[Time Skip, A Few Weeks]

I sighed as I aimed down the outdoor shooting range. I had been so bored I've done nothing but test my new rifle, the Cheytac M-200 Intervention. The effective range of this rifle is 1.4 miles, I had been waiting for a good while just to get my hands on it. I shot until my clip was empty, then went to take a look at the target. No one else was around, it's been like that ever since I started coming here. I looked at the target and saw the bullets were closely grouped, all except one, which was nearly an inch from the others. I sighed.

Me: "I'm losing my touch."

Normally this would be fictional, but thanks to my semblance I've been called the best shot on Remnant. Having my mind process information like elevation, wind direction and speed, bullet drop, distance, even the limitations of the ammo I'm using, I'm able to hit anything in my range, put in simply terms, I'm a sniper and spotter in one. I tore down the target and put up a new one then walked back to my spot. As I neared my rifle I saw Neo standing there looking at it.

Me: "Need something?"

She looked up at me and smiled. She held up her notepad.

Neo: "I figured I'd find you here."

Neo and I had "talked" over the past few weeks, and actually become pretty good friends. This was mainly because my team and I decided we needed to get out more. Ghost would go out and spend time with Yang, while Smoke would go with Ruby, then Dark would stick with Weiss, so I guess I went and got to know Neo better.

Me: "You know me. The shooting range is my home away from home."

She eyed my rifle.

Neo: "Can I try?"

Me: "Sure. Have you ever fired a gun before?"

She shook her head.

Me: 'This should be fun.'

I reloaded my rifle.

Me: "Alright, considering your size you'll want to lay down."

I set things up so she could lay down and shoot.

Me: "Now..."

I tapped the top of the scope, on the elevation adjustment.

Me: "This is for your elevation."

I tapped the small knob of the left of the scope.

Me: "This is the parallax adjustment, you don't need to worry about that."

I tapped the final knob on the right of the scope.

Me: "And this is for wind."

She nodded. I kneeled down beside her and activated my semblance. After collecting all the data she would need I started telling her what to do.

Me: "Turn the right knob three clicks upward. Turn the knob on the top of the scope six clicks to the right."

She did as I said.

Me: "Now, take a deep breath, and exhale slowly, then pull the trigger and get ready for a kick."

She took a deep breath and exhaled. She then pulled the trigger. The bullet flew and hit the bullseye on the target. Neo hopped up and looked down the range.

Me: "Nice shot."

She looked at me and smiled, I smiled back at her.

Neo: "I almost forgot. I'm gonna be gone for awhile."

Me: "Going on a mission?"

Neo: "No, just going to see some family."

Me: "Oh, well have fun."

I started to disassemble my rifle and put it in its case. Neo tapped me on the shoulder, and held up her notepad.

Neo: "Stand up."

I raised my brow and did as she said. As soon as I stood up straight she hugged onto me tightly. I hugged her back and chuckled.

Me: "You could've just said you wanted a hug."

She let go and looked at me with a worried expression.

Neo: "Be safe."

Me: "Uh... Sure, you to."

She then walked off with nothing else to say.

Me: "What did she mean by, 'Be Safe'?"

I shrugged and finished packing up my rifle. I started walking back to my dorm when my scroll went off. I looked at it to see it was Ghost. I answered the scroll.

Me: "What's up Ghost?"

Ghost: "Ozpin wants us to go on a mission, with another team."

Me: "Really? Why?"

Ghost: "He's being cryptic, like always. He's saying that they'll need help. And it's in our best interest to go with them."

I sighed.

Me: "Well, we wouldn't want to get rusty. I'm fine with it if the rest of the team is."

Ghost: "We're good with it, trust me."

Me: "I bet you ten Lein that I can guess what team it is now."

Ghost: "No way, I still owe you thirty Lein for taking the fall for me when I blew up half of the R&D department."

Me: "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Where's my thirty Lein?"

There was a pause.

Ghost: "Anyway, we leave at O'Seven hundred tomorrow."

I chuckled.

Me: "Alright."

[Time Skip, The Next Morning]

My team and I sat on a bullhead looking out at the ground bellow. I had my case slung over my shoulder, like always. I was dressed in a greyish black cloak and my stealth gear underneath. Dark wore his trench coat, black jeans, a white T-shirt, and converse. Ghost wore his stealth gear, like mine it was pitch black with different pockets and holsters. Smoke wore his face mask and black cloak, he wore the same stealth gear as Ghost and I only it held multiple throwing knives.

Ghost: "So Dark, how's it going with Weiss?"

He shouted over the noise.

Dark: "It's going good. She's nervous about telling her sister about us though. She really admires her."

Ghost: "I can see why, Winter is one of the strongest in the military at Atlas."

Dark: "What about you? How's it going with Yang?"

Ghost: "Couldn't be better. I helped her add a few parts to her bike the other day, you'd think I just gave her one million Lein, I've never seen her that happy."

Dark: "That's good! How about you Smoke how's it going with Ruby?"

Smoke: "Good. I think I've gotten used to her hyper behavior. It's certainly a task to limit her sugar intake however. What about you (C/N)? How's it going with Neo?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Ghost: "You know, your relationship."

Me: "Neo and I are just friends."

Ghost: "You're kidding me right? You guys obviously like each other. It's hard to separate you two."

Me: "Well, yeah I like her. But I'm not that great with emotions. I can't really tell if she likes me or not."

Smoke: "You're telling me you don't notice that she stares at you? Quite a bit."

Me: "I've never noticed, she does that?"

Ghost: "Dude, she does it all the time."

I sighed.

Me: "I'll work on it when we get back. For now, let's focus."

We soon landed and looked around.

Oobleck: "Alright ladies and gentlemen, here's the plan. Team Shadow, I want you to move on ahead and scout, I've been told you are a very capable scouting group. Keep in a relatively close distance so you can follow us. Team RWBY you'll follow with me."

Me: "Yes sir."

I started to move away from the group, but saw the hesitation with the rest of my team. I sighed, I had an idea of why they were reluctant.

Me: "Uh... Actually sir, I'm better at scouting on my own. I can move across the rooftops easier, so maybe the rest of my team could stick with you on the ground."

He thought for a moment.

Oobleck: "Excellent idea! I can see why you're the strategist of your team. Carry on."

Me: "Thank you sir."

I turned to my team.

Me: "Keep an ear out for the coms."

Team: "Rogar."

I moved up to the nearest building and climbed to the top. I opened up my case and assembled my rifle. I screwed on my suppressor and looked at the group below. I saw Oobleck spinning around with... A dog?

Me: 'It's best to ignore things like this.'

I looked around the streets I could. I then spotted a Beowulf pack down the street a bit.

Me: "Ghost, fifteen plus Beowulves, twelve O'clock, approximately seven hundred yards away. They'll spot you soon, get ready."

Ghost: "Understood."

I waited a few seconds until they engaged. As expected Ghost covered Yang, Smoke helped Ruby, and Dark distracted a group so Weiss could thin them out, while Blake took on a small group. I noticed a Beowulf sneaking off from the pack and trying to circle around Ghost, which didn't work out for him, seeing as he quickly had a bullet burrow into the center of his skull. I readied my next bullet while catching the empty shell casing and setting it down gently. Smoke and Ruby were doing fine so I moved onto Dark and Weiss. Dark was sweeping a group of Beowulves with his flamberge. Weiss was covering him pretty well. I continued my role as support, picking off strays and covering anyone who needed it. After we decided to move on I picked up all my shell casings and moved a little bit ahead of the group, warning them of Grimm and hazards blocking the way.

[Time Skip, Nightfall]

We found a building to make camp in and settled in, eating and resting for the coming day. I was up first on lookout. As I sat there Oobleck approached me.

Oobleck: "So, (C/N), why did you ever join Atlas?"

Me: "General Ironwood helped me when I was little. He took me in and trained me, plus... I wanted to get strong, and help people."

Oobleck: "Your team said similar things."

Me: "Yup. Ironwood helped all of us. He took me off the streets, gave me a home, and the means to survive."

Oobleck: "Whatever happened?"

Me: "I was abandoned as a child, so I had to steal, fight, and run to survive. However, even now, I lack physical strength. So fighting was never a good idea, I'd often get trapt and beaten. One day, as I laid in a dingy alleyway bleeding, a man in a white suit approached me. He told me I could survive if I'd come with him, of course I shied away from him, fearing it was some cruel joke. But, I ended up going with him. He taught me personally, along side three other students. None of us had names, so we were given codenames. And through the years, we became like family."

I chuckled as I looked over at my team, quietly talking to each other and enjoying their time with Team RWBY. I motioned to Dark.

Me: "The brawler, the boy who fought his way through life, literally. He never paid attention to Ironwood's lessons, but when it came to training, he was the best. He told me that when Ironwood approached him he tried to hit him, which quickly turned into Dark having his arm dislocated."

I motioned to Ghost.

Me: "The genius, the faunas boy that thought and talked his way out of the problems he had. Learning came easy to him, technology and mechanics being his specialty. He'd always sneak away and go to the R&D department, that's where he learned the most. He told me that the only reason he came with Ironwood was because he was fascinated by his cybernetics."

And finally Smoke.

Me: "The thief, the boy who stole then disappeared without a trace. He was well rounded in both academics and fighting. He uses stealth and speed to overcome his opponents. He went with Ironwood because he was the only person to actually catch him."

I then pointed to myself.

Me: "Then there was the weakling. Third in academics and last in physical training. I had to study day and night to catch up, and no matter how much I tried I couldn't get any better with fighting. Eventually Ironwood wanted to train us with weapons. With melee weapons Dark and Smoke were the best. Ghost was proficient with a pistol, but still liked to stick with relying on his smarts. And then I figured out the one thing I was good at, shooting. Everyone was surprised, before that I was seen as the weak link. I decided to poor my time into learning everything I could about being a sniper. And once I found my semblance that's all there was to it, I became the best sniper in Atlas, Ironwood argues that I'm the best in Remnant, but there hasn't been a contest or anything."

Oobleck: "I see. You four are an interesting group. I now know why Ironwood puts so much faith in you and your team. Now, get some rest, I believe it's Ruby's turn."

Me: "Yes sir."

[Time Skip, Later That Night]

I was suddenly woken up by Smoke.

Smoke: "(C/N), we can't find Ruby."

Me: "What? Do you think she went out on her own?"

Smoke: "It's possible."

Suddenly the dog Ruby had brought with her came into the doorway of the room and barked.

Me: "Oobleck, are we authorized to go after her?"

Oobleck: "Yes, let's go. I believe your friend may be in danger."

[Time Skip, Underground]

As we landed from jumping down the giant hole in the ground, we moved to the edge of the building we were on top of. We found Ruby's scythe, so we know she went down this way. I looked through the scope of my rifle and quickly found the red hooded huntress in training.

Me: "She's down there, Torchwick has her. We'll have to figure something out, there's way too much fire power with him."

I turned around to face my companions, only to see they had left. I sighed as I heard an explosion.

Me: "Going loud."

I took off the suppressor and started setting up my shots. I helped clear the street the team was moving down. Torchwick started to move back to the train so I lined up a shot at his leg. I fired and as it made contact with his leg, he shattered like glass.

Me: 'Where have I seen that before...?'

I got up and started moving down, using my semblance I found a, semi-safe, way to slid down part of the cliff. As I reached the rest of the group, the train started moving.

Me: "Let's move!"

We all started running for the train. Once we got on the train we started moving on top of the train cars. I put my rifle over my shoulder and pulled out my new dual SIG P210.

Weiss: "Um... Professor?"

Oobleck: "Doctor."

Weiss: "What's that?"

She pointed to the hatch she held open.

Oobleck: "That... Is a bomb."

Me: "Ghost!"

Ghost: "On it!"

He got down and started looking at it.

Ghost: "I can't do anything without the right tools."

Suddenly the bomb started beeping.

Oobleck: "Run!"

We ran across the train car and jumped to the next one.

Oobleck: "Blake! Detach the train car, it'll kill us all!"

Blake jumped down and went to slash the connector, but released before she could.

Blake: "It broke away on its own!"

The train car slid backwards and exploded, breaking a hold in the tunnel. I ran to the current train car's hatch and opened it.

Me: "There's a bomb in this one too!"

Oobleck ran to the next car and looked in the hatch.

Oobleck: "They all have bombs!"

We started running forward until we were clear of the train cars with bombs. I looked behind us to see hundreds of Grimm chasing the train. Everything clicked.

Me: "Their leading Grimm to the city!"

Ghost: "We've gotta stop this freaking thing!"

???: "Get the humans!"

I looked behind me to see White Fang climbing atop the train.

Oobleck: "Ruby and I will handle them, get below and stop this train!"

Me: "Smoke, stick with Ruby. Six is enough to handle things below."

Smoke pulled out his knives and nodded while Ghost, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Dark and I got into the train car. We landed in a hallway like room and started moving forward. Suddenly someone dropped from the ceiling and blocked our way. As my eyes caught her something terrible clicked. Neo, I now knew where I knew the name from. Her eyes widened as she recognized me as well. It didn't seem like anyone else noticed this however, I had to think quick.

Me: "You five move forward, Ghost cover Yang, Dark cover Weiss and Blake get to Torchwick."

Dark/Ghost: "Rogar."

They ran forward as I aimed and fired at Neo's feet. Making her jump back. Once everyone got to the next car I sighed.

Me: "You got me. God I was an idiot. But..."

I spun my pistol in my hand and aimed at her.

Me: "Not exactly here to talk."

She raised her hands and shook her head.

Me: "You can stop the act. You've already played with me enough."

She waved her hands around and frantically looked for her notepad, once she found it she wrote quickly.

Neo: "I wasn't trying to play with you, I swear! I really like you!"

I chuckled.

Me: "It makes sense. You work with the person who broke into the Communications tower. You distracted me so I didn't react fast enough. That was your plan, wasn't it?"

Neo: "It was at first, but then I got to know you more! I really do like you, I never wanted you to know about this."

Me: "Will you cut that out?"

I put away my pistols and grabbed my revolver from behind my back.

Me: "Just so you know, these are stun bullets."

I aimed and shot at her. She dodged it, but refused to attack me.

Neo: "Please stop! We can talk this out, can't we?"

Me: "There's nothing to talk about. I fell for your tricks. This cruel joke you decided to pull."

I started moving forward. Suddenly there's was a loud crash, and the train shook violently.

Me: "Looks like the train is stopping, just come with me. You're under arr-"

The train suddenly buckled, and began to crush around us. I looked back over to Neo and saw she was panicking. She suddenly disappeared, while I was thrown around the train car. As I finally stopped being thrown around I felt something pierce my stomach and right cafe. I clenched my teeth and cursed under my breath as I looked down to see a metal shard sticking out of my abdomen and a metal pole going all the way through my leg. I looked around and saw light coming from the front of the train. I went to use my ear piece but it must have fallen out. I started crawling backwards as fast as I could, which wasn't fast at all. I heard growling and looked in front of me to see Grimm charging to the front of the car, towards me. I quickly pulled out one of my SIG P210 and started shooting, taking out as many as I could.  Once that one ran out of ammo I grabbed the other and continued to fire. After two clips I had cleared the Grimm. I started moving backwards again. My vision started growing darker, but I didn't feel like I was passing out. I looked behind me to see the hole the train made closing with rubble.

Me: "Hey! I'm still down here!"

I called out, but the breach closed and I was left in the dark. I reached into one of the pouches on my stealth suit and pulled out a flare. I lit and took a look around, I didn't see anymore Grimm, but I didn't see a way out I would be able to take. My arms began to grow weak and I dropped the flare, letting it roll down the train. Before I passed out I could see Neo running towards me with tears in her eyes. She grabbed onto me and shook me slightly, trying to get me to stay awake, but I couldn't help but to pass out.

[Neo's POV]

I kept shaking (C/N) gently, trying to get him to wake up. He wouldn't move, and I couldn't feel a pulse.

Ghost: "(C/N)?! (C/N)?! Come on!"

I looked around for the noise and found it. It was a small ear piece (C/N) always wore. I put it to my ear.

Ghost: "(C/N) where are you?! Come on dammit!"

There was a pause.

Ghost: "I can't get a read on his vitals from my scroll... Fuck! Dark! Help me break it open again!"

Me: 'He must've left the channel open.'

Dark: "Ghost... We can't. The Grimm will come through again."

I heard a faint voice say.

Ghost: "(C/N) is down there!"

Dark: "Ghost... Let's go..."

Ghost: "The fu-"

The ear piece went silent. I looked down to (C/N) and held onto him.

Me: 'No...'

I started using all the aura I could to teleport.