Firstly, let me apologize for Chapter 12 being posted late: I had off from university and it completely slipped my mind and I immediately went (at 3:00 PM here) 'OH FUCK THE CHAPTER!' So again, I apologize, that was 100% my fault and it won't happen again. Other than that, 2 quick notes: when this wraps up I'm gonna take two weeks to finish whatever I have to do with Uprising and then I'll post it. At the same time I will hopefully be working on a collab with A Shadow in Chains, a fellow Fanfiction author who is really damn good at writing, so check out his stories and hopefully we'll be deep into the collab. Fun fact, so, I really fucked up Scarlet's weapons (whoops) so, I'm not gonna change that however, I'll just keep it as is for the rest of the fanfic. Anyway, hope you guys have an amazing week (Volume 3 is only 6 days away! HOLY SHIT I CANT WAIT!) and I'll see you next Monday! Please review, fav and everything else in between!

Chapter 13

"There she is," Aero said under his breath, looking through a sniper scope he was holding to his eye at a target 80 feet below and about 300 feet away. He was laying on his stomach on the roof of an office building in the business district of Vale, the sun beaming down on him and the roof. A light breeze wafted by him as he set up his sniper rifle on a tripod, attached the scope to the top of it and looked down. To his right was a special targeting system that was helping him set up the shot. Aero adjusted his aim, sliding the sniper rifle up ever so slightly so that it was now on his target's chest.

His target was one of the top 10 assassin's in the Guild. Aero knew this because of a Scroll he stole off a dead assassin from another fort he went through a month ago, which gave him access to the list of top assassins. Three months had passed since the train incident and it showed on Aero, who sported the same clothes from his raid on the underground fort but underneath was marked. Multiple scars and bandages showed the pain he had gone through, his eyes having bags underneath them, his facial hair growing into a very short but rough beard while his hair had re-grown to shoulder length. Aero had barely slept in five days, constantly moving to try and stay ahead of the guild as it sent members to areas he had been at moments before. He adjusted the scope, breathed in then out slowly and evenly, waiting until the woman in her late 20's looked up and spotted him. As she realized who he was, he pulled the trigger and watched the bullet impact her heart perfectly, causing her to crumble onto the ground as people screamed, ran away and towards her, calling the authorities.

Aero quickly disconnected the tripod, grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder, moving to the door. He stopped and listened, picking up faint footsteps that were more than likely guards. He moved to the side and looked at his plan B, which made him shake his head in worry. Minutes earlier, he had set up a grapple hook with a short line to another office that was forty feet away and a story shorter than the building he was on. One end was tied to a radiator on his building and the hook was latched onto the lip of a wall covering four industrial air conditioners on the other building. His breathing shortened as the footsteps became louder, forcing Aero to whip out his baton and use it to zip-line over to the adjacent building. Aero tucked his body as the door to the roof he was on flung open and two guards ran onto the roof, looking around frantically. They spotted him as his feet impacted the wall on the other building, cushioning the blow as he stood on the roof and disconnected the grapple hook.

"Freeze!" he heard behind him, making him whip around with his baton and smack the guards wrist. The guard yelped in pain and couldn't react properly as Aero smacked his stomach and kneed his temple, knocking the guard out as another charged at Aero. The assassin side-stepped the guard and choked him out with the baton as the guards on the adjacent building watched helplessly, allowing Aero to make his way down the stairwell. He waited for more guards, ducking onto a floor and crouching next to a desk when he heard some gathering in the lobby and about to start moving upstairs.

"Who are you?" someone asked Aero, his body tensing as he turned around slowly, realizing he couldn't lie about who he was thanks to the sniper rifle on his back.

"No one important," he said with a shrug, "What floor am I on?"

"Why the hell should I tell you?" the man asked, regretting his decision when Aero stood up, grabbed his collar and slammed him onto the desk.

"Just tell me."

"T-Third floor!"

"See? Not so hard," Aero said, letting the man go and walking to a window, watching multiple police cars swarm to the building.

"Are you parked on the street?"

"Y-yeah."

"Fast car?"

"Oh no! There is-" yet the man's argument ended when he saw Aero engage his black hidden blades, "Yeah, okay, here," he said, taking out car keys and handing them to Aero. He took the keys, thanked the man and spotted the man's car when he unlocked it via the fob. He nodded to himself, noting his position near the car and waited. Tense minutes ticked by until Aero heard the police coming and grinned. The master assassin ran to one end of the large office space, turned, pulled his pistols out and ran forward, shooting the glass in front of him and crossing his arms in front of his face as he leapt at it. He burst through the window and landed hard on the ground with a roll, groaning at the impact his legs took and stumbled to the car. It was a typical four-door sedan, which would be enough for now as he clamored in, slammed the accelerator down and escaped via various back alleys, stealing different vehicles until he lost the police.

"Oh man…" Sebastian said, looking at the TV and leaning back as he listened to the reporter. He sat on the couch, mug of coffee in his hand as he rubbed his beard and closed his eyes. The three months had, in a sense, saw a return of normalcy for everyone to an extent. Sebastian and Lila now accompanied their friends as their bodyguards whenever they went out for anything besides Hunts. Team RWBY had returned to Hunting, taking on multiple hunts with a 100% success rate. While Yang had struggled at first with her new leg, in two weeks-time she was back to her old self, moving around as if she had never been injured.

Everyone was worried about Aero in their own ways. Lila and Sebastian, the latter tracking him via news reports and outside contacts, had the confidence that he would be fine, as did Blake, Sun and Scarlet. Ruby and Yang were worried and hoped he would be fine, worrying that the Guild would find a way to track him down. Weiss had taken his absence the hardest though she tried not to show it. She still laughed, smiled and got annoyed with everyone but they could all see the pain in her eyes and in her voice whenever he was brought up. She was constantly asking Sebastian for any updates on Aero and he had heard her call Aero's phone every night for what had seemed like two straight months.

"The hell are you doing man," Sebastian said, sipping his coffee and rubbing his eyes.

"What's wrong Sebastian?" he heard to his right, making him turn and spot the heiress in her night gown.

"Uh…"

"Tell me."

"Apparently he shot someone in broad daylight then zip lined over to another building, knocked out a couple of guards, took someone's car keys then drove off, ditching three different vehicles until the police couldn't track him. Current whereabouts are unknown," he said as Weiss sat next to him, her hands in her face, "I hate to ask this, but has he gotten in contact with you?"

"No, you?"

"Hell no," he responded, hoping to get a chuckle from her but got nothing. She looked at the TV, which was showing the footage of Aero's escape.

"Why."

"He has his reasons Weiss. I'm sure he'll come to and come right back to us with a lot of apologies soon," Sebastian said, patting her hand and leaving her to watch the news. She simply stared at the images of the rough man she knew months before who now looked foreign to her.

A few days after the assassination Aero walked in a park in Mistral at night after stowing away on a airship, enjoying the peace and quiet, dim light poles illuminating parts of various walkways as he stopped on a bridge and looked down at the water. His Scroll buzzed and he looked down, knowing the image that would be there and squeezed the Scroll. Right as he was about to finally answer it after three months, a rough hand stopped him. Aero saw the pale skin and looked up, recognizing the green eyes, the military cut black hair, the white leather trench coat that was outlined in blue. Aero's eyes narrowed and his heart stopped.

"Eli."

"Hello Aero. Am I interrupting something?"

"You were just about to."

"Seems like it. Have a minute?"

"Depends. Are you going to try and kill me?"

"No, not really."

"The hell kinda answer is that?"

"Mine," Eli said, moving his hand as he looked down at the water, "What brings you here?"

"Running, what else?"

"Figured."

"Then why-"

"You know me Aero, I like to mess with people... I've been following this five month odyssey of yours. Quite impressive what you've done. You wouldn't believe how many of us have avoided Varis."

"I can imagine," Aero said, leaning on the bridge as Eli looked at him.

"You're curious."

"As to why you haven't tried to kill me."

"And go the way of Magnis, Saunin and so many fellows? You are great at what you do Aero, which is why you were number one before you left."

"I know."

"Let me guess: you're reconsidering killing me."

"I've spared-"

"I know you've spared countless lives. You just want to end the Guild."

"I want to end the Guild because of the hypocrisy of Varis and how power hungry he is. He talks about us leading the world to peace yet how many people have we killed to insert our own politicians, community leaders, those that have influence? How many laws have we gotten passed because of that? Hm?"

"Trust me, I'm not disagreeing with you, hell, I've seen this for a long time," Eli replied in his husky voice, "Aero, I came to you to tell you a few things. First off, trust me, a lot of us knew of Varis and his want of power. Why do you think Nico was killed?"

"I thought it was because he couldn't swing me back to you guys."

"Exactly, he couldn't disillusion you like how he did when he first recruited you. Believe me when I say a lot of us have wanted to leave, but none of us really had the balls to do anything, which is why when you did it left a couple of us in shock."

"Then why have I met nothing but opposition?"

"You've met opposition from the older members and the new ones, not from those like you and me: we can see through the bullshit, we can see through the lies. We see what the Guild really means and we haven't fully committed our lives to it, we're not fresh-faced anymore."

"Good point."

"Also, because I know you're curious as to how I just happened to find you, great job sneaking onto my airship you idiot," he said, the two sharing a chuckle, "Oh, and another reason why I haven't attacked you is simple: I've officially retired from the Guild."

"Good for you," Aero said, his Scroll buzzing again, telling him of the waiting voicemail from Weiss.

"That's your new family and you need to protect them, right? Especially her?" Eli asked, spotting the picture of Weiss, Aero looking at him without a response, "Figured. Good man. Well, you need to know this much: everyone is cooped up at HQ and are waiting for you to strike. Here," he said, fishing a USB from his pants pocket and handing it to the assassin, "That details the White Fang HQ. I suggest sending some of your Hunter buddies to take them out."

Aero looked at the USB in astonishment. Never did he think that Eli or any other assassin would help him, yet here he was with all this information.

"Why?"

"Because the Guild has gotten corrupt and it either needs new leadership or to be destroyed, we can't control the world anymore. I won't fight you nor will I help you fight the Guild directly, but I don't mind fighting the Guild indirectly," Eli said, turning to walk away then stopping, "Oh, I've taken all of my money from my bank account and I'm opening a bar in Vale called The Hideout. You should come by sometime, I wouldn't mind having a regular," he said with a grin that Aero matched.

"First drink better be free."

"Oh of course," and with that Eli left Aero alone on the bridge, who was about to make an important call.

Weiss set her Scroll on her nightstand, once again leaving a voicemail after Aero once again didn't answer.

"I really should stop," she said aloud, pulling the covers around herself and starting to drift asleep until her Scroll jumped to life as a ringtone blared. She swiftly sat up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi Weiss," she heard, her eyes going wide at the voice.

"Aero?"

"Yeah," he replied, leaning on a railing, his heart thumping in his chest.

"Where are you?"

"You know I can't-"

"Please just tell me," she said quietly.

"Mistral," he replied, "I take it everyone's been following my exploits?"

"Yeah, Yang said nice job on the office building," she said, Aero chuckling at the comment.

"Tell her I said thanks… How is she?"

"Fantastic, she loves her new leg."

"That's good," Aero said, letting his words settle in the air as he relaxed his shoulder. Weiss waited for him to say something, hoping he would because she was drawing blanks in her mind.

"Weiss, what did you mean when you said you wanted to talk some things over about us?" he asked.

"Just some things Aero."

"It's about what I said those months ago isn't it?" he asked, waiting for a reply.

"Yeah."

"Do you feel the same way-"

"I can't answer that Aero," she replied, tears coming to her eyes. Aero stood on the bridge, his face showing regret and sorrow as he sighed.

"I… I understand. Weiss, I'm sorry. I know I've apologized to you a lot over these months but I really am sorry. I… Man I wish I could show you how sorry I was."

"Come back to the manor so we can have our talk."

"You know I can't."

"Why not?! Yang's leg is fine! We can help! Aero, don't do this to me!"

"I'm not meaning to-"

"Then why are you?!" she yelled, immediately covering her mouth from how loud she got, knowing she just woke up some of her friends. Her yelling left Aero stunned on the bridge, his mouth moving but no words coming out until he could pick his words carefully.

"Because… I want to make sure we can have a future together," he said softly, Weiss gasping at his remark. They stayed on the phone for a minute longer, neither saying a word, the shock of everything still going through each other's minds.

"I need to catch a ride, I'll see you soon Weiss," he said before hanging up, leaving the Huntress in her bed, a tear going down her cheek that she painfully wiped away.

"You okay Weiss?" Ruby asked her partner, who sat next to her at the dining room table, letting Weiss use her shoulder as a cushion. It was three am and Weiss was right: she hadn't just woken up a few teammates, she had woken up everyone. After the phone call she had made her way downstairs and sat at the table, soon being joined by Ruby and Yang, who questioned her for ten minutes. An hour later everyone was downstairs, taking in everything she had relayed about Aero to them.

"Shit this is getting out of hand," Scarlet said to Sun, who nodded.

"Couldn't agree more."

"Can we track him Sebastian? He still uses his old Scroll." Yang said

"He took the GPS out a long time ago, which is why the Guild hasn't been able to stop him," Sebastian said, handing her, Weiss and Lila cups of coffee, putting more on for everyone else.

"So we just continue to wait? I'm gonna fucking strangle him for this nonsense," Lila said, sipping her coffee. Everyone heard a buzzing sound and looked at Sebastian, who pulled out his Scroll and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Is that-" Blake began before Sebastian held his finger up.

"Hey Eli."

"Eli?!" Lila said.

"Who in the hell is that?" Yang asked Ruby, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Uh huh… really… good to hear… he is?... oh shit, please tell me… you're sure?… okay, yeah, we'll jump on it… Catch you later," Sebastian said, running upstairs before anyone could ask a question and returning moments later with his laptop, which he opened to a chat service, reading the waiting messages and running a hand through his hair.

"We all have to go right now!" he said, running back to the foyer.

"Wait Sebastian why?!" Blake asked.

"Aero's assaulting the HQ on his own! Eli told me and my sources just confirmed it, he's there right now, we gotta go!"

"Whoa," Blake said as the two vehicles entered a warehouse and spotted a guard with a cleaved collarbone.

"Yup, that's Aero," Lila said, taking her rifle out and loading it, an approach everyone with ranged weapons took as the two vehicles drove to the center. The ground suddenly shifted, lowering and turning them around to face a dark tunnel, which they proceeded to go down until stopping in front of a parking lot and large open doors. Everyone clamored out of the vehicles quickly, noting the other dead bodies as they made their way inside the headquarters, being stopped by a group of Guild members.

"W-who are you?" a handler asked.

"We're looking for Aero," Sebastian replied.

"Check the first floor, everyone was ordered to wait there for him."

"Oh no," Yang said, the group running where Lila directed them, jumping to the first floor and bursting through the side doors of the training arena.

"AERO!" Weiss yelled at the assassin.