The triumphant return with the Faunus twins didn't go as expected. Sure, no one had confetti or streamers prepared for the dynamic duo of Schwartz and Rowan, but at least a single word of congratulations would've sufficed. But instead, harsh glares of judgment greeted them from Professor Hale and their teammates.

Schwartz tried to smooth things over with his ever-so-charming smile, but Lilith wasn't having any of it. A direct punch to the gut brought the cocky student to his knees. Rowan would've gotten a piece, too, had she not quickly surrendered.

"Care to explain to me why you thought it would be a good idea to form a splinter cell and go off on your own?" Lilith's question seemed oddly directed at Schwartz. Out of all the students in her group, he was the most problematic. She thought taking him out on missions, teaching him the values of camaraderie and teamwork would help him understand the point of being a Huntsman.

It turns out she's got a long way to go before he can even begin to understand those lessons.

Schwartz coughed and slowly recovered from the surprise attack. He glanced at Rowan. It would be all too easy ratting her out to save his skin. It wasn't his idea to break away from the group, but he was sure Lilith didn't give a damn. He was still in trouble for going along with it, regardless of whose idea it was.

"I got tired of waiting. I don't see the problem. We kicked the kidnapper's asses and saved the brats," Schwartz stood to his feet and gestured to the twins with his hand. "Shouldn't a "congratulations," be in order?"

"Schwartz, I do not believe arguing is the best thing you should be doing with Professor Hale right now," Watchet carefully advised his partner to exercise caution. While delighted that his teammates returned to the group safe and sound, he was initially worried sick when he discovered they went rogue. If anything happened to them while they were away, well, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

Why did they go and leave him behind? Why didn't they bring him along? Were they worried that he'd try to stop them? That he'd slow them down?

"It's bad enough that you went off on your own, but why'd you have to rope our teammates into your suicide mission?" Amani Almas stormed past the group and furious confronted Schwartz.

The cocky student looked past Amani to see Edward Regalia tending to his wounds from his fight against Prim. "Save it. The big guy chose to come with us on his own."

"He's right, Amani," Edward added. "I knew the risks going with them. Everything turned out fine."

"Fine? You're hurt!" Amani exclaimed.

"You should see my opponent," Edward indicated to his beaten opponent, now tightly secured by Cerise and Nagina. "What happened to the other guy? Did he manage to escape?"

Schwartz smirked and performed a cut-throat gesture with his thumb. "Nah. Bastard got munched by the Grimm. Won't be seeing him ever again."

"Is that true?" Lilith eyed Rowan suspiciously.

"Yes, it's true. The Grimm snuck up on him and dragged him into the forest. We barely managed to escape with the twins. We didn't have time to save him," Rowan answered.

"Why would we want to save him in the first place? Either the Grimm were gonna get him, or m--" Schwartz stopped once Rowan nudged him in the side with her elbow. The last thing the twins needed to hear was about how one of their saviors planned to kill their kidnappers.

"You're still treating this like a game," Lilith shook her head in disappointment. "You got lucky that things turned out well this time. But what would have happened if you failed, any of you? Edward, you went one-on-one with that kidnapper. Even if you're an upperclassman, it doesn't excuse your recklessness. Your Semblance is crafty, and it helped you win the fight. But what if you went up against an opponent that didn't rely on a Semblance? What then?"

Edward made the right decision and kept his mouth shut. The Professor made a valid argument. He relied heavily on his brute force strength and Semblance to help him in combat situations. But what would he do if none of those could help him?

"You two," Lilith's attention shifted to Schwartz and Rowan. "The most challenging task rested on your shoulders. The slightest mistake could've cost your lives and theirs. But of course, you didn't think about any of that, did you?"

"We had to save the twins," Rowan said. "We were taking too long. They were close to their base. If the kidnappers made it there, then who knows how long it would take to rescue them."

"Please don't be mad at them," Brulee begged.

"They saved our lives! You shouldn't punish them!" Maple added.

"They're not in trouble for saving you. They're in trouble for leaving us behind. If something happened to any of you out here, we wouldn't know where to begin searching for you kids." Lilith clarified for the twins to understand. She was proud of her students for succeeding in rescuing them, but their behavior wasn't acceptable. She can't have her students going out and dying on her.

Not again.

"We're sorry for leaving the rest of you behind, but there's nothing else we can say about this. The kids are safe, so let's get them home." Rowan suggested.

"We shouldn't send them home just yet," The group turned around to see Lieutenant Joan Stark and other Atlas soldiers approach them.

"I was wondering where you ran off to," Lilith smacked her lips.

"Why shouldn't we send the kids home?" Rowan grabbed Brulee and Maple's shoulders and moved them closer to her.

She didn't want them to risk getting roped into Atlas business. Atlas and Faunus don't have a good history.

"What we have here is a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone," Stark started with a Cheshire smile. "You've captured at least one of the kidnappers, correct? And you've successfully retrieved the children."

"Get to the point, Joan. If not, we're leaving," Lilith demanded. She already didn't like that the Atlas Specialist arrived conveniently after the situation was "settled."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Impatient as always," Stark shook her head but continued nonetheless with her master plan. "It turns out our two missions are connected. Your kidnappers have something to do with the attack on our prisoner convoy airship, even if somewhat indirectly. I want to find the location of their base and destroy it."

"That has nothing to do with us," Lilith stated with narrowed eyes. She knew where Joan was going with this, and she didn't want anything to do with it.

"Oh, but it does. We have all the pieces we need to complete our mission," Stark focuses her sharp gaze on the Faunus twins. They tense up and hide behind Schwartz and Rowan for safety. "Hand over the twins and the kidnapper. We'll take it from here."

"What?" Rowan asked.

"Don't make me repeat myself, girl," Stark demanded.

"What do you want with the twins?" Watchet inquired, sensing some hostility in the Atlas Specialist.

"We need them for an undercover operation. We'll release the kidnapper after putting a tracker on them and then have them take the twins to their base. Once we have the location, we'll storm the base and arrest everyone inside." Stark answered curtly.

"Are you insane? You want to use the children as bait?!" Rowan exclaimed.

"Calm down, Rowan. You'll bring the Grimm down on us," Watchet warned his teammate. The situation grew tense, but adding the Grimm to the equation would do more harm than good.

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any lower," Lilith shook her head, utterly disgusted that the Atlas Officer would even make such a vile suggestion. She would risk putting those kids in danger again to further her agenda. It wasn't about the mission anymore; it was about getting ahead in life.

That's how Stark's always been. She knew better than to expect her to change, even after all these years.

"It's a fair trade, Lilith. If you hand over the twins and the kidnapper, I will excuse your students for their past transgression. Both teams will leave happy," Stark confidently assured. She's spent too much time brown-nosing the higher officials up in Atlas. The Faunus woman couldn't see the dangers of her plan.

"Fuck you! We're not handing them over!" Rowan raised her voice.

"I wasn't asking for permission," Stark raised her hand, prompting the soldiers behind her to train their guns on the students.

"W-W-W-What's happening here?! Are we doing this?!" Zorina panicked, unsure of what to make of the situation anymore. Weren't they all supposed to be on the same side?

"Think very carefully before you do something even more stupid, Joan," Lilith warned her acquaintance with a deadly glare, freezing most of the soldiers up. "You can take the kidnapper into your custody. I don't give a damn. But, you are not taking these kids from us. And if it's a fight you want--"

"It's a fight you'll get," Schwartz rested his hands on the hilts of his swords. All he needed was an excuse, an order, to attack. He'd all too happily wreak havoc on the poor soldiers. Most of them looked too scared to even move at this point.

Pathetic.

Lilith and Stark stared each other down. How many years had passed since their last battle? Stark would've loved nothing more than to settle their old score. But, she couldn't let her emotions get the best of her here. Not now. Not in front of her men.

The Snow Leopard Faunus reluctantly called her men off and ordered them to secure the kidnapper. Cerise and Nagina happily handed him over to the Atlas Authorities. With their purpose here done, the Atlas soldiers headed back to their aircraft.

"What a bitch," Schwartz commented.

"You're telling me," Lilith shook her head and led the students back to the campsite. The group needed a goodnight's sleep after everything they'd been through for the past couple of days.

The morning sun rose, as did Professor Lilith and her students. They returned to the village and escorted Brulee and Maple back to their foster parents. For real this time.

However, they weren't greeted with a warm welcome when they reached the house. The foster parents wanted nothing to do with the children anymore and demanded that they return to the orphanage.

Rowan desperately fought for them. How could the parents be cruel enough to abandon the twins after they went through all the trouble of getting them here? Sure, they had valid reasons to be scared, but they were supposed to be a family. A family shouldn't abandon each other at the slightest inconvenience. It wasn't right.

But, no matter what she had to say, the foster parents had the right to decline. They demanded the group to leave before slamming the door in their faces.

"I'm so sorry," Rowan turned to the twins, expecting them to break down into tears after getting rejected. But instead, Brulee and Maple high-fived each other.

"Sweet! We can go back to the orphanage!" Brulee cheered.

"We get to see Mother Carwyn and the others again!" Maple smiled from ear to ear.

That's right. The twins were reluctant to leave the orphanage in the first place, and they wanted to become Huntsmen in the future. Their foster parents didn't want them to have that sort of life. Maybe it's for the best.

"Soooo, mission success? Mission failure?" Schwartz looked to the group and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know what to make of this tiresome ordeal anymore. At least he managed to get a decent fight in, so perhaps it wasn't a total loss.

"Even I am unsure at this point," Watchet went through the events of the mission in his head. The original goal was to escort the children to their foster family. But the initial foster family were mere imposters. The real foster family wants nothing to do with the twins now.

"I don't care anymore!" Amani groaned in frustration, tossing her arms up into the air. "Can we go home now?! I haven't streamed in so long! Who knows how many viewers I've lost thanks to this mission!"

"That's what you're worried about?" Edward sighed.

"There's nothing much else we can do here," Rowan looked to Professor Hale. "We have to return them to the orphanage."

"You're right. Let's go," Lilith gestured for the students to follow her and lead them back to Carwyn Orphanage.

The trip back to Haven was an awkward one. It was one hell of an experience for everyone involved. Lilith prayed to the Gods that some of them learned something from this mission. Regardless, the paperwork was going to be a pain in the ass.

Speaking of pains in the asses, Rowan kept to the back of the group. She eyed Schwartz suspiciously. It was incredibly odd for her team leader to shoulder the blame for going rogue. While it fit his nature, she couldn't figure out why he would cover for her.

Rowan had some ideas. But that's all they were. If she wanted the truth, she'd have no choice but to ask the man himself. Having sensed Rowan's gaze for a while now, Schwartz slowed down and matched his teammate's walking speed.

"You finished checking me out?" Schwartz teased.

"This was a mistake," Rowan sped up. She should've known better than to hope he had anything meaningful to say.

"Wait, wait," Schwartz reached out and grabbed her arm. "You got something to say to me, right? I'm all ears."

"I hope you're not expecting a thank you for taking the blame. You could've just ratted me out," Rowan eyed Schwartz suspiciously.

"And miss getting punched by the Professor? Not a chance," Schwartz laughed, shifting Rowan's suspicious glance into concern mixed with disgust. If that's what he was into, then she'd try not to judge him too much. "But seriously, it's no big deal. She made an assumption, and I didn't correct her."

"Well, if that's all..."

"Oh no, that's not all. Now you owe me," A sinister smile etched onto Schwartz's face. "You don't have to thank me, but you can pay me back by helping the team get into the Vytal tournament."

Rowan's eyes widened for that split second. Of course, the Vytal tournament! How could she have forgotten about that?! Now it all made sense!

"You son of a bitch," Rowan muttered under her breath. She couldn't believe he managed to trick her.

She's the con-woman. She's the one that's supposed to trick others, not the other way around.

"Well?" Schwartz eagerly awaited an answer.

"No. I'm not joining that stupid tournament." Rowan adamantly refused and sped up to join up with the twins. She wasn't going to give him another opportunity to bring up that stupid topic.

Watchet chuckled and walked alongside Schwartz. "No luck?" He inquired.

"Nah, it went perfectly. She's all in." Schwartz sarcastically responded. The mission was now a bust as far as he was concerned. The whole point of this was to prove team SWRZ was ready for the tournament. Now they're back at square one.

"Patience, Schwartz. Give it enough time. I am certain that Rowan will come around," Watchet hoped. He, too, was eager to partake in the Vytal tournament. But there was more to Rowan's refusal. He could feel it. He just needed a bit more time to uncover her secrets.