Sithking Zero: The following is a non-profit, fan-based story. RWBY and all associated characters, stories, concepts, and content are the property of Rooster Teeth LLC. Please support the official release.

Professor Arc is the property of Coeur Al'Aran. Please support the original story.

Thank you all for your kind words about Mrs. Trevor. Even though she's been gone for a year, we all miss her terribly.

A quick note: This takes place in an AU of PA, in which (for reasons most of you have suspected) Neo had to leave Jaune's side sometime after the Docks incident.

Anyway, on to business!

Climbing Uphill

Chapter 2

Honey I'm Good

Blake smiled as she adjusted her grip on the silk sheets minutely. It felt so good to just bury herself into these blankets, to feel the gentle weight of the down comforter sealing in the warmth and suffusing her entire body with soothing heat, to let her head sink into the luxuriously soft pillow-

Full awareness came back to her immediately, coupled with a jolt of pure fear straight down her spine. This was not her bed. These were not her blankets. And last time she checked, only Weiss had silk sheets…

Did she sleep in Weiss' bed last night?

She cracked her left eye open a hair, and then opened it a little wider, to be confronted with two things, the first of which was confirmation that no, these were not Weiss' sheets, and the second was a dresser.

The same dresser which, months ago, she had raided with Yang while searching for a misplaced Ninjas of Love volume.

Oh gods, this is Professor Arc's room, she thought, before implications of that began to sink in. Oh gods, this is Professor Arc's bed. Why was I sleeping in Professor Arc's bed? Why can't I remember how I got here!?

Images flashed through her mind, giving her a pallor comparable to her heiress teammate.

The last thing I remember is… drinking tea while sitting at his desk… he didn't. He wouldn't…

Her tongue ran over her teeth, noting the slight aftertaste of her drink last night… and something else.

She clutched the sheets until her knuckles turned white before rolling off the bed and soundlessly making a four-point landing on the ground. Creeping up towards the bedroom door, she noted mentally that her shoes were missing, sending a shudder down her body at the thought. She managed to suppress her disgust long enough to place half her ears against the wood, letting vibrations from the next room carry over.

There were sounds of soft clinking from the next room as cutlery touched against porcelain, and she guessed from the position of the sound that he was walking around the room while stirring his mug. Her eyes narrowed as her hand slowly rotated the doorknob… slowly… slowly…

Jaune was beginning to turn as the door crashed open and he found himself slammed into the wall before being lifted by his neck. His hands scrambled at his throat as his bloodshot eyes took an incredibly furious Blake, whose hair and shirt were now soaked in hot coffee.

"You!" She snarled, "why did you do it!?"

Jaune gurgled in response.

"Tell me," she growled in a low, dangerous voice, "why?"

"W-why?" He rasped, "why what?"

"You know what. You drugged me!"

Jaune's expression shifted from terrified to purely blank. "What?"

She pushed his neck harder, and her gaze was harder than diamonds.

"You drugged me, and then I don't know what you did, but my shoes are gon-"

In a fair fight, he would most likely be destroyed if he fought Blake. As much experience as he'd received from Neo flattening him on a near-daily basis, it was nothing compared to the combat experience one gains from a lifetime in a terrorist organization.

But when Jaune pushed himself off the wall, knocking her hands away and body-checking her aisde, he had three advantages. The first was that, despite her strength, aura techniques, and more, he still had a good foot or so height on her, and a correspondingly larger body mass. Put simply, he was stronger than she was in terms of pure muscle. The second was that when one has an opponent pinned to the wall, it's quite surprising to see them easily break out of a hold that you thought was secure.

The third, he reflected as he jabbed at her shoulder, spinning her around, was that ordinarily, he wasn't accused of drugging and raping someone. Now, he'd been accused of a lot of things at Beacon, and he was guilty of just as many, such as 'colluding with known criminals,' and 'falsifying documents,' and 'being addicted to coffee.' But even though he had compromised on so many of his principles in the name of staying alive and out of prison, there was still that little core of himself that wanted, more than anything else, to be a Hunter and to help people. Sure, his current job didn't precisely match up with the 'armored war-god saving the lives of thousands' image he'd had in mind when he first approached Roman, but even as a Student Counselor, he was helping in his own way. He knew he'd failed at times, but it was always with the best intentions, such as when he had inadvertently split Team RVNN in two. And no matter what, he always would stand up for his students.

So to hear this student of his- who wouldn't even be here if he hadn't risked his life and his reputation trying to keep her not only unharmed but out of prison, and who had also managed to convince him that she had solved her problems and wouldn't be having a relapse - decide to accuse him of slipping her a roofie and having his way with her?

Jaune let out a snarl as he charged her as she attempted to orient herself, grabbing her arms behind her back and slammed her front onto the desk. He leaned down next to her ear.

"Really?" He hissed, for a moment letting the frustration of the past few months flow through and control him, "after all this time, all that I've done for you, you accuse me of rape?"

She struggled briefly, but here, brute force won out over technique and skill. "Last thing I remember was drinking something, and then I'm in a bed with no memory. What should I think happened?" She growled.

"I don't know," he deadpanned, "that perhaps, since it was late and you were tired, you maybe fell asleep? Like what happens to anyone on the planet in literally the same circumstances?"

"Then why take my shoes off!"

"Because I didn't want to ruin my sheets!" He snarled.

The divergence between the furious tone of her teacher, pinning her to his desk, and the utter silliness of his words caused her to stop.

"…Seriously?"

"I like my sheets."

"But-"

"Blake, when I took this job, I didn't have a psychology degree, or anything I really should have had. But there was one thing that stuck out to me about the job, and that was a phrase that every medical professional knows well: 'First, Do No Harm.' The students of Beacon are important to me. I would never do anything to hurt them."

He caught her gaze as he said this, and for a moment, she could almost taste the strength of that conviction. The last time she saw anyone feel that strongly was... she shook her head. Not the time.

"You mean that, don't you." She intoned softly. He nodded.

"I just want to help people," he whispered back. "That's all I've ever wanted. I don't want to hurt people I care for, I don't want to mess with people who don't deserve it," as he spoke, he felt the tension draining out of his body, leaving him feel weary and a slight bit sick. "And I'm certainly not about to start molesting girls who come into my office."

There was a pause, before Blake shifted her arm slightly… and suddenly both of them realized exactly how they were positioned. Her, with her front pushed flat against his desk, arms pinned behind her, and him, forcing her down with his own body weight from behind while whispering into her ear.

Had the blood rushed to their faces any faster, there might have been some form of arterial damage. Jaune sprang back, brushing dust off his clothes and coughing slightly. Blake straightened up and turned around, far more composed, yet refusing to look anywhere near the Student Counselor.

"Ahem, I'm, uh… that got heated… er, I mean… sorry," he mumbled. She nodded, still not looking in his direction.

"So… why put me to bed here?"

He gave a wry grin. "After what you just did? Imagine what people would think if they saw me carrying an unconscious girl through the halls." He shuddered, "imagine what Ms. Goodwitch might do to me."

"Really? It would have been too much trouble to carry me back because Ms. Goodwitch might have caught me?"

"Do you think I'd sleep on a lumpy couch willingly when there was a nice bed with silken sheets waiting for me in the next room?"

"You could have put me on the couch."

"You fell asleep in my office. I thought that perhaps giving you a good night's sleep might make you feel better…" he rubbed his back as he said this and winced. "I can state with authority that wouldn't have happened if I'd given you the couch."

"So to sum up, you didn't drug me, I just fell asleep, and you put me to bed."

"Yeah, so, you know, thanks for starting my day with attempted manslaughter," he snapped, before smiling again, "see if I do anything nice for you again."

She stiffened. "I just attacked a teacher."

He shrugged again. "I did say that you needed some sleep- you seem a tad high-strung. An understatement, I know, but-"

"I attacked a teacher…" she intoned quietly, gripping her arms under her chest, shaking slightly.

Noting the signs of panic beginning to overwhelm his student, he stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders.

"Blake. Blake," he shook her slightly, "Blake, listen to me. You're not in trouble. You did what you thought was right…"

"I strangled you because I thought you drugged and molested me."

"And if I had," he continued without missing a beat, "you would have been absolutely correct to do so. Don't get me wrong," he interjected quickly, "I'm still not happy about you trying to kill me, and you made a decision based on poor information. But," he sighed, "this sort of thing happens. I promise you, you're not going to face repercussions because of this. You're okay."

Slowly, she stopped shivering, and he took a step back. She looked up at him.

"I… what was…"

"You got a good night's sleep and went from being relaxed to fully-stressed, you just had a bit of emotional whiplash. It happens sometimes," he waved a hand, "I'd suggest getting at least eight hours of sleep for the next week or so. I think you're dealing with something, and-" he held up a hand to forestall her protests, "if you don't want to tell me about it, I won't make you. What I do know is that it's weighing heavily on you enough to compromise your judgement, and losing sleep isn't helping at all."

She nodded, looking down as she did so. "I… Okay."

"Good. Now, why don't you use my shower? You uh…" he gestured to her hair and shirt. "You have coffee… everywhere." He smiled. "I don't think the look will catch on, but I could check with Weiss…"

She gave a stiff nod, feeling drops of now-cold coffee sliding down her bangs. She hadn't even noticed.

"I believe you know where it is? Check under the sink for some of the better shampoos, I just use the cheap stuff."

She turned on her heel, walking towards the bedroom, when she paused and muttered, "Sorry."

Jaune waved her off. "We both made mistakes, let's just let bygones be." He hesitated, before adding, "I haven't eaten yet, would you like to share breakfast once we're done with the shower?" Seeing her confused expression, he continued, "At least to make up for… well, I didn't leave a note or anything to explain what happened…" he began to sheepishly rub his neck. "Pancakes alright?"

She nodded once before making a beeline for the shower.

Jaune sighed. Awake for twenty minutes and he'd been strangled and accused of date-rape. Clutching his hand into a fist, he struck the wall.

"Dammit."

Oh, well, he mused, At least it could-

"Nope," he blurted out loud to the empty room, "I didn't think it. I didn't finish the thought, I didn't say it!" He glanced around in a panic. Everything still seemed normal… maybe he'd avoided cursing his own luck this time?

GTAC GTAC GTAC GTAC

"Good morning, Ladies," Glynda stated as the three students took a seat in front of her, not bothering to look up as she filled out a requisitions form, "what can I help you with?"

"It's Blake!" Blurted Ruby, "she didn't come back to the room after she had her therapy session with Professor Arc."

Professor Goodwitch finally looked up from her paperwork.

"Perhaps she simply came back late and left early?"

"We already checked all the places she usually goes to hide," announced Weiss, presenting a map of Beacon with several locations marked in red 'x' symbols, "she's in none of them."

"And we already called the bookstores she hangs out in in Vale," chimed Yang, "they hadn't seen her since the weekend."

"Have you checked with her other friends?" Inquired Glynda, now putting down her pen.

Ruby squirmed in her seat. "She's… she's not a very social person…"

"That's an understatement," Blake's partner interjected.

"But we did check with RVNN, CFY, and even CRDL," Ruby finished, shooting Yang a glance, "nobody's seen her since yesterday."

"And given what she did last semester…" Weiss trailed off for a moment, "honestly, we're all worried about her."

Glynda nodded gravely. "Have you checked with Professor Arc yet? He would have been the last one to see her."

"We knocked on his door, but no one answered," replied Ruby.

Glynda sighed before standing up. "Then it appears we should go see what is keeping Professor Arc so busy."

GTAC GTAC GTAC GTAC

"I'm thinking of thinking of hooking a love… soon after supper is done," sang Beacon's resident Student Counselor, twirling the whisk through the thick batter with ease born of long practice. "And here we go… dollop here, dollop there…" he muttered as he eased the contents of the bowl onto the griddle. Idly he noted that the sound of the shower had stopped, which was just in time- this was the last batch of pancakes he was making. As he flipped the last one onto the tray, he was distracted by a knock on the door.

Thus it was that the Deputy Headmistress of one of the finest combat schools in the world and three teenage girls were privileged with the sight of their Student Counselor wearing a frilly pink apron, with smudges of flour all over his face and hair.

Ruby's face gained a hue closer to her namesake, Weiss' eyes widened fractionally, and Yang… just leaned back a fraction, stroking her chin with an amused sparkle in her eye.

Glynda just raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Arc," she stated, "I trust I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Uh… just some breakfast. Nothing much. How are you?"

"Nice apron, Prof."

"Laundry day is tomorrow, Ms. Xiao Long," he shrugged, "I only have the one clean one left."

The only reason Glynda did not roll her eyes in exasperation was via long years of dealing with Ozpin. Looking over her shoulder, she remarked "Ms. Xiao Long, I'm afraid that we don't have time for this." She turned back to Jaune.

"I'm afraid that no one has seen Ms. Belladonna since last night, when she was leaving for detention with you. Have you seen her?"

"Well, it's funny you should mention that, I-" and then he paused at the sound of a door opening.

He knew he shouldn't. He knew no good would come from him looking. He knew that for weeks to come, he would regret turning around.

So, naturally, he did it anyway.

And there, frozen in the eyes of two teachers and three teammates, was Blake. Wearing one of his old t-shirts and the same pants she wore yesterday, hair covered in a towel turban on top of her head, looking like she had been caught with her hand in the candy jar.

To anyone else, the hand that grabbed his shoulder from behind would have been just that- a hand.

To Jaune, it was the icy talon of the Reaper himself.

"I swear I can explain, it's not what it looks like," he blurted, as a song played through his mind. It was an old one, but one he knew the words to well. It was called 'Oh god, oh god, I'm going to die.'

"Really, Student Counselor? Because from here, it looks like a student just showered in your bathroom after spending the night."

The song grew louder and louder. Jaune gulped. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Sithking Zero: Uh Oh! Looks like Jaune is in trouble again! Oh, those wacky hijinks.

While I am going to try to make this a tad more serious than the source material, please remember… this is still Professor Arc. Meaning that unfortunately, he's still up to his eyeballs in crazy and is sinking fast.

Okay, I should say it right now. I have finished watching Season Three. And the verdict is… I liked it. Mind you, the ending was a COMPLETE downer. Pyrrha's dead, Yang's dismembered, Weiss is gone… also for some reason her dad looks like Colonel Sanders. Penny's dead, Roman Torchwick was dead… Oh, and now Cinder Fall has the powers of a god. Vale has fallen pretty much completely, Blake is roaming the ruins, Adam is revealed to be a creepy stalker psycho, and it turns out that Cortana is super freaking evil and lives in what appears to be a level in a weird video game. Please keep in mind that I only finished watching it about a little while ago. I still got some processing to do… but I'm hoping they actually have a plan to dig themselves out of this hole they've dug themselves into. Also, Burnie playing Taiyang was a nice touch.

Also, to all those deniers out there- YES. PYRRHA NIKOS IS DEAD. "But we haven't found the body!" Yes, that's what happens when a person is VAPORIZED, like we saw. She's dead. She's gone. I regret that her character was so poorly handled by the writers, and that her character development came too-little-too-late, but she is VERY dead. Sorry, folks.

Now, some of you may be asking yourself: Where does this go from here. What revelations will this have on the plot. How will it affect our heroes? Well, to be honest here… that's up to Rooster Teeth to decide. But as for Climbing Uphill? I decided on how the plot was going to go LONG before I had seen one single episode of Season Three. That's set in stone. Fans of my XCOM-RWBY fanfic, "The High Price of Miracles," the same is there too. However, in an odd twist, several things shown in season three are oddly prophetic for some of the events I planned for THPoM. I assure you, this is a coincidence. Planned it out long before RT aired S3.

Oh, and sorry for the whole "not updating in nearly two months" thing, folks. I'll try to get content out on a more regular basis.