Weiss found the table once again after she finished in the bathroom. When she only saw Blake alone, she started worrying immediately. Watching over Reaper alone wasn't actually that bad, but both of them at once? This is like babysitting times a million… "Where are they?"

Blake looked up at her girlfriend. "Neo went for a drink, and was gone long enough to concern Reaper. She went after her. At this point, I assume they found something else that bothered them and they just decided to leave the cafeteria."

"Blake, don't you think you're being a little too lenient with them?" Weiss scolded.

"Maybe you're a little strict? You're not their warden, Weiss. You only have to watch them on missions and if we go into Vale. You weren't this bent out of shape when it was just Reaper." Blake countered.

"But that's exactly the point." Weiss stated. "Neopolitan is Reaper's friend from 'that' life… the one where she robbed and killed people."

"Neo came here to be with the Reaper that decided to stop doing all that." Blake pointed out. "They're not going to start fights."

"I'm not worried about them starting fights." Weiss admitted. "But I doubt they would shy away from one if it came at them, either. God knows what the jack-ass idiots in this school will try to pull because they're criminals."

"Will Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna please report to Professor Ozpin's office?" The intercom buzzed, almost as if to punctuate Weiss's point.

"Oh no…" Blake lamented.

"Oh brother…" Weiss fumed.

"What on earth did you two pull!?" Were the very first words out of Weiss's mouth the second she spotted the ex-criminal pair in Ozpins office. "It's only your first day out of prison, Neo! And you're getting in trouble already!?"

"Neopolitan is not in trouble today, Ms. Schnee." Ozpin entered the office at this moment. "It is just Reaper who we need to discuss."

Weiss narrowed her eyes at the scythe master. "What did you do?"

Reaper looked from Weiss to Neo, and back again with a smirk. "Interior decorating?"

"Interior- what?" Weiss was confused. Neo silently chuckled at the description.

"Neopolitan," Ozpin interjected, "was targeted by Cardin. Reaper found them quickly enough, and acted in her defense. Cardin is currently in the medical wing, having a dozen various plastic-ware cutlery removed from his… rectal cavity. I hear he will make a full recovery."

Weiss stood in shock of what she just heard. She rounded on Reaper. "You. Did. What? I can't believe… why do I even bother…"

"Thankfully, this particular incident was not advertised very much. There is no pressure from the Valen Council to punish Reaper harshly." Ozpin explained. "You should still be cautious of these actions, however." He told Reaper.

"So… am I in trouble?" Reaper asked.

"Cardin was quite honest about the situation when I spoke with him, as he lay face down on the gurney." The headmaster explained. "While over-the-top, it was still in defense of Neopolitan. While there will be no punishment, there will be a warning. The next time you are in here for any like reason, no amount of defense or self-defense will keep you out of trouble. There are smarter ways to protect yourself, and I want you and Ember to work on not giving in to these sorts of urges."

"Yes, sir." Reaper told him with a smile. As WBRN filed out, Weiss looked ready to explode. "You okay, princess?"

"No!" Weiss shouted. "I am not okay! Ozpin went easy on you, and I don't think he should still be doing that! Not to mention I have to give up so much of what I want to do to watch over you two, like a babysitter, and try to make sure you don't do something like you just did!"

"Hey!" Reaper shouted to shock Weiss into being still and listening. "You are stressing yourself too much over this. Weiss, you're supposed to keep an eye on us on missions or in town. But at Beacon, you don't have to stress over it."

"If I don't, things like this happen. I could have stopped it." Weiss told her.

"It's not on you, you're not our warden!" Reaper shouted.

"I'm not trying to be, you idiot, I'm trying to help you two!" Weiss's revelation stunned Reaper. "Believe or not, I want to see you two make it out of the other end of this thing, smelling like roses… no pun intended. I don't want to see you throw away this chance at redemption because of school-yard antics. Maybe I should show a little more faith, loosen the leash a little… but sometimes it's hard to believe you two can behave well enough without a 'warden'. Especially when I get called up to Ozpin's office because you shoved a dozen forks up Cardin's ass!"

Reaper remained in stunned silence for a moment. "You're right. I'm sorry. I let my passions take over, perhaps a little too often… What I just did to Cardin was extreme…" She took a deep breath. "Thank you, Weiss, for supporting us."

"Now, it's time for electives. Blake, would you please use your free hour to… accompany Reaper and Neo to Weapon Engineering?" Weiss asked.

"I will." Blake nodded. "Love you!"

"I love you too! Keep them in line!"

"I'll try." Blake joked, smirking at Reaper.

Thanks for the vote of confidence…

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Reaper parroted. Neo pouted back at Blake, giving a similar reply.

When the trio entered Weapon Mechanics, the tension was felt immediately. Velvet stared at them from across the room, and eventually spoke a few words to the professor before leaving. Reaper frowned and approached the professor herself. "What was that about?"

"Something about 'feeling sick'. She didn't look very sick, but something made her not want to be here, so I didn't press the issue." He replied. "So, are you ready?"

"Actually… I have a project in mind, and was hoping I could get the next week off Aide duties to work on it?" Reaper asked him.

"Of course! Perhaps I'll have a few students watch a master at work." He told her with a wink.

Reaper turned around, her excitement clear. "This is awesome! I have so many ideas! I can't wait!"

Neo giggled and signed, 'What are you going to work on?'

"Your new weapon, of course!" She told her. Neo's surprise registered on her face. "Um… I mean… if that's okay, of course… You might want to… sorry…"

Neo realized she gave off the wrong impression and quickly shook her head. She moved Reaper's face so the scythe master would see her signing. 'No need to be sorry. I would love it if you made my new weapon. I don't know which end of the forge is the front anyways.'

Reaper smiled. "You sure?" Neo nodded. Reaper took her chin and pulled her into a small kiss. "Thank you. It'll be great, I promise!"

Blake watched the interaction with a smile. "What ever happened to her umbrella again?"

Reaper hesitated, unsettled by the memory. "She lost it when Creature captured her. I doubt it doesn't exist, but who knows where it is now."

Neo nodded, rubbing her wrists. Under her sleeves, there was still discoloration, a scar from when she tore herself out of Creature's cuffs. I hope that's the last of our adventures. Here's to smooth sailing for the next year and a half.

A crowd of students, along with the professor, indeed gathered around the skilled weapon smith as she began drawing up the plans. Any idea she had, she made sure to run by Neo before placing it on the blueprints. "Alright." She said finally. "Oh, that actually took the whole class hour to draw up… I didn't even notice. I guess I'll start forging tomorrow."

"See students? You shouldn't worry about rushing something. Just let it flow. I know professionals who would still take another two days to draw up a blueprint of this skill." The teacher turned Reaper's comment into a lesson.

"And that's just fine." Reaper interrupted. "Quality is more important than speed."

The professor smiled and nodded as the bell rang.

WBRN regrouped for combat class. Weiss approached the others without any of her previous suspicion or nerves. "You all behave?" She asked politely.

"Yup." Reaper replied. "Blake almost got rowdy, but I kept her in line."

The heiress actually smiled. "Well, thank you."

Neo cocked an eyebrow. 'Who are you and what did you do with the Ice Queen?' She signed.

"I realized that I have been… overly stressing about watching you two. Just don't give me a reason to regret it, okay?" She made them promise.

They settled into their seats and the class began. Neo smiled as she watched Blake and Weiss share a little PDA themselves. They really need a day to themselves… Inspiration struck at that moment. Or a night…

Neo pulled out her scroll, setting her plan into action. Reaper set her up with an account and gave her a portion of the fortune she stole from Torchwick. Neo didn't know what she could spend money like that on, but now it came very much in handy. She booked a nice hotel and restaurant reservation, under Weiss's name. At places that were faunus friendly, of course.

Neo sent the details to Weiss, along with a text. 'I know you're hesitant to trust me. Thank you for sticking up for me and Reaper. You deserve to finally get some time with Blake.'

She watched Weiss and saw her check her scroll. The heiress's eyes widened and she began typing a response. Neo felt her scroll buzz, but was called out by Goodwitch before she could check it. "Ms. Neopolitan, welcome to Beacon. Perhaps we can inaugurate your first day with the first spar?"

Neo was actually excited to get to fight, but there was one crucial detail. Reaper immediately jumped to her defense, being her voice once again. "Neo doesn't have a weapon yet. I'm working on fixing that situation."

"No weapon?" Goodwitch looked genuinely confused. "how did you survive 'that' life without a weapon?"

"Well-"

"Ms. Rose, must you answer for her?"

"Do you know sign language?"

"Oh. Carry on then."

"She lost it during the whole thing with Creature." Reaper clarified.

Glynda nodded and set up another match. Neo looked to her scroll. 'I mean no offense, but I don't get the feeling you would drop that much money as a 'thank you'…'

'You're right.' Neo messaged back. 'I do have an ulterior motive.'

'Well, what is it?' Weiss asked. Neo raised an eyebrow. She can't figure it out?

'There's a reason I booked you two a hotel room ;)' Neo answered. The multi colored girl chuckled as she watched the heiress's face turn three different shades of red.

'Fine, just… clean up after yourselves.'

Neo wasn't very interested in the current spar, as it didn't involve her dark lover. She settled to messing with Weiss just a little more. 'Maybe you and Blake can take advantage of the alone time yourselves… you do have a hotel room.'

Wiess turned so red she looked like she was about to bleed out of her face. In fact, there was a trickle of blood out of her nose… She shoved her scroll back in her pocket and refused to answer, or even meet Blake's eyes. The heiress's reaction made it clear to the ex-criminal that Weiss and Blake's relationship wasn't actually at that stage. Interesting…

"So, how was your first day?" Reaper asked her brightly colored lover, who had already dispelled her illusioned uniform the second they entered the dorm.

'Not too bad.' She signed. 'I don't think the rest of them are going to be much different. Maybe once my new weapon is finished things will change a little.'

"I hope your happy with it." Reaper smiled. She looked over the Weiss and Blake and saw them choosing outfits. Nice outfits. "You two having a date night?"

"Yes we are." Weiss said, though she avoided Reaper's eye. They continued getting ready in silence.

"No warning about 'not getting in too much trouble'?" Reaper teased.

"I already have an idea what you'll be doing, even if you don't yet." Weiss responded vaguely.

"Huh? What does that mean?" the scythe master asked. Weiss ignored her. "Hey, team leader, pass the information? What are you saying? Helloooo?" Reaper continued to attempt to get the information all up until Weiss and Blake actually left the dorm. "That's… weird."

Neo smiled and took Reaper by the shoulders and pushed her onto the bed. The small girl straddled her taller lover with a seductive smile. "Well… not that I'm complaining, but-"

Neo cut off the girl's careful objection with her scroll screen, showing the receipt of the restaurant and the hotel room.

"Hotel?" Reaper looked at the screen.

'We have all night.' Neo signed after tossing her scroll onto the couch besides the bed.

"All night?" Reaper asked with a smile. Neo nodded. "Is that a challenge?" Now that she knew they had time, she had no more objections.

Neo brought herself down to kiss Reaper passionately. She was quite looking forward to experiencing this first time since they both accepted their feelings, wondering if it would change anything. It would, as she would find out, and all for the better.

In Vale, in a dark alleyway…

A man was dead. He did not pass gently into the final goodbye. No, he was forced into it, kicking and screaming, by a silent attacker. Now there was no more screaming, no more kicking… only the vicious, blood covered smile of the assailant. She cleaned blood off of the blade protruding off the end of her umbrella. She stepped away from the body, and into the light of the moon. Tri-colored hair seemed to shine, and her mis-matched eyes found the perfect spot for her next objective. Excessively tall heels click-clattered on the pavement, and the brightly colored girl approached the alley wall. Brown, Pink, and White stopped in front of the wall and gathered a large helping of blood on her hand. With practiced swiftness, she began to spread the blood across the brickwork, writing her message.