The news of how the South Snakes had tried to attack the Dart had spread quickly. By the next day, articles had popped up detailing the event. Some consulting huntsmen with estimates of the Dart's aura or guessing at his speed. They also tried to find more clues about why he wasn't knocking criminals unconscious anymore, and even from the police describing how the Dart had helped them apprehend the remaining few Snakes who'd tried to resist arrest. Over the next couple days, violent crime in the city had gotten so low that Clark had barely needed to do anything.

As he had for the past few nights, he stood on a tower in the middle of Vale. Listening.

Clark's scroll began to vibrate, and he accepted the video call from Qrow. He still would have felt more comfortable with just voice, but from his calls with members of team CFVY, people here were more accustomed to speaking face to face over their devices.

"Hi Qrow." greeted Clark. "Is there something you need?"

"Yeah, but it's nothing much." The huntsman answered. "We heard about what happened with that gang, and we haven't seen you around Beacon that often. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's fine. I've just been keeping watch in the city to make sure nobody else has the same idea."

Qrow nodded. "Got it. When do you think you'll be done?"

"Not long now, I think pretty much everyone's gotten the message by this point." Clark recalled one article he'd read about the impression he'd left on the gang's leader. The man had been terrified. That hadn't been surprising, but it didn't make Clark feel any better about it.

"Hey, you alright?"

Clark turned back to the screen. "Sorry, I was just thinking. I'll be back in a little bit if you need me for something, but I could use a break."

Clark didn't feel exhaustion, at least not like how he had when he'd lost his powers. However, the late nights and the constant focus he put on his hearing these past few days had put a different strain on him. Almost like how annoyed he felt when speed-reading through the news while looking for the phantom. It was a lot of information to sift through.

"Yeah, you look a little . . . off."

"I do?" Clark asked quickly. That was interesting, he didn't feel tired, but did he look like he was?

"You look tense. Like you're ready to fight at the drop of a hat."

"That makes sense, I kind of have been for the past two days. What happened with that gang was just . . . I was shocked."

"You alright? I'm not the best at it, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm not that busy right now."

"No, I'm . . . actually, maybe I do." Clark amended. He could still remember Argenta's tears. "I'll be back at Beacon soon, can you give me twenty minutes?"

"Sure."

\\

Qrow knocked on Clark's door and entered when the kid had greeted him and let him in. Clark had changed from his black Dart outfit Qrow had seen earlier. Now he wore his usual blue shirt, jeans, and red jacket.

Qrow looked around for a bit, but it seemed like Clark had barely changed anything in the living room. Neat and tidy. Barely even lived in.

That was understandable. Clark probably considered this room a temporary thing for him before he went back to his home dimension.

His home dimension. Qrow still didn't feel completely comfortable with that level of craziness. At least not when he was sober.

They sat down at the dining table, and Qrow began. "About what happened with that gang. Is what they're saying true?"

Clark tilted his head. "What are they saying?"

"Stuff that I'm not sure could be true or not with you. There's stuff that I'm not really surprised by anymore, since you're fast, strong, and can take bullets to the face like a champ. But they said that they were blasted by air when you moved. Along with a couple more things, your 'thundering voice' made their bones vibrate, and you had red eyes like a Grimm."

Clark's eyes widened and gave him a confused look. "I'm not sure where they got all that from. The part about the wind might be true. I'm usually able to run by unnoticed when I speed up, but I wasn't really paying attention. But no way my voice was loud enough to affect them like that. I was angry, but not that angry. And red eyes? That's just ridiculous. There was a fire nearby and it might have reflected of my eyes in some way, but like a Grimm?"

Qrow shrugged, he knew people exaggerated some things they saw huntsmen do. He guessed it was the same for Clark. "Why not knock them out cold like you used to though? I get keeping the leader awake, but one of the others could have still seen your face. Don't you want to keep your identity secret?"

"I do, and I'm always careful to make sure nobody sees my face." Clark said. "There are . . . reasons why I don't wear a mask, and I usually go by fast enough that no one can see me. And I don't think hitting so many people on the head is safe, especially with my strength."

Qrow nodded and asked a few more questions. Like what was up with the S all over town, the same one on the crystal. Clark explained that he used the crystal to help put it on walls or sidewalks, and that the symbol was the crest of his birth family. He'd gotten into disagreements with one of them, but he still appreciated their values and knowledge. Almost as much as what he'd been taught by his adoptive parents.

Ozpin and Irownwood had wanted Qrow to ask about that, and they'd both been curious when they'd tracked Clark's scroll to Vale for the past couple days. Qrow didn't feel right spying on Clark. He was a good guy, but the huntsman had questions too.

One thing he was wondering about was how Clark had reacted so quickly to the kidnapped woman. All he got from the kid was that he'd been in the area, and that he went around the city at his insane speeds to patrol.

Clark did do that sometimes, tracking his scroll proved it, but he'd also done an awful lot of sitting in one place. Before he'd responded to the few crimes during his nights in the city, he'd sat still at the center of Vale.

"That's a bit of an overreaction though." Qrow said, referring to Clark's extended crimefighting sessions in the city. "What the gang did to that girl was bad, but you didn't need to guard everyone in the city from it."

"I did." Clark answered with absolute certainty. "It's my fault if anyone else gets kidnapped to lure out the Dart. It's my fault that it happened in the first place. I started showing without a doubt that the Dart existed, I should have realized that criminals would react in some way."

"You can't blame yourself for failing to predict the future. What they did is their fault, not yours."

"Not all of it. You know what Argenta was like when I found her?" asked Clark, surprising Qrow with the change in topic. "She had a black eye, and bruises on parts of her body. There were smaller scrapes too from when they'd thrown her down on the concrete."

Clark's fist clenched. "Even when I got her away, she was shaking and crying so hard that she couldn't tell me anything. All I could do was watch, and try to comfort her for a little bit before I confronted the ones who'd hurt her."

Qrow remained silent, he hadn't heard about the state the girl had been in.

"Over these past few days, I kept thinking about whether I'd made the right choice to step out of the shadows a bit." Clark said. "I couldn't have continued knocking criminals unconscious for long, but did I really have to start putting a symbol around? If I'd been a little more mysterious, if people were more uncertain that I was real, then maybe Argenta wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"Hold on. Clark, do you know how much has changed in the past month or so since you started being the Dart?" asked Qrow.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I get that you're feeling down about her, but cheer up, you've still done a lot of good. Seriously, my niece goes on and on about it." Qrow complained before getting back on track. "Basically, crimes gone down a lot, and you have a lot of fans. The people you've saved are really grateful too. I'm told there's always a lot of people talking about you online."

"Oh." Clark looked away in embarrassment. "Well, I'm glad that I've helped people, but what happened with the South Snakes is still an issue. I don't think anyone's going to try something like that soon, but there's still the fact someone's offering money to get rid of me. I need to find out who."

"They didn't tell you?"

"I asked, but they didn't know. They were going to claim the reward by talking to someone named Junior, who owns a nightclub in downtown Vale. I was thinking of going there tonight to get some answers."

"Actually, I know the place," said Qrow. "It's called The Club, and Junior makes some shady deals there. Nothing obvious enough to get the police involved, and he can probably pay to make them look the other way too. He's mostly an information dealer, but he has a few people who can actually put up a fight."

"Thanks."

"Sure. Although I need to know something. When you get there, what are you going to do?"

Clark gave him a confused expression. "Ask him what he knows about who set up the reward."

"Yeah, you said that already. I meant how."

"Well, I was thinking that I could go as the Dart and do what I did to the South Snakes' leader."

Qrow sighed. "I thought you might say that."

"Is that wrong?"

"Yeah, but only because you don't know about him. He and his people are nowhere near professional huntsman level, but a few of them have aura and mecha-shift weaponry. There's a good chance they'll fight you, and they might think they'll stand a chance if they can break your aura. Except your invulnerability isn't aura, so you can keep going and they'll get more desperate. Basically, you might end up having to beat the answers out of them."

Clark cringed at that. "Do you really think they'll fight though? Wouldn't they have heard what the South Snakes saw me do?"

"A lot of people think that's exaggerated. Hell, even you admitted earlier that parts of it are. And hardly anybody will be able to tell what's real and what isn't. Besides, my niece fought Junior's people a few months ago, they're not exactly the peaceful type."

"Wait? Your niece? Ruby, the fifteen-year old?"

Qrow shook his head. "No, my other niece."

"Yang, right?"

"Yeah, the place ended up getting trashed after she visited."

Clark bit his lip. Were they really that violent? "Okay, so you're saying that they'll fight. What if I separated him from his people? I could get him out of his club to talk to him alone."

"There's still a problem. He'll definitely surrender when he realizes that he has no chance against you, but that doesn't mean he'll tell you anything. He'd probably realize you won't kill him since you need him for information, and the fact that he's still alive when you could easily kill him."

Clark frowned. "Okay, then what do you think I should do?"

"Going to bars and asking for information is part of my job. I'll go with you, we can go ask him upfront. And no need to go all superhero."

Clark gave an amused smile. "Okay, should we go now?"

"Eh, I think we should give it a few hours. Nine o'clock should be fine."

"What?"

"Clark, it's a nightclub. The place isn't open before then."

"Couldn't we find him before opening hours though?"

"Maybe, but he's not going to like people coming in for business when his business isn't open. It might be a different story if we were criminals like him and came to ask for something else, but we're not, and I'm not going to pretend to be."

"Okay . . ." Clark wasn't happy about that, but tough luck. The kid worried too much.

Qrow clapped him on the back. "Just relax until then. Take a break like you said."

"I guess I should."

Qrow nodded and stood up. "Good. See you later at nine." He left Clark's quarters and closed the door.

He was going out to a nightclub with an alien teenager. After he'd just given that teenager some advice. This was his reality now.

\\

Velvet stepped out of the elevator onto Beacon's ground floor. She had some time before her next class began, and she usually liked spending it in the courtyards. A lot of the flowers had already bloomed since spring began weeks ago, and the days were usually nice and warm.

She stepped outside. There were hardly any other students around, which rarely ever happened. It was times like this when Velvet could enjoy the peace and quiet, as well as with the beautiful view.

Velvet walked along, and noticed a figure at one of the benches. Once she got closer, her eyes widened in recognition.

"Clark?" She said to herself in a low voice.

He reacted immediately, even from so far away. His eyes had been closed, but now they opened to turn to her. He smiled and waved to her.

Velvet walked over to him, although she felt butterflies in her stomach as she approached. She was alone with Clark!

Oh no. Velvet couldn't bear making a fool of herself in front of him, and she would've done anything to have Coco here to take his focus off her. It wasn't like she could just walk away either and make him think she was ignoring him.

"Hey Clark." She said once she got close enough.

"Hi Velvet. Are your classes done already?"

"No, I have a free period. What about you? I haven't seen you around recently." She added. Does that make me sound desperate? She thought worriedly. No, no, it was fine. She hadn't seen him the past few days, nothing was wrong with what she said.

Besides, Clark already knew how she felt. It wasn't like she could hide it no matter how hard she tried.

"Yeah, I've been a bit busy recently." Clark explained and gestured with a hand. "By the way, you can sit down if you want, I won't mind."

"Okay." Velvet had been standing by the wooden bench. It was stupid, but her cheeks heated up at the thought of the two of them sitting by each other. She tried to stay relaxed as she bent her legs and sat ramrod straight. She was only a couple feet from Clark now.

Gah, why was she so self-conscious? If she hadn't asked him out first, he probably would have realized that she liked him on his own.

"So, were you out on a mission?" asked Velvet.

"No, it was a more . . . personal thing. I had to spend a couple days in Vale."

"Oh, what was it?"

"It's something I'd like to keep to myself actually." Clark said, and his small smile allowed Velvet to relax. "What about you guys? Anything interesting happen?"

"Just the usual. Classes and training." And Velvet's mind went blank with any other conversation topics.

Thankfully, Clark rescued them from awkward silence. "Have you and Coco decided when you're going to meet the Achieve Men?"

"Not yet, but we're thinking of going in a week or two." Velvet's eyes sparkled. "But seriously, I can't believe it! Really Clark, we're super grateful that you gave the bottlecap to us."

"It's not a big deal, you guys appreciate it more than I did. Do you have plans for what you're going to do with the band?"

"I have so many questions to ask them first." Velvet pulled out her scroll and found the list she'd written. "What their inspiration was for their hit song 'Just Shout', how Mike's life has changed since his daughter was born, why Ryan chose his middle name instead of his first name for the band. Coco's been trying to decide what outfits she could dress them up in, and they also love video games, so she's choosing which ones to play with them."

"Sounds like the Achieve Men are going to get an interesting experience. Will they be okay? I still remember her words about my fashion choices." He placed a hand over his chest. "They cut deep." He joked.

Velvet giggled. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll hold back for them. Besides, I think she approves of their fashion sense more."

"I still don't understand why she's so offended by plaid. I wear it all the time."

"Coco just gets really passionate about clothing."

They talked for a while longer, and over time, Velvet got more and more comfortable with Clark. It took her a little while to realize that Clark was helping her out on purpose. He'd joke at the right time, or ignore any of her awkward moments, and spoke to her normally. She appreciated it.

Surprisingly, Clark was actually a bit of a nerd. He liked to stargaze, and knew a lot about astronomy. He was uncertain about the star names and constellations, and he said they had different names and patterns where he was from. He also liked that there were new stars here which weren't visible from his hometown. Explaining how latitude changed which stars you saw at night. Although they were harder to see here because of the light from the city. He was incredibly passionate about it. She could have listened to him speak all day.

Would it have been like this if they were dating?

Velvet shook the thought out of her head. Clark also asked about what she liked to do, and she told him a little bit about her photography hobby. Well, it was more than a hobby, it tied into her fighting style.

Eventually though, she had to leave. "Sorry Clark, but I have to get to my next class. By the way, Coco's practicing playing video games with the team tonight. You could, um, come by . . . if you want to?" She asked uncertainly.

Clark nodded. "Sure, but I might not be able to stay for long. I have to be somewhere by nine."

"Okay, that's fine. Just come to our room around seven or so." She told him.

Velvet ran to her next class, she had to if she wanted to be on time. If Ms. Goodwitch's combat class hadn't been next, she might have considered skipping it.

\\

That night, after playing video games with team CFVY, Clark walked down to the Bullheads to meet with Qrow.

Video games weren't exactly the most fun for him. He always had to be careful not to accidentally crush controllers in his hand, and while he didn't get as angry as some people did while playing them, he could understand why they could be frustrating.

Not to mention that, for a lot of them, if he got too involved in playing, they started to bore him. That ruined a lot of games for him. Anything that relied on reflexes was out because his were too fast to enjoy playing them properly. Sometimes, without realizing it, he'd start to go into super-speed mode and he'd be able to count the screen's frames.

Problem-solving and puzzle games were more enjoyable to him. Although those hadn't been the kinds team CFVY had been interested in.

So he'd played World Combat II for a little bit against them while holding back and doing somewhat decently. Everyone in the team was faster than a normal person, like all huntsmen, so it had been an interesting challenge to try and find what speed Clark had to go to match them.

It had still been fun eating snacks and cheering as others played though. Coco had been the best player, but Yatsuhashi had been a close second.

Clark walked down the empty hallway, took a right, and waited for a minute.

Then, he stepped forward again.

He hadn't been sure until now. Someone was following him. They'd stopped and continued the same moments he had while following his steps.

When he rounded another corner, he backtracked at super-speed. His follower was a girl around his age with dark brown skin and green hair. She wore an outfit that nobody would have worn in public back in Smallville. Really, her entire stomach was showing, and so was her chest. Did her parents really approve of this?

Then again, he'd seen lots of other students with revealing outfits. Were these clothes considered normal here?

Once Clark got behind her, he spoke. "Excuse me."

"Ah!" She jumped with a yelp, and turned around to face him.

"It's a bit rude to follow people, you know." He said in a stern voice. "Who are you and why are you following me?"

Clark heard her heartbeat rise rapidly and saw sweat start to form on her brow.

"I-I'm sorry! I just saw you around and-and-"

"And what?"

She bit her lip in embarrassment. "And I thought you were kind of hot." She said meekly.

Clark's eyes narrowed, something seemed . . . off about her. "Well, I'm flattered, but I still don't see why you're following me."

She averted her eyes and handed him her scroll. "I . . . I've been taking pictures." She explained.

Clark looked at the screen. As she said, she'd taken a picture of him as he walked through the halls of Beacon. He flicked through it, and found a couple more.

Jeez, he really needed to be more observant. He had super-hearing, but he usually tuned it out to make it bearable. The only reason he'd caught her now was the fact that he'd heard someone at a constant distance behind him in the empty halls. At least she wouldn't have seen anything compromising, he always made sure to check his surroundings when he used his abilities.

Clark gave the device back to her. "Look, miss . . .

She fidgeted before finally answering. "Sustrai. Emerald Sustrai."

"Okay. Emerald, I'm not going to make a fuss over this, but please don't follow me again. If it continues, Beacon staff or the police might get involved." Her breath hitched when he mentioned that. "So I'd like you to stop."

Emerald looked back at him with obvious relief. "I will! I will! Thank you for not reporting me. I'm so sorry." She ran off.

Clark let her go. Her fear had been genuine, but her heartbeat had sounded strange somehow. Not exactly what he would have expected from someone in a situation like that. But then again, it wasn't an exact science. It might not even be accurate to assume that huntresses would react like normal humans.

\\

Holy crap holy crap holy crap. Emerald ran back up to the floor to her room and stopped. She leaned back against a wall and began to catch her breath.

He'd seen her, that Clark guy had seen her. Emerald knew how to tail people. She'd always been good at it as a thief, and had gotten even better after Cinder had found her. She hadn't made a sound, not a single mistake, but he'd noticed her.

Emerald couldn't figure out how besides some sort of Semblance. But that didn't matter how he'd caught her. What did matter was that she'd been caught and been lucky to make him think she was some sort of creepy stalker. Those photos on her scroll had saved her.

It could have gone worse, much much worse. If Emerald had been reported to the headmaster or the police, then they would have investigated her past at Haven. Which she didn't have. Cinder's forgeries were good, but Emerald didn't know if they'd hold up to the scrutiny the police would put them through.

That guy, Clark. She'd used her Semblance on him to make him think she was embarrassed. She could lie easily, but when she'd looked into his eyes, it had been like he'd see through whatever she said. She wasn't even sure if she'd fully convinced him. For now, all she could do was hope.

Emerald grit her teeth, she had to report her failure. Mercury would need to be warned when it was his turn to follow Clark Kent. If he tried Emerald's weak excuse, they'd be discovered.

Emerald bit her lip and her fingers dug into her palm. Cinder would be disappointed.

\\

Bright strobe lights, loud crappy music, and a bunch of people clumsily shoving into each other and calling it dancing.

Qrow hated the Club the moment he'd taken his first step inside. He made a beeline for the bar with Clark behind him. The bar, like the entire inside of the building, looked like crap. Sure, everything was all nice and clean and shiny, but it was all painted in an ugly black and white.

Qrow preferred a good old wooden countertop. Even the rattiest of bars had ones that looked better than the Club's.

"Give me a shot of whiskey." Qrow said to the bartender, before turning to Clark. "What about you? You want anything?"

"No, I don't drink."

"Really? Why not?" Qrow asked as he picked up his glass.

"Back home, I'm not old enough to."

Qrow paused before he took a sip and looked back at Clark with wide eyes. "What? Hold on a sec, you're nineteen, right?"

Clark nodded. "Twenty-one is the legal drinking age where I'm from."

Qrow's jaw dropped. That was insanity. In Vale you could drink at age sixteen, same as the age of consent. It was still weird with cases like Ruby, she was fifteen and walked around with a sniper rifle and fought Grimm. If she could handle that responsibility, she could obviously handle being able to drink. No matter what the law said.

Really though, twenty-one?

"Your home is messed up," said Qrow. "You're in Vale now, you can drink if you want."

"Thanks, but I'd still prefer not to."

Qrow shrugged, not really that surprised. Clark didn't strike him as the kind of guy who would have liked to drink, but he'd asked just in case.

Qrow took a swig of the whiskey. It wasn't half bad, and he asked the bartender for more.

"So where's Junior?" asked Clark while looking around.

The bartender stiffened, and Qrow sighed. Well, that was one way to go about it. He would have liked to take things slow and get a feel for the place first, but now he might as well run with it.

"You heard him." Qrow said to the bartender. "We're here to see your boss. Tell him we want some information, and we're willing to pay."

Specifically, Clark was going to pay. This stuff with the Dart was about him after all, and he'd insisted. Qrow definitely wasn't going to argue with that.

"Alright." The bartender signaled one of the guards, who watched Qrow warily. That was expected, he had come in with his weapon. The bartender whispered something in the guard's ear, and the man nodded before leaving.

"Is it just information you want?" The bartender asked.

Qrow nodded. Junior didn't exactly run a completely legal business, but that wasn't what they were here for. He didn't want to cause trouble.

The bartender relaxed at that, and continued to serve him drinks.

"So Clark," Qrow began. "I saw that you were hanging out with some Beacon students earlier."

"Yeah, they're a second year team named CFVY." Clark said.

Qrow already knew that. Ozpin had filled him in about the friends Clark was making. The headmaster was paranoid sometimes, but Qrow knew there was more to investigating Clark's friends than that.

"We're not about to have students start talking about UFO's or alien probing, are we?" Qrow joked. "Especially that last one, since I heard one of them likes you."

Qrow burst out laughing at Clark's expression. Wide eyes, mouth slightly parted. In short, horrified. "No!" He said, and in a lower voice. "And can we not talk about that in public?"

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Please, I could yell out loud that you're an alien and all people would think is that I'm a nutcase. If anyone even hears me over that noise they call music."

"I guess, but still . . .

"Alright, alright. Seriously though, how are things going? You like 'em?"

"Yeah, they're nice people. I've talked with one of them, and . . . while I'm still not sure, I'd like to go on a mission. I want to help. Besides, it feels like I'm taking advantage of your hospitality. Especially when I get a paycheck for doing nothing."

"Hey, you're providing a service for the city with you-know-what." Yeah, Qrow might tease him about being an alien in public, but no way was he gonna mention the Dart.

"I'm not doing it for money."

"Of course you're not, you'd be able to get a hell of a lot more if you were. But don't think you're doing nothing."

"I guess, but- Clark stopped speaking, and turned his head. "Junior's coming."

Qrow followed Clark's eyes. He was right, the bodyguard from earlier was leading his boss to them. The door behind them swung on its hinges.

That was interesting. How had Clark known that Junior was approaching? He'd been looking in the opposite direction.

Junior walked behind the bar and in front of the huntsmen. He glanced at Qrow's weapon, Harbinger, and his eyes roamed over Clark before speaking. "You want information?"

"Yeah," said Qrow. "That incident with the gang and the Dart a couple days ago. He pretty much has an underground bounty on him, we wanna know who set it."

"Not sure how much I can help you there. That rumor just spread like wildfire, it might not even be true."

"Well, I'm sure a guy like you would know, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe."

Qrow nodded to Clark, and the kid handed over fifty lien. Just a start, to let Junior know they were serious.

The bearded man accepted it. "Well, I can tell you that someone's definitely putting effort into catching the Dart. Whoever it is has money, probably enough to back it up."

"Who?"

"If you want to know, I'm gonna need more lien. Eight hundred."

"Three hundred."

Junior snorted. "I wouldn't even tell you where Torchwick gets his cigars for that. Maybe I'll tell you for seven-hundred fifty, maybe."

Qrow smirked. "You know, my niece came here a while ago. She made a complete mess of the place, but she had fun. Maybe I should ask if Yang wants to visit again."

Junior paled, but color soon returned to his face. "That won't work, we had an understanding the last time she came here again."

"Yang came here twice?"

"Yeah, she was asking about the White Fang. It was the same night Torchwick took the Paladin on the highway."

Huh, Qrow hadn't known that. "Well, you might have an agreement with Yang, but I'm a whole different person. And Clark here." Qrow aimed a thumb at the kid. "You really don't want to mess with him."

Poor Clark looked like he wanted to argue that. He was such a goodie-two shoes that he didn't kill Grimm. No way liked being made to look like a bully.

"I could call the police if you try anything." Junior said, but he sounded unsure of himself and kept staring at Harbinger.

"You could," agreed Qrow. "But we don't want any trouble either, just info on who's willing to pay three hundred thousand lien to catch the Dart."

"Fine, I'll tell you for six hundred fifty lien."

"There we go." Qrow said, and motioned for Clark to hand over the cash.

After Junior counted it, he put the money away in his pocket. "Nobody knows who's offering the reward, all I have is a number that you need to call to claim it. After that, they'll wait a few days to make sure the Dart's not kicking anymore, and call back."

"Really, a scroll number, that's it?" Qrow said dryly.

Junior shrugged. "That's all I know on who set the reward, and things haven't gone well for anyone who's tried to figure out more."

"That's a load of bull," Qrow pointed a finger at the man accusingly. "You got seven hundred lien from us tonight, we're gonna need a whole lot more than that."

Junior scowled. "Fine. The thing is, news spread fast that someone wants the Dart gone. It only took a day or so before everyone had heard, people were paid to distribute it. I can give you the names of a couple those guys. That enough?"

Now those were decent leads. Qrow glanced at Clark, who nodded. It looked like it was enough to satisfy the kid too.

"Put in how to find them too and we'll be out of your hair." Qrow said.

The bearded man nodded, and called for one of his men to bring over a pen and some paper.

"Hey, bring me another one, this one's out of ink." Junior held up his pen to be replaced.

Qrow sometimes wondered whether his Semblance was self-aware or not. Sometimes, it was mild inconveniences, other times it was life-threatening mistkes. Yeah, it was a bitch like that. Then again, maybe this was unrelated.

"Whoah!" Someone cried out, and Qrow looked back to see that someone had tripped on their ass right behind him.

Yeah, his Semblance was a real bitch.

Eventually, Junior handed the info over to Clark, who looked it over, nodded, and politely thanked the man.

Qrow chuckled, Junior was a bit taken back by that.

The two left the nightclub. Qrow wouldn't have minded a couple more drinks, but he was glad to be out of the place. His ears would recover eventually. Besides, staying after finishing their business might make Junior nervous and do something stupid.

"Ozpin'll help track down the number for you." Qrow told Clark as they passed the line in front of the club. "If you need anything else, just ask."

Clark nodded. "I will."

"I'll be heading to a bar nearby, you gonna head back to Beacon?"

Clark nodded. "Yeah, I still have to catch up on the news in case they mention anything related to the phantom. Thanks for your help tonight."

"Hey, if you'd gone in there alone, he'd have probably ripped you off," replied Qrow. "And thanks to my delightful niece's reputation for destruction, he knew better than to try it with us. Tell me how it goes, alright?"

"Sure. And Qrow?"

"Yeah?"

Clark smiled apologetically. "I know you're probably tired of hearing this, but I don't really think it's healthy to drink as much as you do. Isn't there anything else you'd rather do?"

Qrow sighed. "Kid, thanks for the concern, but it's my life. I'll drink if I want to."

"I suppose so." Clark looked like he wanted to say more, but held his tongue. Then, his eyes roamed over their surroundings, and he tilted his head. "Bye." He waved.

Then, he vanished.

Qrow whistled, it was still impressive to him. Most huntsmen had reflexes good enough to deflect bullets with their weapons, even though it depended a lot on seeing where an enemy aimed. Qrow hadn't even drank that much yet, but Clark was fast enough that he might as well have disappeared to Qrow's eyes.

The huntsman started walking to the nearest bar he liked, but stopped after a few steps. Ruby and Yang's detentions had let up not that long ago, and even though Qrow was at Beacon, he didn't see them as often as he liked. Maybe it would be a good idea to see how they were doing.