Author's Notes:

Chapter 69, very nice.

Enjoy!

"Text/Messages"

"Speech"

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

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 69: Truth

It was raining.

Not the heavy downpour kind of rain, but a light drizzle that came from a grey and cloudy sky. The kind of day that screamed melancholy.

Or maybe that was Weiss' own mood ruining the day? Or maybe it was that she was wearing a skirt and the bench she was sitting on was wet.

Said bench was positioned just outside of the new town hall. A two-story wooden building of modest make. Apparently, it had been destroyed in a Grimm attack more than half a year ago. The rest of her team was standing around her, also looking rather irritated and dejected.

"You think she'll tell us this time?" Ruby asked as she glanced at her teammates.

The blonde of their group rolled her eyes and scowled. "Don't hold your breath Rubes, she's a real piece of work."

Three days. Three days of failing to get a peep out of the Captain. It was now day four of annoying the Captain for information, meaning this was day nine of them being in Rhyt. With the two days it took to get there, they only had a couple days left before they'd have to head back to Beacon. At least the saboteur hadn't struck again.

"Two weeks, almost two weeks, and nothing to show for it," the Faunus of their group whined as she looked up into the rain. Glancing at her, she could see that frustration and disappointment on the Faunus's face.

While Weiss shared the sentiment, there was another part of her that felt more conflicted. The Mimic was by no means a good person and should be stopped. But trying to reconcile that House–the man that had been a true teacher to her at Beacon, giving her advice when she needed it most–was also a murderer? It was hard to stomach. Everything he had taught her led her to believe he wasn't like that. To try and understand his reasoning behind it, there just had to be a reason.

On top of that, the Mimic helped her. Not once but twice. He saved her from the wrath of Adam Taurus twice. Once on a train where he both scarred and freed her by killing her father, then again at the base of her enemy. But was the White Fang truly her enemy? They just fought for what they believed, like her, and had lost loved ones like her to their enemy.

She just couldn't judge House–the Mimic until she knew why he did those things. Until she understood why he was helping criminals, students, the heroes, and the villains.

"Hey, Huntresses! Whenever you're ready, the Captain will see you!" A blond guard called out to them. The same one that had slipped Ruby a note. What was his name? Larry, right?

Weiss stood up from her seat, mentally preparing herself to face the Captain again. She was a headstrong woman who was only looking after her town. Weiss had to keep that in mind. It didn't stop the bubbling frustration she felt in her stomach at being repeatedly told "we don't know anything" by her. Especially when Weiss knew it was a lie.

"Thanks Larry!" Ruby called out with a smile before making her way towards the town hall. Two large wooden doors were pushed aside by Larry as they entered.

The interior of the building was as plain as its outside. It had a few decorations that littered the interior, mostly a few simple tapestries and lights. But otherwise the spacious room was vacant save for some large desks that the Captain and a few guards were sitting around.

Walking up to the desks, Weiss could see several reports and plans for the town being drawn up. The Captain herself was looking over such a paper before she saw them approaching. Turning, she greeted them.

"So, what can I do for you Huntresses?"

This made Yang cross her arms and Blake's irritated expression turned into a glare; even Ruby's smile twitched downward. However, Weiss couldn't bring herself to react all that much. She was just too tired.

"Oh just checking in to see if you know anything about that missing Huntsman again," Ruby answered with fake cheer as she leaned onto one of the tables. Several of the other citizens of Rhyt turned to her with annoyed looks.

Sighing, the Captain turned her head. "And as I've said before, we don't know anything. If that's all, please see yourself out."

"Come on, we both know that's a lie!" Yang cut in, earning a glare from the Captain. "Just tell us already so we can get out of your hair! What loyalty do you owe to him anyways, it sounds like you hated his guts!"

The soldier of Rhyt clenched her jaw as she refused to answer the Huntress. Her eyes instead narrowed as she inhaled through her nose.

"We may not like him but he saved-" One of the other guards in the room began before the Captain turned to him with a glare.

"Silence," she ordered and the outspoken guard fell silent.

Weiss sighed before looking over the Captain. "Please," she began, feeling the past week and her own conflicting emotions draining the energy out of her. "We just want to help."

Their adversary turned to Weiss, looking her over before her gaze softened. Placing both her hands on the desk, the Captain replied in a soft tone. "I know, and I'm sorry. The people of this town have spoken, and while we don't like him, we don't need trouble coming here."

Weiss nodded her head, understanding that at least. The people here were already stressed enough just surviving the Grimm, let alone the unwanted attention they might get from the Mimic or his cohorts.

"But that can't possibly mean everyone agrees," Blake argued, trying to find any clue they could get.

The Captain nodded, "Of course." Turning to Blake, she continued in a tired tone, "However, they'll follow the will of whatever the majority decides. I'm afraid you won't find any more information here."

Just as Weiss felt what little hope she had dashed away, the doors behind them opened as Larry strode towards the Captain.

"Captain, just got a drop off by Old Man Spring, I think you're gonna wanna see this."

The blond soldier's words raised Weiss' curiosity as he walked up to the Captain and handed her a scroll. She took it in her hands and opened it before playing a video. Her expression changed from neutral, to surprised, to furious, and then quickly back to neutral as the video ended. What could it have possibly been about?

"Change of plans," the Captain said, her tone taking a dark turn. "Head to the East of here, about a half-hour trip into the woods. We don't know if there is actually anything out there, but we know that he and the Huntsman were seen fighting something massive. Look for destroyed trees a bit further than you were looking. I'm sure if there is something to see, it's there."

The four members of team RWBY blinked before their leader jumped into the air and fistpumped.

"Yes!" Ruby shouted as she turned and began darting back out the door. "Come on team!"

Blake and Yang turned without a second thought but Weiss lingered for a moment in thought. What had been on that video to change her mind? More importantly, if she knew they had been searching East of the town, someone had been watching them. The thought left Weiss a bit perturbed that they hadn't realized that.

"C'mon Weiss!" Ruby shouted from the doors. Well, at least they had a lead. No time to waste on things she couldn't change.

As she turned, Weiss heard the Captain speak to the blond soldier. "Get this confirmed, then call everyone into a meeting."

Weiss hoped things were going to get better with that video and not worse.

The drizzling rain had been coming down for a bit as team RWBY made their way through the town. The rain made the ground soft and muddy in some places, making Weiss regret her heels.

They were just approaching the Eastern gate when Blake whispered, "Hey, check out the people at the gate."

Taking a second glance, Weiss noticed that other than the guards, several men and women were loitering around the gate. Maybe a dozen in total? What were they waiting for…

In the back the two hunting sisters watched. Wait... No. That wasn't right. The local sister was a hunter. Her out-of-town sibling just had a similar weapon. What did she do again?

Hateful glares and discontented murmurs diverted Weiss' attention and pressured their team to move forward, intent on getting out of the town. If they could just get some evidence, then they'd leave all this nonsense behind.

But as they stepped near the gate, one of the men strode into the center of their exit. Judging from the small scar on his face, this was Scarred Tom once again being a pest.

"And where are you ladies off to?" The man questioned with a sneer. "Planning on destroying our town now?"

"For fuc-" Yang began before cutting herself off, for Ruby's sake. "No. We're just heading out for a bit. We'll be out of your hair, doesn't that make you happy?"

Tom scoffed at her response, causing a few more of the loitering townspeople to gather behind him. This didn't look good.

"You Huntresses are all the same. You come here, demand shit from us, and leave us when the going gets tough." The shop owner began before spreading his arms out. "But even we didn't think you'd stoop so low to sabotage us just to get Lien."

"What?" Ruby replied, utterly bewildered by the man's words.

"You did it again!" The man shouted through the rain as he pointed a finger at them. "You sabotaged our protection against the Grimm, Grimm come, we're forced to pay the Huntresses that just so happen to be here." Tom scowled as he continued, "Does it make you feel good watching struggling people sell what little they have to pay you? Does it feel good destroying what little surplus weapons and armor we have?"

Someone had sabotaged them again? Was it the same perpetrator? Why?

"I… No we…" Ruby stumbled over her words, horrified by the very prospect that a Huntress would do that. But Weiss knew where this was coming from.

From every conversation she'd had since they came there, this town had been forgotten by the Kingdoms. Left to die. Not only that, this town was founded by people that the Kingdoms had wronged. People left to die or forced out. From soldiers with a conscience to people screwed over by Huntresses like them.

A thought entered Weiss' head at that moment. A funny one that Weiss couldn't help but smile at.

"The fuck are so happy about?" The belligerent man questioned as his gaze turned towards the former Heiress.

Weiss couldn't help but answer, "You're just like the Kingdoms now."

Tom's look went from irritated to enraged as he opened his mouth to shout, "We are nothing like them!"

"Woah, hold on," Yang tried to get in with raised hands. "No need to get so riled up."

"Shut up you blonde slut, do you even know how to fight?"

Yang's eyes flashed red as she slammed her fist into her palm. "Repeat that again?" She threatened while taking a step forward.

Realizing her mistake, Weiss stepped forward, "I'm sorry for what I said. I'm just tired and it's been a long week."

But the man was no longer listening to her as he stepped forward, the mob stepping with him.

"Ya heard me, bitch. You want to-" The man paused mid-sentence as Yang flared her Aura and took a step forward. They all knew as people without Aura, they stood no chance against her.

"Hold it you noisy lot!" A new voice called out from behind team RWBY. The voice was older and she vaguely recognized it. Weiss turned to spot Richter walking past her.

"Before you go blaming people with no evidence, I got something for ya."

Tom turned, his rage now focused on Richter. "What? Just because you got some special treatment from the Kingdoms, you think you got something to say now?"

A horrid realization dawned on Weiss then. If this town hated Richter before, and they hated the Kingdoms, then they probably hated the man even more now that he got his new prosthetic. Because how did someone get a brand new high-end Atlesian prosthetic without having contacts in Atlas? Why did he stay in a place that hated him?

"Just shut your mouth and watch the video," Richter replied in a gruff tone. He sounded irritated but not all that angry or stressed. "I already provided a copy to Lirah, check it and take your angry mob somewhere else."

Tom snatched the device out of his hand before watching it. And as the video played, his angry look left him.

"Oh…"

"Yeah, oh," Richter agreed.

"I… Shit. This makes me look like a real jackass." At Tom's words, all Richter could do was nod. "Where'd you even get this from?"

"Cerise. Apparently he recorded it." Richter's answer got Weiss to try and remember that name. Who was that again?

"Hey, that's the kid with red hair I talked to," Ruby filled in the blanks for her team. Right… The apparently 'creepy' kid as Ruby described. Apparently, whatever he recorded exonerated them.

And judging by the smirk on Blake's face, she had something to do with it.

"Now don't say anything," Richter commanded as he took the Scroll back. "Lirah is planning on making an announcement later today. Keep it quiet."

Tom nodded his head as he turned back to the rest of his group. "Alright, we got the wrong people, let's get out of here."

At his order, the group complained but slowly dispersed as they headed back to their homes. He gave one last look at their group and scowled before turning away.

"Hey, I want an apology!" Yang yelled at him as he walked away.

That got a chuckle from Richter who turned to their group. "Trust me, he might realize he was wrong, but he'll never apologize. Just leave it as is." He took a few steps closer, a leather jacket covering his flannel now. "Did you get what you needed from Lirah?"

"Who's Lirah?" Blake queried.

"Right, you wouldn't know," the older man answered with a smile. "She goes by Captain but Lirah is her given name."

"To answer your question, yes, we're heading to investigate our lead now. Thank you for your help." Weiss answered the older man with a bow of her head. Without his direction and timely intervention today, things would have gone bad.

"Yeah, thanks Richter!" Ruby added as she darted over to the man who in turn scratched the back of his head.

"Don't mention it Ruby," Richter replied as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Get going, I hope you find what you're looking for."

Not needing further provocation, the group set out. It looked like the her team was ready to go but Weiss paused and turned back to the older man. If this town hated him so much, why didn't he leave like House?

"Why do you choose to stay?" Weiss questioned, hoping his answer would give insight into the Mimic's mindset as well.

"Because without me, I'm pretty sure everyone in this town would die. I can't live with that…" He paused after his answer, thinking it over before continuing, "And… My wife lived and died here. Free of what the Kingdoms forced us to do. Until Carmine says otherwise, I'll stay here as long as she wants. It's home."

It was personal. Well, personal and a sense of duty. Was it the same for the Mimic?

With a nod of her head, Weiss turned and caught up with her team heading East.

"You know," Blake began as they trudged further into the woods. "It's not us that sabotaged the incense or broke their stuff. And probably not anyone from here either."

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "Which means someone from out of town is probably doing it."

Weiss was inclined to think it was Otto. He was an outsider and was waiting for another person to arrive. What reason would such a man have to visit this remote town? Though she had no proof of his guilt.

"What about Otto's cousin?" Blake questioned, getting Weiss' attention.

"What?" Yang replied, confused. "He's not even in town yet."

Blake shrugged. "As far as we're aware that is. He and Otto could be working together. One stays in town, the other stays outside?" She paused before staring up at the rainy sky. "Not that it matters without proof."

In Weiss' mind, they didn't even know if this cousin existed. Not that she'd bring that up, they already had too many questions and not enough answers.

They had been walking for about twenty-odd minutes. This was about the point they'd expect to come across what the Captain described. What kind of Grimm had they been fighting that was big enough to knock over a series of trees? And would it be strong enough to kill a Huntsman?

"Over there," Ruby called out past the wind and rain. "I think this is what we're looking for."

Looking past Ruby, Weiss spotted the dozens of destroyed trees and scorch marks around them. It looked like a horde of Grimm had been through here. But if they had been, why hadn't they gone towards the town?

Taking a step into the carnage, she looked around, noticing from the impact of these trees that they hadn't been knocked over from attacks but rather something had merely walked over them. Maybe it was one massive Grimm instead that chased them?

She was disappointed with herself that they hadn't explored further. This should have been obvious to them over a week ago. It would have saved a lot of trudging around in the woods.

Turning her head, she saw that it left an apparent trail of fallen trees that led North. Before she could chime in, Blake was already heading in that direction, the Faunus' focus honing in on their final lead.

The group followed after the Faunus, only to catch up to her as she leaned down and stared hard at the ground. It appeared that the trail of destroyed trees ended there and a few large scorch marks littered the area. They looked strange? Weiss wasn't sure but it didn't look like Dust had been detonated here, but then what exploded?

Blake was having a hard time picking up the trail. The task was made even more difficult given the time that had passed between whatever happened there and the group's arrival.

But as Blake's eyes went upward, and she turned her head to the right, her pupils dilated as she honed in on something. Without saying a word, she got up and stomped into the treeline a good distance away from them.

"Blake, wait!" Yang called out but was ignored. It was getting hard to keep up with the mud and wet ground making their feet sink into it. Why did she choose to wear heels?

Ignoring the schlopping noise coming from each step, Weiss trudged after her. When they once again caught up to Blake, she was standing at a new tree, the rain still pouring down on her, harder than when they left town.

"This is it," Blake muttered to them with excitement. Stepping aside, they could all clearly see a name carved into the tree.

"Thomas Logarius"

And below that was a small mound of dirt and soil that barely stood out thanks to the months it had likely been there. The grass was just starting to grow back in. If they gave it another few months, Weiss doubted they would have even noticed it.

"I am not digging into that," Weiss couldn't help but comment. Who knew what creepy crawlies were in the mud beneath them? It was bad enough they were trudging through it already, let alone digging their bare hands in it.

Yang turned to her in thought. "Maybe we could use Ruby's scythe?"

"No!" Hissed Ruby in protest.

Before the bickering could continue, Blake leaned down and stuck her hands into the ground. She began shoveling dirt aside with her bare hands.

Oh gods above, please no. Weiss shivered not just from the cold but from Blake's obsessive digging now. But turning to her teammates…

Yang and Ruby were glancing between each other before looking at her. They grimaced before getting on their hands and knees and helping. Oh, come on! This wasn't okay…

Sighing, Weiss reluctantly joined her teammates in their disgusting venture.

In one last moment of solidarity before they uncovered the truth, all of team RWBY dug into the wet mud. Their nails became caked in it, their hands filthy, and their hair and outfits wet. It was a disgusting thing for Weiss but it was also a form of unity for their team. One final push from all of them.

After twenty disgusting minutes of them digging with their bare hands, maybe getting a little over a foot deep, Blake was the first to hit something hard.

This caused the group to slow and dig carefully so as to not damage anything. And as they did, more and more of what looked like bones emerged.

When all was said and done, they had uncovered half a skeleton, mostly decayed save a few bits of flesh.

Ruby turned green and Yang backed away. However, Weiss couldn't help but notice the key detail. A strangely covered revolver, and more importantly, a large bullet hole in the skull.

This was it, undeniable proof that House–going by Joshua at the time–likely killed Logarius and buried him where no one would find him. Even if they couldn't connect House to the Mimic completely, this was more than enough to convict the man for years. Killing a Huntsman was just shy in severeness to killing a Councilor.

Blake began to breathe unevenly as she saw it. Realizing what Weiss had. The Faunus' gaze turned to her own as she stated in relief and vindication.

"This is it."

Author's Notes:

So team RWBY finally finds evidence that could put House away. But is it already too late to stop the dastardly Mimic's plans from coming to fruition? Or will the Courier have his day?

The last piece of the mystery will be revealed in the next and last chapter of this investigation.