Just watched Justice Leage x RWBY and I'm watching the V9 finale later. Hope you guys enjoy this update. For those unaware, I put up a poll on my fanfiction profile on who guys want as the romance, if any, for this fic. So far the votes are:

Goodwitch - 29
Winter - 24
Cinder - 19
Pyrrha - 12
Blake - 11
No One - 11
Yang - 9

Man, Blake and Yang get no love :( What, were people not a fan of Blake's personality last chapter :P I assume the Goodwitch votes are coming from people who still see this as being an extension of Professor Arc. Oh well, as long as people enjoy it.

By the way, I'm also considering the idea of doing commissions. Not sure how it works so I can decide on price-per-thousand words dependent on the story. For anyone interested, email me at this address: Storylover543 gmail . com

"So..." Jaune looked at the four young women - Huntresses who could kick his butt nine ways to Sunday with both hands tied behind their backs - and sighed. He thought things were finally going well. He'd made progress with Yang, Cardin was slowly coming around to his obvious crush, and while Blake was still as stubborn as always, he at least thought she knew better than to do anything else that would draw attention.

And then team RWBY destroyed a highway.

Alright, so that wasn't completely accurate. They were fighting the White Fang and Roman Torchwick again, and Torchwick was the one who destroyed the highway, but they were the ones who decided that luring him over there was a good idea. By some miracle, no one had died. No, seriously, he checked. Apparently, those cars were nigh indestructible because insurance companies didn't wanna pay out for damages. People were shaken and somewhat bruised, but they were miraculously all alive. And being given some hush money by Beacon.

No, he wasn't feeling cynical, why would you think that?

He looked at each of team RWBY in turn. Unlike before, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang couldn't pretend they weren't involved. While Ruby was considered responsible as the leader and Weiss had instigated the fight, technically neither they nor Yang had done anything but try to stop Blake's plans to destroy the docks. Not the case here. They were well and fully aware of what they were doing and had chosen to help the Faunus-in-denial with her crazy plans.

Speaking of said Faunus, she had the balls to look absolutely shameless. Arms crossed, lips pursed, and tapping her foot like even being in his office was some huge inconvenience. The cheek of her. He bet that if Professor Goodwitch was here she wouldn't be looking so cocky.

This time he knew it was a sign of things to come.

"I feel like we've had this conversation before," he said. All of them sans Blake flinched, "The reason you four were assigned to counseling was because all of you were involved in the docks incident, either directly or indirectly." He looked right at Blake as he said that. She met his gaze without wavering, "Two weeks later, barely into the start of the new term, you all decided, as a group this time, to do something like this again."

"Yeah..." Ruby looked down at the ground and scuffed her boots against the carpet. This time he didn't feel sorry for her. Before she was just a victim of being in her position as leader, but now she was an accomplice, "B-But the White Fang were-"

"You're not arguing your case here, Ms. Rose."

"But Jaune-"

"Mr. Arc." Ruby flinched like he'd just banned cookies and strawberries for life. He felt a smidgen of pity rising before he crushed it down. No, no, she wasn't going to get away with this just because she pouted, "And just like last week, I'm only here to tell you what's going to happen next." This really should've been Ozpin and Goodwitch's job, but of course, they were busy with something. Probably those fanfics Ozpin kept planning out in meticulous detail.

"Surely we can-"

"No, Ms. Schnee." She flinched too. deferring to the authority of an older figure. He was the same age as them sans Ruby, but they didn't know that. It wasn't like it'd be proper to ask their counselor how old he was. They probably just thought he was babyfaced, "All of you will receive three hours of counseling from today onwards. And this time it won't be like our regular sessions. It's quite clear that the previous method didn't work."

"But-"

"No," he said, immediately cutting Yang off, "Speaking of, Ms. Xiao Long, Professor Goodwitch has informed me that if she spots another smuggled drink or any other type of contraband in your room, you'll spend your weekends for the next month helping Professor Port set up for his lessons." Yang gasped and put a hand to her chest, looking absolutely scared for her life, "So if I were you I'd get rid of the stash you hid under Weiss' bed."

"You what?!" The heiress rounded on Yang with murder in her eyes.

"How did you know?!" Yang cried.

"I...didn't? I was actually making a joke." Ruby was now desperately trying to keep her partner from tearing the blonde brawler's eyes out, which freed him up to focus on Blake. The ringleader of this 'little' stunt was as cool as a cucumber, patiently waiting for his words like a queen regaling her subject. Something about it just pissed him off in a way he couldn't explain.

"Mr. Arc." She nodded.

"Ms. Belladonna." He nodded back, "I suppose it's too much to hope you considered how wrong this whole chain of events was?"

"It wasn't our fault Torchwick escaped." Deflecting already. Oh, goodie, "We would've caught him if not for that girl with the illusionary Semblance. You can't put that on us."

"Actually, I very much can. That's why you're all here." He sighed, "We'll talk tomorrow. Three hours for each of you. Any attempt to skip will be met with detention and taking notes for Professor Oobleck." That got all their attention, "As before, decide amongst yourselves who'll be going first. Ruby, there will be no more cookies. Weiss, there will no longer be talks about your favorite topic."

"But-"

"That's not-"

"Goodbye, Team RWBY." He turned and looked outside the window. Or at least he tried to. He ended up turning too much and stared at the wall instead. He stubbornly refused to move and risk losing the power move of not giving them any attention. Dad was better at this with his deep voice and broad back. Jaune could only hope their presumption of his age would be enough.

Thankfully, it was. Jaune waited for four pairs of footsteps to fade before he finally released a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Oh Gods, what the hell was he doing?! He wasn't the one to do lectures like this! Yes, he had little sisters, but he was still a teenager himself. Every single student here could break him in two without even trying, especially if they decided being a counselor didn't matter.

Jaune sighed once more and looked at his fridge. Beacon was a dry campus, but it was an open secret that the rule only applied to students. Port had given him some celebratory spirits that he'd so far refused to take even a single sip of. He had to be professional, he thought, how could the students respect him if he came into meetings smelling like booze?

He stared longingly at the bottle of whiskey before he sighed and closed the door. Not today, he thought. Not today.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Nikos."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Arc." Pyrrha Nikos smiled politely as she sat across from him. The two of them had been meeting occasionally since their first meeting a term prior. She was always polite and never caused trouble. That was good. Dealing with Ruby, Blake, Cardin, Blake, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Blake was really wearing him down. A nice casual session with someone who didn't have any problems was just what he needed.

Actually, what he needed was some time to himself to get some training done, but this was the next best thing.

"Has anything new happened lately?"

"It's the same as always." She smiled softly, though there was a certain stiffness in the gesture. She was always reluctant to talk about her problems. Something about how a celebrity always had to keep a stiff upper lip. She'd been so surprised when he didn't know she was, though she was quick to assure him that it wasn't in a bad way. She was actually relieved.

They spent the next half hour talking about what came to mind. Her classes, the celebrity gigs she felt comfortable discussing, and her excitement for the Vytal Festival. She'd told him once under a promise of taking it to the grave that she'd grown to despise her fame. She still enjoyed the fighting and the competition, but people putting her on a pedestal had truly burned her out.

"What about your team?" Jaune asked slowly. It was a touchy topic, one that they were taking steps to fix.

"It's...the same as always." This time she didn't smile. The reason she kept coming back was because of them. She'd gone to Beacon hoping for anonymity, but that had failed. Her team (and Team RWBY) were friendly enough, but she always felt a sort of distance from them. Ren and Nora were childhood friends who'd been together for a decade, which made becoming close to them difficult. It wasn't their fault, Pyrrha told him, but it was still hard.

Her partner, one Mint Cream (yes, really), was an enigma. She didn't treat Pyrrha like a celebrity, but she also wasn't much keen on establishing any sort of connection. They worked together well enough in Combat Class, but that was as far as their relationship went. The girl was mute, Jaune had gotten that from their first session, but that wasn't really much of a reason. From what Pyrrha told him, Mint had been deliberately ignoring her.

Up until this week, at least, when she suddenly decided that pranking the Invincible Girl would be fun. Pyrrha had apparently taken it all with a smile regardless of how many times Mint put a bucket (made out of wood to bypass her Semblance) over the door or tossed pies in her face. Pyrrha had taken it as Mint trying, in her own way, to reach out to her partner.

"She's bullying you," Jaune said flatly.

"But..."

"Maybe I don't know the whole context, but that's what it sounds like. He put "BULLYING' in big, bold letters on the clipboard, "Look, my sister and I play pranks on each other. Sometimes it goes too far and we hurt each other, but most of the time we can all just laugh it off. Are you laughing when she douses you in freezing water or hides all your underwear so you're late for class?"

"No..." She chewed on her lower lip, "I just...I really want to get along with her, so I thought maybe..."

"If someone's idea of fun is ruining your day, then they're not the kind of people you wanna be friends with."

"So...what do I do?"

"...Isn't that something you should decide for yourself?"

"I was the one who thought just taking her pranks would somehow lead to us being friends."

"...Alright." Jaune sighed. He wasn't supposed to be giving advice - it wasn't part of the job - and he really did try to stick to that, but sometimes it was hard not to. Pyrrha was nice, and while she was a beast in the arena, that prowess didn't translate to social skills; something she'd somewhat bitterly said once before, "Way I see it, you've got a few options. You can tell the teachers that you and Mint aren't getting along and see if you can both find different partners."

"I...would rather not go that route." She squirmed in her seat.

"Right. The second option, you can tell Mint to knock it off. Say that you're not gonna take it anymore."

"I...don't think she'll listen to that." Pyrrha sighed, "She hasn't really been listening to us at all ever since school started. She goes off on her own, does whatever she wants in group fights, and really only listens when the teachers are around. Nora's been getting mad at her too."

"Well...there is one way, but it's not exactly professional." Jaune coughed, "When me and my sister Pearl really got into it, we'd start a prank war. She pranks me, I prank her, and we keep going until one of us gives up."

"Like a competition?" Pyrrha looked surprised and yet also intrigued.

"I guess. I don't always win, but it ends one way or another." He leaned forward slightly, "You could give Mint a taste of her own medicine. Right now she probably thinks she can take advantage of you because you're too nice to do anything or tell the teachers. If she knows you won't just lie there and take it then there's a chance she'll stop. And who knows, maybe it'll be fun."

"I've never...pranked anyone before. It was considered unseemly."

"You went to Beacon to be just like everyone else, right? There's no shame in having fun. You're not the Invincible Girl here. You're just Pyrrha Nikos."

"Just Pyrrha Nikos," she whispered it under her breath then smiled, "It sounds...fun. I'll talk to Ren and Nora about it." She licked her lips and looked back up at him with a sudden fire in her eyes, "A-Actually, Mr. Arc...Jaune, there's something else I want to ask. You know about the dance coming soon, right?" He nodded, surprised at the sudden change in topic, "Well, would you like to-"

The door slammed open and Ruby rushed inside with a flurry of rose petals, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I know I'm late! Sorry! Please don't tell me I'm in trouble!"

"It's fine, Ms. Rose." He smiled at Pyrrha apologetically, "Same time next week, Ms. Nikos?"

"Yes...of course." Her smile was oddly stiff as she walked out and he could've sworn that she glared at Ruby as she passed, but that was just his imagination. Pyrrha was too nice for that.

Jaune let out a deep sigh as Weiss left. As expected, the heiress had not been happy that her designated time vent had been changed to explaining just why exactly she thought playing vigilante was a good idea. Weiss Schnee was not someone used to being lectured, and the fact that he was doing it did not make her happy, but in the end, she still complied. After all, for all her pride she still had a healthy respect for figures of authority.

The same could not be said for his next (and last) patient.

Blake Belladonna sat across from him without a word said. She plopped down, crossed her arms, and glared at the table between them like it had personally offended her. Or maybe she was just cranky cause it was midnight and tomorrow was a school day. Hey, it wasn't his fault they decided to drag a giant mech into a public area. Most students would be in jail if they did something like that, but favoritism won the day again.

"...Good evening, Ms. Belladonna. Or would it be morning?"

"Morning." She grunted, finally looking up at him.

"I'm going to assume you didn't change your mind on how you view your recent actions." There was no point in dancing around it. He'd been meeting with Blake for the last couple of weeks and it was...a test. While Yang was slowly but surely making progress, the Belladonna had stubbornly refused to even consider the idea that she'd done anything wrong at all.

Oh, she did apologize...that he couldn't see it her way. He nearly drank a bottle of absinthe that day.

"The White Fang had to be stopped," Blake scowled, finally uncrossing her arms, "No one was doing anything while they were stealing Dust and an Atlas war mech. Would you have preferred if they still had those when they committed their plans?"

"No, but I'm not sure if having four teenagers who aren't even fully trained is much better." He wasn't trained at all, but that was exactly why he ran the other way when terrorists came knocking, "Alright, let's start from the beginning. From what Yang told me, you've been spending the past week barely getting any sleep researching the White Fang." Normally what happened in other sessions was confidential, but this was a special case. Ozpin had made it very clear that there couldn't be another incident.

Blake muttered something that distinctly sounded like 'traitor' under her breath before she replied, "Yeah. After the docks, I knew they wouldn't just stop, but no one else cared. They're too excited about the festival and the transfer students." She frowned, "People don't realize the danger until it's too late and it's staring them right in the face. Someone had to do something."

"That 'someone' being you?"

"Who else?" She raised a brow in challenge.

"Well...the cops, the teachers, the older Huntsmen who are experienced with this kind of thing." Her expression only soured with each response he gave, "All I'm saying is, you keep saying that it has to be you when there are other people who would be interested in making sure the White Fang aren't capable of committing a terrorist attack."

"But they don't know about it," she shot back hotly, bow twitching. He would've taken a video for proof if he didn't know for a fact she'd accuse him of harassment, "And why would they? They aren't looking."

"Or they don't know. There are other problems on Remnant and they're not psychic." Jaune sighed, "Okay, so let's say someone else - like myself - called the authorities and personally told Ozpin about the White Fang's nefarious plans. Would you have stopped?" He mentally begged her to just say yes. Ozpin wasn't willing to expel the team and told him that the sessions would continue until they made progress. And yes, that meant all four years if it came down to it.

"No, they'll just mess it up." And just like that, his hopes were dashed. Blake either didn't notice or didn't care as she continued, "The White Fang...they're more clever than you think. It has to be me. Anyone else wouldn't know what they were getting into."

"But you do?"

"Of course I do."

"You, the human who the White Fang would kill on sight. You have intimate knowledge of how they operate?"

"...Yes." Her bow twitched again. He wanted to reach out and grab it off her head, but he also wanted to not have his arm broken. Stupid lack of Aura, "Faunus aren't the only ones who know of the White Fang."

"So let me get this straight. Your reasoning for why you and your team had to be the ones to stop the White Fang is because no one else knows about what they're doing. No one else knows because you're refusing to tell them on the basis that 'they'll mess it up', meaning that they, of course, don't find out, and thus you have to be the ones to do it. Which is only that way because you refuse to tell anyone, and thus they don't find out and you have to do it." He looked at her flatly, "I said it twice just for it to sink in. Did it?"

"So you get it? Good." She let out a relieved breath, "I was worried."

"You were worried?!" Jaune stood and threw up his hands, "Blake, I need you to understand what's happening here. You've committed two acts of vigilantism. Just one would've gotten most students expelled, but then you did it again just a couple of weeks later. Except instead of it happening at an empty dock, you and your team lured a mech into a busy highway. I need to...please understand. Do you?"

Blake paused, staying silent for a few seconds before she eventually nodded. For just a moment, Jaune felt hope blossoming in his chest and thought that he finally got through the thick rock she called a head.

And then she opened her mouth again.

"So...what you're saying is it's really Atlas' fault." Jaune just gaped as she nodded again, "They were the ones who were careless enough to get their special mech stolen by a common criminal, of all people. The fight on the highway wouldn't have been so dangerous without that robot. I get it now. Atlas makes problems and other people have to clean up. Nothing new there."

She smiled.

...

Jaune screamed.

He didn't know how the rest of the session went, mostly on account of the fact that he spent the hours afterward emptying his fridge of all his gifted alcohol and it was flat out removed from his memory. Jaune was no stranger to drinking, coming from a family of winemakers, but even this was bad. He woke up the next day with a pounding headache and bottles strewn all over the place. His head throbbed and he felt the urge to puke.

Yet with the pain came an odd clarity. He tried being professional, he tried being patient, but Blake Belladonna was not someone who responded to professionalism or patience. Nor did she see the world with logic and reason. As far as he saw it, he had two options: he could give up...or he could go down to her level.

And oh, he was willing to sink.

He freshened himself up and opened the door just in time to almost run into the female student about to knock, "Woah!" Jaune stepped back, by some miracle not bowling her over. She was tall with dark hair and yellow eyes. For a moment he thought it was Blake come to make his life hell again until he realized that she didn't have a bow on her head.

"Good morning, Mr. Arc." She smiled as she looked at him, "Are you open for a session?"

"Huh? Uh, no, I'm...going to a meeting. Yeah." He rubbed the back of his head, "But we could schedule something for tomorrow, Ms...?"

"Fall. Cinder Fall." She offered her hand for him to shake and he thanks the gods that he had enough sense to wash, "And tomorrow would be good. See you then, Mr. Arc."

She left with a soft giggle. Jaune stared at her retreating back for a moment before he shook his head and made his way to the bullhead docks. Focus, Jaune. Whatever Cinder wanted, it must not have been too serious judging by how she was acting. Not important enough to stop him from his missions.

He was anxious the whole flight to Vale and even more nervous as he made his way to his destination. Once he did this, there would be no going back. Ozpin wouldn't chastise him - he made it clear Jaune could use any methods he deemed fit to ensure Team RWBY shaped up - but he still felt like a monster planning what he did. Was this really the best course of action?

He remembered Blake's smile from last night. Yeah, this was the right thing to do.

He entered the CCT facility and got a room for one. The number came easily to him; he'd memorized it after his first meeting with Blake. He never thought he'd actually have to use it, but this was where they were.

The phone rang for only a few seconds before a woman responded.

"Hello? Who is this?'

"Mrs. Belladonna? My name is Jaune Arc and I'm the student counselor for Beacon Academy. I have some things to tell you about your daughter..."

Uh-oh, Jaune's crossing the line and making it personal. Then again, can you blame him considering he's really not trained for this and he has to deal with a class S hardhead like Blake? Oh, and Pyrrha again has no luck because the universe hates her.

And yes, I know normally Blake would be expelled for her utter lack of remorse, but that really applies to everyone on team RWBY in canon. Ain't no way they get away with the highway mech fight. Raven basically spells out later that Ozpin bails them out because he wants a new team STRQ. So yeah, playing favorites.

Questions:

1. Like I said above, I put up a poll for those who want romance. I'd be interested to know your reasons for choosing X girl. It would help to understand what you're all expecting and/or why you think these two would make a good couple.

2. Who else do you guys want to be exaggerated like Blake? So far everyone has acted relatively standard, which makes Blake stand out. Do you guys want just Blake to be crazy and in denial or should other people share the role? Note that they don't have to be as crazy as Blake, just exaggerated.

Review Answers:

BlissfulSkye - I'll take your feelings on Blake as a compliment. Yeah, I adore writing her as being so stubborn since it contrasts so heavily with how she presents herself.

RedShirtRicky - For the sake of comedy, no one died in the mech fight, but Jaune is still very put off by it.

Chuch B. Winanaki - There's no proof Pyrrha's mom pushed her or forced her into anything, especially given her appearance in canon. Also, Weiss' issues are more with her dad than her mom.

Tango Mike - Jaune being seventeen would make Glynda very reluctant since I imagine she's 33-35, meaning twice his age. Still, looks like she's winning to vote, so I guess we'll see.

Vanitus Omnipotent - Not likely. The story is wacky enough on its own.

creativename2 - She'll claim she has a fleshy birth defect and Jaune is being offensive by drawing attention to it.

speedy24 - Uh...a bit too serious for this fic, my dude. Not badly written, but that belongs in a different story.