Chapter Twenty-Eight: Mission Prep.

Once Ruby and Weiss parted the wolf made her way towards the Headmaster's office, her mind wondering as she walked. What could the Headmaster want that he had sent her a message this late at in the day? Normally she wouldn't have put much thought into it before, but now with all the events that had happened the young wolf couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Idly waving her scroll over the scanner giving it her access code all team leaders had Ruby entered the elevator and pressed the top button.

With a breath Ruby tried to force herself to calm down as the cart began to climb. That weird girl she and Weiss had run into had sent so many of her alarm bells ringing that the wolf couldn't help but feel as if she was missing something with her. It had been so eerie to hear the slight hum and whirl of gears where normally she would have heard a pulse and breathing. And her scent of oil and metal had been just as off putting, it was as if she wasn't made of flesh and blood. To nail that point home Penny had been cold, unnaturally cold. Pushing back her thoughts Ruby tried to come up with reason's why Penny would have all of those traits and aside from the girl being a full blown robot there wasn't any really anything that made sense.

There was a ping as the door opened and Ruby walked into the large glass incased room. Ozpin was sitting behind his desk with his chin resting on his hands his eyes watching the wolf as she exited the cart. The hairs on Ruby's neck stood on end as something set off her alarm bells again. All of her senses went on high alert as her ears scanned for any noise, and quick breath to check the surrounding area. At once two things triggered in her, she could hear the sound of a weapon coming at her swinging in a downward chop and the scent of stale smoke and alcohol.

Showing no hesitation Ruby threw herself forward and into a roll, her hand going to the hilt of Crescent Rose as she turned and popped to her feet. Before anyone could blink the wolf flicked her weapon out and slashed forward, the ringing of metal sounded out as two weapons clashed together sending sparks out into the air.

"Good job pup." A voice drew out, "Though for the record you still draw your weapon with too much flash."

"Like you're one to talk Mr. 'I spent my second year trying to find cool way's to draw a scythe'." Ruby shot back giving the man a wolfish grin, "And I'm not a pup!"

Laughter rang out as the two weapons pulled away, "Yes you are now come give your favorite Uncle a hug." Ruby needed no more invitation as she quickly replaced Crescent Rose and jumped into Qrow's arms. "Ooff, jeez you're getting big."

Ruby pouted up at her Uncle letting out a low growl, "I am not you're just getting old." Qrow laughed again as he roughed up the hair between Ruby's ears. "So are you the reason I was called up here?"

Ozpin cleared his throat drawing the other's attention, "No that would be my doing, however we are still waiting on one more person before we start." At his words the elevator dinged once again as it opened letting Coco stride into the room.

The brunette's gaze swept the room before a smile cracked her face, "Sup Red? Headmaster? Old dude I don't know?"

"Oh I'm hurt." Qrow held his heart in mock pain as Ruby zipped over to the older girl and gave her a quick hug.

Ozpin gave a soft chuckle as he motioned for Coco and Ruby to sit down at the chairs in front of his desk, "Thank you both for coming so quickly. I'll try to keep this brief. Right now we are having an influx of missions, because Mantel is in a state of… well I'm sure you're both aware of what's going on in the northern kingdom." Both girl's nodded, "Well because of that their Hunters aren't able to preform their duties do to complicated political nonsense. So it's falling to the other Kingdoms to help them, and there is also an influx of Grimm in Dragnaire that is pulling more Hunters there as well. This is leaving us with more missions than they can handle."

"So you want us to take on a mission?" Coco asked with a quirk of an eyebrow.

"Correct." Ozpin nodded, "We're going to have to rely on our students to keep the people of Vale safe. Right now all forth and third year teams have been deployed and we're going to start with the lower years. However there are some missions we feel single first or second year teams might not be able to handle on their own."

"So you're going to deploy in teams of two." Ruby guessed as she nodded along.

"Correct. We'll be sending out one first year team with one second year team on those missions." Ozpin nodded again, "As I'm sure you've guessed Teams CFVY and RWBY will be sent out together." Both of the girl's glanced at each other giving small smiles. "Coco you'll be the lead on this mission." Something twitched deep inside of the wolf that she quickly clamped down.

"Right so what's the mission?" Coco asked as she leaned back in her seat.

Ozpin tapped a few buttons on his desk causing a holo screen to appear, "Five days ago a transport ship carrying cargo to a settlement on a northern island went down over this island here." A red square highlighted the indicated island. "We thought that it was lost until two days ago we detected a distress signal coming from the island. While the signal doesn't match the transport ships but it does match a signal from a long abandoned research facility that was there."

"Abandoned research facility." Coco muttered, "Sure that doesn't scream creepy."

Qrow gave a snort in agreement but Ozpin ignored both of them an continued, "We are hoping that any survivors made it to the facility and figured out away to get the power online again to send out the signal. You're mission is to go to the island, assess the situation and evacuate any of the survivors. You'll be leaving in the morning, prep your teams and equipment."

Both girl's stood and nodded to the Headmaster. As they turned to leave a question struck Ruby, "Headmaster why aren't you sending Uncle Qrow to this mission?"

Qrow sighed as he shook his head, "Sorry pup but I've been assigned another mission. So I'm stuck here until it's over." Ruby nodded and turned to catch up with Coco. "I'll swing by when you're back to catch up with you and Yang. Stay safe pup." Ruby smiled as the doors shut leaving the two men alone in the office. "I really hope you know what you're doing Oz."

Ozpin sighed as he leaned back in his chair, "Your nieces will be fine. They are on an excellent team and with CFVY along with them no danger will come close to them."

"Not what I meant." Qrow muttered as he pulled out his flask, "We don't know what Raven will do if she learns Ruby and Yang are out of your line of sight."

"Which is why you need to locate her before something happens." Ozpin replied, "We need Raven back on our side and we need the information she has."

Qrow glared at the man before heaving a large sigh, "This would be so much easier if we still had Summer. At least she could actually get Raven to listen."

"Agreed." Ozpin nodded.

"So Red, ready for another mission?" Coco asked as the elevator descended.

Ruby nodded, "Yeah the first one was fun… well it was until the end of it." The wolf gave a small grimace as she remembered her injury.

Coco nodded along, "Yeah but I doubt this one will be that exciting. Besides you've got my team watching your backs this time so nothings going to get close to you."

"Right." Ruby nodded with a smile, then a small frown flashed across her face when she remembered that Coco would be leading this mission. Again that small twitch flashed up inside the wolf before she pushed it back down.

"Alright Ruby what's up?" Coco asked as she peered through her glasses down at the wolf.

"It's nothing…" Ruby started before she remembered what Coco's semblance was. Blush crossed her face a she looked down and started to mutter.

Coco laughed as she patted Ruby on her back, "Oh Ruby, Ruby, Ruby you really should know better by now."

"Yeah." Ruby sighed as they exited the elevator, "It's just… I really don't know what's wrong."

Coco sighed, "Well I can take a guess but you probably won't like it." Ruby looked up at the older girl cocking her head to the side, "It's your Alpha nature twitching because I'm in charge."

Ruby blinked several times before backing away, her heart racing. If her Alpha side triggered because of Coco then she could accidently hurt the brunette. "I, I, I… no I don't want that to happen." Ruby whined as pulled in on herself.

Suddenly she felt two strong arms encircle her and pulled her into a hug, "Hey, hey, hey it's okay Ruby. That's not something that's going to happen." Coco said softly as she rubbed small circles into the wolf's back, "I know that you're scared of you Alpha side but you need to embrace it as part of who you are."

"But last time it came out I hurt Pyrrha." Ruby flinched back she tried to escape the hug. "I hurt a friend and I don't want to do that again."

"So then don't let it control you." Coco said simply, Ruby stopped moving and looked up at the older girl. Coco smiled as she pulled back slightly, "The reason you're Alpha nature reacts so strong is because you're suppressing it, when what you need to do is embrace it as part of who you are."

"But…" Ruby started.

"You think you're already embracing it right?" Coco cut over her, Ruby nodded at the question, "Well if you are then why are you still scared up it?" The wolf went to answer before she paused and gave a small frown. "If you're scared of something you can't embrace it."

"Then how do I start to embrace it?" Ruby asked still frowning.

Coco considered the question before shrugging, "Honestly Ruby I have no idea. The only reason I know so much about the Faunus world as I do is because of Velvet, she's explained many things and she can tell you're an Alpha so she explained some of that to me when I asked. And with what I can see from my semblance I can only tell you what I think needs to happen." Coco sighed as she pushed her glasses back up on her nose, "If I had to take an educated guess it's because you don't know how to lead."

"But I do lead my team." Ruby frowned; at least she thought she did.

Coco shook her head, "There's a difference between leading and knowing how to lead." The brunette smiled down at the wolf, "Tell you what Red, let's consider this mission a learning experience for you. I'll show you how I lead and if you have any questions about my style or why I'm deploying us in a certain formation I'll explain. This way you're learning how to lead and we'll be less likely to trigger your Alpha nature if you can ask questions. Deal?" Coco held out her hand to the wolf.

Ruby considered the brunettes idea before nodding and taking her hand, "Deal. Though don't expect me to be the only one with questions, Weiss is going to be curious too."

Coco laughed as they started to walk back to the dorms, "Oh I'm sure Snowcone will have loads of questions for Velvet once she sees her weapon, hell you might be worse than her." Ruby cocked her head to the side again but Coco waved her off, "You'll see."

Coco walked Ruby all the way to her dorm building before parting; with a wave the wolf quickly darted up to her room. Weiss was sitting at her desk working on her notes while Yang was doing the same but on her top bunk while Blake was missing from the room, Ruby heard the shower running letting her know where the panther was.

Yang was the first one to notice Ruby walking in and gave a small wave to her sister, "So what's the news from the Headmaster?" Weiss had also turned to look the wolf.

"Let's wait until Blake is out so that way I'm not repeating myself." Ruby said as she sat down on her bed, "But I did run into Qrow while I was there."

"Oh?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow, "Was he sober enough to actually function?"

Ruby shrugged, "He was probably his usual level of buzzed but he did actually test my reflexes so it he couldn't have been that bad."

Weiss looked between the sisters and gave them a confused look, "What?"

"Our Uncle Qrow is a raging alcoholic." Yang shrugged.

"And when ever he's around he likes to make sure Yang and I still remember our training." Ruby added.

"He was just so drunk when Blake and I ran into him that he couldn't really function so he couldn't test me then." Yang continued. "He say anything about dad to you?" Ruby shook her head. "Yeah me either." Weiss still felt as if she was missing something but before she could ask Blake walked out of the bathroom in her nightclothes.

"Alright now that we're all here." Ruby started changing the topic, "We're getting sent out on a mission."

"What?" Weiss blinked, she could feel her insides clench as she replayed their last mission in her head. Ruby quickly filled in her team with the discussion on what the Headmaster had told her and Coco.

"So we're heading out with CFVY to see if there are any survivors of the crash." Blake sighed as she sat on her bed.

"Yeah so we need to get a full nights rest cause we're leaving early." Ruby nodded along, "Coco said she'd take care of supplies, ammo and Dust so we don't have much to worry about besides our personal gear."

"Good thing I just got cleared for duty." Yang grinned as she flipped down to the ground.

Blake rolled her eyes at the blonde, "Yes but Velvet will be with us so you know she's going to keep an eye on your leg." Yang gave a small groan, "And for that matter so will I, I don't care if they're saying you're all healed up that shard was embedded in the bone."

"Oh so is the Kitten worried about me?" Yang quipped with a large smirk.

"Of course," Blake returned the smirk, "Who else could I use as my own personal space heater?"

Yang let out a small sigh before shaking her head, "Cheeky little cat." She muttered as she walked over to her wardrobe to get her own nightclothes.

Weiss shook her head and went to sit on the bed next to her wolf, once she was settled Ruby adjusted herself so that her head was resting on the Heiress lap, "Did you give Coco our usual requisition forms?" She inquired as she ran her hand through the crimson locks. Ruby gave a quick nod before leaning into the touch giving a content sigh. "And did you remember the new Dust mixture I asked for?" Another nod, "Very good Ruby, we might actually make a Huntress out of you yet." Her wolf gave a small growl but they both knew Weiss was only teasing. The Heiress ran a soft finger on the inside of Ruby's wolf ear making the girl's tail twitch back and forth.

When Weiss looked up she caught a quick glimpse of Blake's amber eyes. A flash of heat jumped into the panther's eyes but was gone just as quickly leaving the Heiress wondering if it actually been there or if she had imagined it. She decided to hold her tongue for now but she would talk with the panther when they got back from their mission.

Once Yang was out of the bathroom both Ruby and Weiss took their turns to change into their sleeping clothes. Once Ruby had reached their bed Weiss pulled her wolf into her arms and wrapped the blankets around them. She could feel Ruby take a few sniffs at her neck before nuzzling into the spot murmuring a soft goodnight. It wasn't long before the Heiress knew her wolf had slipped into the realm of dreams, she felt Ruby's tail wrap up around their legs and her breathing even out, two signs that signaled the younger girl was out. Taking a few moments to enjoy holding her wolf the Heiress dipped her face into the crimson tresses and pressed a light kiss into them. A spike of worry shot through her as she once again remembered their first mission and how it had end with the girl in her arms barely alive. "I will protect you Ruby." Weiss whispered into her wolf's hair, "I promise."

The alarm Ruby had set for her team went off far to early as far as any of them were concerned. Weiss had the least amount of trouble waking up shaking sleep off with just a few deep breaths and a quick shake of her head. Getting the clingy wolf that seemed not to care about the alarm to wake up was another matter. The Heiress had to resort to a mixture of tickling and bribing her wolf to actually rouse Ruby from the bed.

Blake was just behind Weiss in walking up and while the Heiress worked on waking their leader the panther went through a series of stretches, several of which she knew she was only capable of because of her Faunus heritage. Idly the panther wondered what Yang would think of her flexible nature but the full body blush that quickly followed that line of thought caused her to shut that train of thought down rapidly. With a sigh Blake turned to her partner who was still dead to the world and would be unless drastic measures were taken.

Grabbing the edge of the blanket Blake braced herself before giving a hard pull. The blonde who had been wrapped up in the blanket was flipped out of the bed and sent tumbling to the hard ground with a heavy thud that no doubt woke their downstairs neighbors. With a groan Yang's head slowly rose over the bed and bleary lilac eyes glared up at the panther, "You are sooooo lucky I'm in love with you." The blonde growled out.

Blake just shrugged as she replaced the blanket and remade the bed, "It was either that or a bucket of ice water."

"Cats are evil." Yang muttered as she stood and shook her head trying to clear the last remnants of sleep.

"That's why I'm a dog person." Weiss laughed as she exited the bathroom.

"But I'm a wolf." Ruby gave a soft whine as she looked over at the Heiress.

"And wolves classify as dogs Ruby." Weiss smiled down at Ruby as she moved some hair out of her wolf's face. With a quick peck at the younger girl's lips she sent Ruby to the bathroom with soft push. "Now go, we need to keep moving to stay on time."

Once Ruby disappeared into the bathroom Yang chuckled and shook her head at the Heiress as she finished her own packing, "Geez Weiss, you can get to her to do things better than I ever could." Weiss just shrugged as she went through her own personal supplies of Dust, double checking that everything was in order.

Once all the girls were changed they made their way down to the locker room and gathered their weapons checking that everything was in proper order. After that they made their way to the docks, team CFVY was already there waiting for them.

"Hey girls." Velvet waved at the cheerfully as they walked over. Coco was sitting on a pile of crates beside the rabbit Faunus, her head resting in one hand and a large thermos in the other. Fox was sitting on the ground with his back up against the crates his eyes closed and Yatsuhashi was sitting facing the rising sun, his legs crossed and back straight. "Good to see you're all awake, unlike some." The brunette gave a soft glare at her girlfriend and Fox.

Coco gave a low groan as she brought the thermos up to her lips and took several deep draws. "Mornings should be illegal." Fox gave a snort of agreement as he adjusted himself on the ground into a more comfortable spot, "And morning people are evil incarnate."

"Oh so now you're calling me 'evil incarnate'?" Velvet put her hands on her hips as she stared down at her team leader.

Coco nodded as she took a few more swigs, "Yes bunbun I am. And you've been aware of my opinions of mornings since day one."

"Hmmm." Velvet hummed as she cupped her chin and put on a show of thinking through Coco's words, "Really now? Cause I really don't remember you complaining about mornings over the breaks. Especially when I was the one to wake you up. In fact I remember you saying that you could wake up like that for the rest of your life."

Team RWBY watched in amazement as the usually stoic Coco gave off a brilliant blush at Velvet's words, each of them could feel the heat on their own cheeks as they all caught what the Faunus was meaning, "V-Velvet those were private moments!' Coco cried out sending Yatsuhashi and Fox in to side clenching laughter.

"Oh private huh?" Fox chuckled out, "Yeah sure. Then what do you call that one time when Yatsu and I walked in on the two of you in our first year? I may be blind but I still have my sense of smell oh fearless leader."

The blush on Coco's cheeks deepened as she sputtered for words, "Or there was the time you and Velvet went missing during a mission and Fox and I had to track you down to that field outside that small village." Yatsu added on still sitting in his seated position.

"You guys suck." Coco growled out as she glared at her team. "We're suppose to be setting an example for team RWBY!"

"Oh you're setting a great example." Yang laughed as she eyed Blake, "You know if this mission proves easy, Blake and I might just-"

"Yang!" Blake snapped out glaring at the blonde, though a dusting of blush graced her cheeks. "We will not!"

"Oh you're such a spoil sport." Yang pouted.

Coco sighed as she took another long draw from her thermos, "Yes well now that we're all here and awake let's getting things going. Our pilot is going over her flight checks now and once she's done we load up and head out." Pulling out her scroll Coco motioned for everyone to gather around as she pulled up a map. "Now let's keep this briefing short; Our mission is to get to Sanctus Isle were we are to search for the downed transport crew and help any survivors. Best guess is that they are hold up in the abandoned research facility that's on the island. Questions?"

"What were they transporting?" Blake asked as she looked over the map.

"Supplies for the northern settlement." Coco answered, "Aside from that we weren't given specifics."

"Are we to recover the cargo?" Fox asked as he looked at where he assumed the map was, though he was about two feet to the left of if. Coco gave off a soft chuckle at her teammate.

"Not that I'm aware of." Coco answered, "Though I suppose that if there's any that is recoverable we should."

Before anyone could ask any further questions a woman in a black flight suit walked up to them, "Teams CFVY and RWBY?" She asked. Both Coco and Ruby nodded and the woman smiled, "Pleasure to meet you I'm Lene Blackheart, I'll be your pilot for this mission."

"Hi." Ruby smiled up at the woman. "I'm Ruby Rose."

Lene blinked at the wolf, "You're Summer's girl?" Ruby nodded slowly. Lene's gaze whipped up to Yang who was eyeing the pilot, "And that would make you Taiyang's then."

"Yep, name's Yang Xiao Long." Yang nodded.

Lene let out a low whistle as she shook her head, "Never thought I'd be flying the daughters of two legends. Well we're all set so as soon as you're good to go we can head out."

"Alright let's get going." Coco nodded as she pick up her handbag and sauntered off towards the bullhead, her team following behind her each adjusting their weapons as they walked.

Ruby looked out over her team and gave a nod, each returned the nod and they followed behind the older team getting ready for their second mission, each hoping it would be better than their first.

A/N: So short chapter because I really didn't want things to bleed together. CVFY and RWBY are out on a mission together, how will this play out? What things will possibly go wrong? What will Coco teach Ruby? So many questions and so many things to come.

With that: I thank everyone of you from the bottom of my heart, drop in a tell me what's new, and may you have a fun filled and sunny day.