Note: Therapy.

"Reckless! Irresponsible! One of the most idiotic decisions I have ever witnessed!"

General Ironwood was running out of adjectives. His office may have been in the highest tower of Atlas, but he felt the entire Academy shake with his rage. The young women who were supposed to be his two best students stood quietly in front of him, their somber faces masked in the warm glow of the crackling fireplace. He slammed his fit on the table.

"Billions of Lien poured into you, and you nearly throw it all away in an instant," he screamed, furiously pointing at Penny. "If you were anyone else, you would be expelled right now, do you understand?"

"May I have permission to speak freely, Sir?" Penny asked, her tone calm and efficient. Most of her wounds had been repaired since her return to Atlas Academy, though the skin meant for her face was still being prepared. As such, a heavy bandage covered the exposed mechanical systems in her cheek, and Private Ciel stared at it from the corner of her eye.

Ironwood, exasperated, brushed away his inhibitions.

"Speak, Private," he sighed.

"If I was anyone else, Sir, I would be dead," Penny explained. "You have repeatedly expressed a desire for me to engage in field training, and this excursion has fully tested my combat abilities and demonstrated their efficiencies."

"You could have been destroyed."

"Because of weaknesses that had not been identified in my programming. Now, we can fix them before further trials."

Ironwood rolled his eyes. If she genuinely believed that this argument would convince him of anything, she was even more clueless about human behavior than he thought.

"Private Polendina… I ordered you to stay in the Academy."

"You trained me to make judgments for the good of the Kingdom," Penny countered. "That thief stole top secret information from you that could damage our reputation. I retrieved her."

"No, Team RWBY retrieved her," Ironwood said venomously. "And that is the problem—you are continuing to see those girls despite my warnings. They are polluting your mind with their atrocious behavior. Your excuses are straight out of their playbook: do everything wrong and then try to play it off like you knew what you were doing. But you didn't know what you were doing, because if you did, you wouldn't be here. You violated my direct commands, risked your own safety, and exposed the secrets of your technology to our enemies. That risks our reputation. Do you understand that?"

"I—"

"Do you understand that?"

Penny clenched her jaw, standing up straight as an arrow. "Yes, Sir. I understand."

"And you understand that a punishment is in order, correct?"

Penny felt something unfamiliar. It didn't feel good. "Yes, Sir."

"All right, then," Ironwood said with disgust. Then, his gaze shifted. "Private Soleil… step forward."

Penny and Ciel looked at each other in shock.

"Her?"

"Me?" Ciel said, her surprise giving way to frustration. "But I didn't—"

"Step forward!" His booming voice forced Ciel into silence, and she nervously stepped into his presence. He glared her down, casting his long, awful shadow upon the small teenager. "I ordered you to keep an eye on Private Polendina. Did I not?"

"Sir, I don't—"

"Answer me!" he growled. "Did I or did I not?"

Ciel stammered, blurting out her response. "Y-Yes, Sir."

"And did you keep watch over her? Did you stop her from endangering her life? Or did your stupidity allow her to escape?"

Ciel shook her head. "General, please—"

"The way I see it," he spat, cutting her off completely, "this entire mess is your fault. We all knew that Private Polendina's judgment was lacking; that's why we tasked you with protecting her. It was your job to ensure that nothing like this ever happened, and you have failed spectacularly. It was a mistake ever trusting you with something so important, someone of your background." Ciel felt the weight on her shoulders crash through her, and a small spark of rage quickly flickered and died within her desperation. Ironwood's glare deepened. "I always thought it was a mistake ever letting you into this Academy. It's long time we rectified that."

Ciel's eyes went wide, and her urge to scream overpowered her. "General, please!"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"It's not fair! I… I have worked so hard for this, so long," Ciel pleaded, her words seeping with panic. "I won't let you down again! I promise!"

"Promises mean nothing if they can't be kept," Ironwood stated. "Your promises so far have been meaningless." He leaned forward, his cold blue eyes piercing into hers. "Why should your new one be any different?"

Ciel looked into his eyes—those eyes that were so damn familiar—and her pleas turned into croaks. "I… I will give anything to prove myself to you, Sir. Let me show you how dedicated I am to serving this Kingdom."

Ironwood stared through Ciel, his expression unchanging. He didn't understand how she could be so pathetic. He had taken her into the Academy when she didn't deserve it, molded her into something almost worthwhile, and still, her weakness showed through. She seemed like she would break into tears at any moment—of rage or sorrow, he couldn't tell. Neither was acceptable.

He took a moment to consider her pleas, and then his eyes wandered down to her throat. He spoke with disdain. "Your necklace. Give it to me."

Ciel seemed taken aback. She didn't think her necklace could be seen under her uniform, but it wasn't surprising she wore one. Followers of the Faith of Deum Luna often had necklaces of their Gods, and she was no different. Ironwood held out his palm expectantly, and Ciel reached under her collar and unclasped her necklace with trembling fingers. She dumped the metal chain into his hand, and he briefly stared at the emblem of a sword in its center. He tightened his grip on the necklace, turned away, and walked calmly toward the crackling fire.

"Do you know what separates the mind of a civilian and the mind of a Huntsman, Private Soleil?" he asked, his furrowed brow heavily shadowed by the fire. "A civilian fears pain. They scurry around in their fragile little lives, avoiding every little discomfort and inconvenience. They want every privilege without understanding the sacrifice it requires to earn those privileges. When they hear the call to battle, they run back into the shells of their worthless existences." Ironwood held out his hand, and the chain dangled loosely from his grip, kissing the jumping flames. "A Huntsman welcomes pain. We crave it. We understand it as our greatest teacher and our greatest tool. When the abyss stares into us, we do not blink. We take our failures and grow stronger through them. We don't make excuses, or run from what we deserve." Ironwood glared at his reflection through the silver necklace, watching as it was lapped up by the raging fire. After letting the metal linger in the fire, once he felt the heat start to work his way into his glove, he pulled his hand away and walked back toward Ciel. Her eyes had never left the necklace.

He walked behind her as she stood, unmoving, waiting for what she knew was coming. "I hope your pain teaches you well, Private Soleil."

He held the necklace in front of her and pulled it back against her throat. She gasped in pain as the hot metal sword seared against her flesh.

"Because if it doesn't…"

He pressed the chains tightly against the sides of her neck.

"Then we will have to repeat the lesson…"

He clasped the necklace shut.

"Until you finally learn."

He circled around her. She was choking, shuddering in pain, her eyes wide and her mouth ajar as her throat twitched under the burning metal. He was unphased.

"Don't fail me again, Private. Understand?"

Ciel couldn't move her head. As the words passed through the throat, the metal seared them as well until they came out in a hoarse, broken whisper. "Yes… Sir…"

Ironwood gestured toward the door. "Get out."

Ciel turned and walked out of the room as fast as she could, desperately trying to keep her tears from falling. She entered the elevator and hurriedly shut it behind her. Penny watched the whole ordeal in shocked silence, and when Ciel was gone from view, she turned to the General in horror.

"General Ironwood, that wasn't necessary."

Ironwood was unconvinced. "It got the point across."

"But she didn't—"

"Penny, listen to me," Ironwood said quickly. His mood had changed, as if removing Ciel had expunged a great demon from within him. He spoke more gently, and even his intense stare softened. "I want what is best for you. Everyone in Atlas does. You are special to us, more than you could ever know. I do everything that I do because I am trying to protect you."

"I… I don't like what you did to Ciel, though," Penny said bitterly. She looked away from the General, confused by his actions and her reaction to it. She always knew the General as a firm man, but she had never seen him directly hurt another student like that. It was just like the Malachite Twins all over again, but—no, that wasn't fair. She remembered their twisted grins as they were torturing her. Ironwood wasn't that. It was wrong to draw that comparison. She had known Ironwood for years and never thought of him like that. But maybe…

Ironwood reached forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, snapping her from her thoughts. "Then help me make sure that it doesn't happen again," he told her. "I know how hard it is to break you, Penny, but my orders are for the safety of everyone in Atlas Academy. We are going to change the world together, but only when you are ready. Can you promise me you will not go against my orders again?"

Penny nodded, remembering her training and her purpose. "Yes, General Ironwood. I will do my best."

"Thank you," Ironwood said, walking back to his desk. "Next time, I can't afford to be so generous. Now—"

"One last thing, Sir," Penny interjected. "If you don't mind me asking… have you learned anything new from the captive?"

Ironwood paused, turning his back to his prodigal student. "That's not something you have to worry about. Emerald Sustrai is being held in a secure facility, and our best people are working on it as we speak. We'll know everything soon enough."

"But, what she told me," Penny said unsurely. "Relic, Vault, Holy Grail—"

"Is nothing you need to concern yourself with," Ironwood said, snuffing out her curiosity like a meager flame. "Just focus on your recovery and your training. That is all, Private Polendina. You are dismissed."

Penny opened her mouth to say something, but thought better against it. She saluted Ironwood, and made her way into the elevator. As she waited for the door to close, she studied Ironwood's posture. He was trying to stand straight, but something inside hobbled him. His words had seemed hollow. She didn't know why she expected him to reveal anything to her, but she was still disappointed. During the long elevator ride down the tower, Penny's gaze drifted to her feet, and then to a necklace that had been discarded on the floor. She pursed her lips and carefully picked the hot metal from the floor. She rotated it between her fingers. She exited the elevator still studying the hot metal, and wasn't paying attention when Ciel shoved her violently, nearly taking her off her feet.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Ciel's eyes were wet from tears and her words were still cracked. The collar of her shirt was torn open, and Penny saw deep red marks all along her throat. Penny held forward the necklace, but Ciel swatted it out of her grasp. The chains scraped against the floor.

"Ciel, I'm sorry," Penny said hastily. "I didn't know that he would do that to you."

"Of course, he would do it to me!" Ciel screamed, her fury echoing through the empty hallway. "You're his dream project! He wouldn't lay a finger on you, so every time you do something wrong, that comes back to me!"

"I never wanted you to get hurt," Penny insisted. "I just didn't think—"

"You don't think ever, you dumb fucking robot!" Ciel grunted. Her hands tightened into fists and she had to hold herself back before she broke her knuckles on Penny's metallic skull. "I gave up my training to look after you. I gave… everything to you. And you just don't even care about any of it!"

"Okay…" Penny said carefully. "Please tell me what I can do to make things up to you."

"You want to make it up to me?" Ciel hissed. "Stop talking to Team RWBY, stop causing trouble, and do your damn job. And if you don't, don't worry about dying in Vale, because I'll just kill you myself. Get that through your thick, metal head."

She nearly shoved Penny again, but held her punches and stormed away down the hall. Penny held her wrist close to her chest. She said nothing as she retrieved Ciel's necklace from the ground. She was sure Ciel would want it back… eventually.

Ruby was surprised when she saw the notification appear on her calendar: Group Therapy Session. She didn't remember signing up for therapy, and it wasn't until Yang told her that morning that she even knew what it was for.

"Dr. Noetal wanted to talk to us all during my session today," Yang explained. "I told you last time, remember?"

Ruby didn't remember, actually. The previous week had been nothing but an aggressive blur, but she was usually good at keeping track of her schedule. It was what her team depended on. Honestly, she wasn't sure why she was needed in therapy to begin with. Could Yang not handle it on her own? The walls were rapidly collapsing in on them, and every second she wasted doing someone as stupid as talking about her feelings, she couldn't concentrate on the things that mattered to her. It took some sincere pleading from Yang to get her to show up. For the good of the team, she said. Ruby didn't know how anything could be good for their team at the moment, but she wasn't willing to stir up more drama.

Dr. Noetal's office in Atlas was much like her office in Beacon: small, non-descript, and filled with an air of anxiety that Ruby couldn't quite place. There was hardly enough room for all four members of Team RWBY to sit comfortably, so they had to cram together on a small couch, all squeezed next to each other like a tightly bound spring. Dr. Noetal herself hadn't changed much from the last time Ruby saw her. Ruby didn't hate the woman by any means; in fact, she respected the work she put in to look after the student body. But she dreaded the next sentences that would come out of her mouth.

"Team RWBY. It's good to see you again," Dr. Noetal said graciously. "Thank you for all agreeing to come here. I know it's probably hard to fit this into your schedule."

You could say that again, Ruby thought.

"You haven't told me why you wanted everyone to be here," Yang noted, trying to make herself comfortable with Ruby and Blake squishing her on either end.

"Oh, we'll get to that. First things first: How have you all been? The last time I spoke with you, you weren't getting along well. Ruby, you had issues with your sister and Blake, and Blake, you and Weiss said that you hated each other. I couldn't help but notice that you two sat right next to each other when you came in. I take that as a sign that you have worked out your differences, at least somewhat?"

Blake and Weiss were, in fact, squeezed on the couch next to each other, with Weiss having claimed the end. The two briefly looked at each other, and their answers were quick and honest.

"No."

"Not really."

Dr. Noetal mewed. "Not at all? You still hate each other just as much as you did before."

"Yes."

"Wish she would drop dead."

"So… you two would be open to further therapy sessions to deal with your problems—"

"That's not necessary."

"We're chill now."

"Oh," Dr. Noetal shrugged. "Sorry, just getting mixed messages."

"We've reached a truce," Weiss said quickly.

"Yeah," Blake added with a pained grin. "We had a big, long talk about our feelings and we just… let it all out."

"Exactly," Weiss nodded. "We have settled our differences and they will never be a problem again."

"Never."

"Definitely never."

Dr. Noetal scribbled something in her notepad, a thin smile crossing her face. "Well… that sounds ominous. But you know what? If you two don't think you need therapy, there's nothing I can really do for you. That's not the topic of today's conversation anyway." Her gaze shifted. "Ruby, how have you been? Yang tells me that the two of you have been getting along a lot better now as well."

Ruby murmured. "Um… sure. I guess."

"You guess?"

"No, I mean… yes, we definitely have," Ruby clarified. "Since Yang started medicating, we haven't had any serious problems. We still disagree sometimes, but we're sisters. That's normal."

"Of course. If you feel it's fine—"

"Sorry, can I interrupt for one second?" Ruby said quickly. "Are we allowed to talk to you about any of this?"

Dr. Noetal seemed surprised. "I'm your therapist. You should feel comfortable talking to me about anything."

"That's not what I mean," said Ruby. "You're our therapist, yes, but you also work for Professor Ozpin. You know that we haven't been getting along with him. How do we know you aren't—"

"Sharing your confidential records with him?" Dr. Noetal finished. Yang turned harshly to her sister.

"Ruby, come on."

"No, it's a valid concern," Dr. Noetal said, defending Ruby's paranoia. "Ozpin has tried to get access to my records in the past, and I'm not legally required to keep everything a secret. If you girls suddenly confessed to a serious crime, I would be obligated to report that to the authorities. But my general concern is treating you. I know Ozpin plays his games sometimes, but I have made it very clear to him that I don't want to be a part of it. You can believe that or disbelieve it, but that is the truth. I wouldn't have developed the reputation I did if I was constantly selling out my students, so consider that if you will."

Ruby did not have a counterargument, though her fears weren't exactly alleviated. She leaned against the armrest of the couch and kept her mouth shut, keeping her eyes out for any signs of deceit or manipulation. Dr. Noetal took her silence as acceptance, and moved on. "Yang, how about you? How have you been doing?"

Yang slumped. "In general, or just this past week?"

"Both."

"In general: great. My head has been clear, I feel healthy, and my teammates get along… it still feels like I'm experiencing a whole new side of myself. It's really nice."

"But this past week?"

A sigh escaped Yang, and she twiddled her thumbs as her emotions got the better of her. "It's… it's been really hard. Like… really fucking hard."

"I saw the news," Dr. Noetal explained. "What part of that experience was hard for you? From an outside perspective, it didn't look like anything a Huntress wouldn't normally face."

"Well, maybe. From the outside," Yang said breathlessly. "A lot happened that night. It was supposed to be really simple, but everything kind of went wrong. I thought I saw someone I knew die. I thought we were going to die, and it feels like all of it was my fault. I know it's more complicated than that, but I know that I'm responsible. And other people did die—I killed them. That… that was my fault. Unquestionably. And it feels really, really bad."

"Okay," Dr. Noetal began. "So, you have a lot of things to work through. Which of those would you like to cover first?"

"I don't really want to talk about any of them."

"Let me rephrase the question: which of those do you feel the guiltiest about?"

Yang bowed her head. "I've always gotten into fights with people. I've tried to kill people in the past. Like, I've felt it. I never really thought about what that would mean. And I know that as a Huntress, you have to do what's needed to protect people. Like, I shouldn't be hung up on this. But I just… I feel nauseous thinking about it. There are people out there who no longer exist because of me. Like, they're gone. They're not coming back. Whatever lives they lived are just… and I've never really thought about that until I actually went and did it. It never affected me until right now. And I think what makes it worse is knowing that I shouldn't have been there that night, that it was all just a huge mistake, and that there were so many things I could have done differently to stop it."

"I totally understand," Dr. Noetal said kindly. "This is actually extremely common, and it has nothing to do with your mental fortitude. I've seen people come through my office boasting about how they would shoot criminals once they became Huntsmen, and then once they actually did it, they broke down in tears. You have to suddenly confront a lot of questions about your own morality, and your responsibilities, and that can be a lot for someone young and inexperienced to deal with. So, I want you to know that what you are feeling is perfectly genuine. It's okay."

"It doesn't feel okay."

"I know. Can I ask you something? Why were you attacking those people?"

"Well, that's complicated. We went to Vale because—"

"No, no. Stop. Not what I mean," Dr. Noetal said bluntly. "In the heat of the moment. As you were swinging your firsts. I want you to tell me why you were attacking those people."

Yang paused for a moment. She tried for the past few days not to think of the specifics, and it was harder knowing that her teammates were all staring at her. However, she didn't feel well enough to reject the process. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, reflecting back on the moment when she took a life for the first time.

"Ruby was in the room with me," she said bitterly. "And… they were coming at us. They had a lot of weapons."

"And what were you thinking?"

Yang held back tears. "I was thinking… that if I didn't stop them, Ruby was going to die."

"And you weren't going to let that happen."

"No, but—"

"No buts. Focus. When you entered that room, were you planning on killing anyone?"

"No."

"Did you want to kill anyone before that moment?"

"No."

"It was Ruby that you were trying to protect, and you were aware that if you didn't fight off those people, someone very close to you was going to get hurt."

"Yeah, but—"

"What did I just say about buts?"

"But that doesn't justify it," Yang said, visibly hurting. "Those people are dead now. Why does it matter what I was trying to do in the moment? There were a million things before that where I fucked up."

"Yang, that's the only thing that matters," Dr. Noetal explained. "Who said anything about justifying murder? If you want to pull back the curtain, we could do that indefinitely. The men who attacked you could be at fault because they agreed to harbor a known criminal, and then we could pull back further and say that society was wrong because it put those men in a position where they would turn to a life of crime, and then we could pull back further a Hundred Years to the Great War and point out each link in the chain of events, every bad decision ever made, that ultimately led to you being in that building on that night. I understand the perspective you are coming at this from. Guilt occurs when you feel like you did something wrong, and you are struggling because you are seeing your singular wronged perspective. But Yang, I'm not a philosopher. I have no interest in trying to figure out if you did anything right or wrong that night, or whose fault those deaths really are in some broader context. I'm not a pastor either, so I don't care about confessions. I'm a therapist, and right now, my only concern is making sure you don't hate yourself. Even if that hate is justified—whatever that even means."

"So, then what?" Yang asked. "How am I supposed to just stop hating myself when I know I did something wrong?"

"By focusing on what matters," Dr. Noetal stated firmly. "I want you to ignore everything you know and don't know about those people you hurt. Don't speculate about their lives. Don't grieve for them. Don't think about all the things you could have done differently, at least not for the past. Internalize it and strive to do better in the future to avoid these, but for the past, you can't do anything about it. Think only about this: you did what you had to do to save your sister's life. You weren't trying to hurt anyone that day, but you were protecting yourself. There is nothing wrong with doing that. And you did save your sister's life. She is sitting here next to you because you were able to fight and keep her safe. No one else and nothing else matters."

"But…" Yang said almost beggingly. "But that's awful."

"I know it's awful," Dr. Noetal nodded. "But it's how you're going to be able to live with yourself. That's what I want from you, Yang. Do you think you could do that?"

Yang shuddered. She wasn't sure if she could look her doctor in the eye. She definitely couldn't look her teammates in the eyes. It felt wrong saying that was the solution, like burying her guilt was the only true path to freedom. Then again, what else had she been doing all week but bury her guilt. When she was talking to Penny, and when she was watching Blake on that debate stage, she wasn't thinking of her victims at all. She felt normal in those preoccupied moments. God, what she wouldn't give to feel normal again…

"I… I'm not sure. I could try," Yang admitted. Dr. Noetal smirked.

"That's what I would like. I don't expect it to be easy, but after this session I'll give you some techniques to help clear your mind. That being said, this isn't the only thing bothering you, is it?"

Yang shook her head. "I wish it was."

"Well," Dr. Noetal checked her watch. "Looks like we still have almost the full hour left, don't we?"

Note: Next time... more therapy.