"So… welcome to Roman's personal hell," Kali lilted as she stepped into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Can I get you anything for your stay?"

"Got any beer?" Cerise asked from her place on the couch. The barmaid had made herself at home on one of the couches and kicked her feet up onto the coffee table. Roman sat across from her on the opposite piece of furniture, looking tense as he kept a hand over his face. "I could use a drink after whatever that was all about. Was the big bad striped kitty another former lover?"

"No," Roman said, mumbling a bit through his fingers. "She's… Kal, what do we even tell her?"

"Orange Coast or Blue Wave?" Kali asked, totally ignoring him.

"I've always been an orange kind of girl."

"Good choice," the faunus replied as she grabbed a pair of cans and began walking toward the living room.

"Kali!" Roman called, dropping his hand and throwing it out to the side in exasperation.

"What?" the girl asked as she handed the can to Cerise before flopping down next to Roman. "You expect me to be able to answer that? The only one I'd trust to make that call isn't here right now, so we're in a holding pattern. So… we sandbag that question and just move right along until she gets back."

"So, it's something important and secret," Cerise mused as she popped the tab on her beer and took a long swig. "I'm even more interested, now."

"You couldn't have just said 'family friend?'" Roman deadpanned.

"You couldn't have?" Kali asked. "What kind of family tries to kill each other, anyway?"

"Mine," Roman seethed while glaring daggers at Kali.

"…oh. Right…"

"Yeah, well, that's not the point right now," Roman said dismissively. "Wait for Raven to come back for that answer."

"'kay," Cerise said merrily before taking another sip. "So… are you two officially a couple yet?"

Very suddenly, Roman was incredibly grateful that Kali hadn't brought him a drink, too. Even without one, he began to cough and choke, wracking his brain to try to remember if he had ever said anything to Cerise about being romantically involved with Kali. Even if he had, the move felt like a very sudden, pointed betrayal… and one he knew he probably deserved.

"As of this morning," Kali said. "I suppose I have you to thank for that sudden fire under Roman's ass?"

"Maybe," Cerise said, hiding her smirk behind her beer can. "Maybe not. I'll happily take credit, though. You've got a good one, Kali. Keep him close."

"So, clearly I'm not needed here," Roman announced as he got up off the couch. Despite the air-conditioned interior of the Schnee beach house, he was beginning to sweat as his cheeks turned red. "I'm gonna go check on the others. You two talk about… whatever the hell embarrassing bullshit to your hearts' content."

"Are you sure you want to just leave us alone like that?" Cerise teased as Roman swiftly moved past her couch. "We could be saying anything about you."

"You're gonna say anything about me while I'm sitting here, too," Roman pointed out. "So I don't need to hear it. I'll be back eventually. Maybe."

"Don't worry, we're just gonna talk about your gorgeous cock!" Kali called out, unable to hide her mischievous grin.

"As much as I'd love to…" Cerise began as she craned her neck to make sure Roman was out the door and hastily walking away. "Can I ask you something a little more serious before he gets back?"

Kali arched a brow and set her beer can atop the coffee table before leaning in a bit. The effort was wasted as Cerise, too, set down her can and walked around to sit next to Kali upon the couch.

"Uh… sure?"

"What's up with his family?" Cerise asked while using a hand to brush her pastel pink hair out of her face. "I do actually give a shit about him, in my own way. Your boy seems broken."

"He is," Kali confirmed. "I think… all of us are, in our own way. If you want to help him out with something other than your pussy, I'm not against it. You've definitely earned a place in our friend group diving in against Sienna to defend us without even knowing the situation."

"Speaking of," Cerise said hesitantly as she gave Kali her full attention. "No hard feelings, right? He was single when I got to him…"

"I would be such a hypocrite to be mad at you for sleeping with him," Kali reassured. "You and I are good, provided you keep it in your pants moving forward."

"That's the plan," Cerise replied. "Unless I get an invite from both of you together."

Kali hesitated before letting out a little chuckle.

"…I like you already. As for Roman's family, though… gods, it's a lot. So, here's what I know…"


Roman stomped toward the security tower feeling rather annoyed. Yet again, the vacation was feeling like anything but, and he was filled with negativity. Just as he reached the structure, three figures emerged from the door at the base, each looking similarly annoyed.

"Are you alright?" Bartholomew asked immediately as he adjusted his glasses. "This Sienna woman didn't get her hands on you, did she?"

"Tch, a little bit," Roman admitted as he dusted off his shoulder. "No big deal, though. Those two are doing more damage discussing me in there than she did so far."

"They're harmless," Raven snapped as she rolled her eyes. "Reap what you sow, Roman, and be glad that this other woman at least seems committed enough to defend you. And all of us, I guess."

"I had no idea her Semblance was that powerful," Roman admitted. "She could be useful to train with, at least."

"Yeah, probably," Taiyang agreed. "I'd like to get to know her more before we commit to anything in terms of knowledge, though. She's probably already heard too much from Sienna alone, depending on how long she was skulking around inside before we noticed her."

"About that," Roman agreed as he turned his attention to Raven. "She's asking questions about everything that went down. What the hell do we even tell her? I mean, we can't cut her out entirely, or she's just gonna do research on her own and potentially wind up getting herself in trouble."

"…or Sienna might get to her first, with either an offer, or as a target," Bartholomew considered. "Did anyone see where this woman went after she left the house?"

"…I did not," Raven admitted.

"I don't think any of us did, with everything going on and tensions running high," Taiyang agreed. "Shit. We can't just leave Cerise high and dry, can we?"

"So, what?" Roman asked, growing increasingly frustrated. "She's just part of the crew now? We gonna let her live with us? Does Willow get a say in any of this? What the fuck is even going on anymore!?"

"Roman, calm down," Raven said pointedly as she stiffened up and began tracking something through the glass walls of the house. "Here comes trouble. Brace yourselves."

"What are you…" Roman began, only to turn around to see the door open and Kali step outside.

"We've got a problem," the faunus let on, scroll in hand. "Someone head inside and stay with Cerise. I just got a call from Sanus that's… I'm gonna say urgent. I've gotta call her back once we're in a secure location."

"Fucking…" Roman started, gripping the sides of his head. "Who even…?"

"Sasha," Kali answered.

"Who?" Raven asked.

"It's… a long story," Kali halfheartedly explained. "Tai, babe, can you do me a huge favor and entertain our guest? I don't want her hearing any of this. Roman, Raves, we should head up to the security station in the tower. None of this can get out."

"Sure thing," Taiyang nodded. "I honestly want to get a chance to analyze her one-on-one anyway. See what she's feeling right now. Things were a bit of a mess with my Semblance with everyone so high-strung earlier."

"I can imagine. Stay safe," Raven ordered before giving Taiyang a quick hug. "And call me if you need help."

"I don't think she's a threat," Taiyang said with a chuckle. "But will do, all the same. Good luck with whatever this is."

"From what little I got out of the initial panicked call, it has to do with Professor Ozpin," Kali let on as the trio jogged into the tower and began to ascend the spiral staircase. "She sounded… really, really unsettled, and on the edge of a breakdown. I don't know her well, but if she's calling me, she probably has no one else to talk to… and if it's Ozpin, it's our business."

"Again- who is Sasha?" Raven asked. "At least give me the brief version."

"Remember when Kal ended up in jail briefly?" Roman asked. "Sasha was the faunus she was chasing down when the cops brought her in. She came to our team right before we left for Vacuo and said she's enrolling at Beacon next year. Kal exchanged contact info, and that's the last we heard from her. So… yeah, this is odd. Very odd."

"Why does it feel like people are just popping out of the woodwork now that are suddenly involved in this huge clandestine war?" Raven asked, annoyed. "If she has inside knowledge on Ozpin…"

"Maybe we're the ones popping out of the woodwork," Roman considered. "How many people already know about the Relics, Salem, all that shit, and we just had no idea? We've just been assuming we're the only ones alongside Professor Calavera."

"He's got a point," Kali agreed. "We're just as new on the scene, and what we're supposed to know is still gated off, too. Hell, OKRA isn't supposed to know anything at all…"

"You're welcome," Raven said sarcastically as she opened the door to the security booth. "Still, I don't like any of this, especially how freely information is being thrown about."

"It's not all our fault," Kali reminded. "In fact, I'd say none of it is… yet. Not unless we drag BASS in. Sienna is responsible for Cerise becoming suspicious, and whatever Sasha's about to tell us, she found on her own. Connecting…"

The dial tone rang out within the small room as the three gathered around the device. With the audio slightly distorted from the speaker, Sasha's voice filled the room in a slight panic.

"Kali? Are you alone?"

"One of my teammates is here, Roman," Kali answered. "So's Raven from STRQ. She's good people, just trust me. We're out of earshot of anyone untrustworthy. What's up?"

"I…" Sasha began, sounding as though she was ready to burst into tears. "I don't… listen, my Semblance, it lets me talk to… let's just go with aura-based remnants of people left behind on their weapons, alright? If I touched your weaponry, I'd be able to talk to what's essentially a ghost of you as you were the last time you touched them. Simple enough?"

"Fucking wild, but simple enough," Kali encouraged. "Go on?"

"I had to talk to Professor Ozpin about my brother. About Hazel," Sasha continued. "And I… listen, you cannot tell anyone else about this. No other teams, I mean, and I'm not sure I should even tell you, but I feel like if I don't, I'm going to lose my mind. I don't have anyone else, Kali…"

"Whatever it is you're worried about, your secret's safe with us," Kali answered. "We're good at keeping secrets."

Kali chose to ignore Raven's narrowed eyes as she focused on the call.

"…I touched the headmaster's cane, and it just… something's wrong about him. It wasn't just him in that weapon, it was… i-it was a whole army of remnants. It was like he was multiple people at once, or he's a shapeshifter, or… I don't even know. I don't know what the hell I felt. I don't know what's going on. He's not a normal person, he's hiding something, he's just…"

"Okay, calm down," Kali said as comfortingly as she could manage. "Professor Ozpin is… a bit of a mystery. We've done some work for him, but he's a very private person, and he's… involved in a lot of things that we don't fully understand."

Raven nodded along, seemingly agreeing with the choice of words.

"O-okay?" Sasha said, still unnerved. "But I don't think you understand. Whatever's in that cane, they were in agony. Did you… you guys were going on vacation, right?"

"Yeah, we're in Vacuo," Kali confirmed. "Listen to me, Sasha. Just… try to calm down, put it out of your mind, and we'll look into it. I've got some sources I can press, and I might have some idea what happened. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Kali," Sasha began, sounding incredibly serious. "From the way he talks to me, he seems… listen to me, I've worked for men like this before. They don't have good intentions. They're manipulators. No matter what they say, they're not telling you everything, and the second you step out of line… I don't know if he knows that I know what he is. Or that I have… some idea of what he might be. I'm scared of what he might do if he finds out."

"Then don't say a word until we get back," Kali advised. "Once we do, I'll be there for you. Promise."

"Promises don't mean much," Sasha balked. "But it's all I've got. I have to go. Enjoy your vacation, I guess."

"…she seems pleasant," Roman said with a huff. "And broken."

"Yeah…" Kali agreed. "She seems broken…"


Author's Note:

The word "pussy" has now been spoken 8 times in this story. The pussy breakdown is:

Kali: 3

Roman: 2

Raven: 2

Robin: 1

The more you know.

-RD