A/N: This is from my backlog of FREEZERBURN fictions.
This is just a one-shot.
I have a sequel to this as well that is also a one-shot, so if that's something you all want, let me know.
Deadlock
She was spitting blood, but it wasn't her face that hurt. It was her own fist that she shook in malcontent. Angry and hurt, she cursed, wondering why she had to get involved with a woman so utterly complicated to wrap her head around. Then again, that seemed to be a family trait. An aggravating one.
"Is this really such a big deal?" She asked snidely, using the back of her gloved hand to clean away the red spittle from her lips.
"Yes, it is." Winter said coolly, circling the teenager before her. "Yang Xiao Long, isn't it?" The question was entirely rhetorical, and the elder of the Schnee sisters didn't miss a beat. "Don't misunderstand your place in this world. There's more to all of this than meets the eye."
"It's always an agenda with you, isn't it?" Her fists clenched ready to go another round if she had to.
"An agenda…" The woman hummed, cocking her head to the side, arms crossing over her slender frame. "That is one way to look at it, I suppose. You're going to listen, and listen well. It isn't my fault if you don't."
"Listen to what?" Yang spat once more. "How I'm not good enough for your sweet and precious little sister? I think I've heard enough about that."
Cold blue eyes, tinted with only the faintest grey color closed. With speed that stunned the much younger girl, Winter Schnee moved with deadly grace. Hand full of blonde hair, she had the teen pinned to the nearest wall before she knew it. "That sweet and precious little sister of mine has claws and teeth sharper than yours, and don't you forget it. You might have the power, but she has the cunning." Then, dropping her voice to a low whisper, everything was made clear only by her throaty tone. "I have both, so I would suggest that you don't toy with me."
That hot breath on her neck made Yang evaluate her situation more carefully. This older woman wasn't fooling around. "Alright, fine." She huffed. "I'm listening."
"No, I don't think you are." Winter hissed, pulling on that golden mane of long hair even harder. "A girl like you doesn't understand noblesse oblige. What it means for her. You don't understand that, you can't, and if you try to pull her into what you do understand, all you'll do is get hurt. She'll hurt you because like it or not, you're still just a child. You both are."
"I am not my uncle." Yang shot back. "Or my mom…"
"That's why." Winter said, pushing away from the wall. "That's precisely why. You can't fathom the delicate nature of the relationship you share. Take my advice and get out while you can." Dismissing herself from the girl, her voice began to fade. "She's not worth it. None of it ever is."
Yang Xiao Long took a few harsh breaths, trying her best to really think about those words. In the haze of her anger, she could only understand one thing. Winter thought herself superior. That she considered herself to be better than the rest, and maybe she was. That still didn't excuse her self-righteous attitude. All it did was make Yang want to hate her.
In fact, in many small ways, Yang did.
Hated her, and the fortune that held Weiss like a prisoner. Dirty money, that's all that it was, and neither one of them needed it. Yang could take care of Weiss on her own. They could take care of each other without help from anyone. Neither one of them needed to be looked down upon...and Yang was sick of it.
…
Noblesse oblige; Weiss had heard it so many times as a girl. Even more times as a teenager. She would probably hear it many more times in the future.
The mere idea that people of high social ranking needed to help those of lesser means was something that rationally tasted foul. Weiss had often found the matter rather trite, but, she also believed that not everyone could help themselves. That those people would need help, and inevitably, she knew she would have to deal with that. However, seeing a person such as Yang didn't help matters at all, and Yang was too hot tempered to see beyond the murmured insults to her lineage.
"Ignore them." Weiss warned Yang as they traveled arm-in-arm through the large military ship. "You know it's not true...you know that so just stay calm."
"This is bullcrap." Yang retorted. "If they call me a whore one more time I swear I'll-"
"You'll take the insult with finesse and grace." Weiss said heatedly under her breath. She gave Yang's hand a squeeze. "I need you to act with decorum Yang, please."
Many of the upper class found themselves sipping the finest vintages and partaking a perfect meal. They congratulated their comrades on hunts well done, and teased their good friends merrily about days gone by. These well accomplished people looked down their noses at the youngsters who had only just entered the academy. Weiss understood this was merely the way the world worked. That one day, she too would be afforded the same kind of respect among her own peers.
Until then, though, she was merely like every other young socialite. Looked down upon for every misgiving, and that current misgiving was the woman on her arm. The one she claimed as her date for this evening's affairs. The one she had reported that she loved and cared about.
The one that everyone assumed Weiss pitied, that Weiss chose as a little pet to warm her bed. That it all meant nothing in the end.
"That's it I'm going to shut them right up." Yang growled with gritted teeth.
"You're not leaving my side." Weiss held fast. "Yang...Yang please." That got the girl to look at her. "It's not true. It's not true at all."
"Don't let them get you down, girls." A familiar voice said, wine glass in hand, coming to aid her young charges.
"Ms. Goodwitch, a fine night for gathering, isn't it?" Weiss greeted with a small bow and a perfectly plastered on smile.
"Stop that." The older woman shot back. She hated when people lied through their teeth. Yang looked livid, and Weiss was hardly containing her. This wouldn't end well if time went on. "It's entirely too uncomfortable, wouldn't you agree?" She didn't bother to add that she was also not nearly drunk enough to listen to formalities. Most certainly not from two of the most troublesome students she had ever encountered. "As for you, try to curb that murderous rage of yours, hm? It's off-putting, for those who have no idea who you really are."
"I haven't killed anyone yet, have I?" Yang asked, hurt in her voice, and a few other frustrated notes that only Weiss could truly detect.
"Certainly not." Glynda afforded to the young brawler in front of her. "Girls your age are afforded the luxury of an early night. Perhaps you should take the gift for what it is."
"Not hardly a luxury if they think I'm still just a child." Weiss murmured, tossing a glance behind her back. "It'll just appear to everyone is a sign of weakness. I can't have that."
They heard a few older men sniggering about subjects not meant for casual listening, and most certainly not teenaged girls. One man voiced his option louder than the others, calling Yang names. Trollip was the most common, but it was not the worst. Glynda was offended by the sheer audacity that the enlisted men bantering seemed to have, but gracefully turned her back on the ordeal, leading the girls away from the intrusive and personal statements.
"You're above the caliber that needs to hear such boldfaced tripe." She told Weiss, shooting a passing glance to Yang. "As I am constantly reminded by a vast many people, you are still just children though. Old enough for romance perhaps, but hardly old enough to be trying to earn your place as veterans of any trade. Go back to your rooms and stay there. It's not a request, it's an order."
…
They tried to argue about going back to their shared bedroom on the ship, but Glynda would have none of it. Eventually, they realized how futile it was, and conceded the point. Yang was tired of hearing all of those people belittle her anyway. She didn't know how much more she could take, and as soon as the door to bedroom closed, she raised her fist and slammed it into the metal locker. Her bare fist made a gaping hole.
Even without her weapons, she was deadly in her force. The metal cried out as she pulled her fist back slowly with a hiss.
"That was stupid." Weiss chastised as she took the bruising hand within her own.
"You're telling me." Yang muttered, freeing herself from that too warm, too gentle caress. "God that really hurt."
"Then don't do it." Weiss said with a small smirk. "You can't get so worked up about what other people say. They're just going to keep saying it."
"I know." Yang sighed. "I get that, but it isn't enough for me. I don't want to be treated like I'm some worthless little girl who can't take care of herself…that's how they look at me, and it's just so…" She kicked the locker and marched over to the bed, flinging off her shoes and flipping herself onto the bed with a harsh thud. "I hate them, Weiss, I really, really do."
"I'm sorry." Weiss said as she followed Yang to the bedside.
"No." Yang murmured when she felt fingertips run along her smooth legs. "Don't touch me." Her voice was wavering. "Not right now."
"Yang…"
"I said no, Weiss." Yang barked as she pushed herself up from the bed. "I meant it. It all comes down to a choice, and if it can't be me, then it has to be them…but I can't do this. I can't be here, and listen to them say that I'm just a little toy to you. That this is a gamer. Or that you really just don't care. You don't even act like you're mad about it, and you should be."
Yang was hurting so badly. That explosive anger wasn't forever, and so Weiss just let her go. Let the woman she cared about storm out of the room. Then down the hall. Denying her feelings, denying her desires to be coddled and cajoled. Denying the fact that at the end of the day, Yang's temper was not her master, and she would end up coming back and apologizing in a fit of tears, begging to be forgiven.
Yang would be back, because she knew deep down...Weiss loved her.
Until then though, Weiss settled for her loneliness. There was a picture of her family sitting in a frame near the bedside, and Weiss turned it face down, shaking her head. It was then, when no one was around to hear her, to see her, that she finally let her eyes water. That she finally broke. Slamming her hand into that very same locker that Yang had just put a hole in, slicing her palm on the torn metal.
"Shit." Weiss cursed, because in the end, that stung too. All of it did.
Even the things she couldn't say. The things she couldn't do, because at the end of the day, she was Weiss Schnee.
Noblesse oblige indeed…