"Hello Ms. Rose." Ruby's eye twitched at Dr. Polendina's statement, while the two huntsmen next to her looked at her with confusion. "Oh! Sorry I forgot our present company."

"Huh? I thought you were Penny?" Guhn asked, while Ruby's irritation at the Doctor grew.

"Apologies, I did send you to bring Penny but Ms. Rose is Penny's handler." Dr. Polendina said.

"Wait, Rose? Ruby Rose?" Reuben said, "you were the one that killed the nevermore at initiation!" Reuben's statement stunned Ruby for a moment, she hadn't even thought about her initiation for years, and someone else remembered it? Even after the whole trial?

"Oh!" Guhn exclaimed, "The one you said was c-mmmph!" Reuben spun around Ruby and firmly planted his hand over Guhn's mouth.

"Finish that sentence and I. Will. Stab. You." Reuben said with a rather red face. Guhn on the other hand just started chuckling from behind his brother's hand. Guhn raised his hands to show his surrender on the subject and Reuben removed his hand.

"So, if Ruby here is Penny's handler, where is Penny?" Guhn asked. Before Ruby or Dr. Polendina could say anything Reuben spoke up.

"Oh! Wait, Penny! Penny Polendina! The robot girl from, the, vytal festival…" Reuben tapered off.

"The one who...died?" Guhn asked, clearly they were getting a different idea of what the Doctor meant by handler.

"In a manner of speaking." Dr. Polendina said, "I was able to recover Penny's core from the coliseum when it returned here to Atlas, at the time I wasn't able to rebuild her but General Ironwood wanted her to assist Ms. Rose in her investigation."

"Her investigation?" Reuben asked.

"Doctor!" Ruby interrupted before Dr. Polendina could say anything further, "May I remind you that my mission, my very existence even, is HIGHLY classified."

"Ah, yes of course." The Doctor replied sheepishly, "my apologies but that is why I called you here, at least in part. Let's talk more in the back." he then turned to the two huntsmen, "Gentlemen thank you, If you'll excuse us."

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Yang yawned as she stepped off the airship, no matter how she tried she just couldn't seem to sleep on airships. Weiss seemed to notice and spoke up.

"Maybe we should come back in the morning to check." she suggested.

"No." Yang answered "I'll be fine and this shouldn't take long, besides I doubt I could sleep tonight without knowing if she was here or not." Weiss nodded and they went off towards the control tower. After a quick search through the records they found no trace of ATS/R7-18X. There were plenty of other Atlesian airships coming and going but none matched that specific designation.

"Well," Yang said after a bit, "This is a bust."

"I'm sorry Yang," Weiss said, "I really thought we had a lead there."

"It's ok it's not like it's confirmed that the Summers we met is actually Ruby." Yang said, "C'mon let's head back."

"Hold up a minute." Blake said suddenly.

"Whatcha got something?" Yang asked.

"Maybe." Blake said, a few minutes later she found what she was looking for. "Yang Weiss come over here!"

As her two teammates came over Blake showed them the register she found. Annette Veridian owner and pilot of airship ATS/R5-27X.

"It's the same pilot?" Weiss asked.

"I think it's the same airship." Blake answered.

"They pull that info directly from the airship's transponder and then have the pilot sign for their dock." Weiss said, "even if it's the same pilot they don't have control over what ID is on the paperwork."

"Unless they can change their transponder codes," Blake said.

"Um? What's going on?" Yang asked, "did we find her or not?"

"Maybe," Blake said, "The same pilot signed in a different airship according to the paperwork since most searches are made by an airship's name it could be that they somehow changed their ID so they couldn't be tracked."

"So?" Yang asked for clarification.

"Yes Ruby or at least her pilot was likely here." Weiss said, "But this means that it will be much harder to track her movements."

"Oh," Yang said, "When was she here?"

"According to the registry they were here until... last night." Blake said.

"We just missed them?" Yang asked, deflated.

"Looks like." Blake affirmed.

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"Okay Doc, let's talk." Ruby said, "Why did you want me to come here?"

"All in time, but first if you would?" Dr. Polendina said. It took Ruby a second to figure out what he was talking about, but once she did she unclipped Penny from her belt and handed her over to the Doctor. "I see you've made some... modifications."

"Only what we needed to complete my mission." Ruby said, while Dr. Polendina pulled some wires from the weapon belt and hooked them up to a nearby machine.

"Indeed, that is actually what I wished to talk to you about, one moment." Dr. Polendina said before a green holographic Penny appeared on top of the device.

"Sal-u-tations Father!" Penny cried happily while giving a peppy salute.

"Hello Penny, it's good to see you again my dear." Dr. Polendina said, he then turned back to Ruby. "Part of the agreement I had with the late General Ironwood was that I would be allowed to know what Penny was doing in concert with you. I wanted to keep tabs on my daughter after all."

"That doesn't explain how you knew who I was." Ruby said.

"Oh! Well I wouldn't let my daughter go with just anybody, in fact the only reason I allowed Penny to go at all was because Ironwood told me who you were." Dr. Polendina said, "When Penny heard that her friend needed help she practically begged me to let her go."

"Of course he did." Ruby grumbled, "So? What now?"

"Well after I heard about what happened with General Ironwood and who the supposed culprit was, I immediately contacted Penny, who informed me of your innocence." Dr. Polendina explained, "However I doubt the big wigs in Atlas would believe the word of an android who is supposed to be dead, But that leaves you without much in the way of support or assistance."

"What's your point Doctor?" Ruby asked.

"I propose a sort of partnership." Dr. Polendina explained, "Not only will I keep your identity a secret, but I'll also provide support in whatever form I can, gadgets, hideouts, medical services." he pointed towards her left leg, where she had been cut.

"How-?" Ruby started.

"You've been favoring that leg since you first entered the clinic," He answered, "you've been hiding it well but I've had hundreds of patients who will do the same thing with cybernetics I've installed."

"I don't trust easily." Ruby said after a moment.

"If even half of what Ironwood told me is true that's more than understandable." He replied.

"I'm not going to be a good friend." Ruby warned and motioned to her head, "I'm pretty broken."

"It doesn't matter, you are my daughters friend, and in need of help." Dr. Polendina replied, "What kind of father would I be if I didn't lend a hand?"

"You'll probably regret this." Ruby said.

"Perhaps, only time will tell." Dr. Polendina said, "even if you are broken, remember I am very good at fixing things Ms. Rose."

"Fine." Ruby relented before sticking her hand out, "Call me Ruby."

"Then please call me Pietro." Dr. Polendina said, shaking Ruby's hand.

"SEN-SATIONAL!" the small holographic Penny exclaimed.

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Ozpin sat in his office with Cobe taking his normal spot on the nearby sofa. He appeared to be playing a game on his scroll, though Ozpin had noticed that it was actually a list of security cameras across Beacon the man had been given access to.

Ozpin had just received the report from team rWBY and it was somewhat disheartening to learn that they had been so close to finding his wayward student, only to lose track of her again. He was pulled out of his musing by his scroll ringing. He pulled it up and checked the caller ID to find that it was missing.

"Who is it Professor?" Cobe asked.

"I'm unsure." Ozpin told Cobe before answering the call. "Hello?"

"It's Vulture." the feminin voice on the other side answered.

"Ah! Of course Ms. Councilor." Ozpin answered before motioning for Cobe to leave. To his credit, the man did so immediately. "Now we are alone, I hadn't heard from you for a bit, I wondered if I would hear back from you."

"Taurus is dead, I was injured during the mission and am lying low while I recover." Vulture answered.

"I see, and did you learn anything from this test?" Ozpin said.

"The White Fang doesn't know why they were pulled back during the attack anymore that I do, nor do they have a true understanding of Cinder's plan." Vulture began, "they are currently working with another as of yet unknown ally of Cinder's, someone named Hazel, and they have no idea of the location of any of these people, they contact them anonymously via scroll. I have Taurus's scroll so keeping his death under wraps for the time being would be a good idea."

"I'll see to it." Ozpin said. "When you are healed up come see me, we have much to discuss."

"Of course Professor." Vulture answered and the line went dead.

Ozpin leaned back in his chair after closing his scroll. This 'test' had taught him a few things about Vulture. First, it confirmed his suspicions about her compunctions towards killing. She hadn't even intended to bring Adam Taurus in alive. Second, it showcased her investigative abilities, to be able to find a man all of Vale and Atlas together were hunting for since before the attack on Beacon. Third, it indicated forethought to be able to manage gaining such information out of him before she ended him. Whether she could handle the truth of the world or not was not something he could judge without revealing it to her, but she fulfilled every other criteria to be one of his agents.

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A/N: Well it's a little shorter than I would have liked, but It was a good stopping point. I probably won't release another chapter of this story until I've finished with the next chapter of Shadows Rage. (I've been slacking off on that one because of writer's block). Anyways I hope you all enjoy the chapter.