"You're playing with fire."

Jay Winchester looked up from his bowl of soup and raised a brow at the accusation. Hei Xiong sat across from him, arms folded and his cheeseburger still in the foil wrapping provided by the cafeteria.

"I don't follow," Jay said simply before taking another spoonful of clam chowder.

"I believe he is referring to the fact that Robin has been more unpleasant than usual, lately, and you're choosing to spend a significant amount of time with teams other than ours," Yatsuhashi explained from his seat on Jay's left. "Robin made it clear last night that he's noticed, and he isn't amused. While Junior and I aren't so easily offended, I don't think Robin has the ability not to take it personally."

"Exactly," Hei Xiong confirmed. "Not that I'm particularly invested in the future of Winchester Military Technologies, but you should be. Aren't you going home next weekend to check in and take care of some things?"

Jay let out an annoyed snort and dropped his spoon down to rest on the edge of his bowl. "Yeah, I am, and so is Rob. There's some sort of formal party going on for business that our old man thinks would be valuable to attend. Pretty sure the Schnee girl and Torchwick will be there, too."

"All the more reason to be careful," Hei Xiong pointed out. "A company doesn't generally have two presidents, and so far, Robin's been doing what the Winchester name would be more likely to support."

"Being an asshole?" Jay asked without missing a beat as he picked up his utensil once again and blew on a spoonful of soup to cool it. "You've got that right. I have no illusions that my family is made up of nice people. It's just the hand we were dealt."

"If I may," Yatsuhashi began, "have you and your brother always been so tense, even before Beacon? It seems like a rather… unhealthy relationship, at present. Like it's beyond simple sibling rivalry, and something more deeply personal."

Jay paused and slurped another spoonful of soup as he contemplated the question. As he thought, the doors to the cafeteria flung open, and Robin Winchester stomped his way through them to make a beeline to the food service area. The boy's armor was covered in ash, his hair was more unkempt than usual, and he looked utterly exhausted.

"…sometimes, but we're usually… cordial, at least. Every so often, I even like the guy. Brothers are brothers, and brothers fight, but… I still care about him, even on his worst days, and I know he cares about me, even if he'd die before showing that side of himself in front of you two or the rest of the school. Things have been a lot worse since I stopped openly trashing faunus, but this will probably pass in a few days at worst," Jay admitted as he watched his brother disappear from view behind a column.

"Openly," Yatsuhashi emphasized as he folded his arms across the table, the stretch of surface in front of himself bare. "And when it's just the two of you?"

Jay flicked his eyes at Yatsuhashi, his gaze full of annoyance. "I do what I have to do and say what I have to say to keep the peace between us. Besides- I'm still not sure how I actually feel about them. Any of them. A lifetime of conditioning isn't easy to undo, even if Kali and Adam are starting to come around and work with me. Don't forget that I got jumped in the bathroom last week."

Hei Xiong chuckled to himself and shook his head, earning a pair of looks from his teammates. "A lifetime. We're 18, not in our 40s. If you wanted to change, you'd change. Doesn't bother me either way, though… and neither do the faunus. People are worth more than their tails, or lack thereof, on the occasion that they're worth something at all. I've met just as many stupid faunus as stupid humans, and just as few intelligent ones of each race. The conflict never really made sense to me."

"Such little faith in people, from both of you," Yatsuhashi accused. "You truly see the majority as not being worth your time? We're huntsmen in training. We're supposed to be in this line of work to protect the majority that are incapable of defending themselves from grimm."

"I'm here for the combat training. Nothing more," Hei Xiong said coldly as he finally got to unwrapping his food. "I have no set path after Beacon, but mercenary work is easy lien, until I figure it out."

"And Rob and I… well… what kind of weapon technology moguls would we make without knowing how best to use weapons?" Jay asked. "Our dad went through a huntsman's academy, and he sent us here to get the same education he did."

Jay jumped in his seat as a tray slammed down into the table on his right side, and Robin flopped into the open chair with just as much force. He let his bladed mace crash to the floor beside him, and immediately started eating his fries.

"Ozpin's insane, taking us out into the Emerald Forest again today. Most of these idiots have no idea what they're doing, but I got some good beowulf kills," Robin boasted, before turning to face Jay with a judgmental look. "So. Where the fuck were you at lunch yesterday? Didn't see you at the giant-ass combined table with STRQ and OKRA."

Jay bristled and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Calavera's workshop. She offers weapon tuning and refinement advice during lunch, and I thought it might be interesting. You had detention during dinner, so we haven't eaten together for a day. You'll live."

Robin snorted and shook his head. "You know, Dad isn't gonna be happy to hear that you've been hanging out with that group. Rumor's going around that the Moonglove bitch is a criminal."

"If any of them were actual criminals, they wouldn't be allowed back into Beacon," Hei Xiong said with a roll of his eyes. "Ozpin might be new, but he isn't stupid. Besides- if everything the media said was true, your entire company would be under fire for any number of things."

"Alright, fine. With faunus. The point still stands," Robin corrected.

Yatsuhashi shook his head and folded his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "Robin. If you are one day going to be in charge of a mega corporation, you'll need to learn to associate with all sorts of people. That includes those you find to be unsavory. Many of them will find you equally unpleasant, if not more so."

"Unsavory people, maybe, but not faunus," Robin countered. "Name me one faunus in charge of a company worth a damn, or even working as a higher up at a company in Atlas. Stay out of shit you don't know about, Yatsu."

"…times are changing," Jay said softly as he shook his head, drawing attention from the rest of his team. "You might be right at the moment, Rob, but by the time we're in charge? Faunus used to be kept in cages and used as slaves. As of this year, the non-Vacuan faunus of Sanus are able to become huntsmen and huntresses. How many years until they start owning more than hole in the wall shops and small businesses, and start breaking out on the global scale? Our generation's kids? Their kids? It's just a question of time, and it's something we're going to have to deal with, like it or not. You can't just pretend that ignoring the faunus is going to make them shrink back and reset things to the way they were two decades ago. What's more important- stepping on tails because Dad is good at it and taught us how, or keeping Winchester Military Technologies on top?"

Robin stared down into his basket of fries for a long while, as the rest of the table waited for him to respond. Eventually, he pushed the fry in his fingers down into his paper cup of ketchup with an undue amount of force and blew out a frustrated sigh.

"You know, Jay… this kind of shit is why you're the leader of JHRY, and I'm not. You're right. I hate it, but you're right," Robin agreed as he popped the soaked fry into his mouth and cracked his knuckles.

It was Yatsuhashi's turn to raise a brow as he leaned in slightly farther over the table, the breastplate of his armor clinking softly against the edge. "So, if you agree with us… what are you going to do about it?"

"What else can I do?" Robin asked as he shook his head. "Guess I've gotta start figuring out how to talk to faunus. One or two of 'em, anyway."

"They're not aliens," Hei Xiong admonished before wiping his mouth with a napkin. "They speak the same language we do. You don't need to learn how to talk to faunus, you need to learn how to talk to people to succeed in business. Or, alternatively, you need to learn how to not be such an abrasive asshole."

Jay expertly hid his smirk behind his spoon as he focused upon his soup, and Robin turned to glare daggers at Hei Xiong.

"Fuck you," the redhead spat.

"I rest my case," Hei Xiong retorted. Robin had the grace to pause, before starting in on his pizza. "If you really think yourself so far above the faunus and most of the other people here, then take up a leadership position. Accomplish something that will make people respect you, and use that newfound respect to turn a new leaf. Otherwise, your father will be hearing about your reputation on campus before Jay's involvement with STRQ and OKRA. To put it in words you might understand- put up, or shut up."

"Junior is really only trying to help," Yatsuhashi offered quickly. "Your reputation at Beacon thus far isn't great, and it's impacting our team. Jay, at least, is starting to win some people over."

"And how are you doing that, exactly?" Robin sneered as he faced his brother once again.

"By not being an asshole, same as Junior said," Jay replied coolly. "Use what talents you've got to make an impression, and do it soon. Otherwise, JHRY's going to become synonymous with toxicity before much longer."

"And what talents would those be, dearest brother?" Robin said mockingly.

"What else? You're good at breaking shit," Jay admitted with a shrug. "Free Sparring. Step up later this week and take down someone with a reputation. Do it right and without coming off like a smug asshat, and it'll go a long way toward impressing people."

"Hm," Robin considered as he rolled a fry back and forth between his thumb and pointer finger. "Guess I'll just wait for Goodwitch to call someone up that seems worth a damn, and then get to work. Maybe this could be fun, after all…"

"So," Qrow said from his position reclining upon his bed, "I've been thinking."

"Whoa," Taiyang said in mock astonishment, pausing his shadow boxing routine. "You didn't blow a blood vessel, did you? I heard the school nurse said you shouldn't think too hard during your physical."

Raven smirked to herself while looking down at her textbook and taking notes. Summer giggled softly from her position laying upon her stomach atop the bed, next to the other girl. Neither of them dared to look at Qrow.

"Hilarious," Qrow acknowledged while rolling his eyes and rubbing at the corner of one with his middle finger. "But seriously- one more person's gotta go with Raven and I to transport Leonardo's cargo. Summer, you said you're out unless it's a charity case, and Tai, you're just plain old out entirely. That leaves Kali, Roman, and Adam, since Willow's following Summer's rules and Barty wants nothing to do with this."

"It does," Taiyang confirmed as he went back to throwing a practiced pattern of punches at the air. "Are you asking us for advice on who to bring?"

"There's really only one option," Raven said disinterestedly. "Adam's too green, and even if she's supposedly fully recovered by the weekend… I don't want Kali out in the field so soon, especially in an unsanctioned environment. She's the best fighter on OKRA by far, but…"

"…she's also your close friend, and not at her best right now. You don't want her getting hurt," Qrow finished. Raven finally looked up from her textbook to lock eyes with her brother, her expression remaining even. She gave him a small nod and a guilty look before returning to her work with a sigh.

"Problem," Summer pointed out as she raised a finger. "Roman goes home on the weekends. Friday afternoons, actually, so doing the job super early wouldn't even help. He's not an option, despite being your only option."

Taiyang left a punch extended in midair, his eyes widening in realization. "Shit. You're right, Summer. What do we do?"

All eyes fell on the blonde, as even Raven looked up to consider him.

"Tai," Qrow began. "Come on, man, we need y-"

"No," Taiyang said quickly as he dropped his arm and crossed it with the other atop his chest. "I get that it's not technically 'illegal' for us to do this kind of thing, but it's not going to be looked at favorably if we get caught. I don't know about the rest of you, but skirting the edge of the handbook and pissing off licensed hunters by taking work from them, let alone rubbing Ozpin the wrong way, isn't on my to do list. I'm not budging on this one. Sorry."

"If you don't go, just this once, then Kali will be putting herself in danger," Raven pleaded. "We can't take Adam into the field, with his current lack of control over his semblance."

"And his emotions… and the fact that the first time he's even seen a grimm was last week," Summer added. "Just saying."

"A valid point," Raven agreed as she finally closed her textbook. "Honestly, Qrow and I could get it done alone, but I don't think Johnathon would be happy with us taking on this first job a man down. We need to build trust in this relationship, if we're going to continue working with him."

"Building trust with a hustler," Taiyang mused as he moved to sit beside Qrow. "And here I thought you weren't super into this idea to begin with."

"I'm not," Raven agreed. "But I'm also not about burning bridges before they're even built. Having an ally like John could be valuable. Our only options at this point are you, trying to convince Bartholomew, or taking Kali just after her recovery, if she's even got her aura back by then."

"Not… necessarily," Summer said hesitantly. Qrow sat up and looked across the room at his leader, who was fidgeting with her hands in her lap. "We could always invite Jay. He seems to be… not as bad as his brother. He's also been feeling guilty about Adam lately, so we could play that card if we have to in order to convince him to help us out."

"Huh," Qrow replied as he rubbed at his chin. "Yeah, I guess we could, but we don't know anything about his fighting style, or capabilities in the field."

"Do you actually care if he gets roughed up, if he can't keep up? I definitely don't," Raven offered as she returned her gaze to her textbook. "Though, would John be upset that we're bringing in a third team to his little racket?"

"Probably not, considering I dragged OKRA into this all on my own. I can find out, though," Qrow said as he pulled out his scroll. A message from Willow was waiting for him, and he instinctively opened it immediately.

Are you available? I want to talk about Johnathon. It won't take long.

Qrow typed out a quick affirmative, before sending his question off to his would-be employer. "Willow's coming over. She wants to talk to us about the mission. Good timing, huh?"

"Potentially, but if she's had a change of heart, she should not come with us. I'd sooner take Adam, after seeing her fight over the weekend," Raven pointed out.

"Hey, she isn't that bad," Taiyang protested. "She held her own pretty well against Kali during our first Free Sparring class."

"She did, but she also almost impaled me with shards of ice during the robbery attempt," Raven said with a glower. "She may have some decent combat training, but she isn't used to fighting with a team. This past weekend was also her first field experience, supervised or not."

"Well… let's just wait until she gets here, before worrying about it," Summer suggested as she pushed up off the bed and adjusted herself into a sitting position. "Maybe she's got another idea entirely. No use stressing ourselves about the unknown."

"Speaking of," Qrow started, "it would be convenient if you could see far enough into the future to tell us what she's coming to say. Or who we should take on Saturday, but I know that one's a little out of your reach."

"Well… actually…" Summer said, only to earn the attention of her entire team. "About that. Um… I guess I should tell you guys, too, since it's getting more frequent. I'm getting flashes of insight at random intervals. They seem to be from the future. Like… the far future."

The room fell silent, before Taiyang sucked in a breath and tilted his head. "How far are we talkin'?"

"Far enough that you and Qrow both manage legitimate facial hair," Summer said with a cheeky smile.

"…so you've seen a time well past all of our deaths, is what you're saying," Raven snarked as the boys instinctively rubbed different parts of their faces, looking self-conscious. "To be fair, I knew about this, but only that it's happened once since you've been at Beacon. It happened again?"

"It happened again this morning, in the shower," Summer confirmed. "I don't know how or why, but I was with Ozpin. He looked a bit older than he does now, and I was… wearing some kind of crown, or tiara, inside of some massive underground chamber. The walls were made out of some kind of precious stones- garnets and rubies, or something like that. The headmaster was looking at me expectantly, like he wanted me to do something with the crown. I can't hear or feel anything intelligible in these premonitions, but… I know that's what he was thinking. I don't know how I know, but I know it's going to happen. Someday."

No one dared to speak as Summer finished her rambling. Finally, Qrow blew out a breath and shook his head before running his hand up through his hair.

"So, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked. "And what good does that do you? What was your other vision? The one Raven knew about."

"A blonde girl, at Beacon. She was yelling at Raven… but Raven was older," Summer explained quickly. "I could feel a sense of loss and anger coming from the girl. Fierce anger."

"And you're not asking for this?" Taiyang inquired, looking as though he'd seen a ghost. "You're just getting flashes from… somewhere, sometime, and you're pretty sure it's the future?"

"That's right," Summer confirmed with a shrug. "They also… hurt a bit, afterward. So, what I'm telling you is, I guess I really don't know what the limits of my semblance are. I could try looking into Saturday, to s-"

"No," Raven protested as she put a firm hand on Summer's shoulder. "Whatever's in the process of awakening with your semblance, you shouldn't try to force it, especially if it's causing you physical pain. Didn't you say unlocking it was a slow process? That it was just tingles when something was about to go wrong, before it became short-term prophecies?"

"I did," Summer agreed. "And I'm getting those tingles right now. Willow's here."

Two light knocks came at the door as if on cue, and Taiyang visibly shivered. Qrow leapt off the bed and began heading for the door while waving a hand.

"…let's talk more about this later. Keep it within the team, for now."

Summer nodded as Qrow opened the door, only to find Willow standing in the hallway, wearing her usual long, white evening dress with the slit up one side and deep blue accents.

"Qrow," Willow offered with a nod and soft smile.

"Wil," Qrow replied as he offered the heiress his hand. She regarded the gesture with a bemused smile, before taking his fingers in hers and allowing him to guide her into the dorm.

"Such a gentleman, all of a sudden," Willow mused. "How are all of you?"

"The usual. Just another day of classes," Taiyang offered as he got up and closed the door, while Qrow and Willow stole his seat upon the bed. The blonde settled for leaning against the door and folding his arms instead.

"Something like that, yeah," Summer agreed.

Raven grunted in response, making an uneven gesture with her hand. "I'm still tired, but not as bad as yesterday. What brings you to our dorm?"

"Johnathon," Willow said simply. "He's absolutely a scam artist, unable to be trusted, and likely a horrible person."

Qrow merely laughed at the accusations, and finally let his hand slip from Willow's as he gave her a sidelong glance. "Tell us how you really feel."

"I may not be in charge of the S.D.C. just yet, but I've sat in on enough conference calls and watched enough shaking of hands to be able to spot someone with an ulterior motive," Willow explained. "My father- think of him what you'd like- is good at what he does, and after making a deal or turning someone away, has always taken the time to explain to me what he's thinking, and why things ended the way that they did. He's prepared me for the business world, perhaps better than anyone else on Remnant could have. I may not be the best in combat, but I can make up for it by keeping things relatively straight between us and Johnathon," she finished with an apologetic look at Raven. The other girl avoided her eyes.

Summer shifted upon the bed and nudged shoulders with Raven, causing the other girl to look up once again. "That makes a lot of sense, sure, but how exactly are you going to go about doing that?"

"Simple," Willow replied. "While three of you take on this job for Leonardo… I'll stay behind with Johnathon, to keep an eye on him and feel him out. I'll be able to tell for sure whether or not he's good for his word with one private meeting, and I doubt he'd decline the opportunity to do dinner with a member of the Schnee family, given that he's so focused upon making money."

"Devious," Qrow praised as he lifted his vibrating scroll. His mouth momentarily slipped into a frown, though he quickly masked it and stuffed the device back into his pocket as he turned his attention back to Willow. "You're cute when you're scheming."

Willow blinked in surprise, her cheeks flushing at the compliment. She awkwardly brushed a hand through her bobbed hair before standing from the bed and smoothing out her dress. "Thank you, I suppose. It's the least I can do to help. For now, though, I'm going to go and check in on Kali."

Taiyang shot Qrow a knowing look before pushing off from the surface of the door and moving out of the way as Willow approached.

"It's definitely appreciated. Also, if you're right, and Johnathon turns out to be after something else, here… let the record show that I'm totally entitled to an 'I told you so,' redeemable at my discretion," Taiyang boasted with a smirk.

"You certainly will be," Willow agreed with a smile. "I'll leave you all to it. Good luck, Team STRQ… and feel better, Raven."

The girl in question finally looked over to Willow and offered her a weak smile as the door closed. Immediately afterward, she trained her eyes on her brother, and her mouth tugged into a heavy frown.

"What happened? You got a message you didn't like."

"Yeah, I did," Qrow admitted as Taiyang returned to the bed to sit beside him. "Bringing JHRY in is a no. John doesn't want more than two teams knowing about him, and he said he only let me bring in OKRA and Willow as a special favor, to begin with."

"How magnanimous," Raven mocked. "And manipulative."

"So, now what do we do?" Taiyang asked with a sigh. "I'm still not budging."

"…then I will," Summer said quietly, only to earn looks from her entire team. "I know I said I wouldn't before, but… I let Kali get hurt once, by trusting the police to do what they're supposed to do. I'm not about to let it happen again by trusting this guy to keep his word and play fair."

Raven felt something akin to shame as she watched Summer look up at her and tried to chase away the feeling by shaking her head. "Thank you. Next time, we won't ask you to do this. I promise."

"I know, but it's okay," Summer reassured as she lightly rested her hand atop Raven's. "This is what a leader's supposed to do. We look out for each other, sure, but it's my responsibility to be considerate of all of you, in everything that Team STRQ gets assigned… on or off the record."

"And that's why you're the best," Qrow insisted. "I'm sure Kali would appreciate it, and do the same for you. She's basically family, at this point, and has a lot of respect for us."

"All I'm saying is, with a little creativity, they could've been Team SQRT. C'mon- tell me that's not hilarious, and a huge missed opportunity. Raven would love it," Kali insisted as she nudged her elbow into Roman's side.

Roman rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement despite himself as he kept his eyes on the cobblestone path ahead. The pair walked up to the gates of Beacon Academy, where the black metal bars gleamed subtly in the moonlight.

"Uh-huh. It's a good thing you're not headmaster of an Academy. Everyone would quit once you started assigning them team names," Roman teased as he checked his scroll, finding it to be one in the morning.

"Maybe I will be, someday," Kali offered as she placed her hand in the center of Roman's chest. She ran her hand through the fuzz of his black turtleneck and punctuated her statement by jabbing a finger into his stomach. "And you bet your bony ass that if I get there, I'll be doing my best to form Team JISM, Team GUSH, and Team FUQR from whatever students I'm given."

"And I'm sure the public and the rest of your administration would be fine with that, and not vote to fire you immediately," Roman deadpanned as he checked his pockets and belt for needed equipment. "Now, focus. If Barty asks where I am when you get back in, you're going to tell him…"

"…that you're busy getting a chest hair implant."

"Kali."

"Your asshole dad called and needed you to meet a potential business partner out in Vale City, for the betterment of the glorious Torchwick Arts and Crafts Empire," Kali replied, adding a bit of dramatic flair to the end of her statement.

Roman blinked and gave his combat cane a twirl before leaning slightly into it as he planted the long end into the cobblestone. "You know, if I ever do take over his shitty little business, I'm absolutely renaming it that. That, or Roman's Finger Paint Emporium."

Kali's ear flicked as she grinned, looking over her teammate's face in the darkness. "You know, I've never thought about it until now- are you even good at art?"

Roman immediately stiffened and pulled slightly at his collar. "I mean… I don't know. I'm better at other things, like kicking ass."

Kali gave Roman an unimpressed look and crossed her arms. "Show me, sometime? I'd like to see what you can do, and it'd probably be fun."

Roman blew out a breath and shook his head. "Anything's fun when you're around, but now's not the time for this. I've got work to do, and you've got lies to spread… probably. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone."

"I still think I should come with you," Kali said as her feline ears flattened to her skull. "You're taking a huge risk doing this alone."

"Yeah, and I'm not taking more risks by dragging you into this, especially after what went down on the weekend. Do you even have your aura back?" Roman questioned as he gave his cane another nervous spin.

Kali looked down at the pathway in silence, before wrinkling her nose. "I could still play lookout. I can see in the dark, you know, and let you know if s-"

"Kal," Roman interrupted. "Get some rest. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me. I know that isn't really your style, but I don't want you putting yourself in danger. None of us do."

Kali scoffed and shifted her weight to one side as her right ear flicked in annoyance. "Well yeah, but rest is… boring. That, and don't even pretend you're not doing this for me. I'm not stupid, Roman."

Roman let out a noise of frustration and made his way through the gate, before closing it behind himself and giving Kali an annoyed look through the bars. "If you're not stupid, then get some rest. I'll be back before morning, and hopefully without waking anyone. Trust me. I've got this."

"I hope you do," Kali offered before turning and beginning to make her way back toward the Academy. Roman paused to watch her go, before facing the street and beginning to set out at a run.

Author's Note:

Lots of crazy shit beginning here, and this story won't be slowing down from it anytime soon. Expect some big developments sooner than later.

-RD