Author's Notes:

Finally time for the conclusion of the investigation. After this chapter, we'll go back and cover some of the time missed during team RWBY's time away before catching up to their return.

Enjoy!

"Text/Messages"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 70: Certainty

So that was it. No more questions, no more searching. They finally had solid proof of House's crimes. Or at least one of his possibly many crimes.

Team RWBY was trudging back towards the town in the rain now. Weiss could see even Ruby was quiet upon finding a Huntsman's dead body. It was a solemn trek back, each student lost in thought.

Out of all of them, Blake still looked to be the most resolute, the most validated by their findings. She had also been the one to place the beacon near the body and cover it with a small tarp. They'd head back to town and get a proper team to gather the body and evidence. They might even send someone from the city.

As for Weiss, she couldn't shove it to the back of her mind any longer. Couldn't pretend that House and the Mimic weren't the same person. Because at the very least, House murdered a Huntsman. And there was no world where that was okay.

Forcing down whatever mentor-like image she had of the man, she focused on one fact. He was a murderer and a criminal, and as a Huntress, it was her job to bring him to justice.

It was with this mindset that Weiss–with her team–walked through the Eastern gates of Rhyt once more. The guards paid them no heed as they proceeded further into town. They'd have to head to the relay to send a message that they found a body and that they'd be heading back. Once back, they could give the full report and deal with the murderer.

Of course, as with everything when it came to the Mimic, it was never that easy.

On their way back to the inn which was close to the relay in question, they passed through the town square where a congregation of townspeople had formed. Black and grey raincoats littered the square as their group approached. In hindsight, maybe their shivering team would have done a lot better today if they had bought some of those coats.

A large holographic screen was being projected in front of the crowd and on a stage in front of the screen stood the Captain. She was also dressed in a raincoat, one that was white with two red stripes along her upper arm.

As the four of them entered, Blake turned to her team before nodding her head towards a pair of guards. Taking a second glance around, Weiss noted that there were several pairs of guards scattered around the square. All in similar raincoats to the Captain with varying colors.

"I know that many of you have been worried about what has been happening in our small town. Eager to mete out justice to whoever put our town in danger!"

The Captain's booming voice could be heard over the rain as she pointed to the screen.

"We have confirmed the culprit behind this crime, and have gathered you all to avoid any confusion on the matter." The Captain turned her head and nodded towards another guard who operated a scroll. "Turn your attention towards the screen!"

The video was a bit harder to see given the rain passing through the holographic projection but it was still easy to make out someone's feet as a camera was pointed at the ground. Whoever was holding it, Cerise from what she had previously overheard, adjusted the angle as he peered around a building.

It was night time which was odd enough. But more importantly, a figure in a large raincoat was currently taking some kind of crystal, likely Burn Dust, and holding it up to the side of a building. The figure's back had a somewhat odd bulge to it as if the fabric was being stretched.

The figure lit a fire, using up the crystal to do so. What was the purpose of weakening the town's defenses? It couldn't be just to stop them right? Was it really just to put the blame on them?

"My Lien." Weiss heard from behind her. When she turned, she spotted Blake handing off a decent sum of Lien to the orphan Cerise who looked quite pleased with himself. Weiss quickly pieced it together that Blake had hired Cerise to follow and record whoever had sabotaged the town's weapon storage. Cerise did so, got a recording, and then handed it off to Richter to deliver it. After all, who would believe a child?

What a crafty kid.

Turning back towards the recording, Weiss still had one question on her mind. Who did this person work for? It couldn't possibly be the Mimic, right?

After a few moments, the figure turned and Cerise ducked back into cover. A few seconds passed in silence, then he leaned forward again and caught sight of the perpetrator.

Under a dark hood sat the familiar brown eyes of a Faunus that reflected light in the shadows. That dark skin and the outline of a black blade at her side could only be one person. The butcher's sister Myotis.

It caused Weiss to blink in confusion. Out of everyone, why her? What motivation did she have to sabotage her own sister?

As the video blurred because Cerise ducked away, Weiss turned towards Blake and saw her fists clenched. She looked just as confused and moreover frustrated with a Faunus doing this.

However, the rest of the town was also turning towards a pair in the back of the crowd. And there, under a dark hood, sat two brown eyes in a completely neutral expression.

As Weiss turned, she almost missed the end of the video. At the last moment, a voice called out.

"Hey kid, let me-"

Then it ended. A male voice seemingly called Cerise out in the dead of night? That was strange but the town had more pressing matters at the moment.

As soon as everyone knew, and the truth was revealed, the town militia hovering around began closing in on the saboteur as the crowd erupted into shouts.

"Take her in!" One shouted, spurring on the next.

"No, beat her here!" Another escalated.

"Why stop there?" A voice nearby whispered and Weiss frowned as she turned to spot Scarred Tom with a hateful expression on his face.

But no one was as confused about the Faunus' betrayal as her sister. Weiss winced as she saw Alba turn to her sister with disbelief written on her face.

"I… How? How!?" The Faunus shouted at her sister. Weiss wondered if that's how Whitley felt right now too.

The rain did well to hide Weiss' welling tears at the thought of her brother. Is this how he felt when she left? Did he deserve to be left alone with the mess? Surely Winter had gone back to at least see him right?

Cerise moved away from the crowd, seemingly trying to avoid the angry mob and get some shelter from the rain. It reminded her of her own brother who probably needed familial support.

As soon as they got back to Beacon, Weiss was going to sort this mess out and contact her brother.

"It was just a job," the sister replied before shrugging off her raincoat. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Dawai unfurled her massive dark wings and revealed that she was already wearing her jump pack.

"You fucking rat!" Tom shouted as he moved to draw a firearm.

But the Faunus was faster, rocketing into the air as Weiss watched Ruby jump up after her.

A quick flash of purple caught Weiss' attention as she saw Otto leave the crowd as well. It was likely he was going to try and get out of town after this whole mess. She couldn't blame him.

Having no time to think on the matter, Weiss turned to support her partner. Even with Aura, the jump pack was going higher than Ruby could leap. To remedy this, Weiss raised her hand towards Ruby and channeled her Semblance.

She reached out, feeling for that familiar energy that always surrounded her both inside and out to coalesce. She pictured a glyph in her mind, one that was in front of Ruby. A bit of her own Aura was siphoned away, like a small bit of warmth leaving her.

Opening her eyes, Weiss could see a series of white glyphs forming in front of Ruby like a row of steps. Their leader took advantage of this with glee as she darted up them, using the last as another stepping board to jump off of before aiming her gun behind her.

The Huntress fired her scythe, gaining an extra bit of momentum as she finally caught up to the flying figure who looked more than a bit stunned. The two were probably a hundred or so feet in the air.

Ruby, not wanting to kill the fleeing criminal, grabbed her instead of using her scythe.

The duo were getting difficult to see through the rain and their distance now as the Faunus turned and began wrestling Ruby as they flew beyond the town's borders. Weiss couldn't make it out completely but it looked like a sort of wrestling match was going on.

After a few moments of struggling, the fleeing woman grabbed the blade strapped to her side before bringing it up and striking Ruby in the head, finally getting their leader to let go of her.

A flash of light lit up the sky as lightning struck the forest behind them. A red cloak fluttered and shined in the sudden light. Above a dark figure unfurled her leathery wings and rocketed away, leaving a trail of blue-ish Dust behind her.

People in the crowd murmured and even shouted in worry watching the girl fall but Weiss knew better.

Turning, Ruby fired Crescent Rose in quick succession, slowing her descent as she disappeared over the wall outside of town. She'd be fine. They had all practiced their landing strategies on their first day at Beacon.

Turning back to Blake and Yang, they seemed unworried as well. However, she did notice a lack of Cerise now. Strange, she figured a kid would want to watch something like this. Then again, the orphan was a rather strange kid too.

Weiss glanced at the Captain still up on the stage who also turned to her. Lirah nodded her head, giving them permission to go get their friend.

With a thankful smile, Weiss set off to retrieve her ever valiant leader and get some rest before leaving the next day.

Watching as Ruby left the inn, Weiss was reminded of her fall which turned out to be a trivial matter thanks to her scythe and Aura. After that encounter, their group had gone back to the inn, cleaned up, and gone straight to bed. There was nothing like digging in dirt on a rainy day to tire a team out.

Weiss was thankful that no one wanted to talk about House or the Mimic, too exhausted to do so. Honestly, she wasn't sure she was completely up to doing so yet.

It was the morning after and the rain had finally abated. Leaving a damp Rhyt to dry off in the morning sun. The small quaint town's beauty would have been something to admire if she didn't kind of despise that small town and all the troubles it had given them. At this point, all of team RWBY just wanted to go home.

"Finally getting out of here," Yang commented as she led the group towards their vehicle parked at the edge of town. "Back to civilization and a proper connection, and other people our age…" Yang rambled off a list of items she was looking forward to. Not all of which would be looked fondly upon by Beacon staff.

"And Books," Blake added as she followed behind Yang. She looked more upbeat than she had been for several months now. "And justice."

"And Zwei!" Ruby added as she darted to the front of the group. Looking like she hadn't fallen a hundred feet yesterday or been digging in mud with her bare hands. "I hope team JNPR hasn't been feeding him too many treats."

The mention of their team's dog dropped the Faunus' smile.

As the SUV came into view, so did Richter in a grey flannel shirt this time, along with his daughter next to him. The two waved as their team approached.

"Richter, Carmine!" Ruby called out as she dashed forward. But due to the young girl's tendencies, she shrunk back behind her father as he stepped forward.

The man held up a hand to get her to stop as he replied, "Ruby, as energetic as ever. I hope your night was uneventful after the fiasco yesterday?"

Stepping up, Weiss responded, "It was. And no one has been giving us glances, which is nice."

The older man scratched the back of his head. "Well, after exposing Dawai, they're a bit more open to you now. I wouldn't say you're approved of yet but you won't be harassed anymore at least. Oh, and the Captain sends her thanks as well."

"Of course, we'd help anytime!" Ruby replied with enthusiasm and a thumbs up. Leave it to their team's energetic leader to give the perfect response.

The blonde of their team shrugged her shoulders before adding, "I mean, we were helping our own investigation too, so it's a win-win."

The older man nodded his head with a soft smile as he looked down and nudged his daughter. Carmine–who was still glued to her father's leg–peered around him and glanced at them. She especially seemed to be staring at Ruby with an almost starstruck and nervous expression. Weiss hoped that her father hadn't explained to her what they had questioned him about. She doubted that Carmine would be as open to them otherwise.

"You were so cool," Carmine got out before darting behind her father again.

There was a small pang of guilt in Weiss' heart as the girl looked up at them. She was praising them and they were going to arrest the older brother figure in her life. But it had to be done.

A sigh came from her father. "Now Little Lake, you're old enough to talk to people without hiding behind me."

"It's fine," Weiss cut in, knowing full well how awkward it could be talking to people you didn't want to. Her father had done so to her many times growing up.

"I completely understand where she's coming from," Ruby added. "I'm not great at making new friends either. Talking to people can be hard, right?"

From behind Richter came the small nod from the child.

"Right, I wanted to ask something," Yang cut in, crossing her arms as she glanced up at Richter. "Cerise, has anyone seen him?"

Her question caused the older man to frown. He thought about it for a moment before answering, "Can't say that I have. Why?"

"Just…" Yang paused as she glanced at her partner.

Nodding, Blake continued for her, "We noticed that man, Otto, the one wearing purple. He just seemed to take an interest in him and it sounds like he skipped town when Dawai ran away."

This news caused Richter to frown. He looked down at his own daughter and that frown deepened. "While I haven't seen him, I'll ask around and make sure he's doing okay. Pine should know, those two always stick together."

"Pine?" Yang asked.

"Oh right," Richter began with a shrug. "Another kid that hangs around Cerise. Don't worry, we'll find him." He held up a hand as he continued, "But you should be on your way. Growing ladies like yourselves need to get back to studying to grow up into big strong Huntresses. And the trip is going to take a couple days, you don't want to miss the Vytal Festival."

Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes, even as a smile was plastered across her lips. It was a bit teasing to be talked to like a child, but the praise was nice, especially after how they had been treated.

"Sure thing old man," Yang shot back with a wide grin. "We'll leave you to eat oatmeal and watch documentaries in peace."

"Papa isn't old," Carmine shot back, peaking around her father to do so.

Something in Weiss' heart melted at the sight of the young girl defending her father. Maybe it was because she wished that her own relationship with her father had been that, but it still hit home.

The blonde held up her hands in defeat. "Of course, I'm sorry." With a smile, she began walking back to their vehicle and waved. "Stay safe!"

One by one, the rest of the team followed suit as the Spring family waved goodbye. Taking one last look, Weiss felt good about their trip to Rhyt. While whatever awaited them once they got back might be ugly, she was glad that Rhyt and the Spring family were doing okay.

"Come on Weiss!" Ruby shouted, causing Weiss to remember she had a two day car trip with tacky seats to look forward to. Her smile dimmed just a bit. Especially since they'd have to give a report once back.

Her team hadn't really talked about House last night, too exhausted from digging and dealing with the apparent saboteur in Rhyt. However, they all knew the truth now and what they had to do. And while they sent some preliminary results of their investigation using the relay, Weiss was sure her team would discuss some of the finer details when delivering their report to Ozpin face-to-face.

She was just going to be glad when they could finally resolve this whole Mimic business. Even if that did come with some apprehension in her heart. Regardless of whatever reasoning he had, the Mimic–or House–needed to be brought in so he wouldn't hurt anyone else. They could get answers after. That was the decision she could live with.

Author's Notes:

So, that's the investigation, the truth revealed, was it what you expected? I hope it was entertaining at least, this was my first attempt at a mystery thriller.

Also, who is happy to be hearing from Courier Six again next chapter? I know I am.

Oh yeah, so the first mystery was resolved, but I assume most of you picked up that there was a subplot to this investigation. After all, every good investigation should have layers. Just know that the subplot connects to a larger mystery that I've been brewing in this story for some time now. One that will be resolved before team RWBY returns to Beacon.