Ruby joined her sister at the couch with her slices of pizza while Weiss still stood in the kitchen, holding her plate that contained a single slice. She watched as Yang, kicked back and holding a plate under her chin with her mechanical hand, took a bite.

"Don't you have a table?" Weiss asked, appalled by the lack of decorum.

Both sisters gave her puzzled expressions.

"It's right there." Yang gestured to the coffee table her feet were currently resting on.

"I mean a dining table."

"No. What for?"

"To have somewhere proper to eat!"

"But the couch has a better view of the TV," said Ruby. "And it's more comfortable."

"But what if someone spills something? It could ruin the cushions or your carpet."

Yang shrugged carelessly. "Then we'd clean. What's the big deal?"

"Come on." Ruby wiped pepperoni grease from the corner of her mouth. "You're telling us you never eat anywhere but at a table?"

"Of course! You have to have somewhere to put your silverware and your napkins."

Yang rolled her eyes. "You don't eat pizza with silverware, and there are napkins on the coffee table."

"Just sit down, Weiss," said Ruby. "You don't have to be so uptight all the time."

"I'm not uptight!"

Both sisters laughed, and Weiss flushed. Dubiously, she walked over to the living room and sat down next to Ruby, leaving a full cushion of distance between them. She held the plate near her face and took a modest bite.

"Ayy!" Yang lightly clapped with her wrists, as both hands were full. "You did it!"

Still feeling as if she was being mocked, Weiss swallowed her pride and bit off some more.

It tasted heavenly—anything would when compared to her current diet. Before college, Weiss had only ever had gourmet pizza. When she started living on her own, she had her first experiences with fast food. Somehow, simple marinara with cheese and pepperoni tasted just as good as the numerous spices and toppings the family's personal chef carefully arranged.

"So," Yang said after a silence. "How do you two know each other?"

Weiss and Ruby exchanged a look.

"We met online," said Ruby. "I was looking for help with my problem, she responded, and we got to talking—"

"To which I explained that a semblance can't be cured," Weiss said.

Yang gave Weiss a sympathetic shrug. "Wrong tree."

Ruby scowled. "Anyway, I reached out to her again after I got my assignment, and then she agreed to come over today and help me out with it."

"How's it coming along?" Yang asked.

"Alright. First project of the semester, so nothing all that difficult."

Weiss wondered what she was studying. A fabricated project like AI theory suggested something technology-related. She opened her mouth to ask, but then she realized that she should already know the answer, according to this fiction Ruby had created. So, instead, she addressed something else that had held her curiosity.

"This is a really nice place you have," she said.

"Yeah," said Yang. "View could be better, but I can't complain."

"It can't be cheap."

"Our dad pays for it."

"Oh? And what does he do?"

Yang opened her mouth, but Ruby answered first. "He's a business owner."

Though she didn't like it, Weiss had to appreciate the irony. She, a member of a very well-known family, was now poor, and Ruby—this simple, often aggravating girl—was living in luxury off of a successful father.

"Would I have heard of him?" Weiss said.

"Probably not." Ruby took a bite and quickly swallowed it. "So, Yang—working on anything interesting?"

"Not really," Yang answered. "Still just rounding up White Flame goons. Haven't had an interesting case come to our precinct in a bit."

"The White Flame?" Weiss said.

"Yeah. Once we get all the stragglers, they'll be done for good, this time. Not as much of a threat without their boss."

Weiss disagreed, but didn't say it. Adam Taurus had an unwavering tenacity that in any better man could be considered admirable. Nothing short of death would keep him down forever.

By the time Ruby and Yang had gotten to their third slices, Weiss was still working on her first and didn't intend on having a second. Her participation in the conversation was rather minimal as she found herself mostly sitting back and observing. The sisters' casual dynamic and the ease with which they communicated struck a chord of envy in her.

Trying not to think about how much she missed Winter, she distracted herself by admiring Yang's prosthetic. It was a very sleek design—solid metal, matte finish, no exposed wires, and minimal seams. The movements of its parts were fluid and silent, and Yang controlled it with such ease and dexterity that—if hidden by a glove—you would never be able to guess it wasn't organic.

"I won't be offended if you ask, you know," said the amputee in question.

"What?" Weiss said, startled.

Yang flexed her mechanical fingers. "You want to know how I lost the arm. I get it."

"Oh. No. Honestly, I was just interested in the technology behind it. Did the STC make that?"

Yang snorted. "Definitely not. This was a custom order that shipped from overseas. Still not as good as the original, but our dad went full stop to get the best of the best."

"Seriously," Ruby said. "What's with you and the STC?"

"So, how did you lose it?" Weiss said, ignoring her.

Yang grinned and leaned forward. "Ah. Now that is a great story. I was sixteen, out camping in the woods south of Mistral. It was a cold night, the fire crackling, and dead silent. Then, all of a sudden—"

"She lost it in a house fire," said Ruby.

"Hey!" Yang complained

"She wasn't going to believe you lost it wrestling a bear." Ruby rolled her eyes at Weiss, smiling in spite of herself. "She was also going to say she won."

"I would've," Yang mumbled.

Weiss giggled.

"Fine," said Yang. "A fire broke out at a girlfriend's house when I was sixteen, and it took my arm. Pretty boring."

"Boring? That must've been horrible!"

"Yeah, but it wasn't even the scariest day of my life," Yang said with a nonchalance Weiss didn't buy. "Come over again and I might tell you about that. What about you? Got a story behind that scar?"

Weiss touched her fingers to it. She looked from Yang to Ruby, hesitant. "Not really. I got careless while tuning a piano. A wire snapped and cut me."

"A piano wire did that?" Ruby said in disbelief.

Weiss nodded and took her final bite, setting the crust down with the plate and reaching for a napkin.

"I didn't think they had that kind of elasticity."

"You'd be surprised."

Ruby didn't seem convinced, but Weiss would tell her the truth another time. It was too recent to just bring up as an anecdote over dinner.

In all it was a rather enjoyable evening.

Weiss had ended the night by giving Ruby her number. Whether this was a good decision came into question the very next day, when Weiss had made it perfectly clear that she'd be too busy to meet up again. It was the early afternoon, and she was just leaving one of Vale's other prisons, feeling pretty spent with the excessive use of her semblance, when her scroll buzzed. Ruby's name was on the screen.

Thankful that she hadn't called even a minute sooner, Weiss accepted the call. "Ruby, I told you—"

"Weiss Schnee," came Ruby's voice.

She stopped in her tracks. "Pardon me?"

"That's your name, isn't it?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"Aha! So it's true!"

Weiss's free hand balled into a fist. "How did you find out?"

"Yang remembered hearing about your attack when she was at work today. I knew a piano wire couldn't cut that deep."

"You are utterly tactless."

"What?" Ruby sounded genuinely confused by Weiss's reaction, which only infuriated Weiss more. "I'm not making fun of you for it or anything."

"We'll talk tomorrow, as planned. Don't call me unless it's important."

"But—"

Weiss hung up.

Ruby entered the car and fastened her seatbelt without a word. Weiss started the ignition and pulled out onto the road, not giving her so much as a glance. The drive ensued wordlessly, the occasional directions from the GPS on Weiss's scroll being the only source of noise.

After several minutes of this, Ruby spoke up. "I wasn't trying to be insensitive, you know. If you hadn't hung up, I'd—"

"I don't want to talk about this," said Weiss. "If I'd wanted to, I would have told you the truth. Did you even consider that? That just maybe there was a reason I lied about how I got my scar?"

"But you saw a superhero up close. That's so cool!"

"There was nothing 'cool' about that experience, Ruby. I thought I was going to die."

Weiss heard Ruby shift uncomfortably, but didn't look at her. A tense silence followed.

"I'm sorry," Ruby finally said. Then, after more awkwardness, "So . . . You're a Schnee, huh? I guess that explains your obsession with the STC. And I thought your roots looked a little light."

Weiss made a mental note to buy more hair dye. "Just don't go shouting about it. And I don't have an 'obsession'. I distanced myself from the STC to pursue my current path years before my father drove it into the ground. But they were a leading tech giant for a reason—their technology was simply superior."

"Not so much near the end, though," said Ruby. "Their competitors started to catch up a lot after they fired their CTO."

"It's not like they had much of a choice."

Ruby didn't state whether she agreed.

When the GPS showed that they were just a few minutes away from their destination, Weiss spoke up again. "Tell me about these private investigators."

"Sun and Neptune?" said Ruby. "They're great. Sun's always willing to help out a friend, and is pretty wise for his age. I don't think much scares him. Neptune can appear dumb on the surface, but he knows what he's doing and—well, he's just cool. He did try to be a cop once, but failed the personality exam."

"I meant," said Weiss, "are you sure we can trust them?"

"Definitely. They're good friends, and really good at keeping secrets. Neptune's a bit of a gossip, but can keep his mouth shut when it's important."

"And the thing you said about as few people knowing about this as possible?"

"We need the help. It's just two more people. You don't need to worry about them leaking anything—I promise."

"Alright, then," Weiss said. "I'll take your word for it."

They finally arrived at an office building, half an hour after their departure. Ruby confirmed it was the right one, so Weiss parked and they both entered the building. An old security guard sat behind the front desk, who simply waved at Ruby as they passed and continued reading his newspaper. There was an elevator, but Ruby walked right past it toward a door marked with a staircase symbol.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked.

"They're just up a level," said Ruby. "This is faster."

So they climbed the stairs and soon found themselves entering through a glass door into a decently-sized room that looked nothing like a private investigator's office. The only things that fit the description were the two desks positioned in the far corners and the boxes of files piled up on the floor beside them. Other than that, you wouldn't be crazy for thinking this was where a small college fraternity held their parties. There was a fridge next to some couches and a coffee table to the left of the door. A ping-pong table—which looked to double as a foosball table—stood off to the right. On the wall above that were some neon signs, a miniature basketball hoop, and a dartboard. And to top it all off, a disco ball hung in the middle of the room, low enough that Weiss almost had to duck her head to walk beneath it.

"Come on," Ruby muttered, walking to sit on a couch and motioning for Weiss to follow.

Both of the desks at the end of the room were occupied. A blonde-haired man wearing a button-down shirt with only two buttons hooked sat behind the one on the left, consoling a tearful woman seated across from him. Taking up the remaining desk and playing with a Rubik's cube was a blue-haired man with goggles strapped to his forehead. He gave a confident smile when they came in, but didn't attempt to speak to them. Weiss was pretty sure she could guess which man was which.

A minute later, the woman marched out of the room, wiping furious tears from her eyes. The blonde man stood and said, "Yikes," while unbuttoning his shirt, revealing his abs.

"Cheating husband?" Ruby said.

"Yep. Only got three years worth of evidence."

"Three years? And she needed you to tell her?"

"Some people are just oblivious," said the one with the goggles, who had strode halfway across the room and was now giving Weiss a charming smile. "I'm Neptune. You must be Weiss, but perhaps I could call you . . . some other time?"

"Oh," was all she could think to say as her cheeks grew a bit warmer.

"Don't mind him," the blonde said. "I'm Sun. So, what's this important case you had for us?"

"It's my mom," Ruby said.

The energy in the room instantly darkened as the two men's curiosity turned to looks of pity.

"This again?" Neptune said with the tone of a parent figuring out how to tell their child their dog died.

"No, it's different this time!" Ruby insisted. "We have a lead!"

"A lead?" Sun said with a quirk of the brow, interested but still skeptical.

"Honest." Ruby looked at Weiss. "Tell them."

Weiss hadn't expected to be put on the spot. "What? All of it?"

"Yes! I said you could trust them."

All eyes were on Weiss. She looked from Sun, who was watching her expectantly, to Neptune, who flashed an encouraging smile that made her heart beat slightly faster, and back to Ruby. Weiss had never even decided that she trusted her, yet, but for some reason she found that she did. Whether that trust translated to Ruby's sense of judgment remained to be seen, but the girl had an unwavering purity to her that made it difficult to doubt her.

If Weiss could confide the secret of her semblance's evolution to Ruby, who was by all accounts still a stranger, then why not two more?

"Wow," Neptune said after she finished filling them in. "That's . . . definitely concerning."

"Bole Maze," Sun muttered.

"Have you heard of him?" Weiss asked.

"No. I wish I did. And you have no idea why he was in prison?"

"Nope," said Ruby.

"It didn't come up while you were treating him?" Sun said to Weiss.

"No. It's a relatively short process, and that information wasn't deemed necessary. And I never got the chance to ask afterward."

There was a silence. Sun stood and began to pace across the room. Neptune kept a pensive stare at the floor as he absently toyed with the strap of his goggles.

"So?" Ruby said after a minute of this. "Will you help us?"

"What does Yang think of all this?" Sun said with the hint of an accusation.

Ruby scratched her neck. "She, uh . . . she doesn't know. And it's going to stay that way, for now."

Sun didn't look at all surprised. "Look. I get why you'd want to hide this from her, but—"

"Save me the lecture," Ruby interrupted. "I've already gotten one from Weiss. My mind is made up. If this goes nowhere, I'll tell her and let her and her coworkers take over."

Sun and Neptune shared a look.

"We want to help you," said Neptune.

"We're just as eager to see those bastards brought to justice," said Sun.

"But think about what it is you're getting into," Neptune continued. "This woman—if she's even the leader, like you're assuming—and her thugs or possible organization. Look how much they've done in the short time you've known of their existence. Do you really want to cross them?"

"We're aware of the risks," Weiss said before Ruby could open her mouth. "We've weighed our options. And as long as it's possible to keep this discreet, that's the best one. We don't know how powerful these malefactors are. They've been at large for two years at the very least. They could have people inside the police department for all we know. If that's the case, handing them this information could end disastrously."

"That's a bit of a leap," said Sun.

"But the one risk I'm not willing to take," said Ruby, giving Weiss an appreciative look. "We can be cautious. What can a detective do that we can't, anyway?"

"Question witnesses, investigate crime scenes, scour police records—" Neptune began to list off.

"There are no witnesses or crime scenes," Weiss cut in. "And if they attacked the county clerk's database, what reason do we have to assume the police's files are any safer?"

Sun studied her with a scrutiny. "No offense, but why are you even here? What do you have to gain? You could've walked right out the door after you told Ruby what you saw, or you could've taken it straight to the police without going to her at all. What's in this for you?"

Ruby looked like she was about to jump to her defense, but then she stopped herself. Instead, she watched Weiss, and waited for her answer.

Weiss had expected this, but she still wasn't prepared for it. She empathized with Ruby's plight, deeply, but that wasn't the whole of it. Keeping her semblance from the CAB wasn't the largest factor, either, and she was still struggling to figure out what was.

"Other than the fact that the alternative requires destroying my career?" Weiss said, unable to give a more honest answer. "I just want to do what I can to help. If you'd seen that woman, how blasé she was about committing such a heinous act, you wouldn't feel safe sleeping at night with someone like that on the loose. Even her own lackey seemed terrified of her."

"He is dead now, so I'd say he was right to be," Neptune said.

Ruby put her hand on Weiss's shoulder and stared at Sun. "I trust her."

Even as Weiss felt a surge of warmth within her from the gesture, she made her verdict that Ruby's judgment was lacking. Weiss didn't feel she'd earned it, yet. She certainly wouldn't trust herself in Ruby's position.

The two men took a step back and put their heads together, talking in low voices. Weiss observed them, unable to hear what they were saying. At one point, Sun gave Neptune a playful shove, and the latter smirked. After thirty seconds, they seemed to come to an agreement and turned back to face them.

"Alright," said Neptune. "We're in."

"Yes!" Ruby jumped up and punched the air, grinning. "What's your rate again?"

"Come on," Sun said with a dismissive wave. "We don't charge for friends."

"Or fair maidens." Neptune gave Weiss a sideways smile that showed off his brilliantly white teeth.

Sun rolled his eyes. "It's pro bono."

"This could be a huge time investment, though," said Ruby.

"Forget it," said Sun. "Now, let's track us down a killer!"

"So here's what I'm thinking, for our first move," said Neptune. "We need to find out what was said during this Maze guy's trial."

"Um, yeah," said Ruby. "I just said we already tried that."

"But you failed!" Neptune's tone implied that this was somehow a good thing. "They really went out of their way to destroy the files. That pretty much confirms that they contained something crucial. So we know you two were on the right track."

"It was my idea to go to the county clerk's office," Weiss volunteered.

"And a good one, too," Neptune said.

"Okay, but how are we supposed to find out what happened during the trial if the files are gone?" said Ruby.

"Well, we find someone who was there," said Sun. "Duh."

"Do you have any ideas?" Weiss asked.

"I do. Just give us a couple of days, and we'll call you if we learn anything."

"What? That's it?" said Ruby.

"Well, yeah," said Sun. "We've pretty much covered everything there is for now."

"What are we supposed to do?" said Weiss.

"Sit tight, relax," Neptune said. "Don't worry. We've got this."

"This is our investigation, remember," Ruby said. "You're just helping."

"So allow us to help," said Sun. "Two days, we'll reconvene and go from there."

"That sounds reasonable," said Weiss.

Ruby didn't seem pleased, but she agreed in the end.

Several minutes later, Weiss slid into the driver's seat and clicked her seatbelt into place. She was just putting the keys in the ignition when Ruby, who was focused on her scroll, said, "Don't start the car yet."

"Why not?" said Weiss.

"Because I have an idea. Just give me a minute."

Weiss crossed her arms and waited.

"'Sit tight'," Ruby muttered as she typed away. Once she sent off her text, she leaned back with her scroll still in hand and gave Weiss a strange look.

"What?" Weiss said.

"Why are you helping me?" Ruby asked.

"Didn't I just answer that?"

Ruby waited.

Weiss sighed. "Would you believe me if I told you I don't know?"

After a pause, Ruby said, "Yes."

Ruby's scroll buzzed. She took a few moments to reply, then waited once again. Meanwhile, Weiss pondered.

"I suppose," she finally said, "I feel responsible."

Ruby looked confused. "For what?"

"You. I chose to go to you before the police, and now you're on this path because of that decision. I think I've been struck with this irrational idea that I have to tag along and keep you from doing anything stupid."

"You know you don't, though . . . right? You can bow out whenever you want to."

"I'm aware."

It took a while, but Ruby eventually got her response. She read it, then gave a triumphant, "Yes!"

"What?" said Weiss.

"I'll tell you on the way. Go here." Ruby texted Weiss an address.

"Where are we going?" Weiss asked as she put it into her GPS and started the car.

"My friend Jaune's place," Ruby said. "He was at the trial."

"Jaune," Weiss repeated. A second later, it clicked. "Wait, Jaune Arc?"

"You know him?" Ruby said, surprised.

"I treated him once."

"Oh, right!" Ruby smacked her forehead. "Yeah, he's the one who showed me your ad. He never said he went through with hiring you."

Weiss remained silent, not wanting to bring up how poorly that particular contract had gone. Instead, she said, "Why was he at the trial?"

"He goes to a lot of trials to take notes. He's studying to get into law school."

"Law school? Him? He . . . didn't exactly seem the type."

Ruby shrugged. "His oldest sister's a lawyer. I think he's trying to take after her. Says he wants to be a prosecutor."

"Hmm," was Weiss's only comment. After a silence, she asked, "Why did you wait until now to ask him?"

"I, uh . . . didn't think of it," Ruby said sheepishly. "I was kind of hung up on the files until now. Probably should have considered people as a source of information a little sooner."

"Yes, you should have." Weiss decided not to mention that it had also slipped her own mind.

They arrived a short time later and traveled up the sidewalk toward the dingy apartment building where Weiss's semblance evolved. As they walked, she couldn't help looking nervously across the street, almost expecting to see those men standing there again. A little farther ahead, she could see the piece of wall she'd been pinned against, and vividly recalled the smell of the scarred man's breath and the venom dripping from his voice. Her heart began to beat a little faster, and her scar twinged, so faintly she probably imagined it.

"You alright?" Ruby asked.

"I'm fine," Weiss said firmly, unclenching her fists.

The pair entered the building and climbed the staircase. Ruby had to knock twice before the door opened, revealing the face of a man Weiss had never expected to see again.

"Hey, Ruby," said Jaune, his voice cheery. He looked better than before—his hair wasn't as unkempt, his posture was better, and he even smiled. But, despite appearing happy, there was still an unmistakable darkness to his eyes.

"Hi, Jaune," said Ruby. "Got the notes?"

"Yeah. Just come in . . ." His voice trailed off as he noticed Weiss, then there was a flicker of comprehension. "You."

"Oh, right," Ruby said awkwardly. "This is Weiss. You already knew that. She's helping me with my project."

To Weiss's surprise, Jaune smiled. "Cool. Nice to see you again."

He stepped aside to allow them in. His apartment was in a better state than before, with not as much junk lying about and the scent of air freshener meeting Weiss's nose. That, coupled with the wrapper sticking out from under the couch and the dishes piled in the sink, made her suspect the cleaning had been hastily done.

Jaune looked from Weiss to Ruby. "So you two are friends now? Interesting. I'll go grab my notes." He turned and disappeared into what was presumably a bedroom.

"You're staring at me again," Weiss said.

"Sorry," said Ruby. "It's just . . . was he right?"

"About what?"

"Us being friends."

Weiss studied her face, unsure if she was being serious. "We hardly know each other."

"So? That's a lot of what friendship is, isn't it? Getting to know each other?"

Weiss sighed. "Are we in middle school?"

"Look. Despite your icy attitude, I like you, okay? And I want us to be friends."

"Fine. Yes, dolt, we're friends." Though she found the entire conversation rather childish, Weiss felt oddly content saying the words. Growing up, her family name and status as a paragon often alienated her and drove away her peers. Because of that, she'd only ever had one real friend, whom she hadn't spoken to in years. It was comforting to officially have another—unexpectedly so.

Ruby beamed. "Can I hug you now?"

Weiss gave her a flat look. "No."

Jaune returned, holding a spiral notebook. Ruby eagerly made to grab for it, but he held it out of her reach. He was more than a head taller than her, so it wasn't difficult. "Alright, hold on just a second. I still don't exactly know why you want this."

"I told you," said Ruby. "It's for a project."

"You're majoring in engineering."

"I didn't say it was for school."

"Ruby. This guy was charged with sexual assault and accused of working with some dangerous people. I need to know what you're getting into."

"It's nothing!" Ruby insisted, but this only seemed to make Jaune more suspicious.

"You asked for this guy by name. You wouldn't have done that if you were just doing general research on—"

"She's helping me," Weiss abruptly said.

He stared at her. "With what?"

"I'm doing research on the prevention of mental illness and want to see what kind of a correlation a person's criminal history might have." Weiss bit her tongue and studied Jaune's reaction.

"Yes! See?" Ruby said, a little too enthusiastically. "Nothing dangerous."

"But why this guy in particular?" he asked.

"Bole Maze was a patient of mine. The city has contracted me to heal prisoners, and he was one of them. I intended to start with someone with a more mild case as my first source of data before moving on to someone more severely ill, so I chose him."

"Oh." The tension vanished from his shoulders. He handed the notebook to Ruby, then immediately snatched it back. "Er, wait. Sorry." He flipped it open to a specific page before giving it to her again.

"Thanks, Jaune!" Ruby grinned and began reading.

Weiss meant to stand next to her so she could see it as well, but then Jaune gestured his head toward the kitchen.

"Hey. Can I talk to you for a second?" he said.

"Sure," Weiss said, wary.

They walked out of earshot of Ruby, then Jaune's expression turned serious. When he spoke, his tone was cynical. "Did you tell her?"

"Tell her what?"

He lowered his voice even further. "Pyrrha."

"No. I hold myself to patient confidentiality."

"So you haven't told anyone?"

"Of course not."

He sighed in relief. "Good."

An awkward silence followed, eventually broken by Weiss. "I don't know what it was that I saw, and I won't ask. But I can assure you it wasn't intentional, and I apologize."

It took him a few seconds to give a hollow, "Thanks."

"And . . . thank you. For not reporting me for misusing my semblance."

"Right." Jaune contorted his face to look a little brighter, then called, "Ruby!"

Ruby looked up, her eyes for some reason wide.

"Did you take the picture yet?" Jaune asked. "I've still got some homework I gotta get to today."

"Oh!" Ruby fumbled her scroll out of her pocket and then used the camera to capture the notes. "Got it!"

Weiss followed Jaune back over to her. He took the notebook back and said, "Sorry. I don't mean to kick you out, but I'm sort of behind."

"Not a problem," said Ruby. "Thank you for this. Really."

He smiled and then opened the door. "I'll see you at school tomorrow. And Weiss. I'll see you around, I guess."

"Bye, Jaune!" Ruby left first, receiving a pat on the back from him on her way out. Weiss followed her.

"What did you learn?" she asked as soon as the door closed behind them.

Ruby showed her the photo she'd just taken. "Maze was working for Roman Torchwick!"

A/N: Credit to my beta readers: 0neWhoWanders, Bardothren, and I Write Big. They're great writers who are a huge help with making this story as good as it can be.