackled Jaune and tried to maul him.

Key word being: tried.

Jaune kicked the Beowolf off of him and stood back. "... Hello? Applause anyone?"

Applause, feet stamping, and books eagerly hitting the desks met his request. It wasn't everyday you saw a student beat a Grimm so thoroughly with just his bare hands.

The Beowolf whimpered slightly, staggering back to it's paws. Jaune strode over and grabbed one of it's ears. "Who's your daddy?"

He hit the Grimm.

"Who?"

He hit it again.

"Who!?"

He threw the Grimm into the blackboard.

Port stepped forward at this time. "Well Ladies and Gentlemen, it's seems we have just observed a wonderful-!"

Jaune pointed at Port. "I'm not done yet teach." Jaune climbed over Port's desk and hauled the Grimm over it. "Now class, today, I will show you how to kill a Grimm. You reach in..."

Jaune raised up his arms and plunged them, elbow deep, into the Grimm. With an almighty heave, he broke the ribcage and ripped out a black, faintly pulsing mass. "... and pull out the heart."

Jaune smiled jauntily, and presented the still beating heart to Pyrrha, three rows back. "To you, my queen."

Pyrrha blushed, both embarrassed by her somewhat secret crush offering something so... hard to get, and the sheer disgust that the Grimm's heart induced. "Uh, I'm sorry Jaune... No thanks?"

Jaune smile widened. "Come on sweetheart, you know you want it."

"I'm pretty sure I don't."

Some more black Grimm blood dripped off of Jaune's arms. "Come on Pyrrha. You know you want it."

"I- I- oh my god Jaune, YOUR ARMS!"

Jaune glanced down, and was not even slightly perturbed by the white and red bones sticking out of his forearms. "What?"

"Mister Arc, put down the Grimm's heart."

The class and Jaune turned to the speaker, Professor Port, who had taken the moment to grab his Ax. Behind him, Oobleck had broken a chair in half and was hefting a splintered leg. "Step away from the other students mister Arc."

Jaune barked out a laugh. "Or what? You're educate me into submission."

"Oh, we'll teach you something alright." Oobleck said.

Jaune threw back his head and cackled, but never took his eyes off the teachers. "Well, you see here teach, I just proved that, one way or the other, I'm good. In fact, I'm great. I don't need a teacher. And there's nothing you can teach me."

Jaune started to pace the length of the lowered Dias while the other students, sensing the imminent danger, moved to the back of the desks. "You see, I'm good. In fact, I'm better then you old farts ever were, or will be. I've got talent, I've got power, and you think YOU'RE responsible for that? I've put my own heart and soul into this, I'VE suffered through your so called studies, I'VE TAKEN EVERY SINGLE THING YOU COULD THROW AT ME, AND SENT IT RIGHT BACK!"

"Jaune, stop this."

The three men in the front of the room stopped glaring and/or yelling at each other to see Pyrrha walking down the stairs. "Whatever is happening Jaune, you have to stop now."

Jaune blinked dim, soulless eyes. "Or what?"

"Or this."

Pyrrha concentrated, and a surge of Aura transformed into her Polarity semblance, blasted Jaune into the chalkboard by his armor.

It did next to nothing.

"What was that Pyrrha?" Jaune snarled. "Something about stopping me?"

Jaune started to advance on the former soldier. "Pyrrha, you don't get it, do you. I deserve this. I earned this. I trained for this. I'm better then you. I'm better then everyone! I'm better the Oobleck, better then Port, better then OZPIN. I'M BETTER THEN GOODWITCH, TORCHWICK, EVERYONE! I'M BETTER THEN EVERYONE! I'M NOT JUST A HUNTSMEN, I AM A GOD!"

A 'whoosh' signaled that Port's ax had just passed the two students, almost unnoticed. For a moment, neither spoke. Finally, Jaune held up his left arm.

The forearm, the part soaked in Grimm Blood and covered in bones, had been completely cut off. Jaune was missing his entire left forearm.

For a moment, Jaune alternated between staring at his arm and staring at his teacher. He stared at his severed arm, and then at his teachers. Finally, he spoke. "You FUCKERS!"

Port charged at the two, his own Polarity semblance seizing Pyrrha and giving her a boost back into the desks. With her out of the way, Port nearly caught Jaune unaware, but the Grimm-maddened boy spun left and avoided the attack...

Only for his remaining arm to go flying off regardless.

Jaune glanced at the matching set of bloody arm stubs, and glared at Oobleck, who had pulled out a garrote wire and used own accelerator semblance to exploit Port's distraction. Oobleck cast a baleful and not slightly remorseful look at the insane student. "My apologies Jaune."

At that moment, Port clubbed Jaune over the head with his ax. When he didn't get back up, Port sheathed his weapon and pulled out his scroll. "Headmaster? We have a situation. It was JNPR's leader, he was infected. ...Understood."

Oobleck groaned, and started shepherding the students away as Port picked up the maimed boy and started off for the infirmary.

Ruby concentrated on breathing slowly. She focused on the slow, whispery sounds of air entering and exiting her lungs. She felt the slow expansion of her diaphragm with each breath. She experienced the cool air slowly passing through her.

She ignored the smell of disinfectant in the air. She ignored the taste of iron that laced each breath. She ignored the too bright lights humming painfully above her.

But most of all, she ignored Pyrrha's pacing.

Weiss was not. "Pyrrha, pleeeease stop that."

Pyrrha ignored her.

"Pyrrha, I'm aware that you're concerned about Jaune, but that doesn't mean you have to annoy us at the same time."

Pyrrha kept pacing.

"Pyrrha-"

"Shut up! Just... shut up Weiss." Pyrrha's eyes only met Weiss's surprised eyes for a second before the so call "best student in Beacon" went back to pacing.

Weiss rolled her eyes and turned to Ruby. "You know that Jaune is going to be fine. He'll just walk out of that room and probably make a pass at me. You know that's whats going to happen Ruby."

"... What?" Ruby clearly was not paying attention.

Weiss barely contained a shriek of frustration with a overly loud 'huff', but any further grievances went unvoiced when the door smashed open, Ren and Nora staggering in and gasping for breath. Pyrrha rushed to their sides. "Are you okay?"

Ren waved her off, Nora filling in the answer. "Ran... ran all the... the way... just... need breath... Jaune?"

Pyrrha gulped, blinking back tears. "Jaune... his arms were cut off." Pyrrha pointed at the crook of her elbow. Nora paled considerably, but Ren merely nodded. "I d-don't know what... what happened to him." Pyrrha hiccuped, forcing back a sob. Nora just hugged her friend.

The five students eventually sat down, quiet and waiting. Finally, one of the school's nurses walked into the waiting room. "His condition has stabilized. If you're quiet, you may visit him." Ruby thanked the nurse and followed the others in.

Jaune was still. He almost looked peaceful. Ruby thought that the cardiographs attached to him, the pale sea-foam green tunic, and occasional mad giggle spoiled the effect. Pyrrha winced and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh Jaune..."

Nora brushed the tunic aside, revealing a bandaged arm stub. The bandages had been darkened by black blood. Weiss covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle the bile rising to her throat. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," Pyrrha admitted again.

"Whatever happened... I'm sure it wasn't natural," Ren deduced.

"On the contrary mister Lie, what happened wasn't only natural, it was quiet terribly common." The five conscious students nearly jumped out of there skin when the curtain moved. The headmaster stepped inside. "Have you ever wondered what the Grimm do to their victims besides kill? No? I hope you never need to ever again."

"Headmaster Ozpin," Pyrrha began.

The headmaster raised a placating hand. "Calm down Miss Nikos. I am aware that you are unsure of what occurred today. Rest easy, because I can help Mister Arc."

"Help? Help! Look at him!" For the first time that day, Ren spoke and spoke angrily in regards to his friend. "His arms are gone!"

Ozpin raised a placating hand. "I know that things look bad-"

"They've never been worse!" Ren's Aura was starting to stir, and his wasn't the only one. Both Nora and Pyrrha looked furious, but their closer proximity to Jaune had resulted in much more self control.

Ren looked furious, almost as if to strike Ozpin, but the head master preempted him with a curt, "Nurse!" Two orderlies stepped in and held open the curtains. "Everyone, please exit the room. I have work to do."

Ren nearly exploded at that, but Ozpin's own expression, coupled with the apprehensive looks of Pyrrha and Ruby, was enough to get some sense into him. He, along with Pyrrha, Nora and Weiss, left the room. Ruby, however, was stopped by Ozpin. "Miss Rose, I need you to go to my office."

Ruby froze up, but nodded after a second of shock. Ozpin turned to one of the orderlies and politely asked; "Please bring Mister Winchester to my office as well."

Ruby had never actually been in the Headmaster's office. Sure, she had seen pictures of it, and her Uncle talked about it, but she had never been there physically. Apparently neither had Cardin, if the shocked and gawking expression was anything to go by. Ruby could empathize.

Ozpin's office was amazing. The floor was packed with desks and stacks of paper, but also mixed with strange machines and what looked like exposed, functioning clock work. The enormous window behind Ozpin's desk afforded him, and she and Cardin, a stunning view of the mountains. Multiple weapons decorated the walls, sharing space with degrees displaying aptitude in numerous academic fields and photos showing Grimm dead and friends alive.

One photo caught her eye though. Unlike the rest, which showed a grown man with gray hair, this one displayed something else: a young boy with bright Auburn hair, standing alongside three other children, all a bit older then her. It took Ruby a moment to recognize the group as Ozpin and his original team.

Ruby took the picture and held it closer to her face. Along the frame, a small plaque explained it's contents. "Ozpin, Roman, Glynda, Evanora. Orange?"

The door clicked open behind and Ruby almost dropped the picture in her haste to return it to it's spot. The Headmaster strode in confidently, trailing... "Jaune!"

Jaune Arc walked with very little certainty, but seeing Ruby was enough to bolster his spirits. "Hey Ruby." Jaune waved a hand in a minute, friendly enough.

Ruby resisted a gasp. "Your..."

Jaune chuckled, and held up both arms, each fully restored to length. If she hadn't seen them gone, Ruby would have never known Jaune's arms had been cut off. "Jaune... That's awesome! You found your semblance!"

Jaune blinked. "I did?"

Cardin rolled his eyes from his position of leaning against a wall. "You really don't know, do you Arc? You're a Metaburner. I mean, how else could you regenerate your arms?"

Jaune glanced at his arms. "I regenerated my arms?"

Ruby blinked in surprise. "Don't you remember the lesson today? You fought a Grimm and went berserk."

"Uhh..." Jaune looked genuinely confused. "I remember talking to you. Something about studying. And when I woke up, Ozpin was telling me to come with him to his office."

Ruby and Cardin wore matching looks of confusion.

Ozpin flashed a small smile, but said nothing. There was a time and place for to explain how Jaune's arms had been repaired, and it may be neither here, not now. A much bigger game was afoot.

"Now that we are all here, I believe it is time we get to business, shall we?" Ozpin took the liberty of his seat, allowing Ruby, Jaune and Cardin to stand. "Perhaps... you are wondering why you are here?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. I mean, what's so important that you have to address all three of us, but not our teammates? In fact, why are only the three of us here? Where are the other team leaders?"

"That is a good point." Ruby added. "Why are only the three of us here? There are dozens of other teams at Beacon, and a lot of the leaders saw what happened in Grimm biology. Plus Cardin wasn't even there. So why just us?"

Ozpin adjusted his glasses. "Very astute questions Miss Rose. And frankly, I have only a single answer for that, an answer that stretches further then you could imagine."

"You see Miss Rose, over the last four years, I, along with a selection of the staff here at Beacon and your uncle Qrow and your adoptive father Will, have been tracking something quite... disturbing. We have been following the activities of an organization, headed by a woman calling herself Cinder Fall. This is an organization if unknown scope and intention, but what we are aware of is chilling."

"As we have tracked this organization, we have found marks. Clues if you would, that hint at something far more frightening. Manipulation of powerful corporations, clandestine attacks on people of power and influence, and careful organization of resources towards a secret goal. Now, I can see you wondering how this concerns you, and strictly speaking, it does not. But it does concern your teammates, and your friends. Are you familiar with the Argonaut Program, Miss Rose?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "You mean that crazy military cult from my home city? Yeah, I know about it."

Ozpin nodded, seemingly detached. "And were you aware that Pyrrha Nikos-"

"WAIT!"

The assembled turned to Jaune, who looked quite shaken. "Y-y-you can't. Pyrrha told us in secret. You can't just tell them this."

Ozpin grimaced, obviously annoyed by the sudden turn of events. "I am sorry, Mister Arc, but this must be said. The organization headed by Cinder Fall is presumably responsible for the formation, sustainment, and destruction of the Argonaut Program, a military program designed to train incredibly powerful child soldiers. One of these children was Pyrrha."

Ruby blinked. 'What...?'

Cardin however, was suddenly struck by terror. 'If she was a child soldier... I almost set rapier wasps on her!'

Ozpin nodded solemnly. "We spent months trying to figure out what occurred. It was only after several dead ends that we managed to discover a pattern amongst several other situations. Powerful men, seeking to gain further power and influence, are contacted by the Organization. They are sustained for a time, designed to create chaos within the established system, until they can no longer do so. They are then eliminated."

"The Argonaut Program focused on eliminating key political targets in it's latter days, with it's final assassination being the president of the city of Mistral, and brother of the commanding general. Following his death, the organization washed there hands of the Argonaut Program, and allowed it to rot and die in public. Now, the events are repeating themselves with Roman Torchwick as the key player."

"Mister Arc, Miss Rose, Mister Winchester, me and my people believe that someone intends to manipulate Roman Torchwick into a position of power, and then use him to destroy the city of Vale from the inside out."

Ozpin stood up from his chair, and face the window. Long tendrils of light filtered through the glass as the autumn sun set. "Quite simply put, something big, something foul, is moving in the shadows of the world. We don't know what. We don't know why. But we do know that whatever it is, it intends to destroy our era of peace."

Silence.

Absolute silence permeated the room as the three team leaders took that in. Finally, Cardin shakily asked, "B-But why us? Why tell us that?"

Ozpin turned away from the window. "Frankly, it's simple. With Roman's new found power, it is not inconceivable that he has placed a spy within our midst. I chose you three because I know you are not spies."

Ozpin turned to Ruby. "Miss Rose, you have spent the last four and a half years being taught by your uncle, and I personally vetted you to enter this school two years earlier for that reason."

Ozpin nodded at Jaune. "Mister Arc, you are simply to amateur to be a spy. Your fighting is mediocre, your practical and book knowledge are both well below par, and failing to meet basic requirements, you had a man you met and knew for less then a day forge transcripts for you to enter this school. Simply put, even a spy would not be that dumb, or that honest."

For a moment, no one said anything, Jaune out of embarrassment and fear, Cardin out of genuine shock, and Ruby out of complete rage. Ruby managed to snarl out something halfway comprehensible: "Forged transcripts?"

Ozpin sat back down. "Be glad that dusty old crow you talked to was nice enough to vouch for you here."

For a moment, he waited, contemplating the two students. "Frankly, I'm glad that you two ended up being such amazing leaders. You're not the best, but you're what I have."

"And you." If it was possible to kill someone with two words, Ozpin would have put Cardin six feet under. Being the idiot he was, Cardin could only answer;

"Me what?"

"You, Cardin Winchester, are a cruel, racist, ignorant, blackmailing, bullying little fool who certainly does not deserve to be here. I should have sent you out when you tried to force Jaune to do your homework."

"However..." Ozpin groaned. "You are also the only person I am absolutely sure is not a spy. You turned against Roman's offer of power and fame and the like for your own selfish reason's, but you'd never leave the school. I can respect that, somewhat."

Ozpin paused in his lecture, before adjusting his glasses. For a second, the wise old man was replaced with someone terribly world weary. Had the students before him known that he had spent the early morning having his brain reassembled memory by memory, they may have recognized the honest and extreme fatigue Joshua Ozpin was in. "You kids... You three are in charge if your teams because I can't trust them. An ex-terrorist, an heiress to the planet's largest arms manufacturer, a bounty hunter, a soldier, a mob princess and a sociopath. You have to deal with these because one of them may be a spy. I need you... all of you, to work hard, and keep your eyes on your teams. Is that understood?"

The three stunned, quiet students nodded slowly.

"Then dismissed, and good night."

Ruby and Jaune marched back to their rooms, the girl forlorn, the man thoughtful. But the silence that had permeated the duo since they had left Ozpin's office was yet to be penetrated.

Finally, Jaune took a stab at it. "So... how about that talk?"

"Be quiet Jaune."

Jaune deflated a little at Ruby's words, but tried again. "Look Ruby, I know what it's like to be alone-"

"No you don't!" Ruby cut him off. Her voice...it sounded like it was about to break. Ruby steadied herself and rallied again. "Jaune, you can't understand what it's like to be me."

"But I can understand-"

"No you can't. You're not even supposed to be here!"

Jaune flinched at the sudden shift in conversation. Ruby went on. "Jaune, you don't know how hard I trained to be here, how much I've sacrificed. I'm learning how to do the most lethal job in the entire world."

"But Ruby, I-"

"And if you think that just being able to skip past everyone that's like me, that's waiting and training to be the best, just because you want to or that your more trustworthy, then you're delusional."

"Ruby, it's-"

"I worked to be here. I trained and hurt myself so I could learn here. You don't deserve to be taught. You don't deserve to learn!"

"Ruby-"

"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LEAD JNPR!"

Jaune stepped back, mouth agape, hands trembling. Ruby's hand trembled as well from a combination of anger and, if one looked closely, anguish. Ruby stepped around the boy that, just this morning had been her friend.

"I'm going to bed. And you're officially uninvited to my birthday party."

And Ruby left, and didn't look back.

A/N: I've done it. Hurrah.

... actually, here's a little more:

Roman Torchwick tipped a nod to one of his men as he passed him in the hall. A White Fangsmen did not get the same treatment, and apparently did not expect the same treatment. Roman liked that: it showed the animals knew where their place was in his operation. Inputting a short code into a panel, Roman entered his secure conference room, the man he was intent on seeing already on the holo-projector. "Nigel, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

The raven haired man glared at the criminal. "This." A newspaper, neatly emblazoned: 'Student's thwart White Fang and Torchwick'. "You said that you would be discreet."

"I said that I wouldn't be connected to you."

Nigel dropped the newspaper and directed his full anger at the screen. "Because of you Roman, we have reporters lining up for comments. People are snooping into our affairs. Our entire agreement is compromised."

"And yet you have the confidence to have a video conference with a known criminal."

"That is not the point. You said that you wouldn't be tied to this, and you have. With that secret now out, I'm tempted to cancel my company's business with you."

Roman raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. "Really? Really? You want to cancel the agreement now. Because you see that you may be exposed. Well let me tell you what I see. I've got this town running scared. Police camping out on every corner, Dust prices through the roof, and I'm sitting pretty with more Dust crystals, rounds and vials then I know what to do with, aside from simply 'keep them from the White Fang'. Frankly, you are set to make a killing with all the conflict that's about to erupt. Nigel, baby, you can be the savoir of the Kingdom of Vale, while I play the villain."

Nigel glared through the holographic projection, but not with the same intensity as before. "Just make sure that it doesn't happen again and that your little false flag operation stays just that."

Roman laughed. "Oh come on Nigel, you know me. I was at the Battle of the Cilicia Mountains. If there's someone who hates the Faunus more then you, it's me."

The image terminated.

Roman watched the black screen, enjoying the sudden and short reprieve from the world. Finally, a chuckle slipped from his lips. "But then again, business is business, isn't that right, Mr. Schnee?"