"So, yeah, that's about it," Kali finished, a hint of defiant pride in her voice. "Some of us decided to stick it to him, and now we're probably screwed."

"For the record, I did not approve this before it happened," Summer jumped in as she held up a finger. "And I got pretty upset afterward."

Maria held a cup of tea in one hand and a pinched fold of skin on her forehead in the other as she listened to her students recount the call to Professor Ozpin. The sounds of the beach below the wooden deck filled in the silence, though they did nothing to break up the tension.

"That hardly matters, Miss Rose," Maria chided as she let go of her head and shook it slowly. "Was the phrase 'come at me, bro' uttered during this call?"

Roman gave Kali an uncertain look, which the faunus returned. Maria merely blinked twice before taking a long, slow sip of her tea.

"…the fact that you could not say for certain without thinking about it tells me everything I need to know. I was joking, and yet, upon reflection, it does seem like a legitimate possibility. What exactly were you hoping to gain by rebelling for the sake of rebelling? What advantage did you believe you would find in all of this? Need I remind you that, for whatever faults he may have, Professor Ozpin is directly responsible for your education and future as hunters, especially given the fact that you were made into his personal strike unit? Not only that, but trying to distance yourself from your teammates when you disagree with their actions instead of trying to help them come back around isn't an attractive quality for a leader. Grow up, all of you."

There was another uncomfortable silence in which the atmosphere seemed to be filled with a palpable sense of shame. The only thing that brought an end to it was Cerise suddenly swirling her drink from where she sat in the jacuzzi, letting the ice cubes clack against the sides of her glass to draw Maria's attention.

"So I don't know you at all, but to be fair, a lot of this is because of me. This Ozpin guy was demanding information I didn't want to give him, and this merry band jumped in to try to protect me. I get the feeling that my situation was just the final straw and this is all rooted in something deeper, but still- they had good intentions, for what it's worth."

"And those same good intentions led to you being dragged into all of this to begin with," Maria pointed out. That's not enough, in a situation like the one we find ourselves dealing with now. Wishing, hoping, and worrying yourselves about what's fair will only serve to make you less effective as a team, especially when you're now a team of… fourteen adolescents standing against the greatest threat to Remnant in its history."

"Fifteen," Kali pointed out. "Sasha's aware that something is going on with Professor Ozpin, and she's likely going to figure out some uncomfortable truths soon, even if I don't tell her everything."

Maria gave Kali a hard stare, narrowing her eyes.

"…who the hell is Sasha? Are you telling me that you've met yet another friend that suddenly 'needs' to know the truth?"

"Sasha Rainart," Kali answered. "Do you remember our first big victory way back around when we started up? That heist that landed me in jail because I dared to have cat ears in public? Sasha was the other feline that I helped take down. She decided to turn a new leaf and start at Beacon. Professor Ozpin was helping her apply and get settled, and then… things happened."

"Ah. That's her name," Maria replied with a nod. "I'd heard he was taking another charity case under his wing much like Adam, but I wasn't aware of the details… or at least, they weren't at the forefront of my mind. What things happened, exactly?"

Kali shot Cerise an uneasy look, only for the outsider's expression to turn to one of disbelief.

"Seriously? I'm in this deep and you're still hesitating to share?"

"Right, sorry, fine!" Kali gave in with a weary sigh. "She… her Semblance lets her 'talk' to weapons, apparently. Some kind of ghostly remainder of whoever touched it last before her. Apparently, she got a hand on Professor Ozpin's cane and was met with a shitload of screaming entities that were not him. Given what little we know about the man, that… makes sense? I guess?"

"…oh, wonderful," Maria griped as the sounds of footsteps echoed in the house behind her. She, along with everyone else present on the deck turned their attention back inside, where two figures were making their way toward the sliding glass door. "And now, to complicate matters further…"

Velvet was first to emerge onto the deck, striding confidently forward before offering a nod to Maria. Adam followed behind, already looking somewhat ashamed and uncertain before anything had even been said to him. He kept his eye away from his teammates, well aware that they were all looking at him as Velvet began to speak.

"So. What'd we miss? Sounded like something important was going down, but it looks like you're all still alive. On that note, where's Fox?"

"Sleeping upstairs," Willow answered. "He's… had a day."

"And the two of you are about to have one," Maria warned as she stood up, taking her tea with her. "Come with me to the living room. I need to fill you in on everything that has gone on… particularly you, Miss Scarlatina. Your team is dealing with some rather life-changing information. You're going to want to sit down for this."

Velvet's confident expression melted away as she watched Maria head back inside with Adam in tow. She watched her faunus companion disappear without a word before turning to look at Ghira.

"…is it really that serious?"

"I'm afraid so," the man confirmed with a solemn nod. "In fact, I'm going to come with you to hear it again from that professor and make sure I have the story straight."

"Mind if I tag along?" Cerise asked as she climbed out of the jacuzzi, taking great care to keep her drink steady. "Not that I don't trust you people, but she seems to know her shit… and I want her on my side when it comes to that Ozpin jackass. I might need backup from Beacon."

"Not at all," Ghira encouraged as he led the party of three to the door. "See you all soon."

The glass door closed behind Cerise, leaving teams STRQ, most of OKRA, Willow, and one other hunter who was quite out of place on the deck.

"…why do you all look so upset?" Sage asked from his place still within the jacuzzi. "That could have gone much worse. Your professor seemed to take it relatively easy on you."

"It's not just her," Roman sulked. He had taken to leaning against one of the far railings on the deck and was uncharacteristically without a drink in hand. "Adam didn't even say 'hi' to us… and when it comes to Professor Calavera, she's kinda right. We do need to grow up, and fast. It's time to stop making excuses and fucking things up. I'm guilty of it more than a lot of you, and I'll admit it."

Bartholomew nodded his agreement and tapped his fingers atop the glass table before him, where he sat alongside Raven and Summer.

"Quite a mature take from you. While I didn't participate in standing against the headmaster, I will also admit that I need to make some changes. In fact, I have a working theory- we've all been restless the first few days of this supposed vacation, and I believe that it may be due to the fact that we're all just so used to doing things that the prospect of actually relaxing is foreign to us. Perhaps focusing upon self-improvement alongside self-care is the key, moving forward. It could be a sort of assignment for us all, and a justification for taking time to ourselves."

"Can we not make this into a therapy session?" Qrow asked with a sigh. "That'd be great. You might be on to something, though. Raven and I were already restless even back at Beacon, since training moved so much slower…"

"I can confirm that to be true," Raven agreed. "Still, I don't think we should back down entirely… nor do I believe that our stance was wrong or necessarily due to immaturity. At least, not entirely. Sure, we have some growing to do, but let's not beat ourselves up over it. Nothing's ruined… yet."

Sage grunted an affirmation as he climbed out of the water, trailing droplets behind himself as he walked to the railing to stand next to Roman. He looked out at the group before turning his attention down to the wooden floorboards and lowering his voice as though he was afraid of being overheard inside.

"…balance is important. It isn't just all of you feeling these things or making mistakes. Team BASS isn't perfect either, and environment also plays a role. I don't blame any of you for what happened with the Salem situation, or even for calling out your headmaster. Your circumstances led you to that, regardless of what your professor may say."

Kali raised a brow and shifted her weight, looking at Sage with a bit of skepticism.

"Why are you suddenly taking it easy on us, especially when we don't deserve it? I thought your role on Team BASS was to be the practical, I-told-you-so sort of guy that reins things back in once they get too stupid or risky."

"Usually, yes," Sage agreed with a nod. "But lately… things have been changing, partially due to your two teams showing up. I don't mean because of the Salem situation, either- your dynamics are wildly different from our own, and… I don't believe you give yourselves enough credit, even if I've seemed harsh thus far. In BASS, we do care about each other, sure, but not like you people do. Starting up relationships, constantly defending each other and rushing to each other's sides when someone needs support… we don't really do that. Or at least, we don't do it in equal measure, or when it really counts. We've always held each other at somewhat of a distance, and it's tiring. I envy what all of you seem to have with each other."

"I don't understand," Willow admitted, looking nervous. "When I spent time with your team at the tavern, you all seemed to have something similar going on. Playing off each other like you could read each other's minds, picking up the slack based on your skills and observations, watching out for each other…"

"Sure," Sage agreed, though he didn't sound all that enthusiastic about it. "But that's all… surface level, I guess you could say? It's not that we dislike each other. It's not an issue of not getting along, or what disagreements we have, either. It's just that for all of Fox and Ghira's efforts, I don't have that feeling that you all seem to have of your teams being some sort of pseudo-family. I don't get the sense that we'll be sticking together after graduation. It's not anyone's fault, either- I can just see the difference, and it's getting clearer to me by the day."

"Okay, what the hell brought this on?" Roman asked. "You've barely spoken to us up until now, and now you're just dumping all this on people you barely know? I mean, I don't think any of us really mind, but again- what the hell, man? This doesn't seem like your style."

"It's a combination of things that I'd rather not talk about," Sage admitted as he closed his eyes. "One of them, though, is this place- not the house, Vacuo. It's making me… callous. I think it's affecting my entire team, and I don't like what it's doing to us. I don't like being here, even if it is my home. I'm telling you all of this now because I've never really been alone with most of your group before, and… I'm beginning to think I might need to leave."

Author's Note:

Adam wants to stay. Sage wants to leave. Neither can do what they want to.

Can they?

-RD