"So, big ol' secret meeting over?" Cerise asked as the rest of the group walked back into the beach house. She kept her eyes away from Roman, and Taiyang kept his off of her. "Am I allowed to know what's going on?"

"The call actually had nothing to do with you or the situation here," Kali explained as she took a seat on the couch next to Cerise. "Promise. A friend back at Beacon's in… I mean, it's not really trouble, but something came up and she needed some reassurance. The situation is mostly resolved, or at least, as resolved as it can be while we're out here? Things are kind of a mess right now."

"Yeah, I somewhat gathered that from the whole mysterious-assassin-bursting-into-the-beach-house situation," Cerise let on with a cheeky lilt in her tone.

"Nobody said she was an assassin," Taiyang said, eyes wide.

"…congratulations," Raven chimed in while locking eyes with Taiyang and sitting across from him. "You just did. Now she knows that Sienna is definitely an assassin."

"Not smooth," Cerise agreed as she brushed off her skirt and crossed her legs. "Not smooth at all, Tai."

"His idiocy has a certain appeal," Raven said with a roll of her eyes. "I still don't quite know why."

"Dumb guys are hot," Roman answered as he moved into the kitchen to begin raiding the refrigerator.

"Yes, they are…" Cerise said cryptically as she brought her hands together in her lap.

"Regardless… Cerise, you're potentially in danger," Bartholomew said matter-of-factly as he sat down on the woman's other side. "All of us are, but you've now been pulled into a situation that not even we fully understand. You have my sincerest apologies, especially for the lack of information we can give. It isn't so much that we're keeping secrets as it is that we simply are not aware of what this Sienna Khan woman wants."

"She's a figure from my past," Raven admitted, earning Cerise's attention. "That much I can say with confidence. Why she's here now and acting so… evasive, I can only guess. Her status as a legitimate threat to us is also in question, but you should absolutely watch yourself now that you're on her radar. There really isn't much we can offer in the form of protection."

"Yeah, I got that," Cerise agreed. "If anything, it seems like I could protect all of you. After all… you did call me in for a reason, right?"

"We did, yeah," Roman agreed as he took a seat as far from Cerise as possible with a paper plate stacked with fruit. "Your Semblance was the backup plan in case Raven needed to portal us outta here in a hurry."

"Portal…?" Cerise asked.

"My Semblance. I can open portals to people I'm… close with. We would be able to escape to Qrow in a pinch."

"Well, if we've got that on our side, we should all be able to relax. For now, anyway," Cerise considered. "So… I feel caught up enough, if what you're saying is true. What's next? I've got no plans for a bit."

"…how about checkin' in on the rest of the crew?" Roman suggested before popping a grape into his mouth. "Kal and I could go upstairs and make some calls."

"You're not exactly smooth, either," Raven accused. "The two of you would do nothing of the sort the second you get near a bed."

"Yeah? We supposed to put you and Tai on check-in duty, then?" Roman countered. "As if you two aren't all hot and bothered out here."

"Settle," Bartholomew commanded. "Checking in is indeed a good plan. I could handle it up in the tower."

"…or just call them right here," Cerise suggested. "Why so secretive about calling your friends? Is there more going on that I'm not supposed to know about? I could just leave, if you're trying to hide things…"

"You know, this doesn't feel great," Roman pointed out, his mouth full of fruit. Kali rolled her eyes and bonked her head into Cerise's shoulder.

"Yeah, no shit it doesn't feel great," Kali acknowledged. "Calling in backup and then kicking them out isn't exactly cool, and I wouldn't mind having another friend around."

"Friend is… a bit much this early on," Cerise warned, though she made no effort to remove Kali. "We do all have our secrets, and I understand this is a tense situation. I'll stay, and I won't be offended while you step out to make your calls. I'm just a little frustrated by a lot of things at the moment."

"The tower it is, then," Bartholomew announced as he stood up.

"Let me come with you?" Taiyang offered as he, too, stood up. "None of us should be alone with Sienna out and about."

"Very well," Bartholomew agreed. "Let's see what Qrow, Summer, Willow, and Adam are up to…"

Summer clenched her teeth and tried to hold still as Willow slowly peeled the electrode off of her belly. Despite all efforts, she ended up flailing as the last quarter inch of the pad was pried from her flesh, and a hiss escaped her at the very end of the process.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Summer said breathlessly, breathing a bit harder than usual. "Just… just rip the next one really fast! I was wrong!"

"…told you," Willow said, looking unimpressed as she added the electrode into a ball consisting of several pads stuck together atop the nearby rolling medical cart. "Just let me work, and I'll make it as quick and painless as I can."

"That's not exactly reassuring," Summer admitted. "This sucks. All of this sucks. Why did Professor Gumo get so secretive all of the sudden? What am I supposed to do now that we know I'm a Maiden? Why won't Professor Ozpin answer? Why w-"

Summer let out a shriek as Willow ripped another pad from the other side of her stomach. The girl put her hands over the area protectively and shot her friend a venomous glare.

"Ow! Hey!"

"You were rambling and distracted!" Willow accused as she stuck the electrode to the others. "I thought it might go smoothly."

"Well, it didn't!" Summer whined. "Nothing's going smoothly anymore. Go back to doing it slow!"

Willow huffed in frustration as she gripped the next electrode just beneath the right cup of Summer's bra. There was a brief moment where an intrusive thought urged her hand to reach just a bit higher and cup her friend's breast, but Willow banished it immediately. It was tempting, though, given how much relief a night with Kali had given her. After all, Summer did seem incredibly stressed.

The notion was enough to make Willow blush as she tore her eyes off Summer's cleavage and adopted a laser focus upon the offending electrode.

"That's the life of a hunter," Willow said before ripping the pad off slowly and eliciting a prolonged whimper from Summer. "Sorry…"

"It's okay…" Summer reassured, though she couldn't help but squirm a bit as Willow gripped the pad on the other side of her chest. "I know you're just trying to help. You've always been a great friend, Willow."

"Oh, please," Willow offered. "Others have contributed far more than me. We all work together to get it done. Don't put me on a pedestal."

"I feel like I should," Summer replied while trying to focus on her words through the slow peeling. "Especially when it comes to personal matters with me. I trust you with my life, Wil. You're just…"

A sudden vibration from Summer's scroll atop the metallic medical cart caused both girls to jump and Willow to accidentally rip the pad off faster than she intended. With a yelp of surprise, the Maiden reached for the device and tapped the Home button to light up the display. There was one message waiting in the group chat between STRQ, OKRA, and Willow, and Summer's eyes widened the moment she read it.

"What!? What is he thinking!?"

"Hm?" Willow asked as Summer turned the screen toward her to display the message. All color drained from her face as she read it over several times and then met Summer's eyes. "You've got to be kidding…"

"…Summer Festival coming up, we've got a stressful few weeks for aspiring Maidens everywhere."

"That's right, Donna," the male anchor of the pair said. He was a stocky man with dark skin, a thin black mustache and beard, and a shaved head. The man's suit was a burnt orange, seemingly coordinated with the cheery yellow dress of his female coworker. "Registration for the tournament opens soon, so make sure to mark your calendars, Vacuans. People will be coming from all over the desert to compete and celebrate. Will we see the rise of a totally unknown Maiden this year, or do you think one of the spurned crowd favorites will finally claim the title?"

"Oh, my money's on a newcomer for sure," Donna replied. Her glistening smile revealed curved, elongated teeth resembling those of a snake hidden behind her lips. "Seems like we've been getting even more tourists than usual this year, doesn't it?"

"It certainly does!"

"So, this festival really is a huge deal out here, huh?" Qrow asked, taking a sip of the unfamiliar bottled beverage he had been offered. The dark, bubbly concoction stung his lips a bit and left an almost medicinal aftertaste… but he didn't hate it. "I mean, it sounded like a big deal, but they're already hyping it on the news. Should we expect daily updates?"

"Most certainly," Ghira answered as he sat next to Qrow on the couch with a bottle of his own. The faunus popped out a claw and used it to pry off the cap before taking a drink. "You should all check in on the reports as the days go on. There's generally a short history piece every day leading up to the main event."

"…huh. That makes sense," Qrow admitted. "Sounds interesting. Barty will probably be taking notes in front of the T.V. while the rest of us are asleep."

"Good on him," Sage praised. "Vacuan culture is… interesting."

"But you hate so much of it," Fox accused. He was 'sitting' upon the couch with his back upon the seat and his legs slung up over the backrest, staring sightlessly at the others. "You whine about Vacuo more than anyone I've ever met, especially when it comes to how the locals treat the foreigners..."

"To pretend it is perfect would be to do it a disservice," Sage protested, folding his arms over his chest. "I am… fundamentally incompatible with parts of this place. I love it. It's my home. But…"

A red glow washed over the room as a swirling portal opened near the coffee table. Kali was first through the dimensional door, looking furious as she marched into the dorm room.

"What the hell do we even do?"

"What?" Qrow asked as he uncrossed his feet and lowered them from the edge of the coffee table. "What's going on?"

"Check your scroll," Roman advised. "Adam's being a shit."

"Friends are so much fun," Fox mused as the remaining group from the beach house walked through the portal. "Hey, Cerise."

"Hey yourself," the woman said as she put her hands on her hips while Qrow took out his scroll. "How did you know?"

"I know your perfume."

"You would," Sage accused.

"Holy shit…" Qrow said as he looked at the long chain of messages in the group chat. Only one had come from Adam, and he hadn't replied to the various inquiries that followed. "I don't understand…"

Adam Taurus, 6:48 P.M.

I won't be home tonight, or the next. Perhaps longer. Going on an expedition with the Oaks and Velvet. Don't come looking. I'll be fine. See you soon.

"What's going on?" Ghira asked. "Something we should be aware of?"

"Yeah, Velvet and Adam are both heading out on… some kind of mission with the museum owners," Qrow explained as he lowered the scroll. "He said it'll take days."

"…yeah, that sounds like Vel," Fox said with an upside-down shrug. "Not the first time she's run off."

"This is the first time Adam's run off," Bartholomew said. "Like this, anyway. What do we do?"

"What can we do?" Roman asked. "He's not answering any of us."

"The only thing we can do," Kali said, fuming. "Just let him go."

Author's Note:

There's absolutely no way this could go badly. None at all.

-RD