Author's Notes

We're getting to my favorite arc here, first missions. These next few chapters are probably my favorite part of this entire story, honestly.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!


Chapter 29 – there's no K in team

When they arrived at the dorm room of Team Yellowjacket-P, Adam found Pyrrha weeping like a willow tree. Blake rushed over to join Yang in consoling the Invincible Girl with pats on the back and soft words, giving Adam a chance to speak to Jaune.

"It wasn't me."

"I know. Don't worry, bro. I know."

"Do you know what happened?"

Jaune flattened out a comic book inside a cardboard box full of them. "They won't say. An anonymous source tipped them off, and they also gave a call to Lisa Lavender of VNN with the same information. Headmaster Ozpin doesn't have a choice – even if he wanted to cut me some slack and work something out, the board of governors is breathing down his neck, demanding action." Jaune smiled weakly. "It's okay. This was bound to happen eventually. I'm just glad I got to get as far as I did."

"This isn't right."

"I wish that were true, but we both know it is. I broke the rules. If you heard how some random transfer student from Mistral or something that you'd never met had forged their records, would you try to excuse their behavior? The only difference here is that we're friends. I don't deserve immunity from the rules. This is just karma catching up to me for what I did."

"It's a waste, is what it is. You have the skills to fight Grimm. Why throw those down the drain over lying about qualifications that you now possess?"

"Wow, bro. Humblebrag much? I mean, coming from my own teacher…" Jaune sighed and stopped packing. "I'll be real with you, bro. This sucks, Adam. Hard. But I was living on borrowed time. I made it through initiation because of Pyrrha and class because of you–"

"And you discovered your semblance on your own. You saved Ilia's–" Adam winced. She couldn't even be bothered to show up to see Jaune off. "–Ilia's life. You deserve to be here."

"If only the public agreed," lamented Jaune. "It's not the end of the world. I can still apprentice with a real hunter. Assuming that they haven't, you know, seen the headlines."

Adam was handed a newspaper. At the top read: 'Bogus Among Us: Beacon Admits Arc Heir with Fake Records.'

Jaune snorted. "I made front page. Guess there was nothing good to report on."

"Now who's bragging?"

"I'm sorry your lessons went to waste, mate."

"It wasn't a waste. Jaune…I learned something from our lessons. You taught me something about humans that I'd been refusing to see for a long time."

"Great. Maybe I have a fruitful career as a teacher ahead of me."

A red haired battering ram named Pyrrha knocked Jaune to the floor in a full body grasp. "Don't go! Please don't go!"

"Pyrrha, I'm not dying. We still have each other's scroll numbers, and I'll probably stay in Vale for a while, until I figure out what I'm doing. We can stay in touch, if that's what you want."

"It is what I want! I'll call you every day and fly to your house every weekend! I promise! We'll keep in touch and have babies and–"

"C'mon, Pyre." Yang grabbed Pyrrha and Jaune and tried to separate them but couldn't. "Sky, get me the crowbar."

The fourth member of Team Yellowjacket-P nodded sullenly and began to dig through boxes under his bed.

Blake pulled Adam out of the room and whispered to him in hushed tones. "Was this you?"

"No. Jaune was my spy, and my…my friend. I assume from the fact that you were unsure that it wasn't you?"

Blake shook her head. "I mostly just stayed away from their team."

Ruby rounded the corner and nearly collided with the two of them as she ran. Adam steadied her.

"Any luck?"

"Ozpin's refused to go back on the choice to give Jaune the boot. I tried everything – reasoning, puppydog eyes, crying, gunpoint, even reminding him how good friends we are. He isn't budging. I think he wants to, but his hands are tied with the newspapers finding out. How did they even know? I mean, who would – what kind of crappy person would do this?"

Ruby kicked a foot into the wall in frustration.

"It doesn't help anyone. If they denied Jaune's application at the door, I wouldn't have liked it, but it would have been fair. But now, when he's already here and built a life and made friends and got good at huntsmanning? I can't believe it." Ruby crossed her arms and pouted. "This stinks."

"It does."

And not for the reason you think. The only people who know about Jaune's secret is…were K.

That raised another question. Just what was he going to tell Blake about Ilia? Obviously, this involved her, but letting Blake know that would distress her needlessly, and it wasn't exactly his secret to tell. But then again, his lack of communication had played a part in this whole fiasco. If he told her, K would fall apart. If he didn't tell her, the problem wouldn't go away. It would just sit there and fester, growing and growing in size until it eventually exploded and destroyed them all.

I'll get Ilia's side of the story first. After everything we've been through, she deserves that much, at least.

"Adam?"

"Sorry, what? Lost in thought."

"Ruby asked if you know of any hunters for Jaune to apprentice, uh, until he can get back into Beacon?"

"Back into…" Adam looked at Ruby's wavering smile and averted his eyes. "Huntsmen or huntresses, then. Let's see – Qrow Branwen's a legendary one, but his waitlist for pupils is probably longer than his sword. I'd–"

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby stepped up on her tippy toes and kissed Adam full on the lips. "You're a genius! He can keep Jaune up to date on his lessons until we fix this! I gotta go call him!" She semblanced a short distance away and pulled out her scroll.

"That was close. I only know him because he's a legend. I really ought to familiarize myself with some more Valeans if I'm supposed to be one of them."

Blake shifted uncomfortably. "Adam, what are we going to do? I know it's not our job to fix this, but can't we at least try to appeal this? I mean, we have the ear of…another powerful person. Your father."

"And how would my father explain his interest in Jaune's case without tying it back to us?"

"I…damn it!" Blake kicked down on the floor. "Damn it all!"

A voice called out from behind them.

"Miss Belladonna, if you would please refrain from taking out your anger on Beacon's architecture. I don't believe it has done anything to warrant such retaliation."


"You," Blake sneered.

Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses. "Before you rush to accuse me of taking joy in this situation at young Mister Arc's expense, know that I do not."

Blake didn't buy it for a second. "You threatened to expel him in class two days ago. I bet you were the one who leaked it to the press."

"I believe in the rule of law. Not in kangaroo courts, not in public opinion influencing private officials' choices, and certainly not in tipping off the media that my own school had admitted a fraudulent application. While I did imply punishment against Mister Arc for his misbehavior, I did not levy or enforce those punishments. The matter was closed. Over and finished. The end." Every word she spoke was punctuated with an air of dispiritedness greater than Goodwitch's typical frustration. She gestured to the sounds coming from within Team Yellowjacket-P's dorm. "This? This tarnishes Beacon as a whole and hurts my students. Believe what you will about me, but I care about every student under my supervision."

"You could stop this."

"We both know that isn't true. I am of the school of thought that Mister Arc should be forced to take extra lessons in remediation of his missed academic time, not face such an ignoble discharge. Alas, my voice does not carry enough way to convert the ignorant."

Blake nodded understandingly. "Oh, I'm absolutely convinced that you're torn up about this."

Goodwitch rolled her eyes. "Forgive me, I forgot to whom I was speaking. I don't know why I wasted the time."

"Why are you here, then?" asked Adam. "If not to rile us up. I don't think anyone really wants you to be around right now."

"I've come to escort Mister Arc off the premi–"

"Are you fucking with me? It's barely noon – it can't have been more than a couple of hours!"

"The tip was sent in the early hours of the morning. It has actually been 8 hours since we received notification, and I'm afraid we cannot delay any longer."

Blake wasn't having it. This whole thing was too sudden. One moment Jaune was a proud student of Beacon, then he was gone in less than a day? This was bull, and not the Adam kind.

"Shouldn't there be some sort of inquiry? You know, to determine if he even forged his transcripts? Why trust some random person who called it in?"

Goodwitch sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "We've silently held our tongues regarding some suspicions for a while now. Roster requests to primary combat schools more or less confirmed it, but we were willing to give Jaune the benefit of the doubt and look the other way. All it took was someone formally reporting it to change his circumstances irreparably. We can't just ignore it anymore."

"How can we fix it? If you really do care, tell Jaune how he can come back? Can he re-apply next semester?"

"He can. Unfortunately, with a black mark from this very institution on his records and barely a year of real training under his belt, his chances are slim."

"Just let him in! You people decide this! This is your school." Blake stamped her feet in frustration.

"Miss Belladonna, even Beacon answers to someone. The council will have their eye on Mister Arc. He's not just going to slip by with us rubber-stamping him in. Unless he can actually go back to primary combat school and acquire a legitimate education."

Blake threw her hands up in disgust at how difficult Goodwitch was being. "He's too old for–"

"I KNOW!" Goodwitch screamed, slamming a fist into the wall. "I FUCKING KNOW HE IS!"

Blake took a step back. Her professor's glasses slid off and fell towards the floor, but an invisible force caught them before they could shatter. The same invisible force repaired the hole in the stucco, straightened out her hair, wiped the spit off her chin, and adjusted her collar. It could not, however, steady Goodwitch's shaking hands.

"Do you think I don't care? Do you think I take pleasure in ruining a young man's future for something as trivial as a faked resume, the likes of which we receive by the dozen every term? What kind of monster do you take me for? I have nothing to gain from your friend's suffering, and everything to lose from it! The governors, the council, everyone knows that we let him through and did nothing about it, and now they're talking about downsizing our staff! I'm fighting five different battles with ten different organizations! Every time I try to bargain for Arc's spot at Beacon, I have to wonder if it's going to come at the cost of the loss of Beacon's autonomy or the depletion of our funds for hosting the Vytal Festival or my own fucking job, but I still fight for him! Because he's my student, and I would rather be blacklisted from every damned academy on the face of Remnant than just give up on him without even trying! So don't you–"

Goodwitch froze at the sight of something to the right. Blake followed her line of sight to an open dorm room door, and four ashen faces.

"I-I-I'm sorry, ma'am," said Jaune. "I didn't realize…m-maybe we should just go."

"No, I am the one who should be sorry. The loss of my composure was impolitic, and you are fully justified in feeling put out. I should not have…have…" Goodwitch removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes with a fist. "…perhaps we shall just go, then."

"S-Sorry about the underwe–"

An open palm cut him off. "Don't. To Miss Nikos, I shall remind you that visitors may spend a maximum of eight hours on campus over every period of seven business days, provided they have the appropriate permissions. Miss Xiao-Long, efforts shall be taken to find a replacement member for–"

"We don't want a replacement." Yang's eyes dropped down, and her voice softened. "Ma'am."

"I know. But it is school policy. I will let you know when the headmaster reaches a verdict. Mister A– Jaune." She straightened out her shirt, using her hands and not her semblance this time. "This way, please."

Pyrrha broke down crying again, and Jaune patted her shoulder one last time before picking up his boxes and following Goodwitch.

Adam leaned over to Blake, keeping his voice so low that only she could hear it. "Now you see why father can't just wave his hand and fix this."


It was a petty thing to do, calling it in to Ironwood, but Ilia was feeling petty. Besides, this was the right thing to do.

K was a military group. They followed the rules. They did things by the book.

No exceptions.

The mission boards weren't nearly as crowded as she might have thought. Wading through the few hunter students in her way, she approached the front of the board.

"'Scuse me, fellas. First place coming through."

"Hey, don't be like that," cried someone in the back. "We all know you're better than us. No need to rub it in."

Ilia smiled. "Keep trying, buddy, and maybe one day you'll be as good as me. But probably not."

The person waved their hand at Ilia's playful arrogance, clearly amused at the banter. She was actually feeling pretty lighthearted herself as well. After cutting off the loose weight around her soul, things were starting to look up. She just needed to keep focusing on the mission. Nothing else came before it. No one else came before it.

"Let's see. Lemuria Settlement, Kurrajong Forest, the Lake of Lost Voles – here we go, increased Grimm activity at Mountain Glenn!"

"Darn it, I was gonna take that one!"

"Try out the Big Rock Sugar Mountain if you want a place teeming with Grimm," advised Ilia. "I have it on good authority that you can even see some Beringels up in those parts."

"Oh, thanks!"

Ilia shot the student's eyes out with finger guns. "No worries, mate! Always look on the bright side of things."

With a friendly nod, she was off. She felt so…unburdened. They knew where the machine was, they knew Ozpin's plans for it, and now, thanks to Ilia and Ilia alone, they were going to solve the last piece of the puzzle. I've gone above and beyond this time.

Strolling through Beacon without a care in the world, Ilia noticed Jaune being led off by Professor Goodwitch to the bullhead docks. His hands were full of boxes, but he still nodded at her, so she waved right back.

Hope you're not in too much trouble, friend.

She noticed that there was a small crowd watching his departure.

"Ah, and there they are! The dream team, the one and only Team Rabies!" Adam stepped away from the group consisting of her team and the Yellowjacket-P's to speak with Ilia.

Ilia threw a fake punch at his shoulder, which elicited no response. "How's tricks?"

Adam's cyclops face looked away from Jaune and down to Ilia, who was currently pretending to dodge fake punches of his and box back at him. "I know what you did."

"Izzat so? Well, I, for one, know that you, for another, were fully aware of how I felt about a certain female friend of ours. And apparently you knew about her orientation as well, so thanks for saying nothing for all these years, friend!"

Adam bared his teeth. "You did this to get back at me? To hurt me? What about the innocent people you've burned along the way?"

"Adam, you and Blake are always droning on and on about Atlesian military discipline and following through with the mission without exception. I never paid it any heed before, but I've seen the light. Friends, they don't matter. Getting stuff done, fixing problems, completing our objective – that's what matters. And I'm feeling better than ever for having realized it."

"And what about Jaune?"

Ilia shrugged. "What about him?"

Despite the fact that Ilia had been play-fighting with Adam, she didn't see his hand coming at all. Her aura had been down, so now there was a mark in the shape of the back of Adam's hand on her face. She ran her fingers over the sore spot then gaped in surprise at Adam from the spot on the ground where she lay.

"If you insist on childishly hurting those around you…" Adam's feet spread apart, readying him in a combat stance as his fists raised. "…I shall do the same. And I assure you, I am far better at it."

"Calm down, okay?" Ilia threw her hands up in surrender. Spiteful or not, even she wasn't crazy enough to rush into that fight headfirst. Weiss was the suicidal one, not her. "Now, you can be a little bitch about it all you like, but this was approved by…" Ilia looked both ways and lowered her voice. "…your daddy." As long as they spoke in hushed tones, no one would be close enough to overhear them. Blake was the closest person, and she was at least fifteen feet away.

"James signed off on this?"

"I can be persuasive. All it took was mentioning the tape Jaune collected for us and those files I found and boom! Instant approval, just add nothing."

"W-What? He was an asset. James would see that…"

"I know you love your boyfriend, Adam, but we'll meet up with him again soon enough."

"That's not–" Adam cut off. "Ilia, what game are you playing? Is General Ironwood going to bring Jaune into the fold? Is this whole expulsion thing just a ruse to get him to an extraction point or something?"

Expulsion, Ilia thought.

"Expulsion," Ilia said.

Ilia cocked her head to the side.

"Expulsion," Ilia repeated. "Expulsion? Explain."

"Getting Jaune expelled? Why did you do it?"

"I didn't – wait, Jaune's been EXPELLED?!"

Ilia's head jerked around in time to catch sight of the bullhead taking off. Jaune's arms had been full of boxes, and Goodwitch had been leading him…

"I thought he was just in trouble! It looked like Goodwitch was leading him to detention or something!"

"Ilia, there's no way you could have not known that your actions would lead up to this. His falsified transcripts are now public knowledge. They don't just give you detention for that."

"My actions?" Ilia took a step back. "I didn't do anything to Jaune! You're the one who made him a spy. If anyone's at fault for–"

"I didn't tip off the media to Jaune's forged records!"

"Well, neither did I!"

"Then what were you going on about, talking about the tape recording and Jaune's files?"

"Not Jaune's files. Ruby's files. I told General Ironwood that silver eyes and maidens mean something to Ozpin, and Time's Up Tock knows what it is. He approved us taking our mission to go after her and find out. We're going to Mountain Glenn."

"Mountain what?"

"It's a beat-up failed expansion of Vale. Satellite says that Hazel Rainart might be there. Well, him or any 8 foot tall wall of muscle and man." Ilia shuddered. "I don't know how people can be into stuff that. Wait, I forgot – Blake isn't. And you knew."

"For Dust's sake, Ilia! Don't get us all killed because you're too afraid to tell her how you feel. Look, I can't deal with this right now. Jaune is–"

"Oh, shit!" Ilia snapped back to the present and remembered that Jaune Arc was now Gone Arc. "You said Jaune was being kicked out of Beacon? What can we–"

"Nothing. While you were sneaking off to James behind our backs, we were trying to help him. There's nothing left to do. He's already gone."

It took all her willpower not to change colors right then and there, and she could still feel the soles of her feet and palms of her hand grow pale green. "Adam, I–"

"No," he hissed. "You said it yourself. Friends don't matter, Amitola. I know I've also been a stickler for discipline, but it's only because I always enjoyed succeeding together, all three of us, as a team. I've never let my commitment to our missions between me and the rest of K before. I've always, always put you and Blake first. Perhaps that was a mistake."

Ilia hadn't wanted this. Adam was supposed to have congratulated her for putting the job first and moving on, and things would all be swell for everyone.

The thought of taking it all back and throwing herself onto the ground in apology flitted through her head. She could call the general, convince him it was all a mistake, and explain to Adam and Blake why–

Blake.

"You know what?" Ilia's eyes narrowed. "I think it was."


Author's Notes

Well, it's not…as bad, I guess. She's still being a duplicitous little snitch, but Jaune's expulsion blood isn't on her hands at least. Had Ilia fucked Jaune over, I probably wouldn't have been able to forgive her.

Don't worry – this isn't The Empty Seat. I don't hate the characters here and want to make you hate them/cry when they all die or do bad things. To that end, I promise you this – only expect one tragic death (though it will be sadder than every death in The Empty Seat combined). And it's coming soon...

Remember to fill out my poll on who you think killed Marrow: forms dot gle/3EGGEfhxs1cgYrZE7. Feel free to fill it out and cast your vote. Results will be regularly tallied and presented, starting next week.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!