Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.

Chapter 15

A Long Day

"Thanks for walking me back home Agatha," Cyrus said, getting out his house keys. After he unlocked the door he turned around to face me again and I could see the lust in his eyes. "You know, I make a mean cup of coffee if you want to come in. Not often a beautiful huntress randomly offers to walk me home."

I rolled my eyes. "Not one for coffee. And I'm pretty busy." Cyrus just shrugs and opens his door to go in. "I'll do a sweep around your house before I leave. Make sure to watch your back okay?"

"Of course. And remember, my offer still stands," Cyrus says, wiggling his eyebrows. I just shook my head with a smile and walked down the stairs.

"Really Agatha? You'd say no to a handsome guy like that?" I heard Yang's voice asked and I looked up to see her and Blake heading towards me.

"I'm not into one night stands," I explained.

"So why were you walking that guy home?" Blake asked me.

"We were both at one of Robyn's campaign rallies and this guy asked some questions regarding Ironwood involving some... choice words. After what happened with Forrest I thought it would be a good idea to make sure he got home safe." I told them. "Um, would you guys mind helping me make sure no one weird is around?"

"Right," Yang affirmed with a nod.

"Sure," Blake agreed and so the three of us split up and checked out the house. It looked clear so we started to make our way to an airship that will take us to the academy. Passing through one of the skyscrapers we saw another screen with Ironwood giving the same proclamation we saw when we first entered the city.

Sweet leaves of the Tree. Would it really kill him to put something else on?

"Hey. Is everything okay?" I heard Blake ask. I looked towards her but it wasn't me she was speaking to. It was Yang. She was also looking at the videos of Ironwood's propaganda.

"It's just. Do you think Ruby should tell him about Salem? Before he puts too much on the line for Amity." Yang asks.

"Seems like you do," Blake said.

Yang sighs and hangs her head. "I trust Ruby, but I think he deserves to know what he's stepping into. We all did."

I placed a hand on Yang's shoulder. "You're right about that. But you need to understand, Ruby's scared of how Ironwood could react to this. And fear is trusts worst enemy."

"But why? It's not like Ironwood would turn against us because of this right?" Yang asked, throwing her arms up in exasperation and storming off ahead.

Shocked at what Yang just said, I stood still and crossed my own arms. "Oh? Just like you didn't abandon Ozpin?"

Yang turned back around and came towards me. Eyes glowing red. "That has nothing to do with this."

"That has everything to do with this!" I countered matching Yang's glare. Blake tried to approach us but I held my hand up to stop her. Yang needed to hear this. If it got too much then I'll let Blake intervene. Even I need a leash once in a while. "You told Ozpin that he could trust you. That you wouldn't turn your back on him. But the moment Jinn ended her story that's exactly what you did. Remember how you wouldn't stop screaming at him? How Qrow punched him into a tree? And I don't know what went down between Jaune and Oscar but apparently it was enough for the farm kid to take a walk without telling anyone."

Yang looked down in thought as she took a few steps back. Her iris' going back to lilac.

I took a breath to calm myself. "Look. I think we should trust Ironwood with the truth. You're not wrong about that. But nothing is ever black and white. No matter how hard we try to make it so." I place a hand on her shoulder. "Have you even talked to Ruby about when you're going to tell him? How are you going to explain this?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "I'm not the one who lied in the first place. She made the decision to hide it, it's up to her to make it right."

"She's also your younger sister," I countered. "I doubt she wouldn't mind some outside input."

Yang scratched the back of her head. "I mean...yeah. I suppose you're right. It's not like we're short on options right now."

Blake looked down and crossed her arms. "I'm starting to wonder if there are good options right now."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Blake's eyes glossed over as she became lost in her thoughts. "Keeping secrets? Taking lives? It makes you wonder how far we'll have to go to do the right thing."

I placed a hand on Blake's shoulder. "What does the right thing look like to you?" Blake opened her mouth. "To you, not from everybody. What does the right thing look like to Blake Belladonna?"

Blake rubbed her arm. Her ears folded down to her hair. "Saving people from Grimm, from each other. Not taking lives."

I removed my hand from her shoulder and placed them in my pockets making sure to stay close to Blake in case she wanted some more comfort. "That whole Adam thing is still getting to you?" Blake nodded. "Are you okay if we talk about it?"

Blake looked at Yang. Yang nodded, standing closer to her partner. "Yes," Blake said.

"Was killing Adam your first option?"

"Of course not!" Blake declared.

"We gave Adam every opportunity to walk away," Yang added.

I gave a nod. "Did you have any other options left?" Both girls shook their heads, unable to say anything. The memory makes their eyes foggy and lost again. Yang even rubbed at her metal arm. I stopped walking and looked at them both. "Do you two regret protecting each other?"

"Of course not!"

"I would never-"

"How could you even suggest that?"

"I lo-" they cut themselves off, blushing furiously and looking away from each other.

It took all the willpower I had not to giggle. Wisdom now. Ship later. Instead I gave a small smile. "Okay then. Taking a life isn't easy. It's not supposed to be. If you are ever forced into that situation, never let it be your first option and never for a reason you'll regret. It will be an experience that won't go away. But as long as you have the support you'll need, you'll never go through it alone."

Yang nodded in understanding while Blake looked a lot calmer. Figuring they could use a good distraction I cheekily asked "So what was that last thing you two were going to say?"

Both of the huntresses turned away. Their faces are bright red. "N-Nothing," they stammered in unison.

"Oh come on, you guys can tell me," I said. "Was it I loath? I loan? I love?"

Blake groaned. "Please Agatha. Drop it."

I gave a shrug. "But why? I'm just having some fun."

Yang started growling and stomped off ahead of us. "I think I like it better when you tease Qrow and Clover."

"That's basically a confession!" I called out to her.

"I WILL END YOU!" Yang screeched. She came charging towards me, eyes red and hair blazing.

I ran over to where I just saw Ruby and Weiss. "Ruby help! Your sister's trying to kill me." I mean she couldn't but it would still hurt.

"Hey! Don't use me as a shield!" Ruby complained as I held her up in front of her sister.

"Seriously Agatha, that is way low!" Yang growled.

"Okay. Okay. I'll stop, I promise. Just please don't punch me. I'm still recovering from when Elm sent me flying down the hall using Timbur the other day," I pleaded.

"Why would she do that?" Weiss asks.

"I may have said something about her and Vine," I mumbled rubbing the back of my head.

"You're hopeless," Weiss muttered. Yang had finally calmed down and the five of us started walking again.

Figuring we were done talking for now, I placed my headphones over my ears and started listening to some music. The conversation with Yang brought back a nagging question that I had stored in the back of my mind.

When am I going to tell them?

Time has passed since we learned Salem and Ozma's backstory. The others have started to calm down now about that. And I can trust them not to take advantage of my abilities. There really was no point in me keeping my identity a secret from them anymore. But I still couldn't bring myself to do it.

While my previous nightmares have been replaced by the vision regarding Clover and that stranger, they still haunt me. I can only imagine the look of disbelief on Ruby's face. Qrow going right back to the bottle because another person that he trusted kept something this huge from him. Yang would just throw caution to the wind and straight up punch me to the moon and back, consequences be damned. The others would want nothing to do with me. And I wouldn't blame them. But I also don't want to lose them because of this. And yet putting off the confession would just make things worse.

I was startled when a pink hand appeared right in my face. Blinking back into focus I saw Ruby in front of me trying to get my attention. Removing my headphones I asked "What's up?"

"We're holding a team meeting with the others to discuss how we're going to explain things to Ironwood. I'd like you to be there," she told me.

I had a big smile on my face as I nodded in agreement. Happy that Yang was taking the advice I gave her. Speaking of the blonde, when we started walking again she slowed down to where I was in the back of the group and asked. "Is everything okay with you?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Just some personal stuff I'm trying to sort out in my head. I'll tell you at some point. I promise." The look in Yang's eyes brought me some comfort. No suspicion or mistrust. Just curious and some slight wariness. Maybe it won't be so bad.

We met up with team ALPN and Qrow and got to talking about when we were to break the news. After some discussion we eventually decided to play it by ear after the election. See where Ironwood's headspace is after either Jaquse or Robyn was appointed to the council.

Hearing all this helped me make up my mind too. While Ironwood's got his plan to bring communications back up and everyone is willing to help with that. We still don't have a plan for what to do after. That's where my secret will come in.

Once Ironwood and the others are up to date about Salem and Amity is up and running, I'll reveal my true identity and explain my plan to convince my brothers to undo Salem's immortality and separate Oscar and Ozma. Hopefully, once the shock wears off they'll go along with it. All that's left to do now is bide our time until election night.

The next day, a criminal team RWBY had tracked down was able to activate several devices that somehow drew Grimm to the city so I was down in Mantel containing the situation. Qrow and Clover were with me once again but we split up a while ago to cover more ground. It was only mid morning and already we had the street alarms go off for the fifth time. I was not in a good mood. Running past an alleyway I spotted another group of Sabyr out the corner of my eye. I gave a sight and slumped my shoulders, already done with the day.

You know what? Screw it. No one was watching and I wanna be lazy. Holsting my tonfas I tapped into my powers and waved my hand. The Grimm dissolved into dust. Though I need to work on my timing better. Just as I had done that I heard Clover from around the corner. "All clear here. Have you seen Agatha?"

"I think she went down this way. And I heard Grimm nearby," Qrow said. Their rushed footsteps followed soon after and they saw me and the disintegrating Grimm.

Brushing the dust off my hands I gave them a smirk and walked past them. "Keep up Luck Birds."

"Luck Birds?" I heard Qrow question.

"She seriously has a pair name for us," Clover grumbled.

"I could call you guys Love Birds," I suggested.

The huntsman quickly backpedaled. "No! No. Luck Birds is fine."

After a couple of more hours the situation was finally under control. We were making our way back to Atlas when I saw police cars and an ambulance over at a familiar house. Cyrus' house. I rushed over, ignoring my friend's cries of confusion and flashed my license to one of the officers. "What happened here?" I asked. Before the officer had a chance to answer, two EMTs came down with a stretcher. The person on it was covered in a white sheet. "No," I breathed.

Clover had caught up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I- I walked him home yesterday. I made sure nothing was near the house. The Grimm attack should have kept him inside. How did this happen?"

The officer went into detail about how the house was broken in around midnight and Cyrus was killed then. Because of the attack this morning, no one went to check up on him until about an hour ago. I tried to run off, adrenalin I thought had left my body now raced through my veins but Clover held me back. "Let me go," I pleaded.

"And go where?" Clover asked.

"To kill some more Grimm. I gotta take my anger out on something."

"Agatha, all the Grimm has been cleared out," Qrow pointed out.

"With how emotional I'm feeling right now I'm sure I'll draw in some more," I said.

"They'll be too far away to notice," Clover countered. "Plus if you have information on this murder then I'm going to need you in Atlas so we can get everything on record."

I gave a sigh and agreed, allowing Clover to lead me into the waiting airship. Qrow sat down on the other side of me and both he and Clover (a bit more awkwardly) wrapped me in an embrace. I hugged my knees to my chest. "I didn't even know him until yesterday. But I wanted to make sure he was safe. Now. What was even the point?"

"You still did the right thing Agatha," Qrow assured me.

"Qrow is right. Before, people have been attacked on the streets. You had no way of knowing this person could break into people's homes," Clover added. "This will help us find who did it and with it we'll be able to avenge him and everyone else he's killed." I didn't give a response. Indeed just sank into their warmth. It was nice. Reminds me of when I was with my brothers.

Whenever humans did things I couldn't understand I would go to them and we would talk things out. Light would always try to figure out the logic of their actions which wouldn't make much sense to me. Dark would be amused by it and say things like how we should let it play out and figured it would be considered normal for them. After I'd calm down, we'd huddle together around a fire and look up at the stars. Like we did when we were kids. Someday the three of us will be able to do that again.

The transport ship opened up and Marrow and Harriet entered. Clover quickly let go and scrambled to compose himself but going by the death glare Harriet was throwing at me and Qrow he was unsuccessful. Don't know what her problem is though. Clover was just trying to be nice. Marrow just gave us a wave as he and Harriet sat opposite of us.

After I gave Clover the necessary details he needed for his report I went to one of the training rooms to let off some steam. It was about twenty minutes before I was finally able to calm down. As I was catching my breath I saw Penny enter the room and approach me. Tilting my head back in frustration I groaned "What do you want?" It had been a very long day and I was not in the mood to deal with the robot's so-called perkiness.

"Salutations Agatha. I- heard about what happened earlier with the reporter you were trying to protect and I wanted to offer my condolences," Penny said.

"Thanks but I really don't need it. Not from something like you anyway," I groaned, my bad mood making me forget the promise I made to Ruby.

It didn't look like Penny was having it though. "What is your problem with me? We never even met before you arrived in Atlas, yet you look at me with hatred as if I've done something wrong."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Too exhausted to really get at it with the thing, I decided to just tell it the truth. Well, most of it anyway. "Look it's nothing personal against you. I just can't stand it when someone like your dear old dad decides to play God. He thinks he can get away with making life like the way he made you. He's got another thing coming. That's why you'll never be anything more than a fake." I left the training room, leaving Penny alone to think.

Outside P.O.V.

Unbeknownst to Agatha, Ruby had snuck into the training ground while Agatha was tearing up the towers of blocks and informed Penny of the woman's location. She had watched the whole thing and quickly rushed to comfort her friend. "She's wrong you know. My father never intended to play God." Penny said in a quiet voice.

"I know Penny. We just need to get Agatha to see that. And I have a plan," Ruby said, giving her best friend a hug. Once she let go she pulled out her scroll and started to call Clover.

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