Gasping awake at the hospital, Ruby looks around and sees that everyone involved was in the hospital ward. Right next to her was Yang covered in casts on all her limbs.

To the left of the two was Blake with a crutch, looking down at Sun who was strapped to a vitals monitor who has yet to awaken. Next to that bed were Neptune and Weiss with both looking over at their team mates with the same complicated expressions, the same... frustrated look. 

To the right were the ones who took the worst of the damage thus far. Boboiboy and Dove, both being nearly completely covered in casts with the older of the two even having to need a breathing apparatus.

And despite taking the brunt of the damage, two of them were awake. Yet both were equally dead silent. Actually, everyone was. Who could blame them? That whole thing was an ordeal physically, mentally, and even spiritually both literally and metaphorically.

From the expression on everyone else's face, she could tell that everyone awake was on the same boat as her. Lost and unknowing of where to even begin processing that experience...

However, as if like a sword cleaving through jelly, the oppressive silence is interrupted by the click and squeak of the door as three individuals enter the premises. Ms. Goodwitch, Headmaster Ozpin and finally, a third figure only Boboiboy is privy to the identity of. A black-haired man with a pale complexion, towering over everyone in the room wearing a striking white suit.

"Good evening everyone. I hope I found you well." Ozpin says in a warm tone as he stands to look at everyone.

Team RWBY give him a glance but then lowered their heads.

Glynda then speaks up with the tone a hysterical mom would give after finding out her children were playing in a construction site and got injured because the support structure almost gave out on them.

"Team RWBY, I hope you know that there will be consequences to this! Do you four know how reckless and irresponsible that was?! You all could have died!" An almost motherly concern bleeds out from the deputy headmistress's voice as she spoke out. None of the four spoke up in opposition. After all, she's right, and they know it.

"You four will be on probation for the rest of the school year! You will not be getting out of the school unless given authorization under myself or Sir Ozpin." Goodwitch continues her declaration.

This gets a rise out of Yang who complains, saying, "That's not fair!"

Goodwitch goes in to give Yang a piece of her mind but the large man then intervenes and tries to defend Yang.

"Let's not get too hasty with ourselves Glynda, surely-"

However, he is cut off by Ozpin, saying, "Actually, James, this is a decision I made after Mr. Xiao Long called me."

The man weakly tries defend his point, saying, "But they were just doing their duty as huntsmen should-" only to be cut off as Glynda argues, "Yes it is their duties, their duties when they graduate. As they are now, they caused more trouble than the good they did. Unnecessarily large collateral damage, multiple civilian injuries AND a few deaths, and the comatose of a student from Shade academy, not to mention the massive panic across the highway which only increased grimm activities."

While the three thought of contesting the teacher, as she listed the damages they caused, their will to fight back diminished rapidly.

"And if it weren't for the efforts of Boboiboy and Jaune contacting the police and us respectively, the damages could've been far worse."

Ruby then looks up before hesitantly asking, "S-so... what now?"

"Now... you take the time to recover, reflect... and ready yourselves." Ozpin then looks back at Boboiboy at the back before saying, "and you should also apologize to those you four involved in your escapade."

"If anything else, I believe-" Ozpin says only to get cut off as the large man-in-white cuts him off.

"Hold it. I still have my piece to say."

Hearing this, team RWBY perks up... but not by much...

"As you may or may not know me, I am general James Ironwood, General of the Atlesian military and Headmaster of Atlas Academy."

Weiss then asks, "Sir Ironwood, I've heard nothing but good things about you from my sister, Winter Schnee. What are you doing here?"

Ironwood chuckles at this before commenting, "I'm glad then," before saying, "actually I'm here for a bunch of reasons, chief among them being the upcoming Vytal festival." He then turns to Yang before asking, "Miss Xiao Long, tell me, as someone who gained power from that peculiar watch, how does it feel?"

Yang backs away slightly after the General asked her with the enthusiasm Ruby asks people about their weapons.

"James Ironwood... this isn't the time." Glynda pulls Ironwood away using her wand to which Ozpin looks to and smiles at before looking back to the four. "Since visiting hours are over, that will be all for now children. I sincerely do hope you will be taking this time to recover."

He then walks off, letting the team stew in their silence alongside Neptune, Dove and Boboiboy with a comatose Sun on the side.

By now, it was already 11 PM and the silence was only accompanied by the low hum-buzz of flourescent lighting.

Team RWBY then look at each other before returning to the silence. Ruby then takes a deep sigh before assuming  her position as leader, saying, "Look... we can't sleep... so I think for now, we think of the one thing we need to apologize for the most and, if we can, we make a plan to redeem ourselves... if not, then at least atone..."

The rest of the team nod to this as Weiss raises her hand first. "I'm... sorry Blake..."

This immediately causes the cat faunus to look at heiress... or rather... the former heiress of the SDC.

"What? Why?" Blake asks in return.

"Because... of my open defiance to my father... I... don't know if I can help you achieve the dream of a better SDC anymore... my father revoked my status as heiress..."

Blake's eyes widen at this but then soften as, instead of reacting violently as Weiss thought she would, she instead softly tells her, "It's... alright... there will always be other ways to go about this..." This shocks Weiss who looks straight at Blake with tears ready to form in her eyes.

Blake then chuckles to herself, as she continues. "Besides, the fact a Schnee of all people is one of the few people I can consider true friends is a feat of itself," while smiling reassuringly towards Weiss.

Even still Weiss did not seem at the very least consoled by these words. She still very much messed up in a way where shed irrevocably stunted her ability to aid her friend's cause.

Blake decides to step up next, and takes a deep breath. "Alright... I...  will go next..." She proceeds to approach Sun who Neptune was right next to and stare at him.

"Hey... Neptune... I..."

However, the blue-haired man glares at her making her shut up.

"If you're planning to apologize, can it. Sun was aware of the risk and chose to voluntarily join anyways. I can tell from the look in his eyes, he sees you as someone special."

Team RWBY was taken aback by Neptune's tone and stand, though they weren't necessarily shocked. The two boys were best of friends so they knew each other best.

"If anything, you should instead show your appreciation. Take him on a date or something."

Blake's face explodes into red but she then nods. "Yeah... a date..."

Yang then goes next and tries to stand up only to wince as her whole body begins to ache. "Er... I need help moving."

"Yang, you're not allowed to move." Ruby tries to chastise Yang who even now was still trying to push her own body up.

Yang then hisses out, "I need to face him!"

Said "him" however intervenes, managing to voice out, "Ikh hyu wanga khay khanghing... khay ikh...(If you want to say something... say it...)" despite his dislocated jaw and multiple facial fractures from the fight.

Hearing this, Yang sighs as she composes what she wanted to say.

"Look... urgh... gosh I'm so bad at this kinda thing... uh... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for... bringing you into this thing. Unlike everyone else, you came because I promised a fun time... instead... you got this... I wasn't strong enough to protect you."

Much to her shock, Dove's BPM monitor began to go haywire as he moaned out, "Yakh yaw ekh! Yakh yoh-(That's not it! That's not-)" before he began choking on his own blood from bursting an open wound.

Medics began to rush to his aid causing panic to Yang.

"What's going on?! Is Dove okay?! What's going on?!"

Weiss assures her, "the doctors are doing the best they can to stabilize his condition. The distress he was feeling earlier made his blood pressure rise enough to reopen his internal wounds."

It would seem Yang won't be getting the closure like Weiss and Blake as she wanted... She wants nothing more than to break something... but at the moment... that would just prove detrimental... so with as defeated sigh, she resigns herself to disturbed sleep...

And then, lastly was Ruby...

She didn't know where to begin... She knew who she wronged the most... She knew how she wronged him... But she didn't know how to begin... well... here goes nothing...

"H-hey... Boboiboy..." she greets out and despite the youngest in their group being fully conscious, he stayed quiet. He doesn't even seem to want to be in the same room as the others.

"I... know you're mad at us... and... I don't blame you. What we did in hindsight was a terrible and stupid thing... But can we talk? If there is something I can do... anything... I'd do it if you'd forgive us..."

"A week..." Boboiboy finally spoke. His voice dry and weary.

"Huh?"

"You, Weiss, Blake and Yang have been sneaking out for a week now..."

Ruby gets shocked to hear this. "How did you-"

"I've been... deluding myself into thinking I was wrong... that... oh girls are just doing girl things... that was until one of my returning costumers, an exchange student from Shade academy, told me that she saw you three planning something just last night....and EVEN THEN..."

The normally cheerful and optimistic Boboiboy was currently, understandably not. In fact, he was quite livid. However, he then realizes he was screaming in a hospital room so late at night and takes a breath to calm down.

He then turns away from Ruby, going to sleep as he mutters, "good night."

Tears began to fall from Ruby's eyes but she dares not cry out loud... she knew she didn't deserve to...

The very next day team RWBY was awoken when a commotion could be heard through the halls of the hospital.

"Huh?! Whu?! Huh?! Oh... it's probably just Nora-" Jaune tries to explain but the rest of team JNPR soon return holding some fast food with them yet the ruckus was still there.

Immediately after, team JNPR gets stampeded as a high-pitched male voice shouts, "Dove! Are you there?! Buddy?!" With a look of shock everyone awake exclaims, "Cardin?!"

Much to everyone's shock, team CRDL rushes to their team swordsman and almost dog pile him into a hug if it weren't for the nurse stopping them in time.

"Sirs! I need you all take a step back! Mr Bronzewing is still not fully healed!"

The three wisely followed but it did not stop their verbal sentiments.

Russel and Sky were the first to voice their distress in nigh incoherent babbling beside Dove's bedside with Russel crying as he sets down a plate of pizza next to Dove, saying, "we kept it warm for yooouu... But you couldn't eat that if you were dead so we're happy you survahahahiiiveed..."

While the off-putting, almost comedic way the released their distress gave levity to the oppressing aura of yesterday, it did not detract from their sentiment.

While the other two were far more expressive in their concerns, Cardin was more reserved. He waited until eyes were no longer on them to bring Dove to the rooftop to talk.

"Hey..."

"Hey..."

The leader and the brains of the team greeted each other.

"So... why'd you run off? You were supposed to be the brains of our group." Cardin begins, closing his eyes as he leans on a nearby wall.

Dove adjusts his seating on his wheelchair, most of his injuries healed by his aura already. He stays quiet for a bit while looking down before looking up.

"We weren't doing much and Yang asked for my aid. It was a breath of fresh air from the constant look of disdain we got ever since us bullying Mr. Arc and Miss Scarletina was made public... so... I helped."

Cardin's serene expression expression suddenly morphs into that of rage as he punches the wall next to Dove's head. Despite this, Dove did not flinch. Sky and Russel however were now tense seeing this, too afraid to talk back to their leader who towered over both of them.

"Are you a simp now?! Is this what this was?! What happened to bros before hoes?!"

"That's not it Cardin-"

"WHAT IS IT THEN?!"

"Honor! Honor, Cardin!" Not wanting to reopen wounds as he did yesterday, he takes a bit of time to calm himself down.

After recomposing himself, he proceeds to explain himself to his leader.

"Remember what I said to Jaune back at the Forever Fall? I bullied him because I believed he wasn't worthy as a huntsman. When he showed guts, I decided to acknowledge him. Cut to a couple weeks later and I saw team RWBBY alongside their compatriots take down a mass-scale dust robbery and what have we been doing? Sitting on our laurels? Does that not make us hypocrites? Does that not make ME a hypocrite?"

As the rest of his team listens, Dove decides to end his speech, saying, "While yes, I do find Yang attractive as many of our classmates do, I was doing this to prove to myself that I am indeed able to do as much as I preach. Yet....I couldn't even do that... Jaune Arc... as little as he did, contributed far more in that fight simply by calling for help. In the end... I was just dead weight..."

Dove would proceed to feel a sudden stinging sensation erupt on his check as before he could register it, Cardin had already slapped him in the face.

"Cut it out. Ms. Goodwitch debriefed me of what went on. You and that Haven nerd managed to hold back 4 people that managed to take down the watch freak's team. That's an achievement all to itself so don't downplay yourself."

"Cardin..."

"And hey... if you really still think you're too weak... we can begin training harder."

"Thank you... leader."

Cardin then looks to the breaking dawn with an ambitious smirk. "Make no mistake, while I am helping you get that pussy, I'm really doing this so that I can beat the shit outta Pyrrha in the upcoming Vytal festival."

Meanwhile, things were far more tense for team RWBBY. Without team CRDL's antics and team JNPR having gone out to return to their studies, things went back to the oppressive silence earlier.

"Boboiboy..." Ruby calls out, only for the orange-clad boy to cut her off, saying, "Nurse, I want to go to the hospital gardens if that's alright."

Sensing the tense atmosphere, the nurse quickly looks to the nearby doctor and complies with Boboiboy's request as soon as the doctor gave the go-ahead.

After Boboiboy left, Ruby sat up and curled up like a ball smacking her head with her fist as she said, "stupid... stupid..."

Weiss then berates Ruby, saying, "Oi! Ruby! Hitting yourself isn't gonna help you know?!"

"Yeah Weiss is right, we all share the blame!" Yang joins in making Weiss glare at her, squeaking out, "I'll have you know I was against the idea!" Seeing the way Yang and Blake looked at her made her relent somewhat, forcing her to mutter out, "initially..."

Ruby doesn't listen and instead just curls up even harder while crying more.

"Ruby, we were just hit with an unexpected. That's all. We couldn't have expected a simple scouting mission to end up like that." Blake tries to explain in hopes of helping her team leader better cope with the despair she felt.

However, instead of joining with that, Yang grew unexpectedly quiet. "Even still... I can understand where Ruby is coming from..."

She then shifted her position somewhat before pulling her hair up to show a scar on the very top of her forehead, just right below the scalp.

"As you may... or may not know... we're not full-blooded sisters. We share the same dad but... not the same mom..."

"Even then... both left us with dad to fend for ourselves... one of them ran away... and the other..."

Yang then bites on her lower lip as she forcefully remembers. "-didn't return from her last mission... this scar on my forehead and all around the back of my scalp serve as eternal reminders. That's actually partially why I keep my hair so long... so that I can't ever find most of them when I look into a mirror."

She then looks Blake and Weiss in the eyes as she says, "That's why this is especially hard on Ruby... to her... we're basically doing as my biological mother did to our father..."

Weiss and Blake were speechless hearing this with Weiss managing to recover enough to softly mutter, "Ruby..."

Meanwhile down on the ground floor, in the built-in garden of the hospital built to provide relaxation to patients and medical staff alike, Boboiboy sat on his wheelchair while melancholically looking at the sunlight peering through the tree leaves.

"Ah... so here you are..." a familiar older voice speaks catching Boboiboy's strength.

"Ah, Miss Loch. What are you doing here? Oh! Miss Sustrai, Mr. Black, you two as well?" He greets them with an amiable tone while smiling.

'Ash Loch' smiles as she says, "None of this miss and mister stuff now. While we're your most frequent costumer, we'd like to think we're also your friend. Please, call us by our first names."

Mercury Black chimes in as he says, "Yeah, besides being called that, makes us feel old. Right miss Loch?" He then snickers to himself only to get an elbow by his friend with the green hair.

Emerald and Mercury both proceed to glare at each other at the back as Ash tells Boboiboy, "Pay them no mind. They tend to squabble like that a lot."

Boboiboy chuckles slightly at this, saying, "Yeah... they remind me much of my team..." with a melancholic hint to his voice.

"Oh? What happened? You sound troubled. Actually... we came here for that. Saw you on the news last night."

"Yeah, that shit looked like the stuff fully-graduated hunters are meant to deal with instead." Mercury agrees while holding Emerald back from clawing his face.

"However, I'm glad you're alright even still." Ash said with a smile on her face. Boboiboy couldn't help but feel like there something genuine I'm that sentiment. Like her other words felt staged in some way in comparison to that one.

"But you seem troubled. Why is that?"

Boboiboy frowns as he looks up back to the trees and sighs. "Well... my team... they disappointed me. They did stuff behind my back... which led me to my situation yesterday."

"That's... horrible! Why would your team betray you like that?" Ash speaks in a voice that seems to almost care but not quite as much as earlier.

"The hell?!" Emerald finally speaks out after giving up on trying to scratch off Mercury's face. "You mean to tell me those four betrayed you?! Join our team instead! At least our team won't do that!" It seems betrayal is a trigger for her. The girl who he'd known until now as the demure one suddenly shouting like that was very jarring... but he supposed he could understand why.

Ash's eyes dilate as a smile spread across her face. "Actually... that doesn't sound like half-bad an idea." She then goes behind Boboiboy and places her hands on his shoulders.

Mercury chimes in once more. "Yeah little buddy. I mean our fourth member walked out on us. Why not? Just ditch Beacon, join us in Shade, and join a betrayal-free team instead?"

Boboiboy closes his eyes and smiles, saying, "that would be nice... that would be nice... to have you guys on my side... but..." he then opens his eyes and shook his head lay lightly.

"My team didn't betray me. I'm sorry if that's what I implied. But no. They didn't want me to get involved since I believe they're aware of how emotionally involved I am with that group... So they did it behind my back instead. Besides... family hurt family sometimes without meaning it... And I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt me."

Ash looks pensive but ultimately across this with a nod. "Well... If you change your mind, our doors will always be open for you."

"Thanks," was Boboiboy's simple response.

Shortly after, the three left Boboiboy's hearing distance, Mercury then points out, "Heh... to think our boss here shows more emotion than just devilishly smirking. For a second there, it almost looked like you actually cared for our enemy there, Cinder."

Cinder's face flickers into an unreadable expression before returning to her usual calm demeanour. "Of course I care. If we treat him right, he could prove to be a powerful asset to our plans... if not, then we simply use his lowered guard to tear the watch off of him. And if it fails... well I always have my ways."

"As expected. C- er... Ash! You're amazing!" Emerald earnestly praises as she giddily looks up at her boss in sheer admiration.

"Heh... I just thought you were just secretly related to the boy or something."

These words seem to trigger Ash Loch, or rather, Cinder.

"What was that?" She asks Mercury, this time producing an invisible pressure which rattles even the assassin.

Mercury begins to ramble in panic, "I mean with how you two have the same black hair, eye color and white hair streak I just thought-"

"Thought... what..." Cinder spoke in a very sickly sweet tone juxtaposed heavily by the sheer malice in her eyes.

"N-nothing..." Mercury manages to gasp out and suddenly the pressure was gone. Cinder begins to walk away, muttering, "That's what I thought. You are a puppet, a pawn. Your job is not to think, only obey."

"Y-Yes ma'am..."

Emerald had a smug look on her face as she quietly whispers, "ooh, you're in big trouble," much to Mercury's chagrin.

Back with Boboiboy, Ruby soon arrives looking for him, limping to where he was despite her injuries.

"Boboiboy... please! I heard everything! Please don't leave our team! We're really sorry okay? I'M really sorry,!" Ruby cries out. "Just please... please don't leave..."

Boboiboy sits there in the silence before just smiling at Ruby and saying, "I forgive you... and I turned them down by the way." Ruby opens her eyes in disbelief.

"R-Really?"

"Really. Besides, I'm not vengeful enough to leave a team just for that. I also thought on it since last night... and yeah... I've had friends back home betray me harder. Namely, Fang. I'll never forget the time he betrayed me and the rest of my friends... but really he just wanted us to keep us safe from his older brother who hunted for these power bands."

He then looks off to the distance as he continues talking. "Then I looked at your situation and thought that must be the same case. It hurts... but looking back... you four really were just looking out for me. So yeah... I forgive you for leaving me in the dark."

"But that's- ok..." Ruby seemed to want to rebut something... but just couldn't.

"But... from now on let's do this the right way okay? No more hiding. Now come on, let's hug it out."

Ruby parrots this statement, "No more hiding..." in a lower pitch as she approaches to hug.

Remembering the real reason and how it was mostly because Boboiboy was connected to Ozpin made Ruby's stomach churn from guilt.

As they hugged, a dull red glow appears on Boboiboy's nape as something buries into it.

Meanwhile in one of the Atlesian airships, General Ironwood could be seen typing away at his scroll for his upcoming speech to give his troops stationed for the Vytal festival.

As he continued, he is interrupted by a call.

"Ah, doctor, you've called. Is something the matter?"

On the other end of the call stood a man wearing mainly black and blue, whose face was covered by a headpiece obscuring all and any identity of the person. On their lab coat, a castle emblem was pinned on with the word "Rhodes" barely seen on.

The doctor then tells Ironwood, "I've done as you've requested. If you will please redirect yourself to a more secluded area, I will begin to explain my findings," in a deep synthesized voice.

Instantly, Ironwood became more serious. He immediately proceeds to do as asked as he walks off to the sleeping quarters where he locked himself up and dimmed the lights.

"Proceed."

To be continued...