Author's Note: Lets go!

Beta: GeneralMayhem, kpmh2001

Team CFVY's room was far more cramped when she arrived, the beds and desks having been pushed back into place so as to make them separate from one another. The Beacon rumour mill being more than capable of filling in the non-existent blanks.

"Ok, now that Amber's here," Velvet spoke cautiously, eyeing her team leader with a fair amount of skepticism. "Why the sudden meeting?"

Coco smiled widely, and Pyrrha felt her curiosity turn into mild concern. "An opportunity has presented itself." She paused, seemingly waiting for one of them to ask for clarification. But nobody did, as they recognized that egging her on was probably a mistake. "What did we have planned for the break?"

Velvet raised an eyebrow. "We planned to relax?"

"I was going to go home and see my family." The emphasis Yatsuhashi put on the word made it clear he was beginning to think that may not happen.

"There's that summer festival in the city in a couple weeks." Fox added. "Should be fun."

"We could do all those things-" Coco began.

"Coco-" her team deadpanned in unison.

"-Or we could fight terrorists." The room fell completely silent, the light feeling falling away to something far more serious. Pyrrha could hardly breathe.

"What are you talking about?" Velvet whispered softly.

"The White Fang has started to become a problem for the city," Coco nodded towards Pyrrha. "So much so that Huntsmen have started to go after them. We've all heard the stories from Atlas and Mistral, but this is different."

"Different how?" Fox asked. "Don't the White Fang mostly target the Schnee Dust Company and Atlas? Seems like a fair deal to m-"

"That's not true." Pyrrha corrected him. "The White Fang used to target them because of injustice against the Faunus, but not anymore. They don't care about getting justice anymore, they just want revenge." She sneered the final word. It was difficult to think about. The Kingdom of Vale was far from perfect, but the White Fang hadn't gone after the kingdom, they had gone after Beacon and the students there. Maybe it was because of Cinder's manipulation, but she doubted it. The White Fang had fallen farther than Blake had ever been willing to admit.

Pyrrha was snapped from her memories as a hand rested one her shoulder. Looking over she saw Velvet watching her with a concerned expression on her face.

"That's why we're having a meeting Vel," Coco finally answered her friend's question. "The White Fang is starting to target more and more civilians. We have a chance to stop that. As future Huntsmen and Huntresses… it's our duty."

Fox sighed. "You're right, but that doesn't change much. The White Fang have been fighting Atlas for years, and the SDC even longer. They're good at hiding."

"Finding them will prove difficult." Yatsuhashi brought a hand to his chin as he thought.

"That would be the difficult part." Coco's grinn only grew. "If I didn't already know where one such base of operations is located."

"Of course you do." Velvet sighed, ehr shoulders sagging slightly.

"How?" Pyrrha asked in disbelief, it had taken Blake weeks to find solid evidence of where they were located and she had been a member of the organization for years.

"Well…" Coco seemed unsure of how to answer. "Let's just say a little birdie told me."

"Does this birdie smell like alcohol?" Pyrrha asked with a flat expression, Coco winced and the rest of her team looked confused.

"Ok seriously, how much does he drink?" Coco asked. "I'm honestly a little concerned."

Pyrrha dipped her head down slightly. "Qrow…"

"Is the information good?" Fox sounded skeptical and, in all fairness, Qrow didn't inspire the most confidence based solely on appearances.

"If it's who I think it is, then yes." Despite the fact that Pyrrha had only known him for a short time, Qrow had proven himself more than capable. "Qrow is one of the best, but please don't tell him I said that. It'll go to his head."

Coco nodded at Pyrrha's words. "Worst comes to worst, we waste a night searching for something that isn't there. But if what he said was true..."

"Then we get to fight terrorists?" Fox waited for Coco to nod before continuing. "If they're as bad as Amber says, then I'm in."

"This doesn't seem like a good idea but…" Velvet bit her lip, her eyes darting back and forth between Coco and Pyrrha as she thought it over. "So long as we agree to hold back if it's more than we can handle."

Coco nodded. "This isn't a suicide mission Vel, if it looks like too much for us, we can run or call in the big guns to back us up."

"Did - Qrow was it? - only tell you of this one location?" Yatsuhashi waited for Coco's confirmation before sighing. "I don't leave for another week. So long as this won't stop me from going home to see my family… I see no reason not to."

"That just leaves one." Coco turned to look at Pyrrha, along with the rest of team CFVY.

"I-I… don't know." The Headmaster had threatened to send her to Atlas if she did something like this again and, while it was possible he may have been bluffing, to do it so soon after having been warned was asking for trouble.

"Amber, you know more about the White Fang than anyone else at the school." Coco chose her words carefully. "You've fought them before. We could really use your help."

Pyrrha bit her lip as she struggled to decide. If she went she may very well be sent to Atlas, kept away when the fight finally came to Beacon and forced to watch on from another Kingdom as her friends put themselves in danger. Despite knowing about future events, she had no idea what had happened after she had died.

Had they died without her there to help? If they sent her to Atlas would they die again? That fear shook her to her core but… if team CFVY went off to fight, and she didn't go, they might run into more than they are ready for. The sad truth was that Pyrrha was familiar with the Whtie Fang, not as much as Blake, but she had fought them at Beacon and knew what kind of threats they could pose. Coco and her team didn't.

Damnit Qrow, why couldn't you have done this one by yourself? Whether he had meant to or not he had forced her hand. Team CFVY was going to go after them, she recognized that look on their faces. That sheer determination to go off and complete their mission. She had seen it on their faces before, just before the end.

Pyrrha took a deep breath. "I'll go."

"What better way to kick off summer break than by fighting terrorists." Despite the joke, Coco's voice was remarkably devoid of humour, her look of determination never faltering "We'll leave tonight."

Team CFVY had settled on waiting until after hours to sneak out, knowing that Pyrrha was restricted to school grounds they would be forced to walk through the Emerald forest much like Qrow and her had.

Pyrrha sighed at the knowledge that, in all likelihood, it would end up similar to the last mission. Despite their best efforts, Ozpin would almost assuredly find out. Hopefully the knowledge that Pyrrha had not gone alone, or that she had only gone to protect others would hold back his threat.

Then why not tell him? A treacherous part of her thought. If you're so sure he'll understand, then why not tell him that you're leaving ahead of time?

She couldn't help but sigh, the answer was simple and obvious. The Headmaster wouldn't approve of the mission, much like he wouldn't have approved of the last one. He would confine them, or at least just her, to their rooms if he had to.

She didn't doubt for a second that he thought what he was doing was right, despite how she disagreed with him, she knew that he had good intentions, it was just that those plans required her to do the worst thing imaginable. Nothing. Knowing what he knew, she couldn't sit around and wait for Cinder to come looking for her. That had been the plan last time and it had failed spectacularly.

Sadly, it seemed that despite knowing how that would pan out, the Headmaster still planned to wait, and as long as that was his plan of action, then she would be forced to go against his word. No matter how bad it made her feel.

Pyrrha's stomach churned as she tried to focus, attempting to put thoughts of betrayal and mistrust aside. The matter was out of her hands now, Qrow had seen to that. She pulled the straps on her borrowed shin guards harder than necessary, synching them down tight.

There was a knock at the door. She was tempted to not answer it, expecting that somehow the Headmaster had found out about her plan to run off before they could even start. Shaking her head, Pyrrha ignored her paranoia and moved over to the door.

Despite her relief that it wasn't the Headmaster, or worse, Professor Goodwitch coming to confront her, Pyrrha was still upset at who she saw.

"I'm gonna guess by that expression that Sunglasses told you already?" Qrow winced at her glare. "Mind if I come in? It wasn't easy avoiding all the cameras to get here."

Despite how she wished to say no, her curiosity and her need to demand answers won out and she stepped aside, closing the door behind him as he entered. "The place you guys are going to look at is definitely a White Fang safehouse, though I'm not sure what they use it for. I managed to get a little bit of information from some of the guys we captured, but none of them seemed to know the details."

Pyrrha heard him speak but paid no attention to what he was saying. "Why?"

Qrow paused. "Why what?"

"Why did you use Coco to force me into going on another mission?!" Pyrrha snapped back at him.

"I didn't m-" Pyrrha cut him off before he could continue.

"You heard the Headmaster, he might send me to Atlas for this!" Pyrrha stepped closer towards Qrow, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves as she struggled to hold back her emotions. She wanted to rant and yell at him, but knew that would do neither of them any good. "Why?"

"Pyrrha, I didn't mean to-" He cut himself off this time, turning away from her before continuing. "We need to do something, you know that. Ozpin wants to stay in the shadows, and I was willing to follow that plan before, but not now. Not now that we know how that will go." Qrow sighed heavily, looking far older than she had ever seen him. "If we keep doing things his way, we're just going to lose. I didn't think you would consider saying no, I thought you'd want in on this. I'm sorry if I forced your hand."

Pyrrha sighed heavily, bringing a hand to her forehead to prevent a headache. "I do Qrow, it's just… The Headmaster, do you really think he would send me away?"

Qrow didn't respond immediately, confirming her fears. He turned around however a similar look of determination on his face as the one on team CFVY's. "He's not going to send you anywhere, I promise."

Pyrhra was hesitant to believe him, but he seemed unusually confident. "How are you so sure?"

"Because, my time traveling friend," Qrow smirked. "I have a plan."

"Why doesn't that fill me with confidence?" Pyrrha winced at the utterly unimpressed look on his face, but waited patiently as he explained.

"Team CFVY will be drawing the bulk of the attention, so long as he doesn't actually see you come or go with them, then there's no way he'll know you were involved." Qrow smiled brightly at his words, as if he had spoken some prophecy into being.

"Right, but he has cameras all over the school, not to mention the forest." Pyrrha reminded him. That was exactly how he had caught them the last time, despite their best efforts he had known they had left the moment they did. "How are we supposed to avoid all of those?"

"By distracting him, of course." He said it like it was so easy. "That's another reason you're going with your friends and not me, I'll be keeping him busy while the rest of you are out having fun-"

"Fighting terrorists."

"Same thing." Qrow waved his hand to dismiss her concern.

Pyrrha smiled slightly, thinking about his plan. "Walking through the forest could take a couple hours, how are you going to keep him busy that long?"

Qrow's smirk grew wider. "You won't be walking. One of the Bullhead pilots owes me a few favours, I arranged it so that she'll drop you off on the other side of Vale." he held his arms out at his side before bowing slightly.

Pyrrha's smile grew even larger as she realised it might just work. Qrow's plan was far more thought out then she had thought it would be, she had honestly expected him to make it up on the spot. "This might just work…" her voice was barely louder than a whisper, yet Qrow heard it clear as day.

"I would be offended were we trying to fool anyone beside an immortal wizard." Qrow replied. "But I think a bit of skepticism is appropriate. Oh, and speaking of planning ahead." He reached into his pocket, withdrawing his scroll. "Check your scroll."

Pyrrha's scroll vibrated a moment later and, after unlocking the screen, she was met with a message from Qrow. "What are these?"

"Door codes."

She raised one eyebrow in confusion. "Door codes to what?"

"The Beacon arms room." Pyrrha nearly choked. "Every weapon, bullet, or otherwise dangerous thing Beacon has taken in over the last couple years. You know what to expect better than anyone else, grab whatever you need but make it quick."

"When?"

Qrow looked at his scroll, checking the time. "Get moving now, by the time you get there I'll be at Oz's office keeping him busy. The Bullhead will be waiting for you at dock three, make sure your friends meet you there."

Pyrrha nodded her head. "Thank you, Qrow."

Qrow stepped towards the door, stopping just before grabbing the handle. "Pyrrha, I'm… I'm sorry if you felt manipulated. I'm not trying to force you into this. If you don't want to go tell me, I won't force you to do anything."

"It's okay, Qrow." Pyrrha fidgeted slightly under his gaze. "Just… let me know ahead of time."

Qrow nodded grimly. "Hopefully it won't be necessary for too much longer. Good hunting."

Pyrrha pulled her scroll up, sending Velvet and Coco a message telling them about the Bullhead, and asking them to meet her. Her smile never fell as she grabbed a backpack from under her bed. She had preparations to make.

"I really don't know about this." Velvet followed closely behind, despite her words. "Isn't it locked anyways?"

Pyrrha approached the arms room door before inputting the code Qrow had given her. There was a moment of silence and she held her breath, expecting some kind of alarm to start blaring. The lock clicked and the door opened slightly, allowing them access.

Looking over her shoulder at Velvet and Coco, Pyrrha smirked slightly struggling to fight back the Yang inspired grin that threatened to break loose. To call it an Arms Room would have been an over exaggeration. In reality it was closer to a store room found in most schools, only with a Beacon twist. Where most schools would seek to lock up paperwork and records for the student body, Beacon had to do the same with far more dangerous materials.

That being said, the student body of Beacon could be… rather eccentric and overly enthusiastic at times.

Coco hefted a small container of explosive dust rounds, whistling in awe as she looked around the room. "You know, you can be scary sometimes."

Pyrrha moved over to one of the shelves against the wall, not knowing what exactly she was looking for. The White Fang were dangerous, but only due to their large numbers. They had the occasional strong fighter, Blake, Adam Taurus, and the man she'd fought at the warehouse being such examples, but the average grunt wasn't dangerous. That had been the reason that they had stolen the Paladin before.

Reaching down to one of the lower shelves, Pyrrha picked up a small satchel containing a simple mixture of dust that, when detonated, would create a rather large explosion. She set it carefully in her pack before grabbing several more.

"Uh…" Velvet watched her with wide eyes. "What are those for?"

Pyrrha spared a glance back to her, taking note that, unlike Velvet, Coco seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit as she too browsed the shelves of contraband weapons.

"The White Fang attacked a convoy from Atlas recently, one of the things that went missing was a prototype mech suit." Pyrrha explained. The Paladins had been dangerous at the Breach, but their true use had come during the festival. With Atlas' robot forces turning on them, and half of the fleet being destroyed by a grimm dragon, there was very little left of Atlas' Military that could still fight on.

"How do you know that?" Coco asked, not bothering to take her eyes off of the dust taser she was currently inspecting.

Pyrrha paused for a moment, she obviously couldn't tell the truth, but she struggled to think of an answer. In the end, she decided to blame Qrow. "A little birdie told me."

"Uh huh, right." Coco shook her head. "I take it back, you can be terrifying sometimes."

"You really think we'll find them?" Velvet looked between Pyrrha and Coco. "How would we even fight something like that?"

Pyrrha stood up and moved over to Velvet, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eye before speaking. "From everything I've seen, those mechs don't stand a chance against team CFVY. Trust me."

Velvet was hesitant to believe her, the doubt clearly displayed on her face, but it seemed that she was willing to take Pyrrha at her word. She moved over to one of the shelves, starting to rummage around for anything she or her partner might find useful.

Qrow didn't sit down so much as fall, allowing his arms to hang over the side of the chair as he groaned. His plan put a lot of faith in Pyrrha and her friends, but it wouldn't be possible if he failed. Despite how she had agreed, Pyrrha and a point. He had manipulated her into going on the mission, and that thought sickened him.

"Has it been a long day?" Ozpin asked, the subtlest of smiles present on his face.

"Not really," Qrow stretched his arm out, attempting to alleviate the slight soreness in his muscle. "Just been thinking."

"Hmm, I believe Tai would have strong words if he heard you saying that." Ozpin's smile grew an air of amusement but he looked away from his screen, locking eyes with the man he had helped to teach. "What's on your mind?"

"I've just been thinking about the old days. Team STRQ." Ozpin's face fell slightly and he opened his mouth to speak, but Qrow pushed on clarifying what he meant. "The good times Oz, the memories that make all this worth it."

His solemn expression gave way to a slight smile as he remembered something. "Would those good times include your first day wearing the school uniform?"

Qrow groaned and sunk further into his chair. "He said it was a kilt! That blonde bastard!"

Ozpin chuckled lightly, closing the screen he had been looking at and sitting back in his chair. "You were the talk of the school for quite some time."

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up. At least I didn't rebel against the idea of underwear." Qrow smirked as the Headmaster, immortal wizard that he was, coughed into his fist to hide his slight blush.

"I told you that in confidence."

"Drunk confidence." Qrow added.

"Shall I get Glynda? I'm sure she would love to recount the number of times she's had to drag you from the fountain after your 'nights on the town'." Ozpin shot back.

"You wouldn't dare." Qrow sat up slightly, paling at the deadly serious expression on Ozpin's face. "Ok, you would dare."

"Let's keep the stories to this century please." Ozpin pulled out two mugs from his desk, along with a thermos. Pouring them both a cup he slid it across for Qrow to reach and, after adding some kick from his flask, Qrow took a drink.

He would buy them the time that Pyrrha and the kids needed, and it didn't hurt that he got to spend some time with an old friend either.

Author's Note: Welp, that's another chapter done. In other news, this story is now going to be making its way onto Wattpad in an attempt to garner a bit more of an audience. FF will still be my priority because I am familiar with the system and prefer this site.

Hopefully y'all enjoyed it and as always, don't forget to review.

Sincerely, SE