A/N: Terribly sorry to have skipped Wednesday & Friday's updates. This past week was a bit rough ~ The end of NaNoWriMo (I wrote well north of 20,000 words for that project along with starting a new job on Monday and having meetings every night of the week just didn't give me time to edit this beast of a chapter.

A thousand apologies, oh patient ones! And now, with out any further ado ~ enjoy the nearly 2800 words of Chapter 23.

Chapter 23

"Thank you for meeting with us, ladies." Professor Ozpin began as he rose from his seat to welcome Neo and Weiss into his office. Professor Goodwitch was there as well, slightly behind Ozpin and off to his right. In front of his desk to the left, stood a tall, strikingly muscular man with a commanding militaristic bearing. He was bedecked in the white and grey uniform of the Atlesian military and wore the rank insignia of a General on his collar. Opposite the general was a beautiful woman, with long, white hair and icy blue eyes, in a heavily modified Atlesian uniform, save for the rank insignia on her right breast. Her eyes looked incredibly familiar to Neo.

"WINTER!" Weiss jumped up and ran towards the woman, stopping a couple meters short. "It is a pleasure to see you again, Sister. What brings you to Beacon?"

The taller woman looked down at the younger Schnee girl, "I see you are well, despite the events of this evening. But tell me, how could you be so careless as to leave the safety of this Academy without your weapon?"

Weiss meekly muttered something about Neo being armed and a great fighter as she looked down at her feet.

"So it would seem." Ozpin replied to her barely spoken statement. "It also seems, from the reports I have received, that this woman is the same one Ruby identified from the night of the dance."

Everyone else in the room turned to Ozpin at that statement.

"Neopolitan, this woman is the leader of your former faction, is she not?"

The small woman nodded.

"And it would seem as though she was not too happy about your new affiliation with the side opposite her. With good reason, I would assume."

"We need to stop her, Ozpin. While this wasn't an attack on Vale itself, she's becoming more combative and brazen." The General began. "We cannot afford to give her another opportunity!" He accented his statement by pounding a closed fist into his other hand.

"And so we shall." He looked around the room and let his gaze fall on Neo. "I believe we are finished her for now. Miss Neopolitan, do you think I could see you in private? As for everyone else, thank you for your time."

"Ozpin!" The General yelled at the same time Weiss began protesting, "But…"

"Thank you all for your time." Ozpin merely restated as he looked from the General towards the exit.

"Come now, Professor Ozpin has asked us to leave" Goodwitch said as she held out her arms and shepherded the group towards the elevator leading out of the office.

After a moment and a few more protests by Weiss and the General, only Neopolitan remained with Ozpin.

Ozping walked around his desk, motioned to a chair, and sat in the one opposite from it. Neopolitan shook her head as she took the proffered seat as her hair turned a dark, raven black and her eyes reverted to the green she wore for her date. In combination, it made her eyes far more striking, especially with the jade dress and its black stitching. She allowed her illusion to shimmer and shatter away, freeing up the energy used to hold the illusion so she could speak. There was a lot of information Ozpin needed to know.

"So?"

"It would seem as though Cinder is closer than we thought. I've seen her around the school wearing a Haven uniform, but I've taken steps to stay hidden and avoid her. I don't think she or her other accomplices have noticed me, despite how well the hair stands out in a crowd." Looking towards the shadows in the corners of the office, "How's Qrow?"

"He recently turned up. He's been pretty deep and wasn't able to communicate for a while. Although, I think you have him beat on that front. How long has it been now?"

"Almost seven years." Neopolitan calmly replied.

"I've been worried about you. Fortunately Weiss didn't kill you and Glynda had the good sense to accept Weiss's suggestion of offering you a chance to redeem yourself."

"Being tiny, cute, and trustworthy-looking has its advantages." Neo deadpanned.

"Let's not get too carried away. But more to the point, I trust you have quite a bit of information for me and we have very little time before your friend starts to worry about you."

Neopolitan shrugged as she began, "Honestly, even after seven years, I still don't know much. Cinder plays her cards incredibly close to the vest and I still don't know as much as I'd like. It wasn't easy essentially growing up in that organization. She demands absolute loyalty and severely punishes any failure or disobedience."

"I'm sorry to have put you in this situation."

"She killed my entire family; I was twelve and able to make the decision on my own. You merely offered me the opportunity to choose between coming to live at Beacon and playing spy and trying to infiltrate; her actions put me in this situation. And knowing what it would be like now, I still would have made the same choice."

Satisfied with her reply, Ozpin prompted her, "Let's start with the most important facts first."

Neopolitan collected her thoughts, let out a deep breath, and began her intel dump.

After about an hour, Neopolitan was finally wrapping up her initial report and was impatient to leave. Weiss has to be absolutely freaking out by now.

Ozpin took note of her becoming antsier in her desire to leave, so he wrapped up and concluded their meeting. "This has certainly been an enlightening conversation, Neopolitan. We owe you a great debt…"

"A debt I will call to collect on after this is over, I assure you."

Ozpin nodded solemnly as he gestured to the door, indication that she was free to leave.

With a thought and a shake of her head, Neo activated her illusion again and turned her hair back to its tri-color state and let her eyes take their familiar pink / brown orientation. With a slight bow of her head towards Ozpin, she moved a hand over her heart and extended it slightly in thanks. She wasn't sure where she would start looking for Weiss. She stepped into the elevator, pressed the button for the ground floor, and rode the long elevator in a comfortable silence as she hoped that she wasn't going to have to speak again for a very long time.

As the elevator reached its destination, Neo decided that she'd head straight to their dorm and enlist the help of the other girls if Weiss wasn't there. However, as the door opened, she saw Weiss and the woman Winter seated at one of the benches around the perimeter of the foyer.

Jumping from her seat and dashing across the room, Weiss launched herself into a dive at the woman and caught her in a tight hug. "Are you okay? You were up there for quite a while, is Ozpin upset? What happened?"

Neo hugged her friend tightly and started walking towards the exit as she shook her head 'no'. Not now, Weiss…

Winter stood and met the women on the way out. "Neo, I offer you my thanks for protecting my sister and for being a good…" Winter paused awkwardly, "…friend." She turned towards Weiss, "I will say nothing to Father or the family, but if what you told me is correct, I'm sure they already know." With a curt, shallow bow, Winter did a sharp about face and marched out ahead of them.

After Winter was out of earshot, Weiss began, "She nearly hit the roof when I told her that she was wrong and no one here judges me for being a lesbian."

Neo snapped her head towards Weiss, shocked at the casualness of her statement.

"She still doesn't approve of it, and she let me know it, multiple times, but at least she had the decency to be civil towards you." Weiss wrapped her arm around her girlfriend and they started towards their dorm. "I'm guessing Ozpin must have been pushing you for whatever you knew about her and her operations. We, Team RWBY that is, have been investigating Torchwick and the White Fang before you arrived, but tonight shows me that this is much bigger than that."

Neo nodded; her face grim.

"Well then, I think it's best to try to protect our team. We're not going to tell them about this puppet master woman over Torchwick pulling his strings. Instead, we'll just keep pulling at the thread in this more complex story that is Torchwick and the White Fang. If we learn more and discover this woman in our investigation, then so be it, but for now, I think we should keep our focus more limited."

Neo agreed with Weiss and thought it was for the best. But her thoughts were still on Cinder. She was here! At Beacon. Hiding in plain sight as a student from Haven. The Vytal Festival is great for encouraging cultural exchange, but even with the appearance of heightened security, ne'er-do-wells such as Cinder and her associates can still find enough laxness in the system to allow them an opportunity enact their plans.

The pair finished their short walk in silence. Silence, which was immediately interrupted as soon as they entered their room.

"How was the happy couple's date? Do we need to give you girls some privacy for whatever post-date activities Weiss has planned for you?" Yang started as soon as they opened the door.

Blake rolled her eyes at the inquiry, knowing full well what sort of activities the blonde was interested in pursuing when the room was empty.

Ruby slightly blushed, but otherwise apparently taking the thought of Weiss and Neo somewhat better than she had before.

"It was mostly enjoyable, but I'm still a little hungry. We ended up at a noodle place."

"The one with the sushi bar?" Blake jumped in.

"No." Weiss snapped.

"What?"

"No. It wasn't A Wok In The Park, and even if it we did go there, we didn't bring any back for you."

"Ice Queen."

"Fish-munching Faunus."

"Hey! Stop teasing before someone says something mean and hurtful." Ruby interrupted their spat before Yang could jump in and escalate the situation.

"Fine." Blake and Weiss said in unison.

"So, umm… Do you guys want a little privacy?" Ruby tried to bring the conversation back to Yang's question.

"You little dolt! Do you really think I'm so easy that I'd put out on the first date?" Weiss shot back.

"Well… You did jump into bed together the same night that she tried to kill me." Yang offered.

"Yeah, but I only did that because Neo very nearly gave us a pun-free team. Completely different." Weiss jabbed at Yang. Then more seriously, "Goodwitch told me that I was responsible for her, I couldn't have her escaping the first night I was supposed to be keeping an eye on her. I even thought about just tying her to the bed."

Blake's ears perked up at that last statement from Weiss. Why Weiss, you have been reading some of my books, you naughty girl? She looked at the girl from over top of the book she was working on.

"Fair enough. I guess." Yang conceded.

Catching Blake's golden eyes and knowing smile, Weiss averted her gaze and blushed a little.

"Yang?"

"Yes, Blake?"

"You owe me twenty Lien."

"But? How?" Yang protested.

"I'll tell you later."

Weiss's blush intensified as she could only guess what the BY pair were betting on. Fortunately, Ruby was oblivious to this particular conversation and Neo was so lost in her own thoughts, she had tuned out the remainder of RWBY after the question about the noodles.

"As delightful as this has been, I'm going to jump in the shower." Weiss said as she sat to pluck off her shoes.

"Get a little hot and bothered at dinner?"

"Yang, I'm seriously going to throw you out the widow if you don't stop."

"Reaow!" Yang replied as she made a scratching motion with her hand. "Guess Blake's not the only kitty with claws in this room."

"Whatever. Showering."

Weiss grabbed her toiletries as she headed into the bathroom to jump into the shower. It's a shame that Neo isn't in here with me. She'd be able to get my back and rub out some of the tension. Weiss pressed her right forearm into the wall and rested her head on her upper arm. She replayed the day in her mind, worried about that woman her and Neo fought. She was definitely bad news if she was Torrchwick's boss. But, how did she happen across Neo at the restaurant? How was Neo in Ozpin's office for so long after they returned? Did she really have that much information or did he just fire questions at her that she was unable to answer? At this point, Weiss thought it was best to not bring it up in front of the rest of her team. She'd have to wait until her and Neo were alone again to press the issue.

Almost as surprising as having her first real date ever ruined by getting into a massive fight was Winter. She expected her older sister's hostility when she admitted that Neo was her date when they were caught up in the fight. She even expected Winter's curt replies of "Classified" when pressed for details on what she was doing in Vale at Beacon. What exactly was she doing here? General Ironwood had been on campus since the beginning of the semester, but Winter hadn't been with him then. Why had she suddenly shown up? Why now?

The stream of questions started to give her a headache. The fact that she barely ate didn't help matters either. Weiss circled her fingers against her temples as the water splashed against her; she pleaded that the dull ache didn't turn into a full migraine.

With one last rinse, Weiss shut off the water, hopped out, and did what she needed to before returning to their room.

Blake had come down from her bed and was in Yang's; she leaned against the blonde's shoulder, still reading her novel. Neo hadn't moved from where she was when Weiss left and Ruby was at her desk, surprisingly, studying. She looked closer at Ruby and noticed faint streaks on the girl's face and a slight reddish tinge in her eyes.

Unusual for Weiss, she grabbed one of her two sets of casual clothes from the bottom of her closet shelf and pulled them on. She quickly dressed and kissed Neo's cheek, before whispering in her friend's ear, "I think there's something wrong with Ruby, I'm going to see if she wants to go out and talk for a bit."

Neo was caught a bit by surprise at Weiss's sudden appearance, but quickly regained her composure and nodded her understanding.

Weiss tapped Ruby gently on the shoulder and caught the girl's attention. "Hey Ruby. I'm still really hungry, do you think you'd like to head over to the dining hall with me for a little while?"

The girl wiped her cheeks quickly, she hoped Weiss didn't notice her tearstains, as she bolted upright and energetically replied "Yeah! Dinner with my BFF!"

Weiss rolled her eyes but smiled at the girl, nonetheless, "C'mon… Dunce."

Neo didn't have much else she could do right now, so she decided to jump in the shower and get ready for bed. As she gathered her things, Yang called after her, "Hey Neo! Do you think that you could make your shower last, oh I don't know, at least a half hour?" Blake gently elbowed her partner in the ribs. Neo smiled and walked over to the pair, took both of their hands, and put them together. She squeezed the girls' clasped hands in her own as she nodded her affirmative reply and gave the pair a knowing wink.

As soon as she closed the bathroom door, Neo immediately turned the water on to give the pair in the bedroom a little more privacy. Weiss said something about Ruby seeming unhappy – I wonder if it has anything to do with Weiss and I, as well as her sister and Blake, starting relationships with each other. Maybe she feels left out? Or abandoned by both her partner and her sister? Poor girl. I should find a way to bond with her. Try to be a friend.

Neo didn't rush her thoughts though. She planned to give the couple on the other side of the door plenty of time for their activities.