AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whew! This chapter ended up becoming much longer than I thought, mainly because of the interaction between Pyrrha and Cheshire. Naturally, since poor Jaune is dead in this AU, his argument with the Curious Cat ended up being transferred to Pyrrha here, and Weiss' "thirsty" moment got transferred to someone else, which you will soon learn, dear reader.

I wanted to answer something that iChaos said in his last review. (Why is he my only reviewer here? Get with it, people! Authors like reviews!) Do I think that actual RWBY is done and over with now? I don't think so. I think we're going to hear at RTX that V10 has been greenlit, either by WB or Crunchyroll, or both. V9 got pretty good reviews itself, even from people who were ready to bolt after V8 and the long hiatus. WB also put a good amount of money into the RWBY/JLA crossover (which was fun, but don't expect to see any of that in "On RWBY Wings," even if Jessica is a cute little cinnamon roll that I must protect). I do think RWBY will get a proper ending. However, even if it doesn't, this story will. In fact, the ending I have in mind for ORW VI can easily set up a final confrontation in ORW VII.

Because we will see a long hiatus before V10 one way or the other, I have some ORW "side stories" planned, and I've been working on a "series bible" of sorts that gives details on aircraft, people, and especially the AU's history. I'm a history professor by trade, so I had a blast writing up the post-WWIII history of the United States, Europe and China. (How did Canada help the devastated US? What about Faunus in South America? Did Donald Trump run against Bill Clinton in 1996?) I will definitely be putting that out once ORW VI is concluded.

Anyway, on with the show. This is another infodump/talky chapter.

Silac Airfield

Banska Bystrica, Independent Confederation of Slovakia

13 September 2001

Ruby followed the ground crew's instructions and taxied the F-5F Tiger II into the hangar. She shut down the engines and put her head back on the seat. "Whew," she breathed, then looked at the clock on the instrument panel. The fight had barely taken twenty minutes, but it felt like an hour or more. She opened the canopies, waited until the crew chief safetied the ejection seat, then unstrapped and climbed down the ladder.

Little shakily followed her. She pulled off the helmet and oxygen mask, handed it to Ruby, then quickly ran out of the hangar, where she vomited into the grass. The crew chief took the helmet from Ruby. "First time?" he asked. She noticed he had an Irish accent; Cheshire's mercenaries were certainly international.

"Yeah," Ruby sighed. "I shouldn't have let her go up." Another ground crew helped her get out of her own helmet, G-suit and mask. "How bad did you guys get hit?"

"Don't know yet. A lot less than we would have." He nodded a salute at her. "Thank you, ma'am." He was twenty years her senior.

"Don't mention it." Ruby walked over to comfort Little, who was now at the dry heaving stage, on all fours. She noticed that the hangar at the far end had been hit—the Blacksmith's hangar. "Oh no."

The crew chief walked over and followed her eyes. "Aye, got hit by that last MiG. Lost the Meteor. The Blacksmith, she'll no be happy about that."

"Is she okay?"

The crew chief nodded. "She wasn't in the hangar itself. She got knocked out by the concussion, but the medicos took her to hospital. Last I heard, she was loopy but all right." He chuckled. "She's a good old gel, but she's always a bit loopy. Russian. I think she's been about since the Third Big One."

"Well…glad she's okay, anyway." Ruby watched the fire brigade putting down the fire. The intensity of jet fuel and ammunition exploding would probably melt the Meteor, and the Blacksmith's patch collection was gone. Including Mom's. She ran a hand through sweat-matted hair. At least the old technician was all right—hopefully. Ruby still had some questions for her.

She thanked the crew chief again and knelt down next to Little, who was now kneeling, taking great breaths of air. "You okay?"

"That…that is what you do?" Little exclaimed incredulously.

"Yep, pretty much."

"Are they all like that?"

"Sometimes. That hard-G turn was pretty rough." She looked at the F-5, and wondered if she'd overstressed the aircraft to the point that it would have to be scrapped. The Tiger II was a tough little fighter, though. "I had to do that, though. Neo's a little bitch, but she's also a really good fighter pilot." Oh fuck, Ruby thought, as she suddenly realized she had never told her flight about Neo Politan being still alive.

"Who?" Little accepted Ruby's hand to get her back on her feet.

"Neo Politan. She kills people." Little stumbled after her friend as they walked to the tarmac. Ruby knew she was going to have to tell her flight, and wondered why she hadn't already. Because you were so concerned about if they were going to live, then there was the thing with Jinxy, then with the Red Prince, and escaping the Herbalist, coming here…still, though. Ruby slammed a fist against her thigh; the sudden move startled Little. Shit. I could've told them earlier. Great. Another fuckup in the books for Ruby Rose, ladies and gentlemen!

"Are you okay?" Little asked. She had always respected her new friend, but now she regarded Ruby Rose in a kind of awe. On the ground, Ruby seemed a little hesitant, a reluctant leader but a good one, if not that much older than Little herself. In the air, however, Ruby was a goddess of war, who ruled the air, bent metal birds to her will, and threw thunderbolts that destroyed enemies like some shorter, female version of Zeus.

"Yep." Ruby bit off the word, but then she saw the crowd gathering around the parked F-22. "C'mon, Little! I want you to meet a real heroine."

Ruby had landed last, so the crowd around Pyrrha already included Weiss, Yang, Blake, and Marrow. Further down the ramp, where Cheshire had parked the Moonslice—the sight of it still unnerved Ruby a little—an old UH-1 landed, disgorging Alyx and the other Bob, the Faunus one. Alyx's A-4 had finally given up the ghost on approach, so Alyx had steered it to a safe bailout zone and ejected successfully. Cheshire was walking towards them. Ruby saw two gun emplacements that had been destroyed by the Jabberwockies' strafing runs, and splashes of blood. There were no bodies, but she supposed those had already been taken away. Ruby was surprised that the blood no longer bothered her.

Pyrrha was hoisted in the air by Yang, who threw the other woman on her shoulders so fast that Pyrrha had to grab Yang's hair or fall off. She had left her spear-decorated helmet in the aircraft, so her red hair, up in its customary ponytail for flight, bounced free for all to see—and from the cheering and clapping, the mercenaries of Banska Bystrica recognized the Invincible Girl of Greece. Pyrrha was blushing, and sheepishly waved to the crowd.

Ruby walked up to the periphery of the crowd, and Pyrrha spotted her. Her face split into a huge grin, and she managed to jump off Yang's shoulders, push her way through, and gather Ruby into a hug. "Thee Mia! Ruby!" Ruby forgot that Pyrrha was stronger than she looked even when she was at Beacon; her theraputic MMA training had added more muscle. Ruby's ribs creaked, and she gasped once Pyrrha let her go. Pyrrha whirled and not only hugged Yang, but picked her up off the ground, then kissed both cheeks. She did the same with Blake, then Marrow, then practically tossed Weiss in the air. "Whoa, Pyrrha!" Yang laughed.

Tears were rolling down the Greek girl's face. "I'm sorry," she said. "Just…you're alive, you're alive…we feared the worst…" Pyrrha wiped her cheeks. "There's so much to tell you!"

"We've got some stories for you, too," Blake said.

Ruby pushed Little forward, who looked dumbstruck. "Pyrrha, this is, um, Boguslawa…but we call her Little. She helped us get out of Poland."

"Hello." Pyrrha shook hands with the mouse Faunus.

"Are…are you…her?" Little had the same expression of a teenager meeting a boy band idol singer. "Pyrrha Nikos? The…one they call the Invincible Girl?"

"I am…kind of." Pyrrha looked away modestly. "Not very invincible these days."

"Could've fooled me!" Marrow grinned. "Six in one hop? Ace in one shot? What are you up to now? Holy shit!"

"Oh, I don't really know," Pyrrha admitted.

"Ugh, this modesty is killing me." Weiss rolled her eyes. "You're at 68, Pyrrha. Just passed Ivan Kozhedub, and now you're closing in on Hiroyoshi Nishizawa." Yang opened her mouth, but Weiss cut her off. "Before you ask, Yang, Blake leads Ruby Flight with 49.5 kills, counting the one she got with the B-17 this morning. You have 39, counting your kills with the waist guns. Ruby and I are tied at 33.5."

"That was this morning?" Yang scratched the back of her head. "Feels like it was last week. And how do you keep track of this in your head?"

"I'm smart." Weiss couldn't keep it in any longer, and started laughing. The hilarity quickly swept into the others, even Ruby and Little, and they started laughing as well. It wasn't laughing about the kills or the dead—Ruby could see the burning remains of the first Bob's A-4 in the distance, and the smoke of fourteen of their enemies—but the sheer joy of still being alive. "Three cheers for Pyrrha!" Yang sang out, and the crowd pumped their fists and cheered Pyrrha Nikos' name, the owner of which just blushed even more and looked terribly uncomfortable.

The crowd quieted down as Charles Cheshire finally reached them, Alyx in tow. He was smiling, but Ruby noticed the smile was forced. He moved past Ruby and took Pyrrha's hands in his own. "Thanks, Major Nikos. You probably saved Silac today, and I'm eternally grateful." There was the look of recognition in both their faces, and Pyrrha's shy smile faded instantly. Cheshire stepped back and clapped his hands. "Okay, everyone. I hate to break this up, but we have a base to clean up, wounded to see after, and aircraft to repair. We hurt the Jabbers, but they will be back. I doubt Jenna Tenniel is going to let this go. But they'll have something to think about, eh?" He beamed, and clapped Ruby on the back. "So three cheers not just for Major Nikos, but Ruby Flight, who saved our arses today!" The crowd gave Ruby Flight three cheers, then dispersed as Alyx began giving orders.

Cheshire's smile remained until his people moved off, aside from a small group of ground crew who were busy refueling Pyrrha's F-22. Then the smile disappeared like his namesake. "I'll have your F-22 seen to," he told Pyrrha. "I don't have AMRAAMs, though."

"I'll be fine," Pyrrha replied, her voice angry.

"Not out here." He thumbed towards the barracks. "I know what you have to say, but it can be said in the ready room."

"Afraid your people will know who you are?"

Cheshire shook his head slowly. "They know. Not here. Inside." He shouldered Pyrrha to one side, and stalked into the barracks.

"What's going on?" Weiss wanted to know.

"He's right," Pyrrha replied, her face set in a mask of hate they hadn't seen in awhile. "Best we clear this up inside."

The ready room was nowhere near as fancy or as nice as the ones at Beacon or even at Poznan: the chairs had seen better days, their leather split in places; the walls could use a coat of paint, and apparently Cheshire still used overhead projectors for his briefings. Still, there were the usual pictures of fighters on the wall, the usual pithy fighter pilot sayings in several languages, and a huge Slovakian flag. Cheshire leaned against the podium at the front of the room. "I'm having some food brought in from Banska proper," he said as they sat—most of them; Pyrrha didn't. "Only the best for you. Best local food I can get my hands on."

"Mighty nice of you," Yang said. "So what's going on between you two?" She waved metal fingers between Cheshire and Pyrrha.

Cheshire rubbed his eyes. "Look," he began, with a sidelong glance at Pyrrha, "right now I am extremely grateful to you for saving my home and my people from being murdered by the Jabberwockies—though why Jenna has lost her bloody mind and attacked is still beyond me. You already know I supported the White Fang because I was scared not to. I should hope I've partially made up for that by shooting that MiG off Miss Rose there." He spread his hands. "I'd rather not go over ancient history. Let bygones be bygones."

"Ancient history?" Pyrrha snapped. "It was two years ago!"

Marrow raised his hand. "Look, is someone going to explain just what the hell is going on?"

"Happy to," Pyrrha snarled, in an uncharacteristic display of rage, before Cheshire could say anything. "Two years ago, a certain air pirate band operating out of Cyprus decided they wanted to retake control of the eastern Mediterranean. They called themselves the Furies—an odd choice of name, since their pilots were both male and female. So they contracted with Charles Cheshire, aka Charles Tabey, Junior, to procure aircraft and mercenary pilots. And my oh my, but did he deliver. He gave them enough that the Furies could establish control of the air and force any shipping companies to pay tribute to anyone transiting the area. It was good timing as well, with the Israelis and the Turks dealing with increased GRIMM activity. There was just Greece to contend with, and the Furies decided the best way to deal with us was to destroy Heraklion Air Base on Crete. The Greek government would then pay as well. They had before. How much did the Furies pay you, Charles?"

"Plenty," Cheshire replied flatly.

"And then they attacked." Pyrrha looked at her friends. "I was late due to technical issues with my F-16, so my squadron faced them without me. Before, the Furies weren't much of a threat, but Charles here made sure they got their money's worth from whatever air pirate wanted to join up for a quick score. They came from all over the world—Torchwick's, Neopolitan's, Hell's Black Aces, and so on. My squadron couldn't handle them, and they died." Pyrrha's fingers slowly curled to fists. "Would you like to hear their names, Charles? Because I have them memorized."

"No," he answered, and faced her directly. "Mind if I tell the rest of the story?" He didn't wait for her any more than she had for him. "You arrived late. There were still ten pirates left out of twenty. You managed to get all of them, in a dogfight Greece hasn't seen before or since. I don't know how you managed ten kills in a F-16, but you did. And thus you became the Invincible Girl, known around the world. The Greek government didn't want to admit that they had been ready to buy off the Furies, so they propped you up as a great heroine—which, hell, you are. Cross of Valor, parade in your honor televised around the world, Vytal Flag selection, a statue in your hometown, and an exclusive contract to have your beautiful phiz put on Pumpkin Pete's cereal across Europe." He nodded. "Capital work, Pyrrha, since we're on first name basis now. But do they know the truth?" Cheshire pointed at Ruby Flight.

Pyrrha opened her mouth, then slowly closed it, and looked away. "They…might," she whispered.

"Oh, I doubt that, love." Cheshire faced Ruby Flight. "You see, she didn't just shoot down the pirates. She gunned them in their parachutes. Every one of them. Probably didn't take much. If you want to know what twenty millimeter does to a human or Faunus body, I have some of my people in the morgue you can look at." He made an explosion motion from his chest outwards. "The body comes apart hydraulically, you see. Pink mist."

Yang jumped to her feet. "Who the fuck cares?" she growled. "They were fucking air pirates. I would've done the same."

Cheshire shrugged. "I've no doubt you would, Miss Xiao Long, but I thought that was against the fighter pilot code." He looked at Pyrrha. "It's certainly against hers. I can tell."

"Gamo to speeti su," Pyrrha spat in Greek; Ruby didn't know what the phrase meant, but it sounded vile. She balled her fists and stepped forward. "I don't have to take this from you! You are a man without a country!"

"And what are you?" Cheshire shouted back. "And what are you?" He stabbed a finger at Pyrrha. "I did what I did for the same reason you killed those pirates in their parachutes—which I don't mind, by the by; they were scum and they had already paid me. I took their gold because maintaining this base for my people, people who have chosen to follow me, is expensive. And if that means I deal with the Furies, or the Red Prince, or with Torchwick—long may he rot—or even Salem, I do it! Because those people out there, the ones refueling your F-22, the ones who are lying in hospital or dead, are my people!" He slammed a fist on the podium. "So you rack yourself with guilt, Nikos, because you killed people who deserved it, or more likely because you couldn't save your own squadron. I don't rack myself with guilt for selling the Furies their aircraft because I can feed Alyx's child or keep the Blacksmith from killing herself by buying her old wrecks to restore." Yang had stepped between them, but now Cheshire took a step back, throwing his hands in the air. "So sit on your high bloody horse, Nikos, but those of us who don't have our pictures on cereal boxes, down here in the shit, we have to make those decisions. We don't have time for your idealism." He threw Ruby a nod. "Something Miss Rose seems to have figured out, at least. At least, I bloody well hope so, for her sake."

Pyrrha seemed torn on whether to shove Yang aside and pound Cheshire into paste, or run away. In the end, she did neither. She collapsed into a chair and sat there, her head in her hands. Cheshire let out a long breath. "All right. Now that is in the open, for all the damned good it does anyone, the food should get here momentarily. I have to see how bad the butcher's bill is, then call Jenna Tenniel and find out what her problem is."

"Wait, you know the Jabberwockies' leader?" Marrow said.

"You're surprised?" Blake was staring daggers at Cheshire.

"Look," Cheshire said, as if to dimwitted children, "Slovakia is made up of a bunch of independent little groups and kingdoms. We leave each other alone…mostly. It's the only way we survive. Jenna Tenniel has led the Jabberwockies for about two years, which is the longest anyone has ever led that pack of wastrels and thugs. She murdered Hendrik Teach, who had lasted about six months, after he murdered Ryan Bonney. They do air duels to see who leads—sometimes. Sometimes they just stab or shoot each other. The only time they get together is to go after Romania, or the Czech Republic, or Austria, or whatever. They hire out to other bands too. I keep them away from Banska Bystrica by supplying them with aircraft. Jenna also likes me, for some idiot reason, so she never came after us. And now she has, which means either she got paid a great deal of money to hit Silac, or someone's killed her."

"Could Salem pay her?" Weiss asked.

"Certainly, but why?" Cheshire replied. "I've never interfered with Salem. She's no reason to hate me. And she would've had no idea any of you lot were here." Another glance at Pyrrha. "Though I'm surprised to hear NATO knows you're here. I doubt Nikos there paid me a visit to go over old times." She didn't reply.

"I think I might know." All of them turned to look at Ruby, who looked and felt very small in her chair. "The F-5E pilot. That wasn't this Jenna person. It was Neo Politan."

"Neo?" Yang's eyes were wide. "What the fuck? She rammed you, right? Back in Poland? I figured she died in the collision, the little bitch, after she assholed me with that Sidewinder!"

Ruby slowly shook her head. "She survived, Yang. Right after Penny called in the Maiden strike…on herself…" She paused, winced away the wave of sadness, and continued. "I was down by a railroad track not too far from Little's village, and she shot at me. We must have come down not too far from each other…and she started taunting me. Saying she was going to peel my skin off." Ruby stared at her boots. "I ran away. I got scared, so I ran. That's why I was hiding in that barn, Little. That's why I almost blew your head off when you said something." Little reached forward and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Neo's alive and you didn't tell us?" Weiss said.

"I…I was going to, but with everything going on…and she didn't have any way of getting out of the radiation zone…I guess I thought deep down that she had died out there." Ruby sniffled, and hated herself for doing it. She sounded like a little girl confessing something to her parents. "But it was her today. She wore her helmet, and she always laces her boots with white laces."

"Jaysus." Cheshire put a hand over his eyes. "You let that little half-pint lunatic go?"

"I didn't know!" Ruby shouted, her head coming up, silver eyes blazing.

He blew out his breath. "If she killed Jenna and took over the Jabbers…God in heaven, she could've done it. Neo's done it before. She murdered her way into controlling her own gang back in the Remnant, and she was fucking Torchwick for control of his." Cheshire shook his head. "Still, makes no sense. I've worked with Neo before, though I always felt like I was going to piss myself. All you have to do is look at that gatch-eyed bitch and know she's daft as a shithouse rat."

"She wants to kill me," Ruby said. "She thinks I killed Torchwick."

"The funny part is, you didn't," Yang told her. "Torchwick got his from small arms and flew into a mountain."

"I don't think Neo cares."

Cheshire stared at Ruby. "You mean to tell me that the Jabbers attacked here because Neo wanted to kill you?" Ruby nodded sadly. "Christ on the Cross! My people are dead because of you!"

"Oh, bullshit," Yang snapped.

"I don't care. Fuck this." He waved them off. "Fuck you. I should've let the Red Prince sell you."

Blake shot to her feet. "Listen, asshole, we just saved you today! Neo's crazy as hell, like you said—she might've come after you for fun!"

"I bloody doubt it." He walked to the door. "Enjoy the food—"

"Yeah, let's hope you didn't lace it with fucking kerasine," Yang hissed.

"Fuck off! You think I'd use that shit after what it did to Susie? Go fuck yourself, Xiao Long, and wrap it in razor wire first!" Cheshire stabbed a finger at them. "Enjoy the food, get some rest, and then by noon tomorrow, I want you gone. Have Nikos call your precious NATO to come and get you out—leave my bloody aircraft alone. If you don't, I'll have you all shot and take my chances."

"Where are you going?" Weiss demanded.

"Out. To check on my people, clean up her fucking mess—" Cheshire pointed at Ruby "—and call Neo and try to talk her out of hitting us again. Because she will. The Jabbers will try and kill her for fucking up today, but something tells me she'll win that fight, and then they'll follow her like the fucking jolly little pirates they are." He glared at them one last time. "You're on your bloody own. Find your own way home." Then he was gone, slamming the door behind him.

The food was eaten while Pyrrha told them what had happened in the last few days. Her demeanor seemed to brighten. "Arashikaze called your parents right after she put into place Operation Mordred," she said. "A conference call between Taiyang, the Belladonnas, Willow Schnee, and your mother, Marrow."

Marrow laughed. "I was beginning to think she'd forgotten all about me, eh?"

"What's Operation Mordred?" Weiss asked.

"A contingency plan that apparently has been in the works for awhile, in case the Red Prince joined Salem," Pyrrha explained. "Ironwood didn't have the manpower to implement it, and NATO didn't have the political will. The new SACEUR, Theodore Gale, has both. After the Red Prince was killed by a cruise missile strike, two battalions of the 82nd Airborne were landed at Ostrava's airport to secure the city. They met very little resistance—apparently the Prince was not loved. It will be formally handed over to Czech troops in a few days, and a referendum on whether to join the Czech Republic or remain independent to follow."

"So that's why you're here," Yang said. "You escorted them in."

Pyrrha coughed. "Er…kind of. You see, I'm formally on, well, leave."

"You're what?"

"I'm on leave." Pyrrha set aside her food. "Yesterday, Gale put myself, Ren, Oscar and Emerald formally on leave. We're not in trouble—all charges were dismissed."

"Well, that's good!" Yang leaned back in her chair. "Guess I'm not going to be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dogshit out of Hong Kong after all."

"There's still going to be an inquiry," Pyrrha cautioned her. "However, Arashikaze told me privately that Gale doesn't intend to pursue anything beyond a letter of counseling; at worst, a letter of reprimand." A letter of counseling was the USAF's equivalent to a slap on the wrist; a letter of reprimand was more serious, and would endanger the possibility of promotion. None of Ruby Flight particularly cared about that at the moment. "He'd prefer to let the whole matter die with Ironwood, especially as our hasty evacuation plan mostly succeeded. He'd look stupid prosecuting someone for doing something heroic, and Gale's got other things on his mind." She told them about the massive military buildup.

"Better late than never," Weiss sighed.

"In any case, I was pretty upset, but I thought Oscar was going to punch the general. Gale told us to all take some time off. Emerald is staying with your parents, Blake, along with Ilia Amitola—your mother said something about 'taking in the strays.'" That brought a laugh from Blake. "Ren went to London—that's where Nora is getting skin graft treatment. Oscar flew back to the United States to see his mother." She caught the downcast look on Ruby's face, and put her hand on her friend's. "Ruby, he's probably just now getting the news that you're still alive. I imagine he'll be flying back soon enough."

"Yeah, that's true." Ruby smiled, but still looked depressed. She had said very little through dinner.

"I was going to fly down to Algeria and see Jaune's sister, but then I got a phone call this morning from Arashikaze. She wondered if I might 'delay' my leave and escort the C-17s as an independent Huntress…and if I might 'swing by' Banska Bystrica to see what I could see. Just an overflight. I didn't want to land and deal with Cheshire. But then the AWACS spotted the bandits, so I used my afterburner to close the range."

"Does Gale know you're here?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha looked pained. "Um…I hope so. Arashikaze said she'd handle it. I think it'll be all right. He didn't want to…but…he declared you and Ruby declared killed in action."

"He did what?"

Pyrrha nodded tiredly. "You must understand, Yang…you were last seen splashing into a lake and going down without a trace. Ruby was last seen spiraling into the clouds with a wing off. In any case, I'm sure that's been changed now. Blake and Marrow were seen to eject, and Weiss' Typhoon was spotted wrecked on the ground, so they were just listed as MIA." She reached over and touched Weiss' shoulder. "I am very sorry, Weiss, but Myrtenaster was hit by an airstrike two days ago. They had to destroy it to ensure it wouldn't fall into Salem's hands."

Weiss sighed. "Too bad. I really liked that aircraft."

"Guess we're all starting over." Blake added her sigh to Weiss'. Then she smiled and nudged Marrow. "I suppose we could see if Cheshire will give me his F-14. Want to be my RIO, Marrow?"

"No offense, but no. I didn't like it when Goose died in Top Gun; I never thought I'd be in his position." He smiled, and Yang and Blake snickered. Weiss was still mourning Myrtenaster, Little was in her usual state of cute confusion when she was dealing with problems far over her head, and Ruby was morose. "That must've been hard on Dad," she said softly.

"He never gave up, Ruby," Pyrrha told her. "He told off General Gale." She looked at all of them. "None of your parents gave up. In case you're curious, Weiss, your mother has not touched a drop of liquor."

"That's good to hear."

"What about Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"Good question, though he's not drinking either, that I know of. None of us have seen him since the eleventh. Winter mentioned he'd been called off on some secret mission or another. But he wasn't going to quit either. He took off later in the day we had the big battle, radiation, thunderstorm and all. He had to turn back—the F-117 just isn't built for that—but he's been out there as much as any of us."

"Welp, that's that," Yang said, stood up and stretched. "We leave here tomorrow, go home, Gale chews our ass and then gives us a medal, and then it's champagne and blowjobs for everyone, figuratively and possibly literally speaking."

Pyrrha was silent for a moment. "Not…quite." She took a deep breath. "When I said they're doing an inquiry, it isn't just the military. Congress wants answers too. The EU is too embarrassed by losing Poland to really do much; the politicians are staying low. The Americans are a different story. Ironwood had supporters in the military and in Congress. He had even more enemies, and since he's dead, he's become a nice, convenient scapegoat."

"Just like Ozpin," Blake commented.

"I'm afraid so. We all had our differences with the general, but…better a dead villain than a live hero. But that's not all. I wish it was. As I said, Ironwood did have allies in Congress, and they wanted a scapegoat too. They believe Ironwood is being unfairly treated—I believe 'railroaded' is the term—and so they want to put the blame on someone else. They don't know about Arashikaze's involvement, they can't touch Robyn Hill, and they can't target me because I'm the 'face' of the evacuation. And the so-called Invincible Girl," Pyrrha said bitterly. "So that leaves one person. A low-level officer who took matters into her own hands."

"Me." Ruby leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha told her. "But when you were missing, presumed dead, they could say you were a traitor and a fool and other stupid things with impunity. They could say that the evacuation convoy was actually all my idea, rather it being yours and Whitley Schnee's. You were dead, so you couldn't defend yourself. But now you're alive, and you can defend yourself. And you're going to have to. Like I said, they wanted a dead villain they could deflect blame from Ironwood onto…and now you're a live hero instead."

"Oh my God..." Blake rubbed her face. "A Congressional inquiry."

"Yes, that's a strong possibility, though Arashikaze thinks it's all just hot air—generals trying to deflect blame for why they didn't support Ironwood more, politicians trying to get votes. It will blow over." Pyrrha smiled, though it was mostly a fake one. She didn't want to tell any of them the whispers she had heard; the scuttlebutt, as Oscar called it, which laid the blame for the fall of Poland squarely at Ruby Rose's feet. She felt it was vastly unfair, but there were many people that were loyal to Ironwood, with good reason, and they didn't want to think that the man they had loved and respected could be responsible for defeat. Pyrrha herself blamed neither Ironwood nor Ruby for Poland, but Salem. Ironwood's plan might have been flawed, and Ruby might have been impulsive, but both had tried to win in their own way. Salem was the one who had unleashed the GRIMM; Salem had been the one who had killed so many. But too many, Pyrrha thought, seemed more intent on blaming anyone but her. "In any case, we're not going to solve it tonight. Let's get some sleep. I'll radio our troops in Ostrava, and they can send a C-17 or a C-130 over to pick you up. We'll take it one day at a time."

"I hate to be that guy," Marrow pointed out, "but how do we know that Cheshire won't sabotage your Raptor?"

"It doesn't matter if he does," Pyrrha said flatly. "I radioed the AWACS and relayed the situation while I was on approach." She smiled, and this time it was genuine. "Oh…I wasn't quite as low on fuel as I said. In any case, I was told to check in by 0800 local. If I haven't, the 82nd's next target will be Banska Bystrica, and they will be supported by Winter Schnee's B-52s."

They had all gone to bed, with Yang and Blake volunteering to stay on guard for awhile; Pyrrha and Little would take over after that. She had asked if Little knew how to use one of the AK-47s they still had; Little had given Pyrrha a pitying look, then effortlessly unloaded and reloaded it in less than ten seconds. Ruby had volunteered, but all of them agreed she should get some sleep. Weiss and Marrow didn't argue.

Marrow, for his part, had stripped down to his boxers and tried to relax, but he was still keyed up over the dogfight. He kept reliving the flat spin in his head, and knew he had been only seconds from his mother getting a visit from the chaplain to tell her he really was dead. He could see her, standing in the kitchen of their little house in Calgary, Alberta, wondering why a USAF blue car was pulling up in the long gravel driveway, then knowing, just as she had known when the two police cars had arrived to tell her and a twelve-year old Marrow that his father and her husband had died in the line of duty. He lifted his hands. They were shaking slightly. Gad, maybe I should give up this fighter pilot shit, he thought. Join the airlines or something. Between being nearly killed in a F-14, watching the Red Prince cackle at the drugged naked girls playing chess, and taking a trip through a Maiden strike shockwave, his prospects of ever seeing 27 years old seemed to be dwindling fast.

There was a soft knock on the door, soft enough that human ears might not have heard it. "Yeah?" he said. He wished he had a pistol, but then he supposed that Cheshire's people probably wouldn't knock if they were going to kill him.

The door opened with the tiniest of creaks, and to his surprise, it was Weiss Schnee. She was still wearing her flight suit. "Am I disturbing you?" she whispered.

"Uh, no! Not at all." He switched on the lamp as she shut the door. His lizard brain conjured a scenario where Weiss would unzip her flight suit to show she wasn't wearing anything beneath it and then have her icy way with him, but he shoved those thoughts aside. She wasn't like that. "Everything okay?"

"I think so." She sat on the bed, not looking at him. "I went for a walk. It seems pretty quiet. I think Cheshire has a combat air patrol up—he took off with Alyx about an hour ago, and I heard someone flying around."

He'd heard that and wondered what it was, but since there had been no scramble alarm, Marrow had told himself to stop worrying about it. It hadn't helped his mental state any. "That's smart. Still, I'll be glad when we get out of here."

"I as well. I'm tired of being shuttled around, to and fro." She traced her fingers in the covers. "Marrow, are you all right?"

He almost brazened it out, telling her he was fine, and that nearly being killed was all in a day's work—which it was, in theory. Then Marrow decided to be honest. "Maybe. I don't know. That spin scared the bejesus out of me."

"If it hadn't, I say you were brain damaged. More than usual, anyway—for our line of work."

"I'll get over it, eh? Or I'll go fly for Westjet or something." Weiss chuckled at that. "Sorry about your bird. It sucks that they had to blow it up."

"It does, but I understand. You lost yours, too." Weiss suddenly got to her feet and began to pace. "I went out for a walk because I wanted to see something. I came very close to hitting the ground today, Marrow, and it was my own fault. I was too low. I just barely cleared some power lines, and then I almost hit a hangar." Weiss laughed softly. "Just a rough day all around. I went out to look to see if my engine had left a furrow in the ground when I almost hit the power lines. It did."

"Whoa. You must've been about ten feet AGL, huh?"

"Thereabouts." She looked out the window, to where Pyrrha's F-22 sat alone on the tarmac. There were some of Cheshire's people repairing the destroyed antiaircraft gun position across the wide concrete expanse. They had waved at her while she was walking, so whatever animosity Cheshire had for them, it didn't extend to his people—she hoped. "Marrow, I am about to say something so monumentally stupid that I am ashamed to even entertain the thought."

"Like what?"

She turned to him. "I want to sleep with you tonight."

Marrow's jaw dropped. "Uh…sure. I think they've got some spare pillows in the closet…we can put them between us…my mom used to call that bundling, when she thought me and my girlfriend weren't actually…uh…" He realized that he was sounding stupid. "That's what you meant, right?"

Weiss cradled her hands before her. "No, Marrow. I mean I want to…have sex. With you. Tonight."

Marrow willed his tail to stop wagging. It defied him. "What the hell for?" he blurted, then realized he was being extremely stupid, because two-thirds of the planet's male population and not an insignificant number of its females would already have Weiss' flight suit off. "Why me?"

"Because…you're…you're attractive. You're...m-mature," Weiss stammered. It was the truth: Marrow had a very nice build, slim and hard pectorals and abdominals that she rather liked, though wouldn't admit it to Yang under torture. "And I've enjoyed our dates, and I like being around you, and you saved my life back in Poland." She held up a hand to forestall his protests. "Would Salem's soldiers have been so hasty to deliver you to the Red Prince if they had me along?" She shivered. "God, Marrow, if they'd captured me…being taken to Salem would've been the best outcome I could've hoped for."

"I wouldn't have let them do that, Weiss."

"You might have not had the choice. But you went out there for me all the same."

Despite the screaming of his libido, Marrow shook his head. "Weiss, you don't have to thank me with sex. That's not right. My mama raised me better, eh?"

"That's not the only reason, Marrow. I already said I find you attractive, and I enjoy your company, so…I want to take our relationship to the, um, next level."

Marrow wasn't even aware that they had been at any level. "But Weiss, we haven't even kissed."

Weiss looked at him for a moment, then crossed over to him, knelt, gently grabbed his long hair, and pulled him to her lips. They were moist and warm. Weiss was not a good kisser, her inexperience clearly showed, but it was a kiss. "There," she said huskily, her heart audibly pounding, "now we have kissed."

"Um…yeah. Yeah, we have." And I want to kiss you again, Marrow thought. "Uh, there's one other thing I've got to ask…"

Weiss was both stunned and impressed that Marrow hadn't simply torn her clothes off by now, as well as a little disappointed. She had no idea what she was doing and knew it, but she knew from their dates that Marrow was not a virgin, so she figured he would take the lead. Instead, he seemed to be unsure, which made her unsure. "What's that?"

"You're not just doing this because you almost got killed again today, and you don't want to die a virgin? I mean, I'm still up for this, but it's kind of cliché…and I honestly don't want to be just a convenient dick." The words came out in a torrent, but Weiss knew Marrow meant them.

"I won't lie. That is part of it—the part about not wanting to be a virgin anymore." Weiss smiled. "I mean, Ruby's not even a virgin anymore. Her and Oscar lost that distinction in Algiers."

"Whoa, really? Took Yang that long to figure out?"

"Oh, Yang is clueless sometimes—or willfully blind. In any case, I don't want to do this with you just because you're convenient, Marrow. I want to do it…" Weiss shrugged. "Because you're you." She stood. "This isn't love. I'm not…I don't think I'm ready for that."

"Me neither." He got up as well. Weiss looked down at the front of his boxers and her eyes widened. "We're just two scared people who need some comfort, and we're both pretty sure we're going to be dead before this time next year."

"I hope not, but…yes, something like that. Is that all right?" Weiss was now trembling.

"Yeah." He kissed her again, then grabbed the zipper of her flight suit and pushed it down. He glanced down, and it was Marrow's turn to get wide-eyed. "Um, you're not wearing…you're not wearing—"

"I took my underwear off before I came in here. I planned ahead, as Schnees always do." Weiss shrugged off the flight suit, stepped out of it, and smiled up at him. Her pale skin shone in the moonlight, as did her ice-blue eyes. How odd, she thought detachedly, as Marrow quickly divested himself of his only article of clothing. I am naked in front of a man, and a Faunus to boot, and he is now naked in front of me. In a few seconds, I will have someone make love to me. It might hurt, but I am not afraid. She saw his tail wagging and smothered a laugh. Weirdly, she thought of how her father would react to his daughter going to bed with a Faunus. Blake is going to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Ruby will hug me and congratulate me, and Yang will give me no end of ribbing. And Pyrrha will blush and promise not to tell Ren or Nora, but of course she will. Winter will pretend to be angry, but she won't be, really. She stepped forward into his embrace, without fear, her trembling gone for the moment. "Oh," she whispered. "You're quite warm."

"Uh, thanks. Let's get you warmed up too." Marrow wanted to punch himself—the line was hopelessly cliché—but Weiss only nodded. He picked her up and she gasped in surprise, then gently laid her on the bed, taking a moment to admire her body, not at all flawed by the scars around her left knee and her left eye.

As he was bending down to kiss her—Weiss wasn't sure where, but was shaking again, this time with anticipation—she suddenly realized something. "Um, Marrow, this is terribly unromantic, but…ah…do you have a condom?" She bit her bottom lip in embarrassment. "I guess I didn't plan this very well at all."

Marrow thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. He reached into his wallet and pulled out a silver foil-wrapped package. "Ha! My mama didn't raise no dummy."

She raised an eyebrow. "How long has that been in your wallet?"

"Less than 48 hours." It was Marrow's turn to look embarrassed. "The Red Prince gave it to me when he, er, thought I was going to 'enjoy' one of his girls."

Weiss reached up and took it from him, then opened it. "Then this will be the only time that little bastard ever did anything right." She started to roll it onto him. "I think I remember how to do this from what Winter told me." It had fallen to the elder Schnee sister to give Weiss the Talk; Willow had given up when it came time to demonstrate condoms and had demonstrated schnapps instead.

"Weiss, wait."

"Now what?" she demanded, a little too loudly. "What? Why are you arguing with me?" Weiss realized that she had believed men were just sex machines, ready for someone to flip the switch. Marrow was proving otherwise.

"I'm not. Don't you want some foreplay?"

Weiss looked up at him. "Um…I suppose." She knew what the term meant, but not exactly what Marrow had in mind.

She soon found out. Weiss Schnee soon found out a lot of things. And it was wonderful.

AUTHOR'S OTHER NOTES: I'm White Knight do or die, but since Jaune's no longer with us in this fic (and was captaining the good ship Arkos anyway), I'll settle for Slushpuppies instead. Anyway, it was about time Weiss and Marrow got a little something. I don't know if that will last; we'll see.

When Weiss is rattling off everyone's kill score (yes, I keep track), she mentions Pyrrha passing Ivan Kozhedub and closing in on Hiroyoshi Nishizawa. Kozhedub was the top Russian ace of World War II, with 62 kills, which also made him the top Allied ace of the war. Kozhedub probably had more-he was known for "giving away" kills to new pilots to give them some confidence. Nishizawa is arguably the top Japanese ace of the war, though that is in dispute, as there were others who may have had more than Nishizawa's 87 victories-which itself may be higher or lower, as the Japanese failed to keep good records. (Kills were considered secondary to serving the Emperor.) If Pyrrha passes him, then she'll be closing in on 100 kills, and a whole lot of German war aces, with Eino Juutlainien of Finland in the mix too. Of course, in this AU, Qrow is likely already past that number, Summer Rose definitely was, and Maria Calavera has somewhere in the range of 300 kills-just short of the two top aces of history, Gerhard Barkhorn and Erich Hartmann.

The plan had been for this chapter to include another interlude with Blake and Yang. Wait, does that mean that Bumblebee is happening? There's going to be lilies blooming around Banska Bystrica? Well...not exactly. And then there's poor Ruby...