Beacon Academy, Next Morning

Jay woke up bright and early. He looked at the clock on his new scroll from Ozpin. It read as six in the morning. It would take some getting used to twenty-four-hour days compared to Sera's twenty-six-hour days. Jay rotated his neck, which brought several pops from either side. He sighed in relief as he got off the dorm floor and looked at the makeshift bunk beds. He looked at Ruby's and watched as the bed shifted slightly with the ropes as Ruby shifted in her sleep. Then he looked at Yang's as books held it up. The blonde lay on her stomach and snored away, not moving.

Blake was the quietest as she was curled up in her covers. What almost sounded like purrs escaped from under covers as she lay on her side. Weiss lay on her back with her hair sprawled all over her pillow and quietly slumbered away. Jay quickly shook his head and walked into the bathroom. He pulled his helmet off and set it beside the sink. He then began taking his armour off. Several small pieces fell to the ground as he undid clasps, clips and latches.

He moved onto his chest plate with his arms free of all armour. He reached over one shoulder, undid the latch, and then the other shoulder. He undid the latches under his arms and let the heavy metal fall to the floor with a heavy clang. The dull hum from his armour had stopped and was replaced with silence. He approached the mirror and looked over himself. His short dark blonde hair was matted down, and his deep blue eyes stared back. They looked dull, nearly lifeless. Blonde stubble graced the lower part of his face.

He raised a gloved hand and ran a finger over a deep scar from his hairline to his jaw. It narrowly missed his eye at that time. He shuddered at the memory. He pulled off the gloves and set them beside the helmet. He pulled the black long sleeve over his head and threw it on the armour on the floor. A white undershirt hid some of the scars on his torso as well. His arms bared several scars from hand-to-hand combat. Then he undid his boots and kicked them close to the wall. He unclipped his belt and undid his pants. And dropped them to the floor. There were scars on his legs from Tickers and Wretches that had clawed through his pants. He then took off his underclothes and stepped into the shower.

The cold water beat against his head as he stared at his feet. He sighed as he ran fingers through his short hair and brought his face to the showerhead. He continued to let the water run down his body for several more minutes before he shut it off. He stepped out and over to the mirror and sink. The water dripped off as he picked up his helmet and looked into its unlit eye sockets. He stared for several seconds before he gritted his teeth tightly. He slammed the helmet down on the sink, which caused it to crack. He muttered to himself, "Why me?"


One Hour Later

Jay stepped out of the bathroom, fully clothed and armoured. He looked to the beds to see Weiss, and Blake started to get up. He stretched as he walked over to where he left his duffel bag. He began mentally cataloguing the contents as the girls prepared for the day. He rifled through the contents as he heard the door to the bathroom close. He pulled out the Retro Lancer and pulled the bayonet off the rifle before he leaned it against the wall, next to his Boomshield. He rummaged around in the duffel bag.

When his hand hit what he was looking for, he grabbed it and pulled it out. He slid the bayonet into the sheathe he grabbed from the duffel bag. Ruby abruptly slammed into his back as she gawked at the Retro Lancer. He was pushed forward by Ruby's force, forcing him to put a hand on the ground to steady himself. She suddenly sputtered and pointed, "What is that?!"

"Mk. I Lancer Assault Rifle. Now get off my back. I'm trying to do a little inventory here," Jay grunted as he kept himself from tumbling forward. Ruby complied and got off his back, and stepped back. Jay sighed as he stood up and turned around to face Ruby; with arms crossed over his chest, he said, "We can do a little target practice later. I'm sure right now there are more pressing things to do."

The door to the bathroom flung open and banged against the wall. Weiss stormed out and pointed a finger at Jay, "Did you crack the sink?!"

"Unfortunately, I did, yes," Jay replied simply with a sigh. Weiss instantly started to poke his chest armour, "What did you think you were doing?! That's our sink! You can't just break our things!"

Weiss suddenly winced as Jay grabbed her hand in a near-bone-crushing grip. His helmet stared down at her, unblinking and unfeeling, "Princess, I know I'm at fault. And I will gladly admit to it. But don't think you know me. That crack happened because of some oh-so-happy memories of my past. And they just so happen to reemerge at that specific moment. I will admit that I slammed my helmet too hard on that sink. But that was by mistake. So forgive me."

Weiss pulled her hand away as Jay let go of it. She gingerly nursed it with her other hand. Jay turned away and walked to the door as the other three stared at him, a little intimidated by his outburst. Jay opened the door and found Ozpin standing behind with his mug and cane still present.

"Ahhh, Mr. Rodgers. We have to set you up with proper attire for attending classes here. We just have to update your scroll with a class schedule. You've been processed through the system and have become a full student of Beacon Academy," Ozpin said straight to the point with a small smile. Jay shuddered as he nodded, "Lead the way. Just don't say I've been processed."

Ozpin raised a questioning brow as he nodded. He started down the hallway as Jay stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind him. The room was suddenly silent as the girls breathed in relief. Yang was the first to speak up, "What was that about?"


Jay walked through the halls of the dorms as he followed Ozpin. Few students were up by seven in the morning. Classes usually start at nine o'clock. So a lot of the students slept until at least eight. It had been so long that Jay forgot what it had been like to not worry if death was encroaching from around every corner. Not having to worry about starvation, dehydration or mutilation every day.

This world felt eerie to Jay. No constant threat to worry about. Sure, there were Grimm, but Jay had considered them a negligible threat when placed next to the Locust. Beowolves were pretty much harmless, while Ursas were a somewhat bigger threat. But a single Drone or Grenadier from the Locust was far more concerning than the local 'soulless' fauna.

"There was also something else I wanted to discuss with you," Ozpin broke the silence as they neared the exit to the first-year dorms.

"And that is?" Jay responded, being thrown from his thoughts.

"There will be missions where I hesitate to send first-year students on. Even second-years. So there may be times when I ask you to accompany older teams on assignments that could be somewhat out of their experience range. I usually send out some well-experienced staff on missions that would be too difficult for any student team," Ozpin explained as they left the first-year dorms and onto a boulevard.

"So you want me to babysit," Jay responded after he had stopped. He could only sigh and shake his head as he caught up to the older man.

"Not so much babysit as giving them proper combat experience while making sure they don't get in over their head," Ozpin attempted to correct Jay as he waved to some early-rising students.

"Still sounds like babysitting to me," Jay responded as he paid little attention to the few people staring at him as they passed.


Ozpin's Office

Jay tapped his foot impatiently as he stood there and waited. He forgot his weapons back in Team RWBY's dorm. He was feeling anxious because of it. It was ingrained in him that being without a gun meant certain death. While he was a death machine by himself by human standards, having a rifle or shotgun certainly didn't hurt.

He only sighed in irritation as Ozpin watched. But the ding of the elevator drew their attention. The doors slid open to reveal a dark-skinned woman wearing the white uniform of Atlas with short sleeves. She stepped out of the elevator and marched into the middle of the room, "Specialist Harriet Bree, reporting."

Jay only stared at the shorter woman as she snapped into a salute. Apparently, Ironwood was serious with his comment about keeping an eye on him.

"Welcome, Miss Bree. I will admit this was a bit of a surprise to me that Ironwood would send one of his Specialists to Vale," Ozpin greeted the woman, giving a slight nod in acknowledgement.

Harriet's eyes quickly flicked to Jay before they returned to the Headmaster, "Ironwood sent me to help you with any missions or assignments that your students couldn't reasonably handle."

"While I appreciate the sentiment, I have several Huntsmen and Huntresses employed at my school that can do the exact same thing," Ozpin responded, already knowing why Harriet was here in the first place. Jay was done with listening, so he walked towards the woman. Harriet watched him approach until they were centimetres apart.

For several seconds Jay just stared down at Harriet. Harriet stared back into the blue sockets of Jay's helmet. She didn't flinch as the cold stare bore down on her.

"Just stay out of the way, Runt. We're done here," Jay said as he walked past Harriet to the elevator. He hit the call button, and the doors opened. He stepped inside and hit the button for the ground. Jay continued to leer at Harriet up until the doors closed.


Guest Room

"Well, Sir, you were correct in his abrasiveness," Harriet reported to Ironwood. Having a military issue encrypted scroll on hand was a godsend. She could only hear Ironwood's sigh from the other end of the scroll call.

"Do your best to keep an eye on Rodgers. He's an unknown that we can't let wander around as he pleases," Ironwood ordered, stressing the final part of it.

"Understood, Sir," Harriet responded before cutting the scroll call.


RWBY Dorm

Jay had found his way back to the girls' dorm. He figured out how to unlock the door using his scroll and walked in. He assumed the girls were either in class or somewhere else with the dorm empty. Having his Lancer and Gnasher on his back was as much comfort as it allowed him to relax a little now. He had sat on one of the bottom bunks of the shoddy bunkbeds.

He just stared at the floor for several seconds as he contemplated things. He knew Ozpin had likely expected him to attend classes and whatnot. But fuck'em, Jay wasn't a student anymore. It was quiet moments like these that made memories resurface. He pulled out a set of COG tags. His sister's name was engraved into the tags. He gently cradled them in his hands as old pain bubbled up.

Jay only had to be three at Emergence Day. His sister was only two or so at the time. They had lost their father in the early years of the war. He could still remember the Hammer strikes. How the ground shook and the air seared anything in range. That one act of a man trying to stop the Locust Horde had reduced nearly the entire surface of Sera to slag.

Then came the ratification of the Fortification Act. Whatever areas weren't scorched were put under martial law by the COG. Any able-bodied males were conscripted into service. Along with any females capable of giving birth, they were shipped off to the "breeding farms." Any woman incapable of giving birth were pressed into noncombat roles.

For the longest time, Jay and his sister never knew where their mother had gone. It wasn't until well over a decade later did he learn what happened. But he and his sister had ended up in an orphanage. Jay did everything he could to protect his sister and look after her in the absence of their parents. But he joined the COG Army once he turned old enough, or at least what he thought was old enough.

Even if the COG had taken his parents, he felt he had to join the fight. He became a Gear when he was just fifteen. Three years later, he participated in Operation: Hollow Storm. He had only turned eighteen when it happened. He could still remember parts of Prescott's speech. But the most prominent part he could remember was the fear. Because his sister had become a Gear over a year after he did.

While both Rodgers' children would participate in Hollow Storm, only one would return alive. Jay could still remember the blood that clung to the walls of the torture barge he and his team had raided. The putrid smell was burned into his mind.

The heavy thunk of a lever bounced around the interior as every heavy door creaked open. The mangled remains of former Gears lay in the cells.

"We got a live one over here!" One of Jay's squadmates called out. Everyone gathered around the one door the Gear was at. The one that had called out was the one to go into the cell and managed to pull out the survivor. And Jay's heart practically stopped.

"Amber?" He had croaked out.

"Oh shit…," Another squadmate mumbled, having heard Jay. Jay pushed past everyone and cradled his sister in his arms. She was missing her armour and undershirt, even her bra. The only thing pieces of clothing left were her pants and boots. Despite the deep cuts on her back and other places, the big rings piercing her back, she was still breathing. Her blood smeared over Jay's armoured chest.

Jay managed to get his helmet off and placed his cheek against the top of Amber's head. He whispered her name, "Amber…."

"Jay?" a tiny voice croaked out. He immediately whipped his head back and stared down at his sister's mutilated form, his eyes wide. Slowly, Amber looked up into his eyes. What he saw would forever haunt him. He didn't know how long Amber had been captured or how long she was tortured. But he could see the lack of warmth in her eyes. Her spirit was broken.

"Y-y-yeah. I'm here," He stammered out quickly, trying to quell the tears that started to come on. Amber could barely move, but she managed a weak hug for Jay. He gingerly returned it, trying not to hurt her.

"Thank… yyoouu…," She whispered into Jay's ear before her last breath left her lungs.

"Amber? Amber!?" Jay cried out, gently shaking her body. But before he could go any further, a hand had landed on his shoulder.

"Cap," Jay whipped his around to the older Gear. The older Gear squeezed his shoulder before turning around and ordering the other two to finish clearing the barge. Jay rocked back and forth with his sister's body in his arms. He tried to fight back the pain, the sorrow, and the tears.

"Come on, son. We have to get moving," Jay's captain said from behind him. A choked cry escaped Jay's throat before finally setting the body down. He plucked the COG tags off her body before putting them in a pouch with his father's. Gently placing his sister's hands over her chest, he grabbed his helmet and Lancer off the floor. Ignoring the grim on his helmet, he slid it over his head and gripped his Lancer.

"We're going to kill'em all," One Gear murmured as he passed Jay. Jay slowly turned around to face the captain and gave a silent nod.

A new hole was ripped into Jay's soul and quickly filled with a roiling, churning rage. The only thing Jay had left was his rage. And that rage had been channelled into his aggression.

Jay was kicked from his old memories by the four girls returning from wherever they were. They all stopped when they saw Jay sitting on Blake's bed. They had seen the tags in Jay's hand before he put them away. He let out a sigh before standing up. No one said anything as Jay scooped up his Boltok off his duffel bag and left the room. All four girls had stepped out of the way to let him go.

He had been lost in his old memories for much longer than he thought. The sun was already slowly setting as he left the dorm building. He wandered around the campus of Beacon long into the night, a hand on his Boltok the whole time. He kept patting it as he explored.

How he wished there was a Locust to throttle. That was the only thing that would calm him down at the moment.


AN: I was listening to Prescott's speech from Gears 2 on repeat while writing a lot of his.