Heart to Heart

Chapter 64: Infiltration

Neo in the guise of Harriet walked up to the front doors of Atlas Academy as she swiped the ID card. The doors opened as she just walked in, smiling to herself she knew that security would be lessened during the night shift. There would be guards but all they would see if one of the Ace Ops walking around. It was the perfect plan to infiltrate the building, now she just had to find her way around.

When she staked out that bar that had lots of Atlas military members, she didn't think she would get so lucky as getting one of the top Specialist access cards. Looking around the massive inner chamber she didn't see any signs and she sighed. Looks like she would do this the hard way.

At times like this she wished she wasn't mute she could just ask a simple question or two and get around, but she had long ago learned how to get around without a voice of her own. Then again there was no guarantee her semblance would even change her voice even if she did have one.

She walked straight to the elevators, passed by a few soldiers on duty who only gave her a simple glance before going back to whatever they were doing, and why not? They were all just one big happy team, no reason to suspect her at all. She pulled out her scroll, she had on an app that was mapping her progress out. It was a simple program and wouldn't get detailed information, but it was better than just trying to remember where everything was. Sure, she didn't have a bad memory, but she never took chances with operations like this.

Back at Beacon when she infiltrated that air ship, Cinder downloaded the plans through their backdoor program for her to study. She had memorized all the important parts of the layout when she got onto the ship. A pang hit her heart remembering that was the final day she and Roman had together.

Then the fire burned inside of her at the thought of how she hadn't been there for him. All because of Ruby Rose, she wasn't sure how it happened, but she heard the reports of his death although it didn't state how. All she knew was he was alive and fighting Ruby, and she was the only one to walk away. She put the scroll away and tried to school her features, she couldn't get distracted, not now.

Not far away from Neo, Blake was walking the halls. The others were having a group movie night and while she wouldn't mind joining, it was obviously a thing for the couples to enjoy themselves. She didn't want to think of herself as like a third…or was it seventh wheel? Besides while she was happy for them all, she found it only made her miss Sun more. As soon as they were done here, they were going to check on Vacuo since Salem seemed to be going after each Kingdom one by one.

She was also worried if that also meant Menagerie? While not an official kingdom it was the area of the highest Faunus population in the world.

"Friend Blake," Penny's every friendly voice called out as Blake turned her head to see the living android.

"Oh, hey there Penny," Blake responded.

"Are you also not partaking in the movie night?" Penny asked tilting her head.

"Yeah, I think I would have felt a little awkward not having someone to share it with," She didn't mention how seeing all the couples would also make her feel. "What about you?"

Penny nodded her head. "I too do not want to disturb them. While it would allow me to view couples interacting, I feel studying their behavior would also cause a sense of discomfort. So, I decided to decline this time. However, I do hope we have another 'movie night' with everyone."

Blake smiled at Penny, granted now that she knew she was a machine with a soul, certain things like her way of talking did make sense now. In other ways, Penny was like a young child exploring the world, which technically she kind of was. She was built and created; she never got a chance to grow up like everyone else.

"So, you're just taking a walk?" Blake asked.

"I like to go out and try to observe interactions." Penny nodded again this she found helped to her to slowly understand people as she built up more data.

"Ah, so you like to people watch is that it?"

Penny tilted her head as she processed that. "Oh, I wasn't aware it had a name."

"Some people like to do that."

Penny brightened up at the thought that what she was doing wasn't totally out of the norm. Ever since she fully understood she was different than other people, she strives to become as human as she could. She wanted to explore and understand what it was to be a living being. People watching was just one of her ways of doing this.

"So, what are you doing friend Blake?" Penny asked.

"Just got this from the library," Blake held up her book. The library here was almost as good as the one in Beacon, although a lot of it was more military minded for obvious reasons. While the selection for fiction was smaller than Beacon she found a few interesting book titles.

"Oh, I rarely read through a book, I just scan most of the knowledge from the internet and databases I have access to." The android girl explained.

"You should try it," Blake commented and then an idea hit her. "You know I have a few books in my room you might like, they deal with a lot of issues that could help you understand people more."

"Oh, that would be marvelous friend Blake," Penny excitedly said to her, nearly jumping slightly in joy at the thought of not only learning more but spending time with one of her new friends.

"Well let's go then," Blake tilted her head to the direction of their rooms. She might have to make sure that Penny stayed away form her more 'adult' books. She wasn't sure the artificial girl was mentally mature enough for them, but she did have a few that Penny might enjoy.

As they were walking down the halls they noticed Harriet down the hall.

"Oh, hello Specialist Harriet." Penny said slightly loudly and waved to get the older woman's attention.

She looked at them and simply smiled and waved while not stopping.

"Huh, did that seem odd to you?" Blake asked. She knew that Harriet wasn't the easiest member to know socially but normally the woman would have at least said something else. She also didn't know why she was on this level. The Ace Ops stayed a few levels above them in the military wings of the tower.

"It did seem slightly unusual for Specialist Harriet." Penny nodded as she quickly replayed all her known interactions with the woman with her computerized brain. She came up with a 78% variation to her normal personality and interactions.

Blake shrugged it off, "Maybe she's just having a bad day?"

"I have noticed that can alter the personal norms of people," Penny redid her calculations for that, but it wasn't conclusive. She didn't have enough data as what kind of 'bad day' she might have had. It was an X factor for her algorithm at the moment.

"Well, it might be best to give her space then," Blake told her as there was nothing worse than trying to talk someone up who might be in a bad mood. She wasn't even that close to the women either so if this kept up only then she might have to do something.

Neo when she was out sight quickly moved down the hallway. She wanted to get some distance in case they decided to talk to her. It was one of the downsides to not being able to talk, she had to bluff constantly like that to get out of talking. Granted she head learned a few tricks that helped, like trying to keep a low profile, look busy or look like you belonged, and people don't tent to question you most times.

When she took on the illusion that someone else knew, that's when things got complicated.

She turned a corner and pressed up against the wall, she could just barely hear them talking. She listened as they seemed to be walking so, they weren't in a hurry that was good. Then she noticed they were getting closer to her position, that wasn't so good. She moved further down trying to keep them in ear shot but also trying to keep out of sight. She had learned how to silently walk around in her life of crime, so she wasn't worried too much about her steps.

"What is it, Penny?"

"It's strange I feel I'm just picking up footsteps close by but always at a distance."

Neo's eyes widened, damn that robot and her super hearing.

"Huh, I thought it was just me," Blake said.

Double damn Faunus super hearing on top of that, Neo's jaw tightened. She would have to come up with either a plan or let them get further ahead of her. There was a long pause as Neo held her breath just in case trying to focus on lowering her presence.

"Maybe someone went into a room near by?" Blake offered.

"Perhaps, but I'm not detecting anything now."

"Well let's get back to my room then, and I can show you a few books you might like."

Neo felt her lungs starting to burn for air, but she didn't take a breath just yet. So, they were heading in the direction of their rooms? That would be something to know for later. When she was sure that she had enough distance, she quietly exhaled and took another breath. Now she started walking towards the direction they had gone but at a slow pace.

It was risky but this was the perfect opportunity to find out exactly where they were staying in this tower for later.

In the rec room everyone was enjoying the film together, Nora was leaning against Ren who this might have made the boy a bit anxious, after what she and Nora did during their little 'picnic' date this was tame by comparison. Sure, when she first rested against him his heart rate did go up but soon, he got used to it and just enjoyed the sensation of his lifelong friend/girlfriend. It was strange how looking back they met on the day their village was destroyed, her living in the streets trying to survive.

He once tried to get her to talk about it, but she shut down pretty tight on it. After all these years she never talked about why she was living on the streets alone at that age, but he never pushed her on the subject. He looked down at her light red hair and he wondered if she would ever tell him. He knew how some wounds ran deep, his own he had kept from everyone else until they found the ruins of their old village.

Ren didn't even know if Nora remembered anymore, she had been a child and that was a long time ago. She might remember some bits but maybe she just wanted to forget the past. Looking back to the movie feeling the warmth of her body he knew that the past was the past and he would be looking forward to the present and their future together.

Ruby finished off a drink of soda as she leaned back into her seat. The movie was pretty fun, but she couldn't help but keep noticing how closer she was to Oscar. She would steal glances and she saw him do the same. It was so awkward but also, she didn't want to move away. She cast a look to her right seeing Yang all cuddled up to Jaune with his arm around her waist and her resting her head on his shoulder.

Yang always made socializing look so easy, and Ruby had to admi, she was jealous of Yang's ability to be a social butterfly all the time. Still, she cast a look to Oscar again. The sun kissed skin his hazel eyes were very nice to look at. The mixture of orange and greens gave his eyes a unique look to her. And given she had silver eyes that was saying something she figured.

And yes, he was cute too. That much she started to notice ever since they started travelling together and especially that night at Saphron and Terra's place where they had basically a 'date' but also the city they had their first real kiss. Well, okay, it was only a practice, she figures their real kiss as a couple came much later.

She thought about how he made her feel, how he was so kind and understanding that it made her feel this blanket of warmth around herself. Ever since they made things official between them there had been this near constant mixture of anxiety and joy. Mainly the anxiety was having no experience in this kind of relationship. She often thought, what if she said something and he thought she was weird? (Which has happened to her in the past) Then there were thoughts of how long could this last?

Now that was a loaded question because they both were dealing with the fact Ozpin was skill in his head somewhere. There still had been nothing from him ever since he had shut down or hid in Oscar's subconscious or whatever it was. They both would deal with that issue when it came up, but there was another reason. Ruby knew how dangerous this life was, especially now with knowing about Salem and her attacking the different kingdoms recently.

Her own mother went off and never came back from a mission.

Now that she was feeling these feelings, she didn't want to waste time and regret anything. Life was just too short as times, she had watched Pyrrha die and the hole that left was still healing. Looking at Oscar again she also knew of the weight he carried. Knowing that one day, he might not be himself anymore. A scary thought for anyone really.

Deciding not to live life with regret she decided to press herself up against the boy, feeling her face heat up a little but also enjoying the sensation of him against her own body. Oscar froze stiff unsure of what to do. Ruby seemed to be watching the film and he knew this wasn't an accident. What was he supposed to do in this scenario? His heart was racing a bit feeling his girlfriend (wow he still wasn't used to thinking of her as that) and looked at the other two older boys. Jaune had his arm around Yang's waist, but Ren had his around Nora's shoulder.

He picked the option he felt he would be more comfortable with and shifted to place his arm around her shoulder. He blushed hoping he was doing it right, when Ruby didn't pull away, he felt himself relax a bit although now they were very close. He could smell the scene of her hair, feeling her against his side, making his young heart race with excitement.

Jaune could see what was going on and he had to smirk at the sight of them. It felt good that they were all finding someone important to them. He felt that would be important for the days to come, he knew things would only get harder from here on and you just needed someone there for you. Someone you could rely on and who would help strengthen you when you needed it the most. A lot like the blonde-haired woman cuddled up against him.

There was a time that Jaune wanted to get a girlfriend because he wanted to feel what he saw in his parents' marriage, or random couples he saw around. They always looked happy, and he wanted to know that feeling. With Yang he finally did know that feeling, it took time, but he knew that he had fallen in love with her, and she had with him. Just sitting here together like this was peaceful and he wouldn't have it any other way. He had to admit he never thought he would end up with a woman like Yang, she had seemed so far out of his league, she was so outgoing and never seemed to doubt or question herself.

Well, as he got to know her, he saw the hidden depths to her, how much she cared for friends and family, and after Beacon the scars she had inside of her. Scars they all carried to some extend and it was through healing their scars together that something more grew out of it.

Yang sighed as she happily rested against Jaune, she was comfortable here, there was just this calming presence about Jaune that she liked. Also, she liked how he was gently stroking her side too, it felt nice, a smooth and gentle stroking. It was a lover's touch and before now she wouldn't have known what that was but after she and Jaune had became an item, well she soon found her feelings for him growing into something powerful that still scared her to some extent.

Love was a scary thing, you found yourself worrying about the other person, thinking about them, parts of your life revolved around them but in return you felt this completeness, like you never knew you were missing a part until they came into your life.

Her thoughts were broken when she thought she caught some movement in the corridor. She turned her head to get a better look but didn't see anyone.

"What is it?" Jaune whispered not wanting to talk too loudly over the movie.

"Thought I saw someone," Yang shrugged. "I guess not." She shifted a bit to get back to being comfortable with her boyfriend.

In said hallway Neo sighed, she had nearly been spotted. She had lost Blake and Penny and had been slowly searching each hallway, she found what looked like a recreation room with everyone there. She silently pulled out her scroll to get the camera function on and let it peek over, using it to spy without being seen.

She could see the orange haired girl with the tall dark one, she was surprised to see them so close. Apparently, they either had been or recently been a couple. She saw the mane of familiar yellow hair of Yang, she smirked seeing her. If not for Raven showing up that girl would have long been dead by this point.

Then her eyes locked onto a familiar color of hair, her head was just barely over the couch, but she knew it was Ruby Rose. Her blood started to boil seeing her there, the amount of hatred she had for her was so much even if she could talk, she could never say just how much hate she had in her heart for that little brat. It was because of her that her Roman was gone, the only one in the world that had ever really given a damn about her and there was the person responsible.

Neo knew that Cinder had a plan and promised Neo that she could be the one to end her, but she was so closer. She could just turn into Blake, walk right up and stab her through the back. She would have to throw everything she had into the blow to break through her aura in one go, it was risky but there was a chance it could be done.

Remember Neo, patience is a virtue, too many things go wrong when you rush in.

Roman's words of advice came back to her as she calmed herself down, she took a breath and tried to relax. Then she caught sight of it, the lamp on the table and her eyes widened. She took a few pictures to show Cinder when she got back, now that they knew they had it, it would be much easier to take.

She also noticed something else, Ruby was leaning on a boy's shoulder. She had seen him at the dance and at first, she wasn't sure what relationship they had but this only solidified that the boy was closer to her. A wicked plan formed in her mind, since Ruby was responsible for her losing someone important to her, maybe it was only fair for the girl to lose someone important as well? She was thinking of that sister at first, she knew she could take her in a fight after all, but this was even more satisfying.

She put the scroll away and continued mapping out the level.

By the time the movie had ended they were cleaning up when Weiss returned.

"Hey there Ice Queen, how did the date go?" Yang asked her friend and teammate. The look she got from Weiss left her confused.

Weiss without saying a word picked up two small pillows and threw them at Yang and Ruby, not hard but just hard enough to surprise them.

"Hey!"

"What was that for!?"

"I'm working out my displeasure on your entire family," Weiss stated cryptically. She had said goodnight to Flynt and on her way here had been mulling over what to say or do to the siblings. She knew it wasn't their fault, but it was their family member that was causing her this storm of emotions inside of her. She had to take it out on someone, and they were by proxy the only ones.

"What does that mean?" Ruby asked rubbing her face.

"Do you realize what your uncle is doing?" She asked her hands on her hips giving them both a leveled look.

Yang groaned. "What's he done this time?"

"He's..he's…" Weiss shut her eyes unable to say the words.

"Is he drinking again?" Ruby asked worried and slightly disappointed if he was.

"I wish," Weiss stated as that got both Ruby and Yang to look at each other. What could be possibly worse than going back to drinking for their uncle?

"He's courting my mother," Weiss stated through gritted teeth.

There was a pregnant silence in the room as everyone paused to let that sentence sink in. After a few moments of silence Ruby was the first to say something.

"WHAT!? WHEN!?" Ruby stood up in a flash.

"YEAH, WHAT SHE SAID!" Yang pointed to Ruby locking eyes with Weiss.

"Apparently it was the party of my father that we attended." Weiss crossed her arms. She told them all about not only finding her sister Winter with Marrow but also running into her mother already in mid-date with Qrow at the same restaurant. She didn't go into full details but just enough to let them in on what was going on.

"Is the place still standing?" Yang asked and seeing the look from Weiss. "Hey, you remember how your sister and him got into it at Beacon, it's a fair question."

"No, they were…mostly civil," She explained at least a fight hadn't broken out this time.

"Wow, what are the odds?" Nora asked out loud.

"You mean them dating or all of them going to the same place at the same time?" Jaune asked her for calcification.

"I guess both?" Nora shrugged. "Does it even matter by this point?"

"Not really I supposed," Ren sighed.

"Oh man Uncle Qrow has got some explaining to do," Yang rolled her eyes, she couldn't believe this. She knew her uncle liked to brag at times about being a bit of a roguish lady's man, but she never once thought he would sleep with the mother of a friend of hers. Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of Uncle or Guy Code about that kind of stuff?

"Wait, where is Uncle Qrow?" Ruby looked around. "Shouldn't he be back too."

"He went to walk my mother home," she waved it off. "At least he has some decency, Winter left first with Marrow, so we parted ways last. Although at least he's not indulging my mother's drinking."

"Huh, what do you mean by that?" Ruby blinked.

"He said something about a getting a hot coffee with her." Weiss huffed then noticed Yang's face. "What?"

"Oh god," Yang moaned facepalming. "I didn't need to know that Weiss."

"Know what?" Weiss demanded.

"Weiss," Yang groaned. "A 'coffee' when you're having a date especially late at night means they're going to be fucking."

Weiss' eyes went large like saucers as she got even more pale and then a little green at the thought of her mother was at this very moment could be having sex with Qrow. "Awwww! I didn't need to know that Yang! Why would you tell me this?!"

"Hey, you put it in my head first," Yang pointed out. "I didn't need to know about my uncle's sex life."

"I didn't know what that meant! Why would it mean that!?"

"Ew-ew-ew-ew-ew, it's in my head, it's in my head now too!" Ruby shut her eyes sitting back onto the couch next to Oscar who looked a little lost on how to help her out in the moment.

"I think it's time we left," Ren said silently to Nora.

"But this is better than any soap opera," Nora whined.

"You don't even watch those," Ren replied back to her.

"Yeah, well this is still great entertainment," she snickered.

Ren sighed as she pulled her along gently. "Come on."

Nora let out a whine of disappointment as she left. Oscar and Jaune wished they could both join them but given both of their girlfriends just found out about their uncle having an affair with Weiss' mom was something they couldn't let them handle alone, at least until they asked for some space that is.

"So, wait, isn't your mom married?" Ruby's head shot up as she just realized that.

"My parents are mostly married on paper by this point for years now," Weiss closed her eyes, and she was rubbing stress headache she felt she was getting over this whole thing. "They don't even sleep in the same side of the manor. They keep as far away from each other as possible."

"Wow," Yang knew it was bad but not that bad. "Okay why hasn't your mom left his ass yet?"

That had been a question she had put to her mother during dinner. She knew her mother was extremely unhappy but still she stayed. The answers she got told her everything she needed to know and more, so she started to explain to them. "My mother has no power in the SDC, and my father holds all the financial powers now."

"If she tried to leave him or divorce him, he made it clear that he would see her poor and living on the street. He also would have made sure she could never see her children again after it. That last one isn't as much of a threat anymore, but Whitley is still living there, and she would lose any and all access to him." She finished.

"Okay Weiss…your dad is a major dick," Yang stated, and she thought she had parent issues. At least her biological mom just abandoned her and her dad and didn't stick around to make their lives a living hell. She wasn't sure which was worse if she was being honest.

"I don't…disagree with the sentiment of that statement," while she wouldn't be as crass as that Weiss could agree that her father had been found wanting in many categories.

"So…how serious is this?" Ruby asked.

Weiss wasn't sure about it, the only thing she had seen was them together at dinner tonight. Although looking back she caught little moments, looks between them, his hand caressing hers, little smiles between them. In fact, she couldn't remember her mother looking so relaxed and happy. Weiss bit her lip trying to figure out just how deep their relationship went. It couldn't be too deep, they only just met after all.

Yet from what Yang said about the 'coffee' comment they were closet enough it would seem.

"I have no idea, you would be better to ask him that," Weiss sighed. "I'm going t bed, tonight has just been draining on me and now I have to look at your uncle to know what he and my mother get up to every day now."

"I'll clean up," Oscar stated.

"I should help," Ruby joined him. "I don't think I can sleep just yet with everything we just got told."

"You want some help sis?" Yang asked.

"No we got this," Ruby told her as Yang picked up that her little sister might want some alone time with the boy. She was perfectly fine with that, she agreed with Weiss, tonight had just been an emotional rollercoaster by the end of it.

"Well then I'm turning in, you coming Jaune?" She asked.

"Yeah," He nodded as he walked with her. He noticed her face she had a far off look he noticed when she was really thinking about something. "You, okay?"

Yang shrugged, "Maybe? I mean on the one hand I'm happy Uncle Qrow seemed to find someone, just not sure messing with a married woman isn't going to bite him in the ass later. Of course, from what Weiss said her mother hasn't enjoyed married life in years."

He could see how this was bothering her, so he slipped his arm around her waist. Yang leaned her head on his shoulder thankful for the comforting gesture. They walked in silence as they got to their shared room and silently went to work changing for bed. Both were by now totally comfortable with this kind of thing, after all they had seen each other in plenty of intimate moments that this was tame by comparison.

As they slipped into bed together Yang asked him when the lights went out. "Do you ever worry about that kind of thing?"

"What kind of thing?" he asked.

"Weiss' parents, turning out like them." She still had her fears of how badly a marriage could end. She had lived to see her biological mother leaving (granted she was too young to remember that) and then her true mother Summer dying. Now getting a deeper look into Weiss' family and how they were it was starting to hit some of her deep-rooted fears.

Jaune stroked her long golden hair. "I don't know, no one knows how the future will play out, but I hope not. When I marry someone, I want our marriage to last like my parents. I want to wake up every morning seeing her face, I want to enjoy family meals, family vacations and all the ups and downs that go with it."

Yang thought of those mornings with her dad and little sister as kids, how chaotic breakfast could be, especially if they were going to be late for school. She smirked as some of the good times they had. Despite their family being broken and missing a major piece of it, they still had plenty of good times together. She snuggled into Jaune as she started to wonder. What it would be like to wake up to him in twenty years time? Would he have the same hair or change it again? Maybe a beard?

She looked up at him and tilted her head.

"What?" Jaune blinked seeing her look at him in the dim room.

"You ever thought of growing out a beard?" She asked him.

"What, like my dad?" He asked surprised by the question.

She pictured it and she had to admit, it might look good on him. "It might look good on you."

"Huh, really?" He used his free hand to caress his face. It might make him look a little more manly, Ironwood had one and when it was trimmed made him look better. "Might take me a bit."

"We got time," She laid her head back down onto him.

While most of the tower was starting to sleep Neo was still wide awake. Mainly because the tower was huge and finding the areas she needed wasn't easy. She skipped over levels they didn't need to know, things like the student levels and classrooms. She mapped out most of the level where Ruby and her friends were staying at least so she moved on up.

When she got to the top levels, she changed her appearance to Winter, no one would question Ironwood's right-hand person. The few patrols she found a simple nod of acknowledgement was more than enough to get by. It was so nice to pick the form of someone that wasn't social, since she wasn't expected to be. No one questioned why she was there, Neo just had to look like she owned the place and knew what she was doing, and she was left alone.

She then found one of the places she was looking for, Ironwood's office. The door easily unlocked with the Ace Ops card, being part of his Inner Circle gave Harriet lots of privileges. The office was huge as usual with these types she figured. Even the desk was elevated to be above people.

'So, he can look down on everyone I bet,' Neo thought with a roll of the eyes. An office said a lot about the person if you looked closely enough. The raised area of his desk, the large wall of windows to look out at Atlas. The whole place to Neo spoke of pride and a sense of being above everyone. It was no wonder she never liked Ironwood, people like this could be arrogant and when they fell, they fell hard.

She active the holoscreen on his desk as she saw his computer locked. She frowned at that but connected her scroll to it. She had no idea if the program that had once infected his scroll back at Beacon would work here. There was an error on her screen as she blew out a noise of frustration.

Apparently, they had found their little trojan virus and prepared for it. Oh well, this was only a secondary objective. She knew of a few tricks to get around such things. While no master hacker she pulled out one of the tools of the trade she kept on herself. She connected the small device under the desk to the computer system. Out of the way and more importantly, out of sight. This was something that connected to her scroll that would record whatever was being typed into the computer.

It was a passive program, so she wasn't technically accessing the computer, just the keyboard function which normally wasn't protected.

So as soon as he put in his password then she could use it to patch into his computer remotely with the other function it held. She smirked as Ironwood would once again play into their hands. She bet that the man didn't even know he had been the one that infected the Atlas system at Beacon once his scroll had been infected.

'Arrogance and Pride,' she thought with a smirk. 'Never believing he was wrong or could make a mistake, that's his weakness.'

With that done she figured she got enough, and it was time to go. If she started to say much later someone might find it odd, she was staying up too late. Now though they just had to wait and see what details they could get out of Ironwood's computers.

TBC…