a/n; This is a fill-in fic that contains SPOILERS for the volume 3 finale!

The vault was a shell of what it had been before.

Dust and smoke lingered in the air, burning Glynda's throat with each breath she took. Cinder had claimed the Fall Maiden's powers, this much she knew. The disaster at the top of the tower was a clear indication of that. Down below the scorched tile and shattered glass littering the vault was more evidence than she needed to confirm it. Without having to walk to the other end she already knew that Amber's body would be there, lifeless and long cold.

What worried her was that she hadn't heard from Ozpin.

He hadn't answered his scroll, which wasn't necessarily unusual in itself. The last text she'd gotten had been hours earlier on if he wanted coffee on her way up to his office. That and the quick kiss goodbye that morning felt like an entire lifetime ago. The silence on his end now and the lingering question of how Cinder had gotten to the top of the tower without him in direct pursuit was what bothered her more than anything.

The level of destruction she was seeing in the vault only deepened the anxiousness in her chest.

Behind her Ironwood and Qrow emerged from the wreckage of the elevator shaft, each of them glancing around the darkened hall before heading in opposite directions to take a look around. Glynda set off down the middle, minding her footing. With all of the lights extinguished it was incredibly difficult to see what was in front of her and it took her far longer than anticipated to pick her way forward.

There was still no sign of him.

"Ozpin?" Ironwood's voice called from somewhere to her right, the barest shreds of hope lingering in his tone. There was no answering call, no quiet tap of the headmaster's cane against tile that heralded his approach.

Unease continued to curl its way into her gut with each minute that passed until her foot bumped something that was not broken ceramic tile or concrete rubble. Even in the dark the shape of it was unmistakable, and Glynda found herself reaching mechanically for it even though her fingers were trembling.

The weapon was cool against her palms and Glynda hardly needed light to recognize Ozpin's cane in her hands. Her fingers clenched around the blade until her knuckles turned white, each new breath in her lungs fighting to keep her steady and in control. She couldn't let this break her. It could mean nothing.

"Qrow," she called, clearing her throat when her voice threatened to crack, "James."

Their footsteps paused on either side before they approached her, but neither of them could quite smother the look on their faces when they realized what she was holding. The three of them stood in tense silence, none of them wanting to be the first to speak and confirm their fears. Normally Ozpin would be the mediator, his calm voice breaking the gap in conversation with a solution he'd scrutinized for hours on end. Without him here to set things in motion she realized how much she relied on him.

"He's not dead." Glynda spoke first when she knew the other two would not, drawing the cane closer to her chest as if it would offer her some sort of answer. The movement pinched the soft underside of her finger between the weapon and her wedding band, and the sudden pain made her flinch visibly.

Ironwood was kind enough to divert his gaze for a moment before he removed himself from the conversation, his fingers running through his hair as if searching for a solution to this that involved directing his army and smashing an obstacle. Glynda figured it would take him about ten minutes to realize that was not an option here with no enemy to blindly throw soldiers at. For a minute none of them offered anything else, the tension in the air broken only by the occasional soft hiss of his prosthetics.

"We follow the trail," Qrow finally offered, running his hands down his face, "We play this like Oz would. Take a step back, gather what information we can, form a plan."

"You two will have to manage." Ironwood was facing them again from a few feet away, his hands resting against the back of his neck. "I need to return to Atlas for damage control on this situation. We need to get the CCT up and running again as well."

"We can't both go after him, Qrow," Glynda cut in, her fingers flexing against the weapon as if the motion would bring the correct course to her, "He may be missing, but we can't just abandon Vale."

In the darkness of the vault silence fell again, but Glynda had already worked out their course of action. Her chest ached with the sheer want to hit the road- to hunt like she hadn't in so long- but in her heart she knew Ozpin would want her to breathe first and rationalize this decision. They would find him. She wasn't sure how, but she couldn't falter now.

She held Ozpin's cane out to Qrow, and after a pause he carefully took it from her hands as if it might turn to ash if he gripped it too tightly.

"Gather whatever information you can find, and head out as soon as you're able." The steadiness in her voice belied the turmoil in her heart, although if either of the other two noticed they said nothing. "I can handle things here."

Unasked questions swirled between the three of them, but no one dared bring them to attention. Without Ozpin's quiet voice of reason she felt as if they were flying blind, and without the CCT that was true regardless.

He was gone now, but she'd bring him home again.