For those of you who don't know, today marks one year since Monty's passing. I've done my best this past year to unleash my creativity to its fullest, to put forth everything I can and work toward making things that everyone will enjoy and want to see. I've learned that having the Monty-like regime of devoting all of your energy to doing something at all times is a massive undertaking, and I've come nowhere close to succeeding, but I've still worked my hardest to always be thinking, always be watching, always planning what I can do next and how to make it the best that I can. Some day, I hope that the things I make can inspire people on the same level and scale of RWBY and RvB, but for now, I'm happy to keep working my way up. (: That's enough about me, so I'll shut up and let you guys get to the chapter. Rest easy, Monty. I hope I can make you proud one day.

Chapter 5: An Uncertain Future

"Interesting..." Professor Ozpin said before taking another swig of his coffee. Neo, Emerald, and Mercury had just run to his office and showed him Cinder's message. It only a few sentences, but basically it was saying she wanted to arrange a meeting. "What do you make of it, James?"

The general held a steady face, "I think it's a trap. If she's been hiding for this long, then I highly doubt she'd expose herself so blatantly."

"We can find out if we call like she asked," Mercury casually interjected. "As long as you two don't say anything she'll probably think we're alone."

"Why would she trust us?" Emerald asked.

"She doesn't trust you, she trusts me because I didn't betray her. That's why she only sent the message to me. Which reminds me, why were you on my scroll in the first place?"

Emerald gave an innocent shrug, "I wanted to see what you had said to Scarlet."

"This can wait until we're finished here," Ironwood cut in, not amused by their lack of seriousness. "Mercury, call her and put it on speakerphone. Everyone else needs to stay quiet."

Mercury nodded and tapped the call icon, then set the phone down on Ozpin's desk while it rang. "Well well, hello there," Cinder's voice came after she picked up. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Mercury replied.

"Why am I on speaker? Are you alone right now?"

He grinned and went with the first lie that came to mind, "Yeah, I'm alone. I was jerkin' off when I got your message." Everyone in the room shot him an angry and disgusted glare, but in all honesty it wasn't a terrible lie. It definitely would convince her that there's nobody else around.

"Lovely..." Cinder flatly replied. "I'll keep this brief since I'm sure there are things going on I don't what to know about happening while I'm talking. Roman and I have been working on a new plan, but we've got a little snag with the number of people we need to continue. We've brought two new associates on board the same way I found you and Emerald, so I thought I'd offer you the third spot to replace Neo. How're those two doing, anyway?"

"They're doin' fine. I doubt they're about to come back if that's what you're wondering. And I'll definitely give it some thought. Where do I find you if I say yes?"

Cinder chuckled, "If? Oh Mercury, I've always loved your sarcasm, but you almost had me worried there. Like I said before, I'll be sending you a text this weekend with when and where you'll be going. I won't actually be there, but I'll have one of my associates nearby to give you further instructions. Just a precaution to make sure you aren't followed. I'm sure you understand."

"Sounds good to me," Mercury replied, then said goodbye and hung up. "Huh, that was easy. I'll be honest, I don't think it's a trap. I can't imagine why she'd only target me for something like that if she thinks I'm still on her side."

Ozpin nodded, "I have to agree. That leaves us with what to do about this meeting. While I'd love to love to send you in and have you act as a spy, I think it would be far too dangerous. She would kill you in a heartbeat if she found out that you had turned as well."

"We could send someone else first," Neo suggested. "Not to actually meet her, but to just hang out where she says to meet. Whoever she's sending might ask them to leave if they don't know them, and then we know who they are."

"We'll take it under consideration," Ironwood replied. "You're dismissed now. Ozpin and I will let you know when we need you again."

The three teammates nodded and left, leaving Ozpin's office in silence just like the last time. This time it was because they were contemplating what Cinder could be after this time. Mercury's thoughts were a little different though. "Do you guys ever wonder what it'd be like if we hadn't left?" he asked while they walked.

Neo and Emerald both gave him a quizzical look, not sure exactly what he meant by it. Emerald shrugged, not sure how else to respond, "No? Where did that come from?"

"That call just reminded me of it. Sometimes I wonder what could be different. What if we had stayed, ya know? You guys don't think about that stuff?"

"Not really," Neo sceptically replied. "Merc... are you thinking about actually going back?"

He shook his head, "Of course not. Even if I'm always joking about it, I really do like being at school here. Being the bad guy was fun and all, but this is better than anything Cinder ever promised. I was asking about hypotheticals 'cuz I think about 'em sometimes. What if you hadn't messed up on the train? What if Emerald and just killed you? What if I had won our fight in the hall?"

"That all sounds like you wishing things had gone Cinder's way," Emerald replied, somewhat angrily.

"I wasn't done," Mercury shot back at his partner. "I think about what I could've done differently too. I could've helped you but instead I fought you. When I think about would've happened if I'd won... It makes me sick sometimes to remember the people I've killed without a second thought, and that I almost did the same to my closest friends. I feel like a monster sometimes..."

Neo put her arm around Mercury and looked up with a reassuring smile, "You're not a monster. Yes, you've done some terrible things, but all three of us have. Think about what you've done since then. You were ready to die so that Em and I could live. That doesn't sound like a monster to me."

"She's right," Emerald added. "The old you would never be selfless for anything. The old you probably wouldn't blush like a four-year-old girl from talking to Scarlet either."

Mercury rolled his eyes, "Thanks. Believe it or not, I do have feelings. So hey, you said you stole my scroll to read my chat with Scarlet, right? How far back did you read?"

"Not very. Cinder's text came through right after I figured out your password. And seriously? You've already changed it to his name? Are you twelve?"

"Damn," he smirked. "If you'd gone up a little higher you would've seen the good stuff. Twelve did come up, but we were talking about something else."

Emerald's hand flew to cover her mouth while her face changed colour to match her hair, "New topic! New topic!"

The next few days finally saw some normalcy return to the school. The last few injured students were finally released from the hospital, and thankfully it appeared that there wouldn't be any lasting damage from the initiation disaster. Blake didn't need her crutches anymore and was able to get back to sparring, Sky was on his way to making a full recovery, and Weiss' shoulder was holding up perfectly. The doctors had all but cleared Weiss of any permanent brain damage, but she still had one last appointment on Friday afternoon to make sure.

Meanwhile, Neo's strange sickness wasn't showing any signs of going away. If anything it was just getting worse, but she still refused to have herself looked at. She was insistent on it being part of her late period, that excuse had flown out the window when she saw blood on Thursday. Weiss eventually managed to talk her into coming along on her checkup to talk to a doctor about it, so the two of them went together to the heiress' appointment. They checked in almost immediately and sat down in the doctor's office to wait for them.

Neo huffed and crossed her arms once they had gotten comfortable, "I'm telling you, I'm fine. It's probably-"

"Oh hush," Weiss interrupted, rolling her eyes. "You're already here, so suck it up and ask the doctor. If you're so sure it's nothing, then they won't have to do anything about it. And if I'm- No, wait, scratch that. WHEN I'm right, they can get you on whatever meds they'll need to make you feel better."

Neo grumbled a few curses under her breath, but there was no use in arguing since she knew she wouldn't win. After a minute or so there was a knock on the door and the doctor came inside. It wasn't Jade though, instead a middle-aged male doctor walked in. Neo didn't recognise him, but he seemed like a nice person from the gentle smile he wore.

"Hello," he greeted them. "I'm Doctor Green, but you can just call me John. Are you ready to get your final checkup over with, Miss Schnee?"

Weiss gleefully nodded, "You have no idea."

The appointment didn't take very long, just a few check tests and examinations to make sure her shoulder was properly healing. Her range of motion was perfect, her strength matched her other arm, and there was no residual soreness in the area. She passed all of the mental checks as well to finish off a perfect score on the doctor's report. Satisfied, John decided she was good to go. He finished updating her charts on the computer and turned to see if she had anything to add before he closed them. "Do you have any other questions for me, Weiss?" he asked.

"Nope," the heiress smiled. "Oh, wait. Neo, didn't you want to ask about how you've been feeling while we're here?"

Neo glared at her girlfriend and shrugged, "You want me to more than I do, but yeah, sure. Do you mind, Doc?"

"Of course not," John chuckled. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Um, let's see... I've been getting really nauseous lately from things that don't usually make me sick. I've been really tired too, and having a lot more cramps than normal. Is suddenly getting PMS a thing if you haven't had it before?"

"It's possible," the doctor replied, but that didn't seem to be what he was thinking. "I just have a few quick questions. When was your last menstrual cycle? Have you experienced any breast soreness or frequent urination?"

Neo shrugged, "It started yesterday. It's really light though, just spotting so far. It was also, like, five or six days late. Could that be why I've been so off? And yes to the other two, just a little bit though."

"I'd say that's pretty unlikely. Are you sexually active? And if so, do you use protection?"

"Uh... yeah?" Neo said as more of a question than an answer. "I am, but we don't use protection. Why?"

"How is that relevant?" Weiss asked, embarrassed that it had come up.

The doctor started to smile, "All of this sounds like morning sickness to me. Have you taken a pregnancy test? If you're having unprotected sex, then I'd say it's very likely that you may be pregnant."

Neo and Weiss both gave him a wildly confused look, then turned to each other and burst into laughter. Weiss shook her head, "She meant that we don't use protection, as in the two of us are sexually active. Two girls."

"I've never had sex with a guy," Neo added, laughing so hard she needed to wipe a tear from her eye.

John gave them a very puzzled look and left to bring in another doctor for a second opinion. Neo and Weiss were both happy to see a familiar face yet again from Doctor Jade. John went through everything the girls had told him, and after some input from them she asked him to leave so that they could talk in private.

"So he's nuts, right?" Neo asked.

Jade didn't respond at first, trying to find the right way to phrase what she wanted to say. "Neo, do you remember what I told you about the side effects of aura donation? How unpredictable and crazy they can be? People have gotten pregnant before as a result. I don't recall any cases of it being a same sex couple before, but it's certainly possible. I think you should take a pregnancy test."

Weiss' mouth dropped open, and she and Neo exchanged a nervous glance. Jade left to get a test stick, then led her and Neo to the bathroom. "Good luck," the heiress smiled, not sure what else to say.

Neo just nodded and closed the door. She braced herself against the wall for a moment to let everything sink in before sitting down on the toilet and taking the test. Once she finished she washed her hands and put the lid down to make a seat. She sat back down and did her best to breath normally while she waited.

'One line is a no, two is a yes,' Neo read off the back of the test. 'Here's hoping for one...'

Beo started to giggle, 'I could just give you the answer if you don't wanna wait. Although, I guess there's no fun in-'

'I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR GAMES, BEO!' Neo screamed in her head. 'HAVE YOU KNOWN THIS WHOLE TIME AND KEPT IT FROM ME? I SWEAR TO GOD, I WILL COME IN THERE AND RIP YOU OUT! AM I-?'

The test suddenly beeped, and Neo's eyes snapped down to look at the tiny display. Her hands started shaking when she saw the number of lines. Somehow, she already knew that's what the test was going to say, but she still couldn't believe it.

'Yeah, you are,' Beo warmly replied, sounding uncharacteristically happy. 'We are. Neo, we're pregnant with Weiss' children.'

'Ch-Children?' Neo stammered, her mind racing so much that even her thoughts were choppy.

'Fraternal twins,' Beo replied, elated to say it. 'It's hard to explain how I know, but just trust me.'

Before they could say any more, Weiss' hesitant voice came from outside, "Neo? Are you okay? What does it say?"

Neo took a deep breath and stood up, then slowly walked to the door and opened it. Weiss and Jade were waiting for her on the other side, eager to see the results. Her face was somewhere between happy and horrified as she stepped out, which could only mean one thing.

Jade covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh my God..."

"Weiss..." Neo said in almost a whisper, taking the heiress' shaky hands. The level of excitement in her voice rose as she went on, "I-I'm pregnant... with your children... Weiss, you're gonna be a mom! We both are!"

She and Weiss shared a few different emotions in that moment. First was shock, which quickly turned into them both looking terrified at the reality of what this meant. A lot was going to change, especially for Neo, but that fear was soon overshadowed by a huge wave of joy that swept through them.

The doctor smiled, "She's right, they're biologically yours. Wait, they? How do you know that?"

"Beo told me," Neo replied, not breaking eye contact with Weiss. "She can tell a lot of things about my body."

"I-I don't know what to say," the heiress stuttered. She looked like she was on the verge of passing out, probably because she was.

Neo started giggling, "I guess we should go break the news to everyone. How do you think your dad is gonna react? Or your mom?"

"Let's not ruin a perfectly good moment," Weiss replied, shivering at the thought of her parents' reactions. "But yes, we should go tell everyone. Oh my God, I'm still shaking. This is... I don't even know where to begin."

"I do," Neo smiled, then rushed in for a long kiss. "No matter what, we're in this together. Fighting Grimm is way scarier than having kids, right?"

They left the doctor's office and had a rather interesting walk back to the dorms. They were both fairly quiet, but they also walked with a bit of a spring in their step and held hands the entire way. Even if they were terrified about the impact this would have, there was something about this news that had them sitting on cloud nine. It wouldn't last, but for now the high of knowing they were responsible for two new lives was enough to keep somewhat goofy smiles on their cheeks.

"Ready?" Neo asked once they arrived back on their floor.

Their first stop was team RWBY's room since it was where everyone seemed to gather. Weiss took a moment to properly compose herself, then nodded and reached for the handle. They opened the door and found team RWBY, JNPR, and NEMP inside. They were all spread around the room, but once they saw Weiss and Neo they gathered in the center of the room to hear how the appointment had gone.

"So what'd they say?" Emerald asked, not seeing any tells in either girl's face.

Weiss exchanged a sheepish smile with Neo, "Well, uh... Neo and I have an announcement."

A few confused looks went around the room. Mercury cocked his head to the side, "Okay...? Well I'm guessing it's not that you're dying or you wouldn't be so smiley. Did your spider bite give you superpowers or something?"

"THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!" Nora exclaimed. "Is that it?"

Yang snickered and turned to Blake, "Twenty Lien says Neo's pregnant."

"Don't be an idiot," the Faunus replied, shaking her head.

"Actually..." Neo said shyly, making all heads snap to look at her. "Yang's right. Remember how aura donations can make crazy stuff happen? Well... I'm pregnant. Beo says it's twins, both biologically mine and Weiss'."

The room went completely silent. The looks of shock and amazement were almost comical to Neo, but she couldn't blame them. She knew how big of an announcement this was, and just how much it was going to change things. It stayed quiet for a while with nobody knowing what to say. Finally, someone uttered what they were all thinking.

"Holy shit..." Jaune mumbled, bringing everyone out of their trance-like state of wonder.

Yang threw her arms up in triumph, "I CALLED IT! I FUCKING CALLED IT! NOBODY EATS PICKLED ICE CREAM IF THEY'RE NOT PREGNANT! AHHHH! CONGRATULATIONS!" The silence turned into roaring laughter at her outburst, and with that, the slew of questions could begin.

"That's unbelievable," Pyrrha said, still trying to comprehend it. "What're you going to do now?"

Neo shrugged, "I guess we'll just wait and see how it all goes. I have every intention of keeping them though."

"You'd better!" Emerald chuckled. "I get to be an aunt!"

"Uncle Mercury has a nice ring to it too," the silver-haired boy added.

Ruby smiled and looked back and forth between everyone else, "Okay, we need to start planning a baby shower! STAT!"

"Don't those usually wait until a little later?" Weiss asked.

"I don't think there's a set time. I guess we could just start planning and wait to have the actual party until she's showing or something."

Yang started cracking up, "Oh my God, can you imagine what she'll look like in nine months? Her belly will be bigger than the rest of her!"

The rest of the afternoon was filled with the buzz of excitement from the good news. Weiss wasn't a fan of all the attention she was getting, but even so it was still enjoyable for her and Neo. There were a lot of questions about what they were thinking about in terms of names, if they were getting re-engaged, what they were planning on doing about school, and neither girl had a real answer to any of them. Neo could see that Weiss wasn't handling all of this well, and had a feeling they were going to have a talk about it later.

Afternoon turned to evening, and the craziness finally died down as everyone went back to their plans for the night. Ruby and Penny were having a double date with Yang and Emerald, Blake and Mercury were going to the library to video chat with Sun and Scarlet respectively, and team JNPR had decided on having a quiet night in. Neo and Weiss hung out with JNPR for dinner since they didn't have other plans, and eventually ended up in team NEMP's room to chill until everyone else got back.

"So whatcha wanna do?" Neo asked. "We can watch something on Remflix, we can play a game, we can have sex, we can go for dessert. Take your pick!"

"Whatever," Weiss coldly replied. She was standing by the window, looking down at the carpet in the centre of the room.

Neo frowned, "Weiss? Are you okay?" She stood up from the edge of her bed and took a few steps forward, reaching out to hold the heiress' hand.

"No, I'm not!" Weiss yelled, swatting Neo's hand away. She'd been trying her best not to freak out until now, but she couldn't hold it in any longer. "I'm not ready to be a mom! I'm not ready to have kids! For God's sake, we're still in school! Do you honestly think we can handle having kids right now?"

"Well..." Neo trailed off without having a real answer to give. "I mean... I guess not, but we can figure it out together. Right...?"

"Neo, we just called off our engagement because we needed to take a step back. How do you expect me to react when-?"

"No, it was YOUR idea to call off the engagement," Neo interrupted, the frustration showing in her voice. "I went along with it, and I was okay to leave it at that until a better time, but don't act like I initiated at all. I get it, okay? Maybe we did rush things at first, but that doesn't really matter now. There is absolutely zero chance of me having an abortion, so we can't just call off having kids. And no, I'm still not putting them up for adoption. I'm keeping them whether we're ready or not."

Weiss shrunk back as Neo's words cut into her like a knife. She knew how much that decision had affected her, even if she didn't show it. The heiress put her head in her hands, "I would never force you to give them up, but... I just don't understand how you can be so calm about this! Aren't you afraid of what this means for us? You wouldn't consider adoption at all?"

"OF COURSE I'M AFRAID!" Neo exclaimed, finally losing her cool. "You've been talking about YOU not being ready, but have you thought about what this means for ME? I'm probably gonna have to drop out of Beacon! I can't fight with two kids kicking around inside me! Am I ready to be a mom? No! But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna play the hand I've been given. Weiss, these kids are half you and half me, and that's something no other gay couple in the world can say. We will never have another opportunity like this in our life. Would you really give that up?"

"I-I... I don't know..." Weiss said through tearful eyes. "I'm sorry... I need to think about all of this. I'm sorry..."

Weiss ran out of the room as she started crying and slammed the door behind her. It didn't seem like she slammed it intentionally, but that didn't really matter. Neo was stunned, still staring where Weiss had been standing. She took a step back and sat on the edge of her bed, and started sobbing. Everything she'd been trying to hold back was coming up now as tears poured down her face.

Beo sighed, 'It's not her fault. This is a lot to handle.'

'l know...' Neo dismally replied. 'I just wish... I don't even know what I'm wishing for. Something that would help... Anything...'

She heard the doorknob creak and looked up in the hopes that it was Weiss, but it wasn't. "Is everything okay?" Ruby shyly asked as she and Penny poked their heads inside.

Neo shook her head, still crying, "N-No... Weiss ran off... Sh-She isn't handling this v-very well..."

"Shh, it's alright," Ruby said softly, sitting down beside Neo. She pulled her into a tight hug as Penny sat, who also joined in on the embrace. "We're all here for you. I know it's scary, and I know it's gonna be tough, you can get through this. You're a Huntress."

Penny smiled, "She's right. And if there's anything we can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask. We'll make sure you're motherhood ready!"

"Thanks," Neo giggled, her tears mostly gone now. "I don't know what I'd do without you guys. I just hope that Weiss will come around... I don't know if I can do this without her."

I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate Monty's life than by introducing new life today. (: Hope you liked the chapter, and I'll see you next time!

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