Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY that said please enjoy.

Many many thanks to BozarBoy for helping me with this new version of

Chapter 1 (Adam Taurus)

"Watson, what do you see here?" asked Jaune.

Here I am…

"A riverside, with a great pile of sludge that smells more unpleasant than rotting meat. And you are making me wade through it, looking for 'clues'." My suit was soaked from searching through the mud and muck for hours. "And my name for the last time is Adam." I said irritably as I rested on some nearby rocks.

"Right you are Watson. You see that black stain you're stepping on? It's the key to our case, good going finding it Watson."

…With the greatest irritant in history. If only I could pull out my katana and stab my past self.

I lifted my foot up and grimaced. Some stringy liquid with the consistency of phlegm was stuck to the sole of my shoes. When I get home I'm burning these shoes and throwing the ashes off the highest cliff I can find.

"Here, catch." He tossed me a glass jar that had a towel inside. "Collect those would you; we need it if we're going to catch our culprit."

I looked back down at the slime and then back up at Jaune. The obnoxious bastard was smiling and gesturing for me to start. I had over a million ways to respond. All derogatory.

C'mon Adam, suck it up you've been through worse.

After a deep breath, I rolled the towel over the mess and wrung it out over the jar. It felt worse than it looked. Lumpy custard and mud came to mind as I was collecting the liquid.

"Righto Watson, let's head to the flat for analysis."

Fortunately, we didn't run into anyone I knew. I didn't want them asking question as to why I was carrying questionable black substances.

Back in my room (and in a fresh set of clothes, shoes included), I rested on the armchair I brought in when I moved in. Money was tight but the promise of accommodation as well as a job meant I could indulge myself from time to time. Although, I wasn't sure if it qualified as a living space anymore, not with the freshly converted laboratory. It used to be the kitchen.

Despite how young Jaune was, he had a penchant for sniffing out clues. Apparently his father sent him to work with a friend in the police and it took off from there. It got to the point where he made the news after a crime bust on a serial killer. Then there was the fact that he never broke a contract. Ever. You can see the appeal. As for why he investigates on his own? Hell if I know, Jaune's personal reasons don't concern me.

The case we were on came directly from the Schnee company. Some criminal made off with certain sensitive documents , sensitive enough that the police couldn't look at it. So the Schnee company wanted us to get them back, going so far as to add in a clause of absolute secrecy. How some black gunk ties in with this case, I have no idea.

"Hey Watson, come here! There's someone I want you to meet!"

Hm, that usually means unwanted guests or unwanted guests. Today, I'm betting on the latter.

I was instead greeted by a young black haired girl with ribbons reminiscent of animal ears.

"Watson, I'd like you to meet Miss Belladonna. She'll be my secretary."

May god have mercy on that girl.

"My names not Watson, he just calls me that." I held out an offered hand.

She clasped it with surprising strength. "Blake Belladonna, a pleasure." Blake certainly had an allure to her, like a white tiger from the ancient faunus myths.

"Adam Taurus, assistant."

"I must say this is a unique place, I never expected your room to be so..." She trailed off, probably unsure how to describe the messy state of the room, "lively."

"Lively's one way of describing it, another way is calling it a dump." It was a dump. There was some green goop on the floor that I'm pretty sure used to be a pasta.

Her eyes widened, hesitating on how to respond to that. I saved her the trouble and just carried on. "It's fine, call it as it is. Jaune over there won't mind." Her eyes wandered off to said man and he gave a jaunty wave. Blake nodded uncertainly and her bow twitched?

Interesting, looks like I'm not the only faunus desperate for decent employment.

"So Adam, what do you normally do as an assistant?"

"General things. Anything Jaune finds too lazy to do, he calls on me to do it."

"Except making tea." Jaune interrupted. "He makes the most awful tea. It is a travesty that I hope to one day amend."

Good luck with that.

"What made you take this job anyway?" I asked gruffly. "Secretary isn't exactly an attractive job."

"Well," she began. "Jaune helped me with a problem I had before and I wanted to repay him back."

"Problem?" Jaune didn't normally take cases without me.

"It's a private affair. That's all you need to know about it."

"Right, meet and greet is over, Watson we have a culprit to catch."

Night fell with street lights providing the only light. Jaune and I stood on a rooftop staking out some storage building. My katana lay by my side because, of all my roles as an assistant, being Jaune's bodyguard was the only one actually worth my skills. Jaune himself had some sword-shield combination but from what I could tell, he was pretty bad at using them.

"Why are we here?" I asked annoyed. To say I was bored was an understatement.

Jaune glanced over at me before taking some binoculars out. Unlike me, Jaune has normal night vision. That is to say, garbage when compared to mine. I suggested earlier that I keep watch but he waved it off and said it'd be fine.

"That black gel we found by the riverside was dropped by an accomplice. Stealing documents that well guarded required an inside job with lots of outside support. I noticed in the security footage that a few employees caused various troubles around the time of the robbery and one of them had a distinct black stain on their trousers. Normal walking routes are cleaned regularly but a dirty riverside where a shady meeting can occur? He probably dropped it then but didn't notice the stain."

"How does that lead us here? Why not just bust down on him?"

"He's a low ranked member as far as I can tell. Wouldn't have any useful information. I already investigated all the suspicious employees but they didn't have any decent leads. That sludge you found earlier is only produced here. I needed to bring a sample to be sure but if it turns out to be a match, we have our culprits."

With nearly nothing to do, Jaune began droning about some bees he was interested in. It was his idea of small talk.

I ignored him.

Finally, a truck pulled over and several men with guns came out in an orderly line. Trained soldiers I assumed. Except they were lead by a hat wearing man with a cigar and suit. He looked straight out of a spy film as an antagonist. I readied my sword, senses sharpening as my faunus heritage gave me perfect clarity in the darkness.

"Not now Watson, we need those documents unscathed."

I reluctantly let go of the grip. My trusted katana, sharpened religiously with Dust infused properties, had been my partner ever since I mastered the art of Battōjutsu.

We kept watch. Inside, I could sense someone with a massively powerful aura. Detecting aura was an innate skill any being could use, faunus or otherwise, but it took dedicated training to actively track/locate someone. Of course there were ways to hide from sensors but most people never bothered since the payout usually wasn't worth it. Sometimes flaring your aura could instinctively frighten other creatures (humans included), as it showed your power and "superiority", intimidating others into obedience.

Occasionally there would be sounds of machinery or yelling but we didn't interfere. It would be foolish to storm into a battlefield with no information. I kept track of members passing by, noting their weapons, stance, aura, anything that improved my chances of victory should it come down to blows.

The silence broke when a girl with a massive scythe tumbled out through the building window. Shattered glass blasted through the night and I caught curses being shouted out.

"Damn it, Adam play bait. I'll grab the documents. Oh, help the girl as well."

He sped off and disappeared down the ladder. I took off from the roof, aura boosting my strength and speed. One strike, one down. Except these soldiers were trained enough in aura to take on a slash without lasting injuries.

Good, I can go all out.

Several gunmen approached at several angles firing their guns. I weaved past the bullets, cutting the ones I couldn't with my sword. I shunted my blade into the armour of a soldier and tore it out in quick succession. No blood was spilt but he passed out from the pain. The others kept firing to keep the pressure on but I never stayed in one place for longer than a second. Realising the ineffectiveness of their guns, they drew out electric powered batons. Smart, electricity was the hardest Dust to defend against.

It didn't mean a thing when I was the one they were facing.

I sheathed my katana, building up power to increase its range, force and sharpness. I pulled, twisting in a circle and creating a series of slashes. All the enemies dropped.

Others were coming. The girl was shaking off glass and I yanked her up.

"Get out now!"

"What no, I can help!" The young girl, who couldn't possibly be older than fifteen, yelped.

"This isn't some game! I can handle this."

"I can handle this too! Watch!" The red caped girl sped off, velocity rising until she was nothing more than a blur. She whipped out her scythe, and using the built-in rifle to her advantage, smashed into her opponents with the multiplied momentum. The soldiers, surprised and unprepared, flew off in various comical ways. She skidded to a halt in front of me gloating. I wanted to smack her for thinking that would convince me but she did dispatch a large number of enemies without any fatal injuries.

"Fine, thin down their numbers. Leave the stronger opponents for me!" She nodded in understanding and dashed off taking down several soldiers while doing so.

Striding inside the storage house quickly, I scanned the area for any threatening enemies. Crates filled with massive amounts of Dust littered the storage room.

If any of them were set off we'd all be dead.

In comparison to outside, the room was silent, only my footsteps echoing ominously across the warehouse. The other rooms were similarly silent. I couldn't pin down the hat-wearing man with my aura sensing since his signature was vague.

Actually, where did that person with a massive aura go?

As soon as the window shattered, I couldn't sense it anymore. I paused. There were footsteps, not mine.

High heels. Confident in stride.

Experienced with battle.

"I guess you can't leave a man to do a woman's job."

I spun around, gripping my katana with all my strength.

A woman wearing a red dress stalked forwards. I hadn't sensed her presence, I still couldn't.

"What did I say to that bumbling man? Make sure to cover your tracks? Yet here you are. What a disappointment."

She stopped several steps ahead of me, eyes focused. This wasn't someone I could recklessly charge.

"Well, a battle can be thrilling in its own way and I was getting bored at how easy everything is."

I didn't say a word.

"Of course I didn't expect a faunus to appear. Your brethren are oh so helpful in my endeavour. Really, they flock to anyone who's willing to 'fight' for their cause. What about you? Are you another hero or did you just run here like that blond boy did?"

"Where is he?"

"Ooh, touched a nerve there. You know those documents you're searching for?"

"What about them?"

She smiled a sinister smile. "You're going to have to beat me to find out."

We locked eyes.

And then we clashed.

She raised both hands and fired off a pair of Dust powered blasts. I rolled, letting the explosions force me forwards. Pulling out my katana, I slashed where she stood. She took a graceful step back, letting the blade just thinly miss her neck and countered with a blow that could shatter concrete. I was sent back, aura reducing the damage but I landed stiffly. She followed up with more rapid fire blasts which I hastily dodged.

Returning my sword to its sheath, I began charging. Clouds of Dust rose from the crates and she formed them into hundreds of arrows, each infused with Dust from their respective origin.

They fired in waves, one after another, making it impossible to block all of them. Even with my speed, the resulting after-effects of the Dust arrows caused me to be hit by an explosion. I needed to stop this.

I yanked out my blade, releasing all the charged up power. White light and roses blew into the air. Arrows were annihilated and their energy was absorbed back into my sheath for later use.

That's when I noticed the floor glowing red. I leaped as far as I could but that left me vulnerable to more blasts which I only partially deflected. I landed on all fours and ran at full speed.

She never stopped smiling, totally sure in her victory. I swiped and again she dodged with the barest of efforts. Or at least she would have, if I hadn't suddenly extended my katana's range with my stored power.

A solid blow landed on her neck, pushing her back. I pressed my advantage, slashing at critical points across her body. Her body was pummeled, her aura barely preventing her from bleeding out but not blocking out the pain. She grunted and I finished off with a piercing stab.

She was knocked back onto the unforgiving walls, passing through them and outside into the cold empty air. I chased after her but she already back on her feet. Her eyes glowing orange.

This time she was the pursuer. But her movements changed, they became faster, stronger and oddly more graceful. Something niggled at the back of my mind, I knew I'd seen those movements before but where?

She infused her arm with aura and Dust and parried a blow from my sword. She invaded my personal space and superheated the air. My mouth turned dry, my eyes watered and it felt like breathing empty air. I staggered away, desperate for moisture.

She didn't let up. She raised her arms as if she was pulling up a gown and fire sprang to life. I looked up and saw wings made of flames behind her.

She was flying.

That's why I recognise those movements. They're from the legendary Zhu Que martial arts.

Zhu Que, one of the four legendary martial arts style focused primary on speed, endurance and gracefulness. Before Dust was discovered, martial arts were developed to combat the Grimm. Using aura, faunus developed these styles and many attempts had been undertaken to replicate the feat based on stone tablets.

But why can she use it?

She flew up and out of my reach. Our surroundings were almost completely in flames now. She dropped down towards me, speed boosted by her wings of flames, and punched me right in my stomach.

Shit, I can't beat this on my own.

In my haziness, I didn't notice a girl pull out her scythe and charge at the Zhu Que practicing woman. A whirlwind formed around her and crashed into the sea of flames resulting in a bizarre fire tornado. My eyes threatened to water again but I stood firm blinking away my dizziness.

I needed my most powerful attack. I focused my entire will into my sword. Drawing every drop of aura and every particle of Dust. Roses from the young girl flew high and wide but they rapidly burnt away.

The girl herself began to falter. The intense heat and scorched ground made movement increasingly difficult. It was only her speed created tornado that was letting her survive the flames. The young girl continuously fired shots from her rifle but it didn't seem to do a thing. Realizing this, she switched tactics and began firing behind herself, boosting herself to speeds I could barely perceive. A blur of red shot through the flames towards her enemy.

The woman wasn't unprepared. She began to glow crimson as she built up energy. A great beam of intense light shot directly at the young girl. She couldn't dodge and was blasted backwards. She rolled to dissipate the momentum but I could tell she was severely injured.

But she didn't give up.

She got back up, panting, and positioned her scythe behind her. Again she launched forward, scythe swinging.

And again she was pushed back more injured.

"Stop! Get away from here!"

She didn't listen and charged forwards. That didn't last long either as she was eventually overpowered. The young girl tumbled across the clearing, heavily bruised and her weapon laying far away.

Shit, I still need more time. If this goes on she'll kill us all.

"You played well little girl and faunus, you made me bring out my vermilion bird skills. Feel honoured to go down to such an art."

A flick of her wrist and a tsunami of flames came crashing down towards me.

"ADAM!"

Jaune jumped in with his shield in front of him. "GET READY ADAM!" The flames washed over us. Jaune used his body and shield to buy me enough time to charge.

"Damn it, Jaune! You just had your aura activated!"

Seconds passed and Jaune succumbed under the heat. His face looked peaceful as he fell, as if he was seeing an old friend. The hellish inferno spread over his body and came directly at me.

...

...

...

FUCK THAT!

"ARRGHHGH!" I screamed as I poured every drop of anger I had into my attack. Wilted rose petals sprung forth from me. The blade cut through the blaze extinguishing it from existence and the slash carried on, tearing the very air apart. The flying woman's eyes widened and she moved to protect herself, but it was too late.

The extended range tore into her and ended any flames she had left. She dropped like a sack of potatoes. I collapsed onto the ground, the attack rendering my muscles inert.

"Hah ha, you actually hurt me. You actually hurt me. And all this for some ridiculous documents." She was barely standing, clutching her wounded chest. "You're going to die for this faunus. Your friends, your family, your life. I will burn it all down to cinders."

An airship descended and that hat wearing man dropped down to pick her up. I couldn't pursue. I was too injured, too exhausted. Breathing was difficult and standing after I'd been blown up didn't help.

But I had to.

I needed to treat Jaune.

I ambled my way over to his fallen body. His entire back was blotchy red. Angry blisters were all over him.

"Shit." I didn't have anything on me that could treat him. No, before that I needed to call for an ambulance. After checking up on the scythe girl who was still unconscious, I called the emergency service.

Jaune let out a moan and I disregarded my pain rushing over to him.

"Jaune! Jaune! Stay still, an ambulance is coming over."

He groaned some more but complied.

It was depressing in the hospital room. Not just because this was a building built for the damaged but because it reminded me of stories from the War. When the loss of limbs was expected and supplies were stretched so thin, families had to eat muck to survive. Man and faunus as a whole had moved on from there. Everyone knew how tragic war could be but that didn't stop tension between us. The White Fang was the response to this. Rallies and local events were set up to bring the two species together.

It didn't work.

Now? The White Fang turned to terrorism to achieve their goals. Once upon a time I might have even contemplated joining them, but my father's dying wish was for someone to find the peaceful resolution between the two species. He looked into my eyes and for all his skill with the blade, he taught me after all, he'd seen horrors which I didn't even want to contemplate.

"Hey, you okay?" Blake sat down quietly beside my hospital bed.

"Do I look okay?"

"No, you look worn down, tired and exhausted."

"Don't they all just mean the same thing?"

"Hmm, maybe. You want to talk about it? Get some things of your chest?"

I snorted. Maybe this was Blake's way of comforting someone but I didn't need it.

"No, I'm fine. My injuries aren't really comparable to his." The image of his blistered red back floated past my eyes.

"He's doing much better now. He just came out of surgery so we could visit him."

I took her up on her offer. With my aura and adrenaline depleted, I couldn't exactly walk very well so Blake had to push me along in a wheelchair. I felt disgraceful but put the thought out of my head.

Jaune was located on another level. Along the way out of the lift we ran into that girl who was there fighting last night.

"Ah, it's you! You're okay! Oh, I mean sorta okay, I mean you're in a wheelchair so..." Her voice trailed off and I figured I'd give her a break just this once.

"I'm Adam. Adam Taurus."

Her eyes lit up and she sort off jiggled on the spot. "Ruby. Ruby Rose." She held out her hand which was covered in bandages. She awkwardly dropped it when she realised I couldn't shake her hand like that. "Haha, it was pretty cool seeing you in action. You were like kapow and shwing with your sword. You pushed her back until that crazy woman pulled out wing flames and even then you still managed to fight back!"

I think she might have had stars in her eyes.

"By any chance are you a Hunter? If so can I please have your autograph?"

"I'm not a Hunter."

"Wah, but you're so skilled. I bet you can take down flocks of Nevermores no problem."

"Anyway," Blake cut in, "we need to visit someone so we'll be on our way."

"Oh! Of course, don't let me hold you up. It was nice meeting you Adam."

Blake wheeled me by and Ruby waved until we went past a corner.

"Looks like you got a fan."

"Shut up."

Jaune's room was identical to mine save for the fact that the bed had a full body bandaged guy in it.

"Blake! Watson! You're here!"

"My name's not Watson. It's Adam. I know you know it. You shouted my name."

"What nonsense are you on about Watson? Did you drink your own horribly made tea perhaps?

I sighed.

I give up.

"How're you holding up?"

"Good as I can be. The doctors prescribed me some medicine to avoid infection. Thanks to my large reserves of aura, I should be able leave the hospital in about a week."

Good, if he had a smaller reserve it would take ages for his soul to heal his wounds.

"My sword and shield are ruined though. I'm surprised they lasted so long, it's older than a large portion of Grimm. Guess my great-great-grandfather had a great blacksmith."

"Take it out of my pay check and get a new one," I suggested.

"No need, my father has some spares back home. Once he arrives he'll give a very long rant about how stupid I was but will hand over my new gear, shiny and polished. Ah, Blake can you make a call for me? Contact the Schnee headquarters and tell them I have some information for them."

Blake nodded dutifully and left without a word.

"You found the documents?"

"I found them but I couldn't get to them without more time. I'll tell them the location and let them deal with it."

"That woman, she mentioned that she saw you."

"She did? I never met anyone on my way except some soldiers which I hid from. Strange, I'll need to look into that. What else did you hear her say?"

I relayed the events and whatever else I could think to add. Jaune would occasionally interfere with my narrative to ask some questions.

"Righto, we got long weeks ahead of us. Once we've recovered, we've got some work to do."

AN: Hello, hope you enjoyed the story. The story was inspired by this comment:

Jaunelock and Adam Watson plus sexy secretary Ms. Belladona~

It just went off from there. I read The Games we play by rgm0005 which also helped me develop Cinder's fighting style.

If you want to read more about my thoughts on this chapter, my profile page has some extra stuff if you're interested.