Consciousness crept in like a blind, stumbling drunk. The first sensation to return was pain. She hurt everywhere, especially her head. Crashing along behind that came the concept of head as a part of the body, an important one. Next came scent, a cocktail of disinfectant, plastic, and really clean linens that spelled hospital. Was she in the hospital? Had she been injured? Sound crept in next on velvet paws, the soft beep-beep-beep she associated with monitoring equipment. Good, nice, calm, steady rhythm, no problems. Soft voices around her, she couldn't make out the words, but tone told her much. There was concern in their voices, but not panic. She drifted, secure in knowledge that she was somewhere safe, whatever had happened to her, she was probably safe.
Eventually strength returned, and with it the desire to know where she was. It was an effort beyond words to open an eye a crack, only to be rewarded with darkness. Was she blind? Had whatever put her here blinded her here? Panic flared, only to be dismissed a moment later. No, she could see shades in the darkness; she must be in a dark room, that's all. She forced her eyes open the rest of the way, confirming what she'd supposed. The ceiling above her was white, turned gray by the dim lighting. On the edge of her vision to her left was a light of some sort; the beep-beep-beep from the monitors came from the same direction.
A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she winced as she turned her head to see what it was. Through a large window she could see an airship passing by, and past it the shining lights of a major city. She frowned; exactly where was she? She didn't think she should have been in a city; had she been so badly injured that they'd flown her hundreds of miles to a hospital? But why take the risk? She wasn't that important. "Where..?" she whispered, her voice rough and raw.
"Blake? Are you awake?" a voice, unfamiliar but at the same time strangely familiar and comforting came from her right. Blake, yes that was her, that was her name. But... she turned her head to see a white-haired woman standing in the doorway to the hospital room. "Who...?" escaped her lips before she could think.
"It's me, Weiss." The woman stepped closer, and Blake could see recent injuries on her face and arms, and an old scar over her left eye. For some reason Blake couldn't place, the sight of the scar angered her.
"I-I don't know you." Blake shook her head, fear creeping back in.
"But..." Anguish showed for a moment on the white-haired woman's face before she visibly took control of herself. "Blake, what's the last thing you remember?"
"I was with Adam," slipped out of Blake's mouth before she could stop herself.
"On a mission, right. Train job, Schnee Dust shipment, big spider robot?" Blake nodded warily, her hands subconsciously clenching into fists, gripping the covers. How did this human woman know about her mission for the White Fang. "Blake... that was ten years ago, right before you left the White Fang."
"N-no, that's not possible."
"It is." The woman reached out and grabbed Blake's wrist before she object or pull away, turning it so Blake could see the date on the hospital wristband. Blake gasped. The date on the band was over ten years after the last date she remembered. Blake could feel tears welling in the other woman's eyes as she continued. "After you left the White Fang, you enrolled at Beacon Academy to become a Huntress, and that's where you met me. And," Weiss finished, looking Blake in the eyes, a tremor in her voice, "eventually, where we were married. I'm your wife, Blake."
"N-no, that can't be, I'm not into women." Recognition kicked in, and suddenly Blake knew how she recognized Weiss. "And you're Weiss Schnee, there's no way I'd ever marry you."
The other woman's face fell, and Blake almost felt sorry for what she'd said for a moment. Almost. "Blake, I know it's hard to accept, but it's true. We didn't get along at first, but at Beacon, we became teammates, then friends, and years later, more. I've got tons of pictures of us over the years, wedding photos even."
"Those can be faked."
Weiss chewed her lip in thought for a moment, then nodded. "If I can produce someone you know, from back then, that can vouch for me confirm what I'm saying, will you believe me?" Blake nodded, a short, sharp jerk. "Okay, I'll give them a call. In the meantime, will you promise me you'll cooperate with the doctors? The medical staff here is quite excellent, they've patched both of us up over the years multiple times, and they really are trying to help you." Blake agreed, and Weiss stepped to the other side of the room as a doctor and a nurse came in and started examining Blake, asking her questions, checking vitals and taking a blood sample.
Blake listened with half an ear to Weiss's scroll call even while she was answering the doctor's questions. "It's me. She's awake, but she says she doesn't remember anything after the train mission." Pause. "Yes, that train mission." Another pause. "Yes, I offered to show her pictures, but she says those can be faked. I was hoping you could come talk to her? Just you at first. Yes, the others can come, but... if she doesn't remember me, then I don't want to overwhelm her. Okay, good." Weiss put away her scroll and turned back to Blake and the doctors. "Well, how is she?"
"Physically, she seems to be okay. And as far as I can tell without doing an ultrasound, the babies are fine as well. Her mental state... " the doctor's voice took on a serious tone. "Memory loss is not uncommon with a head injury, but this degree of loss is concerning. I'd like a neurologist to see her in the morning; we may have to do a brain scan." Weiss nodded, and the doctor and nurse left.
"Did-did he say babies?" Blake's hands were resting on her stomach, a frown on her face.'
Weiss blinked, shock on her face. "Yes, you're five months pregnant, with twins. How did you miss that?"
"I don't know, something about some woman I've never met but have every reason to hate claiming to be my wife, kind of caught my attention." Blake's face brightened. "But that means we can't be married. Two women can't have a baby."
"A little bit of laboratory magic. Genetically, they're part you, and part me, a genetic splice."
"Are they...?"
"Faunus? No sign yet, and the doctors weren't sure; they hadn't tried this before with a human and a Faunus. But some Faunus traits are hard to spot before birth anyway. Like these," and Weiss's hand stole up to stroke Blake's cat ears.
Blake started to purr at the sensation, then reached up to swat Weiss's hand away in annoyance. "Stop that."
"Sorry, I shouldn't have. You usually like it when I do that, but I guess right now..." Weiss's voice trailed off, and the two of them descended into an uncomfortable silence. Something would occur to Blake to say, only to die unspoken on her lips, or Weiss would look up from her chair, her own mouth open as if to speak, then close her mouth and look down again.
"Hey, Blake," came softly from the door. Ilia stood there, wearing something Blake never thought she'd see, a business suit. She glanced over at Weiss and Blake followed her gaze, seeing that Weiss had nodded off. "Let's let her sleep, she's had a rough day, though not as rough as you, I hear. So," Ilia sat on the edge of Blake's bed, "What has she told you?"
"It's ten years since the train mission that's the last thing I remember, I left the White Fang, became a Huntress, and married Weiss freaking Schnee. Oh, and I'm five months pregnant with twins that are some sort of horrible genetic cross between the two of us." Blake glanced at Weiss to make sure she was still asleep, the sat up, groaning at the pain. "Ilia, you have to get me out of here!"
Ilia shook her head. "I won't do that, Blake, I can't. Too many people I care about would be hurt if I did that. Including you, if you ever remember the last ten years." She took a deep breath, then continued. "Everything you said she told you is true, though she leaves out a lot of details, obviously."
This is some sort of nightmare. Maybe I should play along for now. "Okay, let's say I believe you. What about the White Fang, Adam?"
"The White Fang is gone, except for a dwindling number of increasingly politically irrelevant holdouts. True equality still isn't here, not yet, but it's coming, and the movement behind it has teeth and claws, and it's being built on real respect, not fear. A couple of prominent Faunus in the right place at the right time have had something to do about that, if I may say so myself."
"You?" Blake laughed. "What, did you save some bleeding heart's life on live television or something?"
"Not a bleeding heart, a rather cold one actually, but yes, she was in the right place at the right time." Weiss stood and stretched, yawning. "And then he asked her to join his marriage, and she accepted. Two Schnees being married to Faunus all of a sudden made the issue of equal rights a lot more pressing in certain circles. Plus having my family's money to throw at equal rights groups didn't hurt. Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"And Adam?" Weiss and Ilia both froze, looking at each other. "I said, what about Adam? What aren't you telling me?"
Weiss sighed. "Adam Taurus... is dead. When the White Fang was broken, he was sent to prison. On his third escape, he was killed while they were trying to recapture him."
"Tell her who killed him, Weiss." Ilia's was glaring at Weiss. "Tell him who rammed their blade through Adam Taurus's heart and broke it off. Or I will."
"I did." Weiss's voice was flat, emotionless, as if she were reading tax returns. "I killed Adam Taurus. I had finally had enough of him, of him hurting the people I cared about, and something inside me just... snapped. I wasn't there, for a few moments, and when I was myself again, he was dead, Myrtenaster broken off in his chest."