Fan the Smoulders

A/N: The further we delve into the story, the more references to my own extended Universe I'll be making. Even some people reading RWBY: The DAWN won't get it, but we'll come to that once we reach a steady pace for MSTT. Both stories are actually going to be written side-by-side, so if I stop writing MSTT to continue DAWN, it's because that there is something in DAWN that is going to be important in MSTT.

I'm not trying to get more people to follow DAWN (Though that would be nice), all I'm saying is that the stories are connected, and better understood when read together.

Disclaimer: I wish Monty could see how far RWBY has gone…I-I mean, I don't own RWBY or any portion of Rooster Teeth, only to OC's and extended Universe…until RT makes it Canon, right Miles? All rights go to Monty Oum and RT respectively.

One day later…

Tanner had never woken up with such a bad headache before. It was like his last drunken brawl times by six, which involved bare-wrestling someone who could shoot fire. Heh, that was a hell of a ni…argh, my head!

However, the headache quickly cleared with no strange side-effects or deliriousness, and the brunette was able to take in his surroundings.

The first thing he looked for were his weapons, which leaned against the white, plaster wall directly in front of the bed he was in. The bed was the second thing he noticed, white, comfy sheets that hadn't been drawn over him in a single bed. Aside from a wooden cupboard to his left, a window to his right, and a table lamp and bedside table to his left again, the room was completely empty.

From how dark it was, Tanner could tell that it was still night time…or had he slept through the entire day?

That was when something clicked in the swordsman's mind. This isn't my room! Where the hell am I? Ok, think back. What's the last thing you remember? He asked himself as he shut his eyes tightly to concentrate. Uh, I was at a White Fang camp to trade Dust, and I was with-

That was when his eyes shot open and he felt his heart stop in his chest.

Hannah.

Now the memories began flooding back to him, but he didn't want to remember them. The moment he saw Hannah fighting Adam, the moment he stabbed her through the torso, the moment he kicked her off the airship like she was a piece of trash; they all came back to him.

Tanner had to put a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound of him crying as tears streaked down his face. He lay back down on the bed as he allowed himself to sob away, completely forgetting about the world around him as he mourned the loss of his lover.

Hannah…Sweet Hannah…Oh, please no...

Then, a spark of hope revealed itself, as he bolted out of bed and wiped the tears from his face. What if it was just a dream? What if she didn't die…but she's just hurt really badly? He thought as he focussed on his last thoughts before passing out. He then remembered the mysterious stranger who he had run into, and who he last saw right before feeling a great weight in his mind and falling to the ground, like his brain simply would not put in the effort to remain conscious.

Moving over to the window, Tanner peered out at the city before him. He noticed that he was in a high-rise apartment building, and by the geography of the city, he was still in Mistral. Just…a different district to where he was used to.

He continued to stare out the window, trying to find any familiar landmarks while familiarising himself with the feeling of the apartment he was in. Through his time with the thieves and assassins that lurked in the shadows of Atlas, he had learned how to slowly spread his Aura like a fog, covering everything. This was often done by thieves to sense whether the building they were trying to infiltrate had occupants and if they were still conscious, though it left the thief vulnerable to attack while they focussed all their attention on spreading out their Aura.

He hadn't spent enough time to learn exactly how to tell whether an Aura signature was conscious or not, but he had learned enough that he knew the feeling that he would get if his Aura sensed another.

Not having to stretch very far, his Aura soon detected the presence of another in the apartment. They weren't moving much, but they seemed active. Thinking that it must have been the stranger, Tanner withdrew his Aura back to him before moving to pick up his weapons. He approached the door and finally noticed that there was light flittering through the edges of the door. It wasn't a dull light, rather it was momentarily blinding.

Testing the doorknob, the door opened without a creak. He had to squint at the intensity of the light that washed over him, unprepared for how bright the light would actually be, he shielded his eyes with Crossed Star, before he noticed that his scarf hung around the doorknob on the opposite side of the door.

Tanner picked it up and slung it around his neck, tying it in a secure knot. The warmth that radiated off the garment provided a comfort for him as his eyes scanned the rest of the apartment. It was semi-circular in shape, with different doors leading off to different rooms on the opposite side of the semi-circle. Most of the curved wall was taken up by a wide window that led out to a small balcony. It looked quite generic, the one thing that stood out the most being the crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling, seeming to hold the apartment together. The kitchen was on Tanner's side of the semi-circular apartment, while the opposite side – which was glowing different shades of blue and turquoise – was blocked from his view by a wall. Tanner was tempted to just bolt out the door, but he decided to see what was emitting the light, seeing as there didn't seem to be anyone else in the apartment at the moment.

Pressing himself up against the wall, Tanner peered over the edge and felt his eyes widen at the sight of what he saw. All against the wall were several CPU processors the size of coffee tables and wide computer monitors that shined different shades of blue light on the sole figure that stood in front of them.

The figure was standing up, surrounded by various holographic displays and consoles on all sides. He was the same stranger from before, dressed exactly like how Tanner remembered. The swordsman continued to watch him for a few more seconds as he moved holograms about with his hands while looking back and forth from one computer screen to the other, until he spoke up.

"I know you're there." Tanner visibly tensed at the words, but felt that there was no point in hiding, and no point in fighting. Let's be fair; if he wanted me dead, I'd already be dead. He thought as he rounded the corner.

"Where am I?" Tanner just asked the first question that came to mind, though they were starting to form a queue in his mind.

"My base of operations." The cyborg replied, not having turned around or acknowledge Tanner's presence.

"Who are you?" Tanner followed up the statement almost immediately.

"T."

"Tee? What the fuck kind of name is Tee?" Tanner felt that he was being played with, so he took a step forward, sword pointed straight at the man as he finally turned around. The holograms around him disappeared as he did, making his features more clear in plain light. "Why did you bring me here?" he demanded.

He could now see more clearly that T also wore hunter-green shirt underneath his brown overcoat, as well as a pair of brown trousers that completely covered him save his hands. Along with that, he also had a pair of shiny-black sneakers that reached his ankles and a single fingerless glove that covered his Human hand.

T let out a sigh as he reached into his back-pocket. "I already told you; your boss is trying going to kill you, and I want to help you." He said as he held a Scroll in his hand. "I downloaded the details on it."

Tanner's eyes widened when he realised why the Scroll looked familiar. "What the fuck did you do to my Scroll?" he asked as he snatched the device from T's hand and opened it up to check whether all of his data was still intact.

"Along with copying some of the profiles and data I collected, I also modified it so that functions at twice the regular capacity with an increased battery life." Tanner did notice that the Scroll unlocked and functioned a lot smoother, but he needed to know if- "I also deleted all of your pornographic material."

Tanner's head snapped back to face T at break-neck speed and his face turned to one of pure fury. "You son of a bitch!" he yelled.

"We don't have time to mess around. It was ineffectively taking up data storage that will be absolutely useful for what's ahead." The cyborg stated as a holographic wall of light separated the two. "Also, you're into some very…unique genres." He remarked, off-handed.

"I never asked you to look through my…classified content. That's your own fault." Tanner yelled angrily as he flicked through the different programs on his Scroll to see that they were all still there, only to end up with the photo gallery open.

Staring at some of the photos he took, he was reminded of the one thing that was bugging him the most. "Where is she?" he asked barely above a whisper, Tanner's orange eyes never leaving the photo he took of Hannah and him.

What felt like hours passed before T responded. "I'm sorry."

That was the moment when Tanner felt his heart stop and his breath hitch. She's gone… He slowly looked away from the photo to see the cyborg step through the holographic wall, a sombre characteristic to his eyes as he lowered the scarf around his mouth. "S-she…" The swordsman could barely say what was on his mind, the tears threatening to spill at any moment as he choked back a sob.

He tried his best to hide his watery eyes by wiping his face with his scarf, which now felt cold and did not radiate heat. "I-I need to see her body. I n-need to pay her respect."

"There wasn't enough time to get you both out. Grimm had already overrun the camp, and I couldn't carry you both." T simply replied. Tanner soaked in every word as his sorrow turned to white-hot fury.

"You left her there!" he screamed in rage as the grip around his sword tightened. Without another word, he lunged forward with the intent of driving two dozen holes through the man's body. However, right before he reached T, the cyborg held out his Human hand and Tanner felt a great weight in his mind again, collapsing to the floor and passing out.

The passage of time was unknown to Tanner as he woke up what felt like seconds after he had blacked out, only to find himself sitting in a wooden chair – weapons on the ground next to him, with T standing in front of him, surrounded by various holographic projections.

By now, the sight of the cyborg did not send Tanner into a blind rage anymore, but he was still angry at the man. "What the fuck did you do to me?" the swordsman grumbled as he rubbed his temples.

"You would not listen, so I had to knock you out." T said as he closed the holographic projections around him.

"You know what they call feeding your corpse to a Grimm back in the criminal underworld?" Tanner asked rhetorically, changing the pace of the conversation. "It's the most disgraceful way you could treat the dead. Even the freaking corpse-looters are considered more honourable than that!" he spat at the man in front of him, rising out of his chair with his flintlock in hand. "So you tell me how am I supposed to work with you after you didn't even have the fucking balls to give Hannah the respect she deserves?"

"I have no respect or love for thieves and mercenaries. You're lucky I even offered to spare her." T said in his monotonous voice, which only served to bring back the sweltering rage inside of Tanner as he raised his pistol to fire.

Only to hear a dry click.

Confusion quickly overtook the rage as the brunette fired two more times, only to create two more dry clicks. By the second empty barrel, the realisation dawned on him. "Dammit! I always forget to check the ammo!"

"This is pointless. The longer we fight, the more time Adam Taurus has to regroup with Roman Torchwick and the rest of their accomplices. I want them dead as much as you, so the least we can do is work together to kill them."

"How dare you expect me to work alongside you after what you did to Hannah!"

"It was you or the Faunus." T's voice began to rise in tempo.

"Then it should have been me! This is your fault!" Tanner suddenly snapped. "The deal was going great until you showed up!" he shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at the man.

"You would have only prolonged the moment when Torchwick decides that you have outlived your usefulness and killed you, just like the rest."

This caught Tanner's interest as he lowered his hand. "What are you talking about?"

A second later, the holograms re-appeared around them as T enlarged a screen covered in mug-shots for the swordsman. "You weren't the first I tried to find to fight against them." Three images enlarged and encompassed the entire holo-screen. From their brief profiles underneath their pictures, they didn't seem to have much in common, except for the large red cross over their faces. "When you signed the deal with Roman, he added you to a list of assets under his command. Everyone on the list is designated a command called 'Gambit Protocol'. When it is activated, they are deemed to have outlived your usefulness and need to be executed on sight."

He finished just as a video began playing and encompassed the entire screen. The video seemed to have been taken from a security camera, as it had an isometric view of the inside of a warehouse. In the centre of the compound, stood a teen with grey hair behind a man he recognized as one of the three to have been on the list with a cross over their faces. He was talking to Roman, and didn't notice as the teen raised his leg for a high kick, which sent the man forward into Roman as the orange-haired man fired off a shot from his cane at point blank range, blowing the man to the ground, lifeless.

"That was one week ago." T said solemnly as he closed the video, only to open up a second one. This one was taken from a sideways view as he watched another one of the men get stabbed straight through the chest by Adam. The man slumped to the floor on his knees right before Adam finished the man off by decapitating him.

Tanner had to look away for a moment as he watched the gruesome scene unfold, but it closed soon after as T spoke again. "That was five days ago." Opening another video, Tanner found the quality this video ran at was less smooth than the others, and was taken from a 'bird's eye' view that kept moving. "This was two days ago in Vale, shortly before your deal." He watched as the third person, a girl, was surrounded White Fang goons and was mercilessly gunned down, unable to reach for her weapon quickly enough.

The swordsman needed a moment to process the information that was laid out before him as his face slowly turned into a frown, realising that he couldn't really doubt the information that he was being given, especially since he had no real counter argument. This is crazy. Looking down at his feet, he asked T a question without looking at him.

"Has my Gambit Protocol been activated?"

"It has now." T said as the hidden holographic projectors began projecting Tanner's profile before them. The brunette's eyes widened at the amount of information on him that was included in the profile.

Reaching out to run his finger along the lines of the sentences to more smoothly read them, he was momentarily baffled by how they knew so much about his background and how they recorded all the dealings they had with him. History, fighting style, weapon descriptions, weapon preference - I didn't know I had, it's all here!

"This is all the information that they were able to pull up on me, right?" he asked as he looked at T, who gave him a nod in response. "Oh, ok." He said as he bobbed his head for a moment, seeming to have just accepted the information presented to him. "What the actual fuck!"

"Torchwick and Cinder Fall – his partner – have a program that can create a near-complete profile of almost anyone by compiling known information about the individual." T explained. "The profile can include psychological aspects as well as biological, depending on how much information they are able to compile."

"And how do you know this?"

"I designed the program for Cinder Fall myself."

Tanner needed a split second to change his focus from the profile to T, who stood right behind the display. The swordsman said nothing for a second, before letting out a short, hollow chuckle. "So that's what the asshole meant by 'traitor'."

"I betrayed Cinder because of what she was going to do with my programs, not for my own interest." T said as he shook his head slowly.

"Let me guess." Tanner said as he pretended to be thinking long and hard about his answer, placing two fingers to his temple. "She's planning to overthrow one of the Kingdoms."

"Wrong." The word came out of T with such a sure tone that Tanner lowered his hand, finally taking the man before him more seriously. "She's not merely planning to overthrow a single Kingdom. She's planning to throw all four Kingdoms into war with each other, killing each other off until she's the last one standing."

This new knowledge – however true it was – baffled the brunette, causing his jaw to go slack for a second before he regained his composure. "T-that's insane. What could anyone gain from destroying all of the Kingdoms? It'd throw the world into chaos and the Grimm would swoop in and finish us off in the panic."

"Maybe that's what she wants." T said quietly, but Tanner caught on to the words and developed a feeling that the cyborg was not telling him the whole truth. However, he knew how to get the truth out of people subtly as he did using brute force.

"How? Tell me how she's planning to do this and I'll listen." Tanner said as he settled back into the chair, while T began opening and closing several different holo-screens.

After spending roughly ten minutes explaining the truth about Cinder's plan, and how he and all the other expendable assets were just playing for their own destruction, Tanner needed a moment to process everything that he had just heard to give a good, well-thought response to maintain his classy image. "Well shit."

The hidden projectors deactivated, casting the room back into a more yellowish light than the blue light the projectors emitted. "This is why we don't have time to fight amongst ourselves. If we can't work together to stop Cinder Fall, then Hannah Cobalt's death would have been for nothing."

Hearing the name of his deceased lover brought a fresh wave of anger to Tanner's features. Rising out of the wooden chair he had been sitting in, he scowled at T. "Don't talk about her like that. You don't know anything about her! You don't…y-you don't know her like I do." Thinking about the final moments they shared together brought its own series of tears to the swordsman's eyes. He thought about how he squandered the moments as such, and never truly got the chance to tell the girl how much she meant to him.

He could barely stand to glare at the man in front of him – let alone uphold his cold emotional walls – while thinking back on the sweet memories they shared. After having met and grow close to so many different girls, Tanner truly thought that Hannah was the one; the one to make him eternally happy just to be with.

But now? Now he felt like a hollow husk without a purpose.

"I understand."

The words brought Tanner's tear-stained attention back to T, who was looking intently at his Scroll, but somehow had a distant quality to his eyes, like he wasn't really looking at the Scroll. "I understand what you must feel. Cinder took someone from me as well, so I served her in hopes of getting her back." He paused as he put away his Scroll. "But Cinder Fall will never compromise; she won't stop until she has everyone at her feet. The only way to do justice to those who have fallen before her is to strike her down. It will only serve her if we waste time to mourn our losses."

Taking several deep breaths to compose himself, the swordsman was finally able to steady his breathing as he slowly looked up to face T. He's not wrong. And if half the shit he told me about Cinder is true, I can't allow it either. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he finally found his voice again. "So how do we do this?"

With the tap of his Scroll, the holographic projections around him rematerialized as he moved back to the large mess of computers. "We need to turn the expendable assets against Cinder, make them realise that working for her is a death sentence and convince them to fight against her."

"Turn her strength against her…clever." Tanner muttered to himself as he looked over the lists, trying to see if he could recognize anyone on the list. The determination that slowly built up inside of his to exact justice on those that killed Hannah gradually shrouded the despair and sorrow he felt. It would still be there, but now at least he had a purpose again. "Alright, who's our first target?"

"Pause the video." Qrow asked, and the video on the holo-screen immediately froze on T looking at Tanner, the video that had played for the last twenty minutes having been what footage T was able to record with his cybernetic eye, as he felt it was better to show them what exactly he wanted them to know instead of describing it.

He looked to his left, where Tanner was lying face down on the table while SK prodded at him experimentally. "Tanner, are you ok?" he asked before looking at T. "Are you sure that was Tanner in the footage."

"Of course it was me!" he shouted, bolting straight up. "I was just going through something at the time!" he rambled as the redness in his face slowly receded, returning his face to a more normal shade of tanned brown.

"And you recorded all this footage with your eye?" Glynda asked as she quirked an eyebrow at T.

"The device was designed to get confessions and evidence to back-up any claim I made, so yes."

"Are you recording now?" Qrow asked as he stared deeply into T's eyes.

"Yes."

"Can you turn the device off?"

"I will not turn it off."

"T, we just want-" Jay started, but T was quick to cut him off.

"I want to understand what happens today. From here on out, we are on the same side, so there is no point in arguing." T concluded strongly, bringing about a second of silence before Mason broke it with a cough.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm on your side cause I'm gonna kill you all at some point, but I'm just saying…" he let the sentence hang as every set of eyes turned to glare somewhat at Mason for the interruption. "Yeah, T does the explaining. I just do the killing." He said as he relaxed into his seat.

"T's right, Qrow." Jay spoke up as he put his hand on the older man's shoulder. "If we want them to help us, we need to be open to the truth as well."

Qrow sighed before looking across the table at Glynda. "He really is like his father isn't he?" he asked, the question only really meant for her.

"His father was an incredible man because of it." She said as she carefully eyed the boy. "Perhaps he will be as well."

T knew, of course, who they were talking about. Incredible as Jay's father was, not many actually knew the truth behind his tales and legends simply because the truth was much harder to digest than the stories they told about him.

"Moving on." Qrow continued as he focussed his attention on T again. "How did you get the surveillance feed of some of the executions – the people that were killed because of that Gambit Protocol?"

"After I created a presence in the global network, I used the same tactic on the bug I had already placed in Cinder's hardware. It wasn't easy, but I eventually had access to the data accumulated and access to every device that was connected to her private servers and hardware." He explained.

"Servers he helped to create." SK muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"They worked to our advantage." T countered, turning to face the rogue.

"Yeah, for a while. Wasn't long before Cinder figured out about your bug and locked us out of the system."

"Back to the matter at hand," Gylnda spoke up, silencing SK immediately. "-do you have any recorded footage about Cinder that could indicate what her next move is?"

"Miss Goodwitch, there are several dozen such recordings in my databank, however most would be irrelevant to the matter at hand therefore I require a specification. A certain time, a certain location, a certain person."

The blonde teacher looked like she was about to respond, but Jay beat her to it. "Adam Taurus." He suddenly burst out. "Do you have anything with him in it?"

T took a moment to consider the teen's reaction and whether or not he should actually continue, wary of provoking an unwanted enemy. "Give me a moment." With that, he picked up his Scroll and began sifting through the massive amounts of data on it. While he did that, his hands unconsciously ran over the frame of the device as his left hand traced the rim of the indentation where a bullet had deflected off the device. The shot didn't even pierce the metal exterior, leaving the inner-systems completely intact.

While he did this, his attention still lingered on the conversation that was being held around him.

"Why are you so interested in Adam, anyway?" Tanner asked, the question directed to the blonde boy that sat opposite him. "If it's a vendetta thing, you'll have to get in line."

"I've had dibs on that Adam fellow for much longer. You've had your chances, now it's my turn." He replied with a controlled wrath in his silver eyes.

"Please, I've been going after him for months now. Whoever he killed at the attack on Beacon-"

"Me and my uncle have been trying to locate and bring in Adam for almost a year now." Jay cut him off, propping himself up with his palms on the table. "I'll admit; he's a tough one, so I don't blame you for not having killed him yet." Qrow and Glynda shared a concerned look for a moment that maybe they should try to calm Jay down before he did anything…drastic.

"Are you mocking me?" Tanner asked with a certain sting to his tone as he stood up to match the teen's height.

Jay looked like he was about to give a sharp response, but stopped to consider his words. "Things are different now. It's not about revenge anymore; it's about stopping him for good before he lands more people up like…Yang."

Tanner took a moment to blink as his rising fury died back down to a smoulder as concern took over. "Wait, what happened to Yang?"

Qrow let out a sigh, having decided to answer so that Jay didn't have to, seeing as how he seemed to have some difficulty with it. "She's alright, but we found that a man fitting Adam Taurus' description cut off one of her arms."

"No!" Tanner exclaimed in shock, before his primary emotion changed back to rage. "Bastard! Now I really wished I had killed him when I had the chance."

SK let out a sigh as he took off his glasses, with one of the lenses having a spider-web of cracks running across it. "Well, at least she's alive." He breathed out, sounding almost as shocked about the news.

"Do you still have the arm?" Mason asked, and everyone immediately turned their attention to the redhead. "I mean, if no one wants it I'd be more than happy to take it."

"Mason." Tanner started. "Please shut up."

T wanted to quickly stop the arguments before they could escalate any further and searched through his files even faster until he eventually found the one he was looking for. "Found it. Playing it now." He quickly rushed the words out as he hit the 'play' button and the holo-screen flickered to life again.

A/N: Fun fact: T's apartment is actually loosely based off one of my friend's apartment. Until then, TTFN.