Team RWBY, You, Qrow, Oscar, and Maria are standing outside of the gates to the Atlesian Military base on the island off the coast of Argus. Yang puts her hands on the bars of the gate to speak to the guards, "Come on! You didn't even hear us out!"

"Our orders are clear: The Mistral-Atlas border is closed!"
"Please!"
"Have a good day!"
"But-"
"A good day!!"

"We have Weiss Schnee with us, and we're trying to get her home safely." You pull out your scroll, showing them your license. "Very well!"

Weiss looks down with reluctance upon hearing you say that. The two guards look to each other before turning their attention back to the group, "Approach!"

Weiss shares a look with Blake, who shrugs. Weiss then walks up to the gate, and the two guards step up and bend down to inspect her. After a moment, both guards stand straight back up, "You may speak with our commanding officer!"
"We will fetch her at once!"

The two guards turn around in sync, as they run to get their superior.
"They were... kind of-"
"Super weird? Uh, yeah."

"Hmm..."
"What's wrong?"

"Well, I... may know this commanding officer..."
"That's good, isn't it? If she's your friend, then maybe she'd be more willing to help us."
"I wouldn't exactly call us... "friends"."
"Acquaintances?"
"Not quite."

"Colleagues?"
"Warmer."
"Enemies?"
"That's the one!"

"If I remember her correctly, she didn't like me either after I resigned from my position in Atlas." You scratch the back of your neck.
"Wait, what?"

"Oh, yes. I come through here about once every ten years to get my eyes checked up in Atlas. You bring outside cashews on one flight, and suddenly you're placed on the additional screening list for life!"

"You've gotta be kidding me..."
"Now, now, let's not give up hope yet. Maybe she's dead!" You laugh at this remark.

Suddenly, the gates open up quickly, and the two guards return,  "Introducing!"
"Special operative!"
"Caroline Cordovin!"

Footsteps approach to reveal a short-statured elderly woman around Maria's age wearing the standard Atlesian officer uniform. Cordovin steps forward and glares at Maria, "Witch."
"She-devil."
"Hm. I've seen you've chosen larger contraband to smuggle this time."

"Oh, Cordo. You know they say time changes people, but I see you've still got that stick right up your-"

"H-hello! Miss, uh, Cordovin. My name is Ruby Rose, and I was wondering if you would hear us out about-"

"I've already heard what your other little friends had to say, Miss Rose." She looks behind Ruby, noticing Jaune, Nora, and Ren standing a little ways away behind the group, "What are you doing back here?! I thought I told you to leave!"

Nora tries to charge forward, only to be held back by Ren and Jaune, "And I told you we wouldn't rest until you let us through!"

Ren was nervously smiling and waving, "Nice to see you again as well!"

"You civilians are clearly incapable of comprehending the importance of our mission here in Argus. So allow me to say this slowly, with smaller words: This base, that relay tower, the very safety of Argus are all gifts from the glorious Kingdom of Atlas! And it is my duty to uphold them, as only I have the wit and tenacity for such a task."
"Such wit!"
"Such tenacity!"

"Or maybe Atlas just wanted to get you as far from the kingdom as possible."

"You're just like the rest of these Argus ingrates! This city wouldn't even be here if it weren't for our Atlesian ancestors, and what do we get in return? The entire world is ready to put a knife to our throats!"

"Please, we know your kingdom had nothing to do with the Fall of Beacon. We were there."

"No one's happy about the Atlas borders or embargo, but I know General Ironwood is just worried. It's why we need to talk to-"

"The General is no coward! Atlas is strong. If all the kingdoms plan to make us their enemy, then so be it! Atlas will prevail-"

"You make it seem as if you know James." You finally spoke up, Cordovin then takes notice of you, "L-lieutenant (Y/n)." You slowly make your way to her, "Cordovin, how are you? I see that the base is in top shape. Nothing less from my successor."
"What are you doing here?"

"To get to Atlas."
"Well, of course! You were the General's top soldier I'm sure you'll protect Ms. Schnee-"
"Not just me, Cordovin. They wish to go to Atlas as well."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that. If you were alone, it would be otherwise."
"Why is that?"
"I am the Special Operative of this facility; you were the one to run this place back in the day; however, that title was taken away the moment you left Atlas, the moment you left the General."

"Yet, you still call Lieutenant."

"If Miss Schnee has truly come to her senses and wishes to return to her family, then, of course, the Atlas military will escort her home. But the kingdom will not be responsible for her "friends" of... questionable character." Cordovin glances at Blake specifically upon saying her last statement.

Weiss, with a hostile tone, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we're done here."

The gates to the base are shown closing quickly, leaving the group outside once again, "Oh yeah? Well, your face looks... like a big dumb boot!"
"Way to show her, Nora..."

Ruby, Blake, and Yang look to Weiss,  "I don't..."

"Weiss. I told you we wouldn't leave your side for a second. We'll find a way to Atlas. Together." Ruby places a hand on Weiss' shoulder. Weiss smiles and nods back at her friend. Qrow starts to walk away, "So... where are we going now?"
"Yeah, what's the plan?"

"The plan? The plan just got shut on our face three times over. I'm going for a drink."

Ruby runs over to her uncle, "Uncle Qrow, I really think we should try and come up with something..." Qrow walks away before she could finish, "...together."

"What's his problem? It's not your fault; we can't go on."
"If he's gonna be a jerk, then we'll just come up with something without him. I mean, we've got Ozpin with us! He usually knows what to do."

Upon hearing this, Oscar looks down sadly, and Weiss, Blake and Yang exchange troubled looks, "What is it?"

Back at Saphron's home, Jaune punches the wall, leaving a very large crack in it, "Jaune!"
"Everything we did was for nothing!"
"That's not true."

"Really? Cuz it sure does sound like it."
"I, um..."
"If Salem can't be killed, then how are we supposed to win this? (Y/n) seemed not to mention this at all."

Everyone remains silent, "Wow... Great plan, everyone!"
"Look, none of this is great, we know. But we're not the bad guys here."
"Are we sure about that?"

"What?"
"He's in your head, isn't he? Did you already know about this?" Jaune angrily walks over to Oscar.
"He didn't know any of it!"

Jaune grabs Oscar and shoves him against the wall, "How much longer can we even trust him?! Or (Y/n)?!"
"Jaune!"

"How do we even know it's really him?! What if we have been talking to that liar this whole time?!"

"Jaune!" Ruby angrily glares at Jaune, who glares back at her. He looks back over to Oscar, who is cowering in fear. Jaune, realizing what he has done, lets go of Oscar with an apologetic look on his face. Jaune then goes upstairs. A door is heard opening and slamming shut.

"Is he... gonna be okay?"
"I don't know!" Nora gets up and leaves.
"I think it would be best if we had some time to ourselves." Ren leaves and heads upstairs as well.

Team RWBY and Oscar remain in the living room, "Maybe we could all use some space." Everyone stays silent. Oscar looks down sadly.

In town, there was a small pub, Qrow was drinking away, as you entered the pub. You sat down next to Qrow, "You weren't at the house."
"..." Silence.
"Qrow, enough with the silent treatment."
"Couldn't you leave me alone right now?" Before he takes another sip of his liquor, you place your hand over it, preventing him from drinking.
"Qrow, when are you going to listen? This is childish."
"That's because I'm dealing with a child."
"Qrow, enough of this."

"No! Do you have any idea how it feels to find out the people you trust the most hiding who they really are?" Qrow shoved you to the side.
"This is me! Nothing about me has changed!" You grabbed his arm, making him turn back facing you.
"It doesn't seem like it. How should I trust you?"
"We've always trusted each other."

"For all I know, you could still be hiding something from me?"
"You think I had a choice to keep it a secret. Ozpin has it a lot worse than any of us!"

"Ozpin this! Ozpin that! You talk about him a lot more why don't you be with him!?" Qrow slapped you, Qrow froze, you felt tears forming in your eyes. A few people in the background played close attention, trying to understand the situation.

Your hands formed a fist, punching him as Qrow stepped backward but regained his balance. Qrow charged at you, without hesitation, you raised your fist.

Before the two of you took things further, a nearby group, split you two apart.
You shouted at him, "I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to talk about the death of my son! To remember what that woman did to him! To relive those awful memories, I don't think... I can... I can do this anymore." The pub gets quiet, some looking at you with apologetic eyes. "I'll leave you alone. I'll take it to Atlas myself. You won't see me anymore; I know when I'm not wanted."

You place down a few lien cards on the counter; without another word, you stood up walking out of pub room, slamming the door behind you.

A few people hesitating to follow you, Qrow stared at the door; he had harmed you for the first time. He had sworn to protect you not to hurt you. "(Y/n)..." He pulls out a photo of you holding toddler Ruby with child Yang hiding behind your cape, 'Do it for them' Written with a black marker.

As you walked down the street, Ajin appeared in front of you, "I'm fine, Qrow didn't mean to hurt me. He's a good man; it's my fault. I got on his nerves." You continued to walk down the street, your eyes began to tear up, "I should have told him in the beginning."

Ajin placed a hand on your back, you wiped your eyes, "I shouldn't be crying. Stop crying." You took a deep breath calming yourself.

"(Y/n)? What are you doing out here?" You turn your attention to Oscar, "Hey Oscar. Oh, you changed your wardrobe."
"Does it look weird?"
"You look great, Oscar." Oscar walks up to then took notice of your redden cheek, "W-what happened? Are you okay?" Oscar places his hand on your cheek, "I'm fine, got into a scrap with someone."
"That isn't like you to fight anyone unless someone who works with-"
"Qrow; I got into it with Qrow."
"W-why?"
"Let's not talk about it now. You seem down, Oscar. Did something happen at the house?" Oscar nods, knowing that he couldn't lie to you, "I thought maybe I need a breath of fresh air."
"You and me both."
"Are you going to be okay?"

"Can you sit next to me for a while?"
Oscar sits next to you on the bench, placing his hand on your head, softly humming your tune. Oscar had picked up your lullaby after you hum it from time to time. This relaxed you, Ozpin used to do this whenever you were feeling down, "Thank you, Oscar."

End of Vol. 6 Chapter 8
Wow, that's a lot to take in.
I appreciate all of you for catching up with this; we are about to reach 20k that's amazing!
I'm surprised many like this story; I'm getting great feedback from you guys.
I'll have something on the side for you guys!
Until the next update!
Michaelis