18

Chapter 18: Friends?

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"I'm not interested in your excuses!" Cinder raised her voice, practically shouting into her scroll before hanging up.

Roman smiled to himself as he entered the warehouse. He hadn't heard from the kids yet, despite the steady flow of information he was feeding them, but if Cinder was this worked up, everything hadn't gone to plan. He rounded the corner to see her pets in tow. Emerald shrunk behind her boss, not wanting to get in her way, while Mercury looked on with bored disinterest.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite partner-in-crime." Roman greeted his 'boss,' Neo a half step behind. "To what do I owe the pleasure of being summoned?"

Cinder turned her glare to Roman before taking a moment to check her rage. "I need a record of everyone who attended the White Fang rally."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Don't know if I have one. Someone you're looking for?"

"Just get me a list of everyone who attended." Cinder's scroll buzzed and she grabbed it, pulling up several pictures that had been sent to her. She frowned as she flipped through them.

Roman took a sideways peek at the images and smirked. "Those your unidentifieds? Cause it's your lucky day." Roman just so happened to recognize the team that was posing for their official photo. He put a finger on the figure dressed in red and black. "Ruby Rose. Remember the docks?"

Cinder suddenly looked very interested. "And the others? What about this one?" She indicated Little Red's partner, Blake.

"That one's her partner. She was at the docks too, they fought together." Roman said. There was a fine line between being seen as useful and giving away the whole farm. Cinder didn't need to know everything he did.

"What about these ones?" Cinder swiped the screen so that Blondie's team was up.

Roman made a show of looking them over. "Not a clue. Who are they anyway? What do you want with them?"

Cinder put her scroll away. "No one. Are preparations coming along well with the White Fang?"

"Well as you can expect with those animals. They aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, and those instructions your, ah, 'associate' sent us for making the detonation charges aren't exactly child's play."

"Very well. Let me know if anything changes." Cinder's scroll buzzed again and she waved Roman and Neo away.

After leaving the warehouse, Roman pulled out his own scroll to shoot off a text to the burner he had left with Little Red. Whatever they pulled had put them squarely on Cinder's radar, and that was a position he did not envy. It was only a matter of time before she pinpointed them as a threat. Then special knowledge that they all enjoyed would go out the window, and everything would change beyond recognition.

'Cinder asked about all of you. Bad sign. Whatever you are planning, do it faster.' Roman typed.

---

"We're heading out!" Jaune told his teammates.

Nora pulled off her headphones. "Tell ol' Ozzy that next time he needs a Winter Maiden, I'm available!"

"Nora, I can't just-" Jaune noticed her wide grin. "Nevermind." Pyrrha tittered behind him and even Ren smiled.

"We'll be sure to mention your name." Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's hand and together the two of them headed out. Even once they left the dorm building they didn't drop each other's hand. "They've taken this rather well." Pyrrha said.

That was an understatement. They had been surprised when Jaune filled them in on everything, but believed him. Jaune didn't spare any details on filling them in. The conversation had been a rare moment that even Nora took seriously. Jaune had told Pyrrha months ago at this point, and she helped Jaune to explain everything without overwhelming their teammates. They talked late into the night, but Jaune couldn't help but worry about how Ruby's team was taking all of this.

He hadn't gotten the opportunity to ask her before they had all been shipped off to their missions. JNPR's had been the simpler of the two, and they had marked seven different spots around Vale that Cinder and her allies could be using at any given time. Armed with an array of listening devices, they had planted them at each of the locations and gathered as much intelligence as they could. Ren and Jaune had even been able to sneak a listening device into Cinder's dorm room.

"Nora aside, they have taken this well. I'm kinda surprised that they didn't freak out." Jaune gave Pyrrha a dorky grin.

She smiled back at him as together they walked toward Beacon tower. Their conversation turned towards more mundane things, the lovely weather, how classes were going, and what their strategy was going to be next time they faced off against Ruby and Blake in Remnant the Game.

"Hey guys!" Ruby waved at the two of them as they met up together. Blake gave them both a warm smile.

"Did you guys just get back?" Jaune asked.

"Mhm, airship just landed." Blake nodded.

"I suppose that means Mountain Glenn posed no problems?" Pyrrha asked.

Blake exchanged glances with Ruby. "More or less." She said.

"Uncle Qrow came with us!" Ruby said gleefully.

"He must be keeping an eye on you." Pyrrha noted. Ruby shrugged. Any time with her uncle was welcome, regardless of the reason.

"So…" Jaune started. "I don't know what you told your team, but we told Ren and Nora everything about the original timeline. Did—uh, did you tell Yang and Weiss?"

Ruby's cheerful expression soured before her expression dropped. Blake looked over and knit her eyebrows in concern. "We did." Blake said. "They were upset that we didn't tell them sooner. Yang took it especially hard."

"Yeah..." Ruby said. She wasn't sure how to act around her teammates anymore. They weren't cold or anything, but there was this newfound distance that wasn't there before. Maybe it had always been there, and Ruby had never noticed. Or maybe it had crept up over time and Ruby had just never wanted to acknowledge it. But now there wasn't any way to ignore it.

She and Blake had spent the time between landing and meeting up with Jaune discussing what they were going to do about it. They had agreed that there would be no more missing team meals, or game nights, or anything else. Their former partners did and always would come first.

Which meant including them too. Ruby just hoped that they would allow themselves to be included.

The walk over to Beacon Tower was quiet. Ruby spent the trip reminding herself of all of the details about the base at Mountain Glenn she wanted to relay to Ozpin. Where they had blind spots, where they stored their dust, what types of weapons they were equipped with, how many of them there were.

Blake and Pyrrha peeled off from the others and stayed in the lobby. Ozpin had issued strict instructions that the team leads were to report first before anyone else was allowed in for the general dissemination of orders.

Ruby turned to her partner. "Wish me luck!"

"You don't need it." Blake smiled. "But good luck anyway."

Ruby grinned back as the elevator doors closed.

"Hey, uh- Ruby?" Jaune spoke up the moment the doors closed.

"Hm?"

"I was thinking about the dance, and Pyrrha, and uh, can I ask for your help with something?"

"Oh, sure! What do you need?"

"Well, it's like this…"

---

"…records we found showed that they plan to breach this tunnel," Ruby touched a spot in Vale's underground network on the holographic Vale in front of her, "and unleash the grimm here."

"That's nearly right on top of the police station." Glynda noted.

"That must be their intention." Ironwood said. "Overwhelm the local defenders quickly and from there spread out."

Ozpin nodded. "Thank you, Miss Rose. We are all grateful for all of the information that your team has provided. Qrow, anything to add?"

Qrow chuckled to himself. "Nope. Think my niece covered it all."

"Very well. Glynda, if you would summon the others, please?" Ozpin asked. Glynda nodded and left for the elevator.

Ruby closed down the hologram and happily went up to her uncle. "How did I do??"

Qrow ruffled his niece's hair. "You did great, kiddo. Both here and in Mountain Glenn. That team of yours is going to be something else one day. But uh, don't go giving me heart attacks like that again, alright?"

Ruby grinned sheepishly. During their scouting mission Qrow led them down the wrong hallway and they had accidentally gotten themselves trapped in with a large pack of creeps, risking their cover being blown. Ruby had just turned to Blake to issue orders when her eyes flashed, reducing the grimm to dust. Qrow had looked at her with incredulous eyes. In that moment, he swore he saw Summer.

The elevator dinged, a sound that by now Ruby had become all too familiar with. Groups of people emerged, representing either Beacon or Atlas. Blake waded through the small crowd until she was at her partner's side while Jaune found Pyrrha. Also representing Beacon were Professors Oobleck and Port, along with their favored teams. Oobleck's was one she didn't recognize, but Port had Team CFVY in tow.

Ruby smiled and waved at Coco, who had been her assigned upperclassmen mentor for team leaders when she arrived at Beacon. The older girl gave her a smirk and looked at her over her sunglasses. "Hey there, Red."

From the Altesian side, the AceOps took center stage, along with Penny, and several high ranking Altesian officers.

The moderately sized office was getting a bit cramped, but Ruby still craned her neck to see the AceOps. She recognized ever confident Clover at their head. Behind him Elm and Vine stood together on his right, while Harriet and someone Ruby didn't recognize stood on his left. The newcomer was almost as big as Elm. She had a tortoise shell that covered most of her torso, and her uniform was custom fitted around it.

Naturally, they didn't even notice her, but Ruby couldn't help but think back to the last time she saw them, after Ironwood had issued warrants for their arrest. Just another memory that she and Blake were the only ones in the world to have experienced.

Ozpin stood behind his desk as everyone filed in. "Thank you all for coming today, and on such short notice." He scanned the crowd, who all had their attention firmly fixed on him. "I apologize for the vagueness of the summons, but I must ensure that before we continue that everyone here understands the need for discretion regarding this matter. Anything and everything we discuss tonight may not, under any circumstances, leave this room." Ozpin's tone made it clear there was no room for discussion on that point.

With the groundwork in place, Ozpin launched into his explanation. "Approximately one week ago, two teams of students, Team RWBY and Team JNPR, uncovered a widespread conspiracy to attack Beacon. Since then, we had dispatched teams of hunters to gather more information, and have the intelligence required to launch a strike."

"Excuse me." Clover raised his hand from within the crowd. "Does this have any connection with disturbance at the dance last week?"

Ozpin shared a glance with General Ironwood before answering. "It does, but I'm afraid that's all I can share at the moment. I will turn over the briefing to General Ironwood for the specifics of how we will conduct our operation."

The general stepped forward and projected two holograms. One of the greater Vale area, and another of Mountain Glenn. Both were full of markers and indicators that Jaune and Ruby's teams had painstakingly gathered during their missions, representing the sum total of all of the knowledge they had.

"Thank you Ozpin. This operation is going to be split into two groups, with one going to Mountain Glenn, and another staying here in Vale. Both areas have specific objectives with respect to personal capture and equipment seizure. Half of you will be going to Mountain Glenn as a single squadron, while the rest of you will be divided between seven different locations within Vale.

"The Mountain Glenn squadron will be led by Qrow Branwen and contain team RWBY along with the 8th and 9th military huntsmen squads. Each strike team in Vale will either be led by an AceOp or one of the Beacon professors. Joining them will be the students from teams CFVY, SLVR, and JNPR, along with the 32nd military police."

"That's not much manpower for seven locations." Coco interrupted.

Ironwood frowned. "The information in this briefing is highly classified, and limiting the number of personnel involved is one of our primary objectives." Ironwood then worked through the strike team assignments. Nora and Ren had been assigned to work with Elm, a fact that Ruby was sure would've made old Nora giddy with joy. Meanwhile Jaune and Pyrrha were assigned to Tortuga, who Ruby guessed was the tortoise faunus that Ruby hadn't recognized earlier.

After that, he turned it over to Glynda, who briefed everyone on the expected threats they could all face. The White Fang and Roman Torchwick were both broken down using footage from the docks, but Cinder's powers were kept incredibly vague, and Ruby noticed that Coco especially seemed unhappy with the explanation.

"That isn't enough to go on." She said.

Glynda opened her mouth to reply, but Ozpin spoke up first. "It will have to do. We are simply out of time, Miss Adel. I feel as though I must take this opportunity to relay the true direness of the situation. Should we fail, Beacon's very existence is in jeopardy. We must not fail now." He implored them. Murmurs of assent filled the room.

"We shall all meet again in a week's time, either in triumph or to plot a new course through the rubble. You all have your assignments. Good luck." With that, Ozpin dismissed the meeting.

Blake put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" Ruby hadn't realized, but at some point she had started shaking from the adrenaline.

"I-I think so. Just… it's suddenly real."

"Yeah, I know how you feel. These past couple weeks have been crazy. But we'll get through it, I promise. Together." Blake smiled reassuringly and Ruby couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah, together."

---

Yang deposited her gauntlets next to Myrtenaster. They would need to inspect all their weapons for damage and then store them in the armory, but right now Yang was just too tired for that. She flopped down face-first on Weiss' bed.

"Ugh, my back." Yang complained into the sheets. She stretched a little, trying to work the kinks out.

Weiss sat down on the bed beside her and gently stroked her hair. "At least it's over for now."

Yang snorted. "For now." Blake and Ruby would be back, and with them Team RWBYs next mission.

Yang was still having a hard time accepting what happened with her sister and her partner. It threw everything she thought she understood about their relationship into doubt. It didn't help when Weiss pointed out that technically, Ruby was older than her now. And that didn't even begin to address the weirdness that was Blake. She somehow knew more about her than Weiss did, or Ruby, or the both of them combined. It felt incredibly weird to have someone know all of your darkest secrets without even having had the satisfaction of telling them yourself.

Yeah, Yang didn't know what to think about all that.

Having Weiss by her side every minute helped though. They didn't have much time to themselves during the mission, but they did spend one of their night watch shifts talking to each other about it. Weiss was more concerned about how it was affecting Yang than anything else. For Weiss it was unsettling, but she didn't learn that her sister was suddenly completely different than she thought she was.

The two of them hadn't had time to clarify what their relationship was now, between the chaos of their first kiss and the business of the mission, they had shared a few lingering touches, and kept close to one another whenever possible. But what were they now, Yang wondered. The dance had undoubtedly been a date, and under better circumstances Yang was sure she would've been dating the heiress, but after everything that happened, was now even the time?

With what the future held, Yang had no idea. Ruby had been beside herself when she told Yang about what happened to her at the Fall of Beacon, and Blake too had been incredibly upset and kept apologizing. That was another weird sensation, having someone apologize to you uncontrollably for something that never happened.

"What did we sign up for?" Yang spoke into the sheets.

Weiss poked Yang in the side and forced her to roll over. "To be huntresses." She punctuated the sentence with a kiss to the temple before laying down with Yang, intertwining their hands together.

"I didn't think that would mean this." Yang said.

Weiss squeezed Yang's hand. "No one ever does."

The pair laid there for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Not that Yang didn't love her sister, but getting to be away from her for a bit wasn't the worst thing in the world anymore. But soon enough they would return. "I wish we could just have a few more hours to ourselves."

Weiss sat up. "You know… I'm sure your sister wouldn't begrudge us a couple hours." The smirk on her face was contagious.

Yang sat up abruptly as she realized what Weiss was hinting at. "Oh! Wait, do you mean what I think you mean?"

"Depends." Weiss tilted her head in mock arrogance before smiling at her partner. "Yang Xiao Long, would you like to go on another date with me?"

Yang broke out in a grin. "With you? Absolutely!" She pulled Weiss into a tight hug.

Weiss giggled and hugged her back, whispering in her ear. "Can I call you my girlfriend?"

Yang pulled away slightly to look at Weiss, her face filled with happiness. "I'd love nothing more." She leaned in and the two of them shared their first kiss since the dance. It left Yang wanting more, and as it broke she leaned it for another, but Weiss stopped her with a finger on her lips.

"Save it for our date." Weiss slipped off Yang's lap. "Now get ready, we're leaving in an hour."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "You can plan a date in under an hour?"

Weiss laughed. "No, you oaf. I've had it planned for weeks. Wear something you can walk in."

As Weiss turned away Yang's jaw dropped. "You planned this weeks ago?"

Weiss turned back with a smirk. "Of course. I wanted it to be perfect."

---

Oscar wandered around the Beacon grounds, still trying to wrap his head around everything that was happening. It was all so surreal. Only a few days ago, he had been a normal farmer in Mistral. And now he was being told that he was the next reincarnation of a powerful wizard who had been fighting an endless war for centuries.

It was a lot to take in.

Especially since Ozpin and Qrow really hadn't offered much in the way of details regarding just how they knew he was the next reincarnation. Oscar figured that was probably because it was just magic. But both of them kept reiterating that it was imperative that he start his training right away. It would make everything easier if and when Ozpin needed his next host, and would help Oscar to protect himself in the meantime.

He couldn't use Long Memory yet. Not only was Ozpin still using it, but he said that it would be too dangerous to use it before he was fully trained. In the meantime, he advised Oscar to explore the armory to find something else suitable to use in combat. So, Oscar walked around campus looking for the armory.

It wasn't long before Oscar was hopelessly lost. He had thought the armory would be this massive structure that he would recognize on sight, but now he wished he had a map. After wandering around for a few more minutes, he spotted a couple of girls he could ask. As he got closer, he recognized one of the two girls, with her orange hair, as one of the people who had been in the lobby when he came to Beacon Tower. He didn't recognize the other girl though. They were whispering to each other, but stopped as he approached.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but I'm looking for the armory. Do either of you know where it is?" Oscar asked hesitantly.

The orange-haired girl, who Oscar thought was named Penny, looked almost relieved at the distraction, while the other girl just looked slightly annoyed. "Of course! It's just over there," she replied quickly, pointing in the direction Oscar had just come from.

"Are you sure? That doesn't look right," he said doubtfully.

"Positive," she said with a bright smile. "I'll show you. Would you like to come with us, friend Emerald?"

Oscar glanced over at the other girl. Emerald shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, Penny."

"Thanks," Oscar said, not really having any choice but to follow her.

"You are most welcome. I should introduce myself. My name is Penny Polendina. I believe I saw you at Beacon Tower."

Oscar hesitated. He didn't really want to talk about why he had been brought to Beacon Tower, but Penny had been there too, right? "My name is Oscar Pine. I was at Beacon Tower for a few days." He admitted.

"What were you doing there?" Emerald asked, not even trying to be subtle.

"I was just visiting." Oscar said, trying to keep his answer vague.

Emerald hummed, not looking like she believed him. "And what about you Penny?"

"I was also just visiting," Penny said quickly.

Oscar could tell she was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. After all, judging from why he had been brought into the imposing tower, no one there that night was there to 'just visit'.

Penny was too uncomfortable, and he got the feeling that Emerald was fishing for information. He didn't want Penny to feel pressured, so he changed the subject. "Do you go to Beacon too?"

Penny looked relieved at the change in topic. "No, I'm actually new here too, here for the Vytal Festival!"

"Really?" Oscar said, surprised. "I thought I was the only one new around here."

Penny shook her head. "Oh no, there's many of us. Emerald is also new here, she's from Mistral! It's been rather quiet here though. It's hard to make friends when everyone already knows each other."

Oscar nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Although, I did meet someone who's been really helpful. Ruby, I think her name was?"

"Ruby?" Penny said with a smile, "She's my best friend here! She's helped me so much."

Emerald perked up at the mention of Ruby's name as well, but she said nothing about it other than a smirk that Oscar couldn't quite read before turning her attention back to Penny and asking about something else entirely.

The three of them chatted until Penny deposited him at the armory, which Oscar had passed on his way here after all. "Hey thanks, Penny."

"No problem, friend Oscar! We should hang out again some time!" Penny smiled, "and you should join us Emerald!"

Emerald gave a strained laugh. "Let me check with my team, but yeah, that sounds great Penny."

"Sensational!"

---

"Do you think it'll work?" Ruby asked as she and Blake made their way back to their dorm room.

"It'll have to." Blake said.

Ruby wasn't as sure. Her mind was still on the meeting they had just departed. With so many people involved, the risk of something going wrong before they put their plan into motion was higher than ever, but it was a risk they had to take.

In her pocket, Ruby felt her second scroll, the one from Torchwick, buzz and frowned. He had been feeding them a steady stream of information based on the questions they had asked when they saw him in the warehouse. This was probably just another one of those, and she would have to pass it on to Ozpin after reading it over.

"Ruby?" Blake said, concern evident in her voice.

"Hmm?" Ruby said, looking at Blake.

"You're worrying too much." Blake told her. "We've done all we can for now. All we can do is wait and see what happens."

Ruby sighed and nodded. "I know. I just can't help but worry."

The worry was quickly forgotten though when they entered the dorm room to find Weiss and Yang both dressed up nicely, as if they were going somewhere special.

"…Are you guys going somewhere?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Yeah." Yang said. "Weiss and I are going to Vale tonight."

"Oh." Ruby said, her voice small. She had been hoping to spend some more time with her teammates tonight, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"We're sorry Ruby." Weiss said. "But we really want to spend some time alone together."

"It's… it's okay." Ruby said, forcing a smile. "Have fun you guys!"

Yang and Weiss said their goodbyes and then left, leaving Ruby alone in the dorm room with Blake.

Blake came over and sat down next to her partner. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Ruby nodded, but she couldn't help but feel a little bit sad and left out. "Do… do you think they're dating?" She asked, looking at Blake.

Blake hesitated for a moment before answering. "I think they might be," she said quietly.

"How did I never even notice..." Ruby said, her voice full of disappointment. She had been so focused on changing the future that she missed the fact that her sister and her best friend had developed feelings for each other. What kind of team leader was she?

"I feel like a failure." Ruby said.

"Ruby, that's not true." Blake said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You've done so much. You're not a failure."

Ruby thought about how Blake must feel. She had dated both Yang and Weiss in the past, after all. "Do you ever feel like you're the only one who isn't moving forward?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah." Blake said with a sad smile. "But I know that isn't true. I have you and we're in this together, right?" Ruby nodded and leaned against Blake, finding comfort in her presence.

A pensive silence fell between them. Ruby internally committed to doing her best to feel happy for Yang and Weiss and support their new relationship. Ruby and Blake had promised each other that they would be the best teammates they could be after telling their teammates about being from the future.

"If you need something to take your mind off of it," Blake said shyly after a few moments. "I could… we could… have our own friendly date at the library or something?"

Ruby's eyes went wide at this suggestion and her cheeks pinked slightly. She felt that warm happiness again at her partner's words. "I-I think I'd like that," she said, giving her partner a little smile.

"Are you sure?" Blake looked down, almost embarrassed by her proposal.

"Absolutely." Ruby enthused, putting a hand on Blake's shoulder.

Blake glanced up, finally mustering the courage to meet Ruby's gaze. For a long, languid moment they simply stared at each other, as silent as they'd been before, as if they were unspoken words passing between them. Blake's face softened in a small smile.

As Ruby walked with Blake to the library she couldn't help but think about how much Blake had started to mean to her. Blake was already one of her best friends and their shared history was a bond that could never be severed. But… if this wasn't a friendly date, if it had just been a normal date instead, would she accept?

The thought sent a flutter of butterflies through her stomach and she quickly pushed it away. No, this was just a friendly date. Nothing more.

Notes:

Chapter 18!

Midnight upload!! Well, close to it, at least for me. I'll be busy tomorrow (err... today, now) for most of the day, and I figured best to upload early.

18 chapters in now, can you believe it!? I can't. This chapter puts us at over 90k words too. Wow.

This chapter was just Not Happening (hence no chapter last week) and I tried a really different approach for the second half, so let me know if you like it/don't like it/don't notice any difference, etc. If it's not overwhelmingly hated I might try it again sometime in the future. If you didn't notice anything different that's also great news.

But yeah, things are coming to a head! Both in terms of our first set of romances and the plot!

Who will strike first? Will the gang be able to execute the Ozluminati's plan to capture Cinder and company or will Cinder break the mold and do something none of our protagonists expect?