Sorry, this is coming out later than usual. Life picks a hell of a time when it comes to throwing crap at me.

Dan wasn't usually one to be nervous. Lately, though, it was an uncomfortable feeling that was finding itself in his head too much. No thanks to a certain blond bastard, he lamented. This morning though it was somebody else that had him wishing he was back on the beat right now.

"Come in sergeant." The voice behind his anxiety commanded.

"Reporting Captian," he called as he rendered a crisp salute.

"So Dan," The elder officer began, as he rendered his own salute. "I understand you may have a problem."

Sweat was already on Dan's brow as he answered. "No problem, sir."

"Not what your reports indicate, sergeant."

"Just an anomaly. I'm handling it." he assured.

"A rat that's threatening this department to your face. One that's walking free. That's what you consider handling a situation is, Dan?" The Captain asked in a soft even tone that was as much a hallmark of his personality as his coldness. Many a time Dan had seen a man marked for death in that unnerving evenness.

"I'm treading carefully on the situation with Jaune Arc." As bad as a situation as this was for Dan, he wasn't new to this game. "He's smarter than the usual rat."

"I've noticed."The Captain remarked. "Tell me Dan, I've always found you one that keeps this department in mind when making decisions, have you decided what to do with Mr. Arc.?"

For a moment Dan thought over his assessment of the blonde boy that had been causing him more stress than he'd expected. He wasn't new to this, and had handled the ones that played it smart and stupid in Jaune's position. The trick was finding somebody paradoxical; too dumb to get away, too smart to get caught. A thug that hadn't run afoul with the law, but would break it. The police called them rats; somebody to handle their dirty work and be tossed aside when the heat was on. They were disposable, but not worthless. He could be making a bigger mistake killing Jaune than if he were to keep him around.

"Mr. Arc is a good rat," Dan decided. "But we need dirt on him. He needs to be taught that he can't threaten this department."

If the captain was for this decision, he didn't give any hint either way. "I trust your judgment. Feel free to use anything in evidence, and take S.W.A.T if you think you'll need them. This needs to be handled soon."

"Understood, Captain."

"If that's all you're dismissed." The captain finished, leading Dan to let out a breath he'd been holding since his assertion on how to handle Jaune.

With an exchange of salutes, Dan felt his hand wrap around the doorknob before the Captain spoke up once again. "Remember Dan, Mr. Arc isn't the only disposable one."

"So what do you think?"

Cardin eyed Jaune "Jaune," he said letting out a sigh. "I mean this as your partner, but..."

"It's great right." Jaune inferred as he showed off his new threads; sensible grey pants paired with a white button-up that held a black-tie center, all covered in some fashion by a large trench coat.

"You look like you got that at a funeral." Cardin finished.

"Seriously?" Jaune asked as he slid into the dinner beside Cardin.

"Seriously." Cardin confirmed as he took a sip of coffee.

"You said we needed to dress like PIs if anybody was gonna take us seriously." He'd spent all of last night watching movies to get the look right.

"Yeah, PIs," Cardin said while gesturing to his own apparel; a floral button-up under his typical plate, paired with jeans.

"Is that why you're wearing a fake mustache?" Jaune questioned.

"Hey, the mustache makes the look Jaune." Cardin defended.

For a second Jaune considered politely explaining to his partner just how fashion challenged he was."You look like a pedophile that couldn't grow a mustache." On the other hand, Cardin was still kinda a dick. "This is what a PI looks like." He remarked as he put his new fedora on.

"I swear to god Jaune," Cardin face-palmed "you look like a weirdo that calls woman ma'lady. We can't afford to lose more business."

"I know that." Jaune defended. "That's why we are meeting here instead of our crappy apartment." Nice as the apartment was for not freezing on the streets, two guys in a messy apartment didn't exactly scream professionalism.

"It would be nice if we got a real client." Cardin mumbled.

Before the two could ague style more a waitress appeared, armed with paper and pencil. "What can I get you hon?"

"Toast and an egg" Jaune replied.

"That all?' The waitress asked, the order lighter than most breakfasts she served. "Any coffee?"

"That's all, I'm dieting." Jaune answered, sensing her questioning look.

"So, you're broke?" Cardin asked as the waitress walked away.

"Give me a break, these clothes weren't cheap." he complained.

"Don't have the same problem Johnny-boy." Cardin smugly remarked. "Got these for a few bucks"

The dollar store mustache on Cardin's face sagged to the left. "You don't say." Jaune said with a cocked eyebrow. "That why you only have a coffee and a pack of the cheapest smokes for breakfast."

Cardin groaned irritably "Yeah, we are broke as shit." He reached into his pocket to get a cig and light up. "Glad you could figure that case out Jaune."

"Well, I don't need to be a detective to figure that those cigs and coffee are gonna have you hugging the toilet if you don't slow down." Jaune retorted. "Give me one."

"Hypocrite." Cardin mumbled before sliding one to Jaune.

Jaune's food was set before him and the two's bickering that had become the norm was put aside. For a few minutes they just ate and drank, the peace only occasionally broken by skirmishes between Cardin's hand and Jaune's fork; battling for the odd piece of food on Jaune's plate.

"So, who's the client?" Cardin asked.

"Didn't ask."

"That's kinda important."

Jaune shrugged. "Not until she starts paying us."

Cardin raised an eyebrow. "She?"

"She." Jaune confirmed. "Please, don't hit on her, it's been two weeks, and the only paying case we had was a kid with missing aunts. We can't afford to have another client take one look at us and walk out."

"We could have really saved us time if that kid told us we were looking for an ant farm." Cardin lamented.

Jaune groaned "I should have known a twelve-year-old didn't have four big ones to pay use."

"To be fair, he did have the four of the largest coins." Cardin laughed humorlessly. "They just weren't worth much."

Jaune shook his head in an attempt to forget their first case before speaking. "If we wanna eat next week, we need to do this right." He glared at Cardin. "So, please, lose the mustache."

"Lose the fedora first, before I see a body pillow in the apartment."

"Fine.". He knew he looked smooth in it, but if it was that or Cardin's mustache he could sacrifice. Taking the hat off and tossing it onto the counter he looked to Cardin. "Happy?"

Instead of a snarky comment that had become the norm for the partners, Cardin shot up from his seat frantically. "Hold that thought Jaune." He called as he ran to the restroom.

"Told you." Jaune said to himself. "Should have gone easy on the coffee." Reaching over he took another cig from the pack Cardin had left and stole a gulp of his coffee.

Hot caffeine now flowing to his brain, Jaune took a moment to think on how well his partnership was going. Sure the business end wasn't going great, but they were new to the game. He figured a few solid cases would put them on the map. At least he'd keep telling himself that in an attempt to avoid a panic attack as his bank account shrunk. If this kept up he'd be begging the police for a gig, and that wasn't a road he wanted to go down. So with all that he was surprised that Cardin was actually a half-decent partner. Being honest with himself, he fully expected them to be exchanging blows by the end of the first week. At Beacon, they couldn't stand each other, but now it was just half-hearted bickering. In regards to being a roommate and partner, Cardin did what he was supposed to for the two weeks they'd been in business.

It did nag Jaune a bit that his change in demeanor was to thank for the relative peace between them. He just couldn't fight the feeling that he could have succeeded in Beacon if only he hadn't been so.., well, so himself. It was like the more time he spent in the real world, the more it taught him that being polite, unobtrusive, and trusting was wrong. The more of an asshole he acted, ignoring the rules of civility, the more he got his way. Ironic that he made his living bringing in the people who ignored those same rules.

Looking down at the borrowed coffee he wondered where the line was. When did this all go too far? Would he go too far and be no different from the people he hunted? The law certainly wasn't that line for him. Was there even such a thing as too far or was it a matter of avoiding getting caught?

"Jaune?" A feminine voice asked; pulling him from his thoughts.

Looking up he saw a familiar face. "Velvet?" he asked.

"Hi" She waved shyly, her bunny ears bobbing with the motion. "How's it been?"

The surprise of seeing someone he was vaguely familiar with unexpectedly was erased as Velvet asked him such an innocent question. How it'd been for him was something he just noticed he couldn't answer. It wasn't all bad, definitely not good, and certainly an answer to long for a polite question. "I've been good." Thank goodness nobody who asked that actually wanted a truthful answer.

"You?" he asked, as the rules of society dictated.

For her part Velvet took an exhausted breath before answering "A bit frazzled."

Jaune didn't actually know Velvet that well. Outside of her existence, grade, team, and bullying from Cardin he didn't know anything about her. So it was weird that she said anything outside the normal to tell a distant acquaintance. That and the dark circles around her eyes told him she was definitely worse than a bit frazzled.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Her eyes widened at her slip. "Nothing. I'm fine." She quickly blurted out.

"Bull."

Velvet looked at him in surprise at his bluntness. For his part, he was just as surprised he'd pushed her on business that obviously wasn't his. A few weeks ago he would have apologized profusely, but he'd already said it and he couldn't be bothered to pretend he was sorry. If she didn't want him to ask, she should do a better job of hiding the worry on her face.

"Ummm…what?" Velvet asked in an attempt to give him out. He would just change what he said and the awkwardness between them could be over.

"I said bull." He confirmed. "You look like you haven't slept and you've been looking over your shoulder since you started talking."

"It's…. been a rough two weeks." Velvet finally said with a sigh.

Same, he thought. "School stuff?" he asked.

"No." She eyed him for a second with a look that told him she was sizing him up. "Someone is stalking me." Velvet finally said firmly.

"Oh." He uttered, somber enough to convey the seriousness.

"Yep." She confirmed before glaring at him. "Want to know anything else? Maybe like, how it kills me that freshmen pick on me while my team is the best in school?" The thin layer of control Velvet was using to manage her stress was completely gone as she was yelling now. "Want to know what it's like to be a failure of a Hunter, Jaune?!" She finished as held his eye with a glare.

"I'm good Velvet." he replied. His face as hard as hers, he watched her mouth tick up the slightest. He knew the feeling, to just unload your crap on somebody who looked at you sideways and have them cow before your pain. "I've looked at a mirror." Too bad he spent enough time cowed to others that Velvet wasn't getting a free pass. "If you want me to explain what a real failure of a huntsman I'll start writing my autobiography for you." He shot back as he lit up one of the smokes he'd gotten.

The look on Velvet's face morphed from confusion to anger again to finally defeat. "Sorry." She mumbled half-heartedly before sitting down beside him at the bar.

Puffing on his cig for a moment Jaune eyed the exhausted huntress-in and couldn't help but feel like a dick. "Hey." he pushed.

"What?"

"Smoke?" he offered. "Helps a bit with life."

"I don't think that'll help, and secondly, gross."

He shrugged. "So what's this about a stalker?"

For a moment she looked as if she was gonna tell him to shove it, but it seemed she was more desperate than he thought as she began. "It started two weeks ago. At first, it was small stuff, like seeing the same car a bunch. Then it seemed like a figure was in every window and dark alley every time I went into Vale. I know it shouldn't have spooked me but I just have this feeling in my stomach, the same kind when I'm in danger in the field."

If he was being honest, it wasn't much, but he knew how important a gut feeling could be to a hunter. "Did you tell your team?" He asked.

"I told Coco I felt a bit unsafe." She explained. "She's been going out into Vale with me as of late. Since then I don't feel like I'm being watched."

"Problem solved then."

Her glare returned. "Me not being able to walk the streets without a babysitter is problem solved?"

"Suppose not." he admitted sheepishly.

"It's just great knowing I can rip grimm to shreds and still feeling scared while alone." Velvet vented. "I could probably beat this guy to a pulp if he tried anything, but here I am."

"So what's the issue?" he asked. "You can handle whatever this is."

"I'm going to be a huntress, not hunted."

"How do you know you're even being stalked outside a gut feeling?" As sympathetic as he was and as stressed as Velvet looked he had to ask if this was just in her head.

"I talked to some faunus students and they have been feeling the same. Even my teammate Fox has been anxious, and nothing fazes him." She insisted.

For a second Jaune mulled over what she was saying. Part of him understood why she was concerned. She had a gut feeling that he knew she was trained to trust as a huntress, and people were feeding into her suspicion. On the other hand, that's all she had, a suspicion. Jaune knew well enough that people could feed into one another's paranoia easy enough, explaining away the sense of unease the faunus students felt. He knew they were a minority that faced discrimination, it wasn't a stretch to imagine them being so on guard that they had invented a threat. Besides, who thought it was a good idea to mess with hunters in training?

"That sucks." He nonchalantly replied. A nice nothingness to not get engaged in what he figured was a delusion of somebody used to the worst. If it'd have seemed like an actual threat he might have looked into it. Even without money involved he wasn't so heartless to leave somebody in trouble. Instead, he'd just let Velvet vent until his client or Cardin arrived and she left.

"So, I'm meeting a PI here to get some answers."

Oh.

Really, he should have figured that out. So much for him being a master detective. "I know, that's why I'm here." Not that she needed to know that.

"Oh." Velvet exclaimed. "That's why you're dressed like that?"

That's the first thing you say?

"It's got a lot of pocket space." he defended.

"And the fedora?" She asked pointing to the hat on the table. The look on her face was not one of confidence.

"Not mine." He said quickly. I thought it looked good.

"So you're the…Detective?" Velvet asked as if he'd just claimed he was king of Vale.

"Yes." He maintained. While he may not have had any real clients yet, Jaune had gotten good at maintaining a neutral demeanor as potential clints found more holes in his operation than certain cheeses had.

"Ummm…" Velvet's face scrunched up as if she'd just eaten a lemon. "You're really a detective?" She asked again in disbelief.

He took a puff of his cig, not breaking eye contact in response.

"Did Coco set you up to this?"

Jaune's frown deepened.

"You're serious." She finally realized. Not that her acceptance of his role brought reassurance if her deep cringe was any indication. "So, just talking about my issue out loud, I think I'm being silly." She managed with an obviously fake overly polite smile. "I won't waste your time anymore."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that she wasn't going to go hire him, but instead, go to someone else. This wasn't even the first time Jaune had heard this excuse. His stomach groaned as if to remind him how much he really needed this job. The irony of him blowing her off a moment ago was not lost on him.

"Miss Scarlatina." He spoke; his voice taking a serious tone. One he was fully ripping off from the most authoritative figure he knew, the headmaster. "Allow me to reiterate your position." Big words for big talk, at least he hoped it was making him sound better. "You have a feeling and nothing more."

"That's not true." she protested. "Fox-"

"Backed your notion. I understand," he interrupted. "But I know you and Fox." Vaguely. "You go to any other firm in town with that and they'll turn you down at best. More than likely they'll take your money, wait a week, then call you to say it was nothing without even looking into it."

"My turn to call bull Arc." Velvet shot back, all pretense of them being friendly dropped, in favor of business. "Somebody will take this."

"A conspiracy that faunus students are being stalked?" He let out a cold laugh for effect."Do you know who runs PI firms? Ex-cops. Last I checked faunus rights weren't their strong suit." Jaune wasn't one to know much about that kind of thing but it wasn't a secret how that went. It was just a generalization, though. Maybe a faunas ex-cop was actually a PI in town. He just had to pray she hadn't looked far for a PI before contacting him.

"Money talks," She pushed. "And I know some firms have faunus owners."

Guess she checked.

He gripped his cig a bit tighter in frustration. She had him dead to rights on this now. If he couldn't provide something he knew she was gonna walk.

"I think you'll find-" he started.

"Jaune," she said softly. "You know why I'm not gonna hire you."

Cause I'm a loser and a liar.

He'd never talked to her before, but she was a student at Beacon. Nobody couldn't know what a spectacular fuck-up he was. Trying to get Velvet, or anybody who really knew him, to trust him was a sell he just couldn't make. Sighing, he let himself deflate in defeat.

"What'll you have?" The waitress from before asked as she appeared beside them.

"Water please." Velvet politely ordered.

"Freeloader.." the waitress mumbled before retreating.

He took a long drag off his smoke as he watched her order. Frustration welled up inside him. Was this it? Nights spent fighting for his life and connections made at the cost of his soul all amounting to nothing in the face of his failures? If he couldn't close this he was wouldn't eat tomorrow. Working for the police or Hei would pay the bills, but he knew the more he relied on them the more they'd own him. Looking at his own plate, he knew it'd only be a matter of time before he called one for work. The last month had proven to him that his morality was cheap. Jaune was ashamed to know that it was worth…food.

Food! That's it!

"Velvet." he paused to let him look at him. "You're going hire me."

"Jaune," she said sadly. "Please don't make me explain why."

"Because I'm a loser." He remarked cooly, letting the comment hang in the air, Velvet's silence confirming it.

"Jau-"

"It's Mr. Arc." He interrupted. "Let's stop pretending we knew each other. If you wanna call me Jaune, you buy me a drink first" Not that he drank much outside of concussions, but it sounded like some cool thing a PI would say in his mind.

She eyed him in annoyance, before opening her mouth to speak.

Which was the moment he was waiting for to continue. "Now you can hire me here and now, or you can waste both of our time and hire me in a few days when you realize I'm your only option."

"Where do you get off?" She asked, her voice raised and full of unrestrained annoyance.

"On tissues, mostly." He joked. It probably was unwarranted a comment, but screw it.

"I'm leaving." She huffed as she stood up.

He smiled. "You're broke."

All pretense of anger dropped as Velvet stopped. "What?"

Bingo.

"It's eight forty-five, the dining hall at Beacon opens at eight, the same time as Bullheads from Beacon to Vale. You must have skipped breakfast to get her on time." he summarised. "A huntress in training needs a lot of calories to function."

"So?" Velvet asked a bit confused.

"This is the cheapest dinner in town." he continued. "You should be ordering mountains of food right now, but you got free water." He pointed to her weapon. "Your camera allows you to use dust to make a copy of any weapon it takes a picture." At least that's what he picked up from Ruby gushing about it. "That can't be cheap with the dust shortage."

"I've had to save for this." She admitted. "I have the money for an investigator, though. Guessing I'm broke isn't changing that.

"I was wondering why out of all the PIs in town you called mine." he mussed; ignoring her instance. "My marketing is crap." It was an ancient website and a working phone number posted on local bulletin boards. "You knew about the faunus PI firms, so you did research on who to call." He smiled. "As the newest PI in town, I happen to know I am also the cheapest."

Velvet slumped back into her seat, all the stress of the few weeks hitting her like a wrecking ball. Planting her forehead on the bar she let out a frustrated grown that Jaune couldn't keep from chuckling at. "Is smoking really that great?" She asked. "Cause I really could use something right."

"Nope." He answered as he took a puff.

"Great," she complained. "Well you're right, I'm even a few bucks under your rate."

"Student discount?" He offered. It'd mean less time before he'd need another case, but he didn't feel right demanding a few dollars from a woman in need. That and she could have offered him half his rate, as desperate as he was. Velvet didn't need to know that though.

Velvet took a deep breath, and composed herself before sitting back up to face him. "I'll pay you only if you catch him."

"What?"

"You said it yourself, most investigators would just take my money and say it was nothing."

He had said that."I think we-"

"No." Velvet said harshly "Only offer. I might not be able to get another PI but I can buy a lot of ammo instead."

Jeez, this whole thing has really gotten her freaked out. Always thought she was the mousey type, like me. Suppose we all gotta do what we gotta do to come out ahead.

Eyeing her up to see if he could get a better deal, her steely gaze told him he should quit while he was ahead. "Deal."

For a moment the two looked at each other; uncertain in their inexperience on what to do next. Internally Jaune supposed he should inquire more about this case. A feeling and seeing a car a few times wasn't much to go on.

"I know you gave me the run down so far, Velvet, but is there anything else that could be helpful to finding your stalker?" If he exists. "You mentioned a car?"

"It was a van, white."

So literally every tradesman in the city. The idea that he'd never see any of the pay for this job was looking increasingly possible.

"I don't have any proof, but I have a feeling I know who it is."

His face twisted into confusion at that detail."That kinda pokes a hole in my theory that nobody would take this case on the cheap. Why not just open with that?"

For her part Velvet had a look of embarrassment; like a kid asking their parent to look for monsters under the bed to just be sure. "Only you'd understand."

"Oh?"

"Cardin. He was kicked out recently and he always hated fanus. I'm sure he is looking for payback."

If Jaune had anything to say on that he was out of time as Cardin sat back down in his seat.

"What about me?" He asked, suddenly aware of who was sitting next to Jaune. "Oh, hey Velvet. Why are you grabbing that camera?"

Scares crossed every part of his muscled body. Each a close call in a life filled to the brim with blood and violence. They were covered in casual clothes that concealed any indication of background. Outside of his athleticism, he'd done everything to conceal his true nature. Even his fingerprints were erased with self-mutilation. The faint smell of gun oil that clunge to him was erased with cheap cologne. His fingernails were well manicured to remove residue of explosive material.

Most considered him extreme to the degree of insane. He considered it the only reason he was alive. Atlas would have considered him the most dangerous man alive if they didn't consider him dead already.

In a past life, he'd been the top wetwork agent for Atlas's shadow intelligence agency. Before that, he was top of his class at Atlas huntsman academy. Handpicked by the former head of the military, his first life was erased to make him a ghost for the state. Two years ago he'd died again, this time trying to kill Sienna Khan. With only a single star on a marble wall left of that life, he was now truly a ghost. Now he was known simply as John boy.

As took a picture of the three young adults, from his concealed position inside a white van, he saw another phantom, like himself.

"Call higher." he commanded to his driver.

"Something wrong?"

"We need to sanitize this situation."

The driver had worked with him for weeks, following targets, and she knew when something was off. "Why? This is a solid candidate."

"She has backup."

"What? The human investigators?" The woman asked annoyed. "I vetted the firms she called and these guys were the worst."

He let out a snort. She was smart, she was trained by himself of course, but this was above her. The target, Velvet he recalled, was indeed a solid candidate, but harmless. Cardin Winchester was also just as harmless to him. Jaune Arc was… not.

John Boy was alive because of extremes. Extremes like going through every iota of information he could access. He'd already paid for information from Hei about every move and shaker in this country. It had been a comprehensive list, but he'd sensed that it was incomplete. Breaking into the files Hei held in his club he'd found only one name held from him; the blond he now saw.

The files had painted a picture of a man Hei was absolutely terrified by. John Boy couldn't help but see why. Jaune was truly a face without an identity. A man masquerading as a boy who died in the wilderness. Hardened killers had been prey to the phantom that moved through the forces of power. The fools of Beacon and the police only saw what he wanted. The man's first stop at Beacon, his own hunting ground, was telling. His massacre of the gangs was more evidence of Jaune's purpose. That gang had dealings with his organization. From how mutilated their bodies had been it wouldn't have been a stretch for some of them to have been tortured for information. Information on him.

Jaune was his replacement; the man Atlas had made in his place. He was too subtle and unorthodox to be anything else. For a moment he remembered the hellish training that had made him; long and criminally brutal. Looking at the man as he finished his meeting with Velvet he walked outside. Snapping a picture of his face, he wished he'd brought a rifle instead. From his camera, he took in how young Jaune looked. It made him feel the closest thing to fear he'd felt in a long time. John Boy was the best of his generation and he'd been in his late 20s when he'd gotten out of training, but Atlas thought Jaune was already better.

"We need to sanitize this immediately."

So with this chapter, we've entered the second act of the story. The first act being Jaune making it to being a PI and making the connections needed for it. As this act goes on it'll feature more personal relationship building, a large emphasis on case-based mysteries, and worldbuilding. It's not exactly a slice of life, with a larger narrative going on, but it'll take its time getting there. This change of pace did take me a second to adjust to and is somewhat responsible for the delay in posting. I feel like people will enjoy seeing Jaune, Cardin the rest of the cast in neo-noir/pulp situations in contrast to a hasty rush to the fall of Beacon Arc. Hope everybody likes this so far, feel free to toss some ideas for cases you may want to see.