Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose while she waited with Ruby for the rest of their friends to arrive, "I can't believe we didn't think of doing this sooner. I mean really, why did we contact Jaune instead of Ozpin the moment we had the capability to do so?"

"Umm, maybe it's because we were afraid of getting in trouble with the headmaster?" Ruby offered, though her voice lacked any confidence in her answer, "I don't really know. It does seem pretty silly in hindsight, doesn't it?"

Bradford laughed, "A bit. However, don't forget that you've been surrounded by so-called 'professionals' for the last few months. I can't remain entirely blameless, considering that I was made fully aware of this Ozpin's importance when I briefed you after we first met."

"Well we're doing it now, and that's what matters." Ruby looked around in annoyance, "Seriously, though, where is everybody else? Vahlen said I shouldn't be up for more than an hour, and it's already been fifteen minutes."

"WE'RE HERE!" Nora came charging through the door into the Hyperwave facility, happily skidding to a halt in front of Ruby with her hands on her hips. "You missed the pancakes, Ruby."

The rest of their friends ran in after Nora, looking far more out of breath than the cheerful Engineer.

"Sorry about that." Jaune panted, "There was an… incident in the mess hall."

Bradford raised an eyebrow, "An incident?"

Pyrrha nodded, "Somebody challenged Nora to a pancake eating contest. It… didn't end well."

The Central Officer buried his face in his hands, "It was Combo, wasn't it?"

"Tech Sergeant David Zanakos, yes." Pyrrha confirmed.

Bradford heaved a sigh before looking over at Nora, "Did you win?"

"Does a Beowolf poop in the woods?"

Weiss rolled her eyes and changed the subject, "Now that you're all here, can we get on with the reason why we decided to meet in the first place?"

After agreement from the rest of Strike Eight, Bradford booted the tunneling sequence Vahlen devised to allow communication between Earth and Remnant. After the doctor's hardware confirmed a stable link, Ruby synced her Scroll with the terminal and sent her first message to Beacon's headmaster.

Professor Ozpin? It's Ruby Rose.

The rest of the group in the Hyperwave facility saw the message projected on an enlarged holo-screen above Ruby's computer. After a minute of silence, Bradford could see a feeling of restlessness spreading among the hunters. He realized that, except for Ruby, none of them had experience with transmissions between the two worlds from XCOM's end.

"Remember," He reminded them, "From Ozpin's perspective, it's only been five seconds, and that's assuming an instantaneous transmission between us and him. Communication will be a bit… slow."

After another minute of waiting, a return message blinked into existence on the holographic display.

Hello Ruby.

The hunters stood in silence, unsure of what sort of response that opening warranted.

"Uhh… do we just say 'hi, how're you doing?' "

"Yang, I don't think-"

Hi professor! How are you doing?

Weiss groaned, "Ruby, why do you encourage this?"

"Well, nobody else was offering suggestions!"

I'm doing well, all things considered. Thank you for asking.

"Maybe we should be a little more proactive in giving him a status report?" Pyrrha offered, "I don't think he's going to come out and ask for it."

Just wanted to let you know that I'm here with the rest of my team and JNPR. Jaune's team has been super helpful in making sure we're all okay. He's a really good leader.

"D'ohhh, stop it! I haven't done any leading around here, anyway, so…"

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Our encounter with the Ethereal says otherwise. Besides, what's wrong with complimenting my friends?"

"It goes to their heads." Weiss deadpanned.

Jaune slumped his shoulders in defeat, "Fine, say what you will."

That's good to hear. Is Miss Valkyrie behaving herself?

"Hey!"

"Hah," Yang laughed, "Boss man's got your number, kiddo. Don't worry, though, you've been doing pretty good so far. 'Xcept for the whole pancake episode this morning."

Nora sniffed indignantly, "It's not my fault you don't appreciate Remnant's greatest discovery."

"Wouldn't that be Dust, Nora?" Weiss asked with mild amusement.

"Nah, that's the second-greatest."

"I feel like I should point out that we've had pancakes on Earth long before you arrived."

"Oh look at that!" Nora said, pointing to the screen, "Ruby wrote a response!"

Yes she is. So is everyone else, actually.

Wonderful. How soon can I expect you back at Beacon?

We don't really know. On the bright side, there's some really weird time stuff going on that means twelve days here is the same as one day on Remnant.

Ah, that would explain why your response time to my messages is so fast.

"You know…" Blake mused, "I'm surprised Jaune didn't pick up on that when he was first texting with Ruby, and then again with Bradford."

"Well excuse me for having bigger things to worry about." Jaune protested, "Like, I dunno, getting a message from a friend who'd been missing for six days!"

"He's got a point." Ren added.

"Thanks, Ren. I knew you were just like a brother to me."

I don't know what Jaune told you, but we're not on Remnant. The portal took us to a planet called Earth, and there's a global war taking place. Until it's resolved, we can't return.

I see. Am I to also assume that XCOM needs to emerge victorious in order for you to come back to Remnant?

Yes, sir.

Should I dispatch a team of fully-fledged hunters to join you? From the looks of it, your XCOM is at least capable of one-way transportation.

You probably have enough problems of your own with the increasing violence with the White Fang and whatever group Torchwick is working for. I'd rather you have all your teams available to help back home than receiving one here. Besides, we don't really have access to Aura at the moment, so they'd be a lot less powerful than you're thinking.

The gap between Ruby's last message and Ozpin's response was considerably longer than before. Bradford could practically feel the tension in the room while the student's waited with agonizing anticipation for Ozpin's reaction to Ruby's last bit of information.

No Aura? That sounds very dangerous.

We're managing so far, and regaining our Aura is a work in progress thing.

Have there been any serious injuries?

Yang whistled, "Awwwwwwkwaaaaaaard."

A few.

Any deaths?

No.

Then I suppose I'll just have to wait until you return to assess the damage. Is that all, Miss Rose?

I think so!

Very well. Please, do not hesitate to update me in the future if you feel the need. I will always do my best to answer immediately. Be careful out there, and remember that you have a team to back you up.

Of course, sir. I wouldn't have made it this far without them.

Good luck.

Weiss spoke first after Bradford shut down the Hyperwave comm link to Remnant, "Well, that went better than expected."

"I've never seen the headmaster shaken by any sort of news since we've been at Beacon." Blake observed, "I actually wouldn't be surprised if he's dealt with dimensional-hopping students in the past."

Bradford nodded in agreement, "Your Ozpin sounds pretty unflappable, even when you admitted to your injuries. Whatever problems you have on Remnant, I'd be very surprised if he didn't already have them well in hand." He looked around at the members of RWBY and JNPR, "Alright, I think that concludes our business here at the relay. Miss Rose should probably return to the medbay, and I'm sure that the rest of you have important business to attend to. Like helping with the cleanup of the 2016 Pancake Apocalypse."

Nora grumbled incoherently as she dragged Ren out the door with her.

"Jaune?"

"Mmph."

"Jaune…"

The hunter in question groaned, successfully roused only because he knew all too well how persistent Pyrrha could be when she felt he'd slept in for long enough. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and stared at his partner with a blank look, "What's up, Pyr?"

"Well, it's almost eight-thirty. I assume that Colonel Zhang wouldn't be too happy if you showed up late for your nine o'clock training…"

Pyrrha giggled at Jaune's instantaneous reaction. She watched from her bed as he launched to his feet, wearing nothing but his boxers and bunny slippers, before rushing to put on his workout uniform. Jaune almost crashed into his audience of one while hopping around on one foot in his efforts to quickly throw on his pants. He spit out a quick "Sorry!" to Pyrrha before dashing off to the washroom at the back of the barracks. Pyrrha closed her eyes and focused on the sounds of Jaune trying to rapidly brush his teeth and wet his hair at the same time.

While her partner continued his frantic morning routine, Pyrrha busied herself with setting out a small continental breakfast on his bed that she brought back from the mess hall. She hoped some toast and sliced fruit would provide him with enough energy to survive Zhang's drills, since she didn't want to risk giving him more and cause him to throw up in the middle of training. She rolled her eyes, recalling that she'd witnessed that more than once during her own late-night drills with her partner.

A minute later, Jaune flew back into the room and resumed pulling equipment out from his footlocker.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked for the second time in five minutes.

Without even looking up from his locker, Jaune replied, "Hmm?"

"If you don't slow down, you'll be worn out before your training even begins. You still have twenty-three, so I think you can breathe a little."

He stopped digging through his locker and looked up at Pyrrha, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Managed to get all the important stuff done, so I can take some time now, I guess."

Pyrrha held up a piece of toast, "You got most of the important stuff done." She gently shoved the food into his mouth, "Eat."

Jaune sighed through his full mouth before chomping down on the toast and grabbing it with a free hand. He swallowed the first bite and managed a smile, "Thanks Pyrrha. Really. I don't know where I'd be without you."

"Knee-deep in trouble with Zhang?" Pyrrha teased.

"Hah, more like neck-deep. That guy is seriously obsessed with respect, honor, and all that jazz" He took another bite out of his food while Pyrrha produced a small thermos. The moment she uncapped it, Jaune caught a whiff of the unmistakable scent of Jasmine tea.

"Does Shen have a monopoly on the tea imported to XCOM base?" He asked, though he took the thermos anyway, washing down the toast with a mouthful of the warm liquid.

Pyrrha shook her head, "No, but he does have good tastes. After all, he managed to get Blake hooked on the stuff, didn't he?"

"Yeah, good point." Jaune admitted. Having finished his toast, he got to work eating the fruit Pyrrha brought to accompany the main 'course.'

"You know, I'm actually surprised I had to wake you up this morning." Pyrrha commented, shifting subjects, "Usually you're really good about being an early riser, but you were out cold when I checked on you after my morning workout. How late did you stay up last night?"

Jaune gave a nonchalant shrug before taking another bite of his apple, "A little later than usual, but not much."

Pyrrha, evidently unimpressed with his response, leaned in to inspect his face. Jaune, though somewhat uncomfortable with the sudden scrutiny, continued to munch on his apple. After several seconds of careful study, Pyrrha gave a small huff and sat back down on the bed. Jaune noticed her eyes were narrowed, as if she made an unpleasant discovery during her examination.

"Your eyelids are really puffy," She started, her tone one of mild accusation, "and your sclera look bloodshot. Furthermore, considering how strict Colonel Zhang is with your training, I'm also surprised to see your slumped posture. Jaune, what were you doing?"

For a fraction of a second, guilt flashed across Jaune's face before he managed to mask it with confusion, "Uhhh are you sure you're not just seeing things, Pyrrha? I was doing my usual stuff at the range." He shrugged again, "I guess I pushed myself a little harder than usual, that's all."

Pyrrha gave Jaune a hard look before finally sighing, "You know if you want someone to keep you company while you practice, Jaune, all you need to do is ask. I wouldn't mind staying up late to help you improve your skills and give you someone other than the targets to talk to."

"Hey," Jaune said defensively, "I don't talk to my targets."

"That's not the point," Pyrrha continued, mildly annoyed that Jaune continued to dodge her question, "The point is that I'm here to help. I know that you probably feel like this is something you need to do on your own, but I want you to know that you don't have to. I'm very proud to have you as my partner, Jaune, and I can count on one hand the things I wouldn't do to help you."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Because I can already think of at least six." He started counting on his fingers, "Tummy rubs if I'm feeling sick, washing my back after a hard workout, a nice massage after a workout-" He laughed while dodging the orange thrown at him and ran out of the barracks with a Pyrrha, cheeks flushed, hot on his tail. She easily picked up on the fact that his teasing allowed him to sidestep her offer, but she decided to let it go for now. Still, their conversation didn't quite do as much to set Pyrrha's mind at ease as she hoped.

The first thing Ruby noticed when she woke up in the medbay was Weiss's sleeping figure in the chair next to her bedside table. She picked up a roll off the breakfast tray left for her and tossed it at her partner, smiling as the impact produced an immediate reaction.

"BWUH, WHO'S THERE?" Weiss leapt to her feet, her hands balled into fists and her arms up in a guarding position. Her form impressed Ruby, and the young Lieutenant noted that Weiss seemed to be taking Yang's hand-to-hand combat lessons seriously. Not that this news entirely surprised Ruby: Weiss always gave one hundred percent to any activity once she set her mind to it. Something about 'representing the Schnee family name,' Ruby recalled her friend saying.

"Weiss, you know you don't need to sleep all night in that uncomfortable chair just because Vahlen's ordered me to remain here, right?"

After situational awareness finally graced Weiss's senses, she looked over at Ruby and scowled, "And you know that there are better ways of waking up your combat-trained partner than throwing food at her face, right?" She rolled her eyes, "Honestly Ruby, you'd think that Officer Training School of yours would at least mention PTSD."

Ruby grinned, "Oh, quit whining. You're neither traumatized nor stressed. You're just upset that you got scared by a little piece of bread."

"Well, if you're done playing 'let's tease Weiss-' "

"If I don't, then who will?"

"Literally everybody?" Weiss's expression became serious, "But that's not why I slept here all night. How are you doing?"

Ruby wanted to make a funny comment or give a noncommittal answer, but she knew that Weiss wouldn't appreciate it. Not only that, but her partner did have a point about spending the entire night sleeping next to her bed. If that didn't deserve a straight answer, Ruby didn't know what did.

"Not great, actually. It's mostly me being grumpy and embarrassed that I'm stuck in this situation, but I get occasional bouts of pain."

"Like the first time?"

Ruby nodded in agreement, "Like the first time, but it's not just for a second anymore. I think the worst one lasted for a minute… not fun, let me tell you." She fell back into her pillow and stared at the ceiling, "On the bright side, I'm starting to get used to the whole 'see all and hear all' that comes with the pain. I guess the longer bouts of pain have some benefit after all. I can't make much sense out of all the information, but at least it doesn't add to the pain and confusion. Who knows? Maybe after Vahlen figures out what's wrong and gets this all sorted out, I'll be some sort of Aura-wielding psionic super soldier."

Weiss snorted, "I swear, if your idiocy and impulsive actions end up working to your benefit again, I'm going to drag you to the live fire hall and beat you black and blue. Your luck is absolutely unfair, Ruby Rose."

"Well you would, except I'd be an Aura-wielding psionic super soldier, remember?" The smile faltered on her face, "In all seriousness, it's been two days, and I don't think Vahlen's any closer to finding a solution, much less figuring out what's wrong with me in the first place. I'm a little worried, Weiss. We don't know what that dumb alien did to my head. What if it's really bad, and takes forever for me to get better? What if I never get better?"

Ruby watched her partner get up from the chair, seat herself at the edge of the bed, and set about breaking the food on Ruby's tray into bite-sized portions.

"Well, then I guess I better get comfortable in this chair of mine, because I'm not sleeping in the barracks until you're able to return with me."

"Weiss…?"

The heiress set the tray in front of Ruby before handing her a fork. "When we first met, I thought you were this young, stupid klutz of a girl who had no business enrolling at Beacon. Then, when you became our team's leader, I thought you were this lucky little brat that had everything happen to go her way because some higher power thought she deserved it."

Ruby pouted, "I don't know what you're trying to do here, but I don't think it's working."

"Shut up, and eat your breakfast. I'm not finished talking." She cast a quick glare at Ruby before clearing her throat and continuing, "In general, I couldn't figure out what Ozpin saw in you, or why anyone would think you warranted all the good fortune you got. But after spending the last three months here under your leadership…"

Her eyes softened, and her lips curved into a small smile, "Well, I've come to realize that I was wrong. Every single op, you step up to your role as squad leader and do everything you can to prove that you belong there. You are optimistic, you are professional, but most of all, you are compassionate. After seeing what you are capable of as a leader and a huntress, I don't think I could be any more proud to have you as a partner."

She looked up at Ruby, only to see tears welling up in her friend's eyes, "Weiss… hearing that from you means more than you can imagine." She whispered.

"Glad to hear it. So before you devolve into a blubbering mess, and likely end up dragging me with you, let me finish by saying one more thing: as your partner, it's both my pleasure and honor to help support you in your time of need. Because after spending months of striving to be a leader that we can all look up to, I'd say you deserve some time to just catch your breath. You've been 'on' for the last three months. I think you can afford to take some time off to recover and get your head set straight."

Ruby wiped her face with one hand and smiled brightly at her best friend, "I'm glad I found you first in the forest."

Weiss rose from the bed, stole a piece of bread off of Ruby's plate and ruffled her partner's hair. "I'm glad you found me too. Now chin up, and have some faith in Vahlen. She'll get this fixed, alright?"

Ruby nodded, "Yeah, alright. In the meantime, can you do me a favor and sneak some hardware up to me from Engineering? It gets kinda dull laying here for hours with nothing to do."

Weiss gave her partner a mock salute, "I'll see what I can get away with."

"Alright team, listen up!"

Weiss paced in front of her six squadmates, hands behind her back and her chin jutted out, "Ruby has asked that, in her absence, I run the rest of us through a few training exercises. Ideally, they will help us learn to better support one another with the unique skills we each bring to the field of battle, and so I expect all of you to put forward your best effort."

She stopped pacing and turned to face her friends, heels clicked together and her body rigid. Yang thought she was taking this whole 'second in command' thing a little too seriously.

"As luck would have it, each hunter pairing already possesses a good deal of synergy, and so we will begin by having you learn to play to each other's strengths." She held an arm out to gesture at the two MEC soldiers, "An example for our newer recruits. Operatives Belladonna and Xiao Long, our heavy weapon specialists, make a great tag team: the former locates and marks high priority targets while the latter follows up by saturating the target area with an explosive payload. As for the rest of you…"

Weiss turned to face Jaune and Pyrrha, the former snapping to stiff attention under the Sergeant's sudden scrutiny, "Gunners and Infantry provide crucial fire support to the squad, with the Gunner's incredible volume output and the Infantry's hard-hitting precision rounds. The sooner you learn to work in tandem with each other to lock down an alien squad and whittle it away one target at a time, the better." She flashed a rare smile at Jaune, "Ruby has made me aware of how much time you invest at the range. I'm confident that you'll make us proud."

"Team Sloth!" Weiss shouted, her previous smile lingering at the sight of Nora's salute, "You are the fixers of our merry band. A bandolier of grenades fit for any situation means that if there's a problem, we'll very likely rely on you to solve it. Learn to recognize when an event warrants a use from your valuable supply and when a well-placed shot between the eyes is enough to get the job done."

Weiss paused to take a deep breath and let her words sink in for JNPR. She knew that Blake and Yang already had experience cooperating with each other, so this was mostly extra practice for them. For the others, though, Ruby wanted to make sure they knew how to work well with each other, and Weiss promised to make that happen while her partner recovered.

"Are we all ready?"

Yang pulled her helmet off and held up a robotic hand, "Just one moment. Gotta channel my inner Archer here to make sure my Bella-bombardment hits perfectly."

Weiss rolled her eyes as she watched Yang drop to one knee, "Oh please Yang, do we have to do this now?"

Yang ignored her, took a deep breath, and began, "I am the bone of my sword…"

"Yang, knock it off. We've got serious work to do."

Yang hesitated, gritted her teeth, and continued, "Steel is my body, and fire is my blood…"

"Yang!"

Blake noticed Yang's eyebrow twitch and inwardly sighed. This couldn't possibly end well, especially since Yang took her chants so seriously, "I have created over a thousand 'nades, unaware of loss, nor aware of gain…"

"That is enough Yang."

That was the final straw for Yang, who stood up and glared daggers at Weiss while shouting, "What the hell is your problem? You couldn't just wait another fucking minute for me to finish? It in no way affects you, so what reason could you possibly have to interrupt something that I clearly find valuable to my performance?!"

Yang's outburst caught Weiss completely off-guard, and she stumbled through a response. Evidently, she didn't expect Yang to lash out at her, "I… well…"

"Exactly!" Yang exploded, fire in her eyes, "Your reason is just 'I'm a stuck up bitch, and I enjoy bossing people around.' For whatever reason, you can't stand the idea of me doing something that you have deemed silly. And why is that? Because I have something that you don't? Because I waste a few precious seconds of your day? Or is it because you're on a power trip and think that just because my sister gave you permission to run the show, you automatically deserve to be handing out orders willy-nilly?"

At this point, Weiss's face had become beet red, and she looked down at the ground in embarrassment. Blake realized she had to do something, and fast. Yang looked ready to blast Weiss for another ten minutes, and if this persisted, Blake didn't know what the fallout would look like.

"You're not the one who watched her partner get impaled and almost killed! You're not the one who almost got killed by a giant fucking mind vortex! And you're certainly not-"

A punch from Blake's fist, unassisted by the rocket module, sent Yang stumbling, eliciting a yelp from Weiss as she leapt out of the way. When Yang recovered, and a look of shock spread across her face, Blake punched her again, sending the MEC trooper skidding across the floor. Blake turned to the completely stunned Team JNPR and gave them an apologetic smile, "It seems I have a few things to sort out with my partner. Why don't you start working with Weiss while I get Yang's head screwed on straight?"

She turned to face Yang again, a deadly glare etched across her features, "You. With me."

Blake didn't even wait for Yang to get up and follow her. Against her partner's protests, she wrapped a mechanized hand around the grab bar on Yang's back and dragged her across the live fire hall.

"Blake, cut this shit out! I'm not done with Weiss yet!"

"No, you are done with Weiss." Blake responded in an icy tone, "Now you get to deal with me."

Despite Yang's protests, she couldn't get a solid foothold to stand up and tear herself away from Blake's grasp. She resigned herself to the fate of waiting for Blake to finish carrying her off to wherever she had in mind for their little heart-to-heart. A minute later, Blake reached their destination and threw Yang to the floor several yards ahead of her.

"Get up."

Yang started to pick herself up, only to feel a motorized fist slam into her back and launch her into the wall. Stunned, she turned around to see Blake with her fists at the ready and the drifter jets on her boots warmed up. She cocked an eyebrow at Yang, "Well, are you going to fight me or not?"

Yang blinked in confusion, "Blake, I'm not mad at you, I'm pissed at-"

In the blink of an eye, Blake shadowstepped forward and shoulder checked Yang into the wall before using her jets to dance back to safety once more. "Don't care. You're fighting me now."

"Alright, fine!" Yang yelled in frustration. She still didn't know why Blake was acting this way, but she sure as hell didn't want to get rag-dolled all day by her, either. She raised her fists and charged at Blake, boots stomping heavily as they fell. She wound up one arm and brought it crashing down on Blake. When she expected to feel her fist impact against alloyed steel, however, she only felt air.

"Too slow." Blake taunted, sending a jab into Yang's side.

"What the hell, Blake!"

"Why are you so wound up? You know Weiss gets grumpy, so what's the point of chewing her out for it?"

Yang gritted her teeth and took another swing at Blake. Whether her friend purposely let the hit connect or she actually failed to dodge, Yang didn't know, "Because someone needs to remind her from time to time about how bitchy she acts."

"Wrong." Blake answered, backpedaling to avoid Yang's follow-up punch, "There is a time for privately telling someone about their behavior, certainly. But in front of our friends is not the time and absolutely not the place." She ran at her partner, ducked under Yang's left hook, and brought a fist up into her gut.

Yang scoffed, "You don't honestly believe that would get through to her, do you? She's got her head so far up her own ass, she has no idea how prissy she acts!"

"Then it's our job to make sure it gets through to her." Blake countered, throwing another punch, "And to do so at an appropriate time. Do you think your sister would appreciate your treatment of her partner?"

Blake's defenses slipped, and Yang managed to step on her foot to pin her in place and follow up with an elbow to the chest, "My sister is in the infirmary, unsure about whether she'll ever be the same again, and Weiss drags us all here to play out some stupid fantasy as a drill sergeant!"

She threw a hard punch at Blake's stomach, sending her armored foe skidding. Blake recovered with a roll and looked up at Yang, face impassive, "Felt good, didn't it? Do that again."

Yang yelled in frustration and ran at Blake, throwing a second punch. To her surprise, Blake didn't step out of the way and ate the strike instead. Yang rolled her eyes and yanked her partner back to her feet before shouting at her face, "What's this all about, Blake? What are you trying to do?"

"You're upset."

"No shit!"

"Why?"

"Because Weiss is a stuck-up prick!"

Blake shook her head, "Try again. Why?"

"Because Weiss has no sense of the magnitude of the situation!"

"Wrong again!" Blake roared, "WHY?!"

"Because I'm scared for my little sister!" Yang screamed back at her, "Because I'm the reason we're all here, and because the longer we're stuck here, the closer we come to getting a plasma bolt to the face!"

She shoved Blake away, "Three months ago, we were fighting little gray assholes equipped with peashooters. Now, we're dealing with super-psychic bullshit that's making me carry around this stupid implant and left Ruby in the medbay for six days straight!" Tears began to streak down her face as she pressed on, "How could I possibly ever look our father in the eye again if I had to tell him I got my little sister killed?"

"She knew that death was a possibility the moment she enrolled at Signal."

"No she didn't!" Yang shouted angrily, "She was trying to live a little childhood fantasy! To be the hero that saves people from the Big Bad Grimm! She had no concept of how dangerous this line of work is!"

"And you?" Blake asked, "You always act so cheerful and gung-ho. Do you realize how dangerous the situation is?"

Yang spat, "Of course I do. It's a fucking mask, Blake. A facade to keep the people around me from worrying. I'm absolutely terrified, but what good does it do to show that if we're stuck here anyway?"

She slid down the concrete wall until she was seated, her titanium alloy hands covering her face. Silent as always, Blake sat down next to her. For a full minute, neither said a word to the other. Blake half expected to hear wracked sobs from her partner, but Yang didn't make a single sound. Though Blake seemed content to wait for as long as necessary, Yang lacked the same kind of patience and finally broke their mutual silence.

"I really screwed up when I ran through that portal, didn't I?"

"Mmm." Blake answered, "And yet we're doing our best to make the most of it. Not only have we gained four months worth of extremely practical combat experience over the course of roughly eight Remnant days, but we have forged allies out of the people here at XCOM. While I certainly don't expect them to fight our war against the Grimm for us, I suspect they'll be willing to help in at least some small capacity."

Silence briefly reigned once more before Yang sighed, "I'm sorry for blowing up back there."

"I don't blame you. It's obvious that this last week has taken a particularly heavy toll on your psyche." She gave Yang a light punch on the shoulder, "I roughed you up for two reasons: one, because I know violence is one of the better ways to get through to you whether you're angry or not; and two, because I know it helps you relieve whatever has you all worked up."

Yang closed her eyes and leaned back onto Blake's shoulder, "You're alright, Blake. You know that?"

Blake laughed quietly, "You may recall a certain huntress that talked me down when I was pushing myself past the point of exhaustion trying to handle Torchwick's White Fang all by myself. You may also recall a certain huntress that underwent MEC surgery for no reason other than the fact that she didn't want me to be the only one to lose her limbs. We're partners, Yang. You've told me what that means to you, so now it's time for you to know what that means for me. Come on."

Blake pushed Yang off of her shoulder and stood up, offering a hand to help her partner do the same, "Let Weiss run her little drills with JNPR like Ruby wanted. In the meantime, you and I will be de-suiting and heading down to the Fission Generators where I'm going to teach you how to meditate."

Yang groaned, "So this is your definition of 'we're partners,' I take it?"

She sounded ungrateful, but the smile on her face told Blake how Yang really felt about the offer.

"Got any twos?"

"No, go fish. Got any fours? Hey Ren?"

Ren pulled two cards out of his hand and passed them to his partner, "Here you go. Yes Nora?"

Nora took the fours and laid them out in front of her with the others in her hand, "Have you noticed our friends acting strange?"

"They're feeling stressed, I think. Got any jacks?"

The huntress shook her head, "No, go fish. Why do you think they're so stressed? Got any nines?"

"No, go fish. I think they've been through a lot during their time here. Got any threes?"

"No, go fish." Nora frowned, "Been through a lot? Like what? We've been kicking butt the whole time we've been here." She looked at her cards before asking, "Got any threes?"

Ren handed Nora his three in amusement, "Don't forget that they spent three months on their own before we got here. There's also the Ethereal problem. Got any Kings?"

To his surprise, she handed him three cards. Nora watched him put the four-of-a-kind in front of him before she commented, "I've never seen Yang get that angry, though. Weiss didn't seem as into the whole training thing afterward. Bummer, since I was excited about training with you. Got any fives?"

Ren passed two of his cards to Nora, "We can still train together, you know. We don't need Weiss. Got any aces?"

"No, go fish. Hey Ren?"

"Yes Nora?"

"Do you think they'll be okay?"

Ren pondered the question, then put down his cards to focus his attention entirely on his partner, "I do. For several reasons."

Her childhood friend's vote of confidence was enough to put the beginnings of a smile on Nora's face, "Like what?" Before he could answer, she added, "Got any Sevens?"

Ren picked up his cards again and examined them closely. He sighed and passed a card to Nora before answering, "They're very determined and strong-willed individuals. Not only that, but they've managed to survive here for four months already. Got any Queens?"

"No, go fish. But what if they've reached their limit? What if things got too hard now? Got any Queens?"

Of course she wouldn't give him her queens when he asked. Ren shook his head and handed the cards to Nora, who spread all four face cards in front of her. He checked his hand once more, "It's possible, but I doubt it. Don't forget that there's a lot of people here who really want our friends to succeed. The Central Officer in particular is… interesting. Got any nines?"

Nora let out a small 'aww' before handing Ren her cards and watching him make his own four-of-a-kind spread, "Bradford? What about him? Got any tens?"

"No, go fish. He reminds me of headmaster Ozpin. Quite a bit, actually. Not only do they have the same commanding presence, they both project a sense of calm confidence when I examine their Aura. Got any fives?"

"No, go fish." Ren knew she had three fives, but said nothing.

"Bradford has an Aura?" Nora asked, "Got any eights?"

"No, go fish. He doesn't in the traditional sense. However, I still get an impression off of him when I try to sense the soul's ki. It's very similar to Ozpin's."

Nora frowned, "Hmmm. You always confuse me with that ki stuff. I'll take your word for it, I suppose. Buuuuuuuuut I have one more question…"

"Yes?"

"Got any fives?"

Ren smiled, "You know it's my turn, don't you?"

"Yeah, but you took too long. I'm sure there's a rule somewhere about forfeiting your turn if you take too long."

With a sigh, Ren handed his card to Nora, "Was there an actual question as well?"

Nora immediately became more serious, which worried her partner, "It's not just RWBY that's acting differently. Have you noticed anything strange about Jaune and Pyrrha?"

Ah, so that was it. Ren gave Nora a pat on the head, "I have, but I'm sure they're okay. Pyrrha always just wants what's best for Jaune, and it frustrates her when he feels the need to do it on his own."

Nora still looked slightly dissatisfied after his explanation, "Oh, I guess that makes sense… Do you know what he's doing this time?"

"Not a clue, though it seems to really be bothering Pyrrha." He put down his cards and stood up to stretch his legs, "Hopefully he finishes it soon, or else we might have to deal with the consequences."

Nora hopped up and joined her partner, "Yeah. Jaune's pretty cool, but sometimes…" She punched her fist into her palm, "Sometimes he just needs good slug to the head, you know?"

"I… don't think that would work very well with Jaune. We just need to trust that he's doing the right thing."

"Aww, alright." Nora kneeled down and began picking up the cards, "Thanks for playing with me, Ren!"

Her partner smiled, "Of course, Nora. You're a lot better at this game than I am, it seems."

Nora looked down at the sizeable disparity between their respective matched cards and shrugged, "What can I say? I'm just a natural."