Jacques Schnee winced as he paid the cabbie; the family finances were always strained and this trip to retrieve his wayward daughter was already straining them further. He was going to have a few words with Weiss when this was over, that was for sure! Hopefully, she would appreciate everything he was doing on her behalf.
Around him bustled the city of Vale. It was a busy, thriving place, but altogether too caught up in its obsession with newness for Jacques's liking. It seemed like you couldn't swing the proverbial cat without hitting four or five workshops, each busily scaring the neighbors as it strove to produce the next wonder of the age. Just look at the cabs on the street, no two of them the same, each one a unique rattletrap monstrosity. Half of them moved on legs or jointed tracks instead of proper wheels, and he'd seen several that were miniature airships. Even the wheeled cab that he had hired to bring him to the Xiao Long home had broken down on the way; unfazed, the cabbie had merely climbed out to make his own repairs before they continued on their way.
He took a moment to look over the house the cabbie had brought him to. It was a rambling sort of place that had the look of having been added onto and rebuilt more than once in its history. Not a proper sort of house at all. A house should be built once, to a single unified style. But then this Taiyang Xiao Long was not any sort of respectable gentleman, was he? Some sort of innovator or inventor, Weiss's letters home had said. Not that people like that didn't have their place of course, but they could hardly be allowed to associate with respectable society. At least the house seemed to be in good repair, and the grounds neatly kept.
Jacques Schnee held no improper ideas about his station in the world; the Schnees had been servants for centuries, but they had always been respectable servants. They served with loyalty and respect, bringing no shame to the households they were part of. Knowing one's place in the world was important.
He stepped around to the side of the house, seeking the tradesman's entrance while he wished he had a mirror to check his appearance. Rapping sharply on the door with his cane, Jacques settled in to wait for an answer. As eclectic as this house looked, he wasn't expecting the staff to answer promptly, if at all. So it was a pleasant surprise when after just a few moments, a lavender-haired young woman in a maid's uniform opened the door. ''May I help you?" she asked with a small bow.
Jacques answered the girl's bow with a nod. "My apologies for bothering you, but I'm looking for my daughter; I'm given to understand she's employed here, or at least was. Her name is Weiss, Weiss Schnee."
"Oh!" The maid's face brightened. "What a surprise! No, she's not employed here, not anymore. She's one of the ladies of the house now or will be soon enough. You're family, you should have come round to the front. Oh, they'll have my head, Miss Weiss's father coming in through the tradesman's entrance. Come on in, she's not here right now, but she should be back soon, she's just gone off with Miss Yang, riding on that dreadful contraption of Miss Yang's. At least it's safer now that she'd added a second seat, but still-! Come on, come on!" The maid bustled Jacques inside, leading him through what proved to be a much more orderly house on the inside than the outside.
She seated him in a parlor that, while tastefully decorated, had the feel of not being used that often. Did Mister Xiao Long not have a lot of visitors? Was he unpopular for some reason? Then something the maid had said about Weiss came back to mind. 'Soon to be one of the ladies of the house,' she'd said. What did she mean by that? Was Weiss engaged to one of Mister Xiao Long's family? Jacques wracked his brain, trying to remember the details of the family. His daughter had written about Tiyang's daughters but hadn't mentioned sons. Had Weiss managed to snag the man of the house himself? Certainly, there would be an age difference, but there was nothing wrong with that. Many a young lady had secured her fortune by attracting the attention of an older man.
It wasn't long before voices from the front door drew his attention. Jacques stood, doing his best to make himself presentable. "And look who's here, Miss Weiss. Your father's come, all the way from Atlas!" the lavender-haired maid proclaimed.
Jacques fought to keep a neutral expression as he took in his daughter's appearance. She was wearing trousers and a shirt, as a gentleman might, a rapier at her side. The scar she'd once carefully kept hidden with makeup was now proudly displayed for the world to see. Her voice was clipped and cold as she spoke. "Father. What are you doing here?" Standing next to her was a tall similarly-dressed woman with a mane of blonde hair that reached down to her waist. Jacques couldn't help but notice the woman had a mechanical arm. At the very least she should have covered it so as to spare others the sight.
"I've come to take you back to Atlas, Weiss. As I said in my last letter, your mother and I have found a suitable husband for you."
Defiance flashed in his daughter's eyes as she crossed her arms. "Father, I'm not going with you. I am twenty-two years of age, and that is old enough to handle my own marital arrangements, thank you very much! And besides, I'm already engaged, remember? Plus you've probably chosen someone dreadful."
"Engaged? Without my approval? I won't allow it! And Cardin Winchester is not dreadful, he's a perfectly respectable young man!"
"Only if you've known him for less than a minute! And I don't need your approval, I am old enough to make up my own mind! You've never given a damn what I wanted, you just said so yourself. If you'd bothered to read my last letter, you'd have known I was already engaged, but you probably didn't bother reading past the part where I said I wasn't coming home." Weiss took a deep breath and reached out to the blonde woman, taking the woman's mechanical hand in hers. "Father, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you my fiancee, Yang Xiao Long."
Silence reigned for long seconds as Weiss's words spread across the room. "You can't marry a woman! It's immoral and illegal! I won't allow it!" Jacques shouted, stepping toward his daughter, his face a study in fury.
"Mister Schnee, calm down." Yang moved as if to place herself between Weiss and her father, only to find Weiss' arm in her way. "I know this is a bit of a shock, but if you'll just let us explain-"
"Explain? Explain?! There's nothing to explain! There is no way I'm allowing this! Your mother and I will be disgraced."
"That's why I'm not going back to Atlas, ever." Weiss fought to keep her voice level. "I... Part of the reason I was originally coming home was my affections for Yang. I couldn't bring myself to accept them, so the only thing I could think of was to get as far away from her as possible. When she heard I was leaving, Yang confessed her feelings for me, begged me to stay, proposing to me on the spot."
Yang blushed. "Sorry to say I rushed and made a real mess of it. I, uh, I did it again at breakfast the next day, with a ring and everything. Great way to start the day, right?"
Scowling, Jacques turned to Yang. "And you! You can't expect me to believe your parents are accepting of this!"
"My father not only accepts it, he approves. He knows Weiss well, she worked for us for years, and my mother... my mother is not an issue." Yang gestured to the sofa. "Now please, let's sit down and talk this over, get to know each other."
"I don't think so." Jacques picked up his cane, storming past Yang and Weiss toward the front door. Before he left, he turned to look Weiss in the eye. "This is not over. I am still your father and you will do as I say." He slammed the door, leaving a gloomy silence in his wake.
It was the maid that spoke first. "I'm sorry, Miss Weiss, I was so thrilled to see your father here, I didn't-"
"It's fine, Lisa. You had no way of knowing. Excuse me, I feel the need to be alone for a moment." Weiss stepped out of the room, and a moment later, the two of them heard the side door open and shut.
"Is she going to-" Lisa began, only to have the question answered before it was finished as a scream of frustration and rage came from the garden.
"Yeah, she did. Lisa, Mister Schnee is not welcome in this house, under any circumstances. I'll discuss it with my father when he returns home. When Blake and Ruby come home, I'll want to see them." Lisa nodded and bustled out of the room, leaving Yang to pace the floor waiting for her fiancee's return.
When Blake and Ruby came home, they found Weiss and Yang curled up against each other on the sofa, Yang gently stroking Weiss's hair. Weiss was leaned up against Yang, staring into space as if looking at something countless miles away. "Is something wrong?" Ruby asked, turning down the hood of the bright red cape she wore everywhere imaginable.
"You could say that Ruby," Yang answered, her normally bright and sunny disposition shadowed. "Weiss's father was here. He tried to bully her into going home with him, and when she introduced me as her fiance, he got angry. I've told the staff not to let him in if he returns."
"My father holds to a number of beliefs that have fallen into disfavor, even in Atlas. He refuses to acknowledge that a woman is the equal of a man, believing that a woman should obey her husband or father's wishes without question." At this point, Weiss's eyes focused, finding Blake's face. "He also doesn't believe in love between two people that share the same sex, and he hates Faunus, thinking them one step below animals. More than once he's said 'At least an animal knows its place in the world, and doesn't try to claim the place of a man'."
Blake's cat ears flickered in dark amusement. "And he left here under his own power? I'm surprised; you suffer fools even less gladly than I do, and that's saying something."
"I was trying not to start a battle in our new parlor; we just got this decorated, after all," Weiss said with a small laugh.
"Still say I want to turn this back into a chemistry lab," Ruby muttered as Lisa came carrying a tea tray.
Blake jabbed her wife in the ribs. "Now Ruby, if Weiss wants a parlor to entertain in, we can have a parlor to entertain in. Or do you want to sleep out in your workshop tonight?" Ruby eeped at the idea and busied herself with a cup of tea.
"He's out there again."
Weiss didn't even pause in her fencing lesson with Professor Oobleck at her soon-to-be sister-in-law's interjection. "I take it, Blake that you are referring to my father, who has taken up what he probably feels to be a well-concealed position in that stand of fireflower trees just far enough off the property so as not to actually be trespassing?" she replied, her blade flashing back and forth, seeking an opening.
Oobleck was too fast for her today, brushing aside all her attacks with ease. "You're off our game today, Miss Schnee; normally you've struck me at least two or three times by now. I take it your father's arrival is a distraction? So terrible to see such strife between father and daughter."
The white-haired girl didn't hesitate; she took advantage of Oobleck's dismay to knock his sword out of her way, scoring a strike above her teacher's heart. "My father refuses to accept my right to decide my own future. He's especially angry about my engagement to Yang."
"Ah, that's right, you're from Atlas, aren't you? The ink's still wet on their new marriage laws, isn't it? Still," Oobleck struck, catching Weiss on her sword arm, "it would be best if you and your father did come to an understanding."
Blake shook her head. "She's tried, Professor. Weiss has spoken with him several times, with no effect. He keeps insisting she come back to Atlas with him and marry someone he's picked out for her."
"Don't worry, Professor, I've had a word with the constables. They'll run him off when they see him." Weiss stepped back from Oobleck, wiping sweat from her brow. "In fact, I think I see Constable Wukong coming around the corner now. Let's watch."
"Good afternoon, sir. Can I ask why you're so intently observing the property across the street in what seems to be meant to be a covert fashion?"
Jacques turned to face the young man wearing a constable's uniform, straightening his tie as he did so. "That is none of your business, young man; I'm not trespassing and I've broken no laws."
"Actually, it is my business. Word's gotten around about you, that you're trying to drag Miss Weiss back to Atlas to force her to marry someone she can't stand. We don't allow such a thing here in Vale. Plus Taiyang Xiao Long and his daughters are great friends to this city, pillars of the community and that sort of thing." Sun was grinning wide now; anyone that knew him would take that particular grin as a sign of warning. "So I think you need to move along now, and not bother anyone in that house anymore."
"You have no right-!"
"Oh, but I've got every right." Sun reached out and poked Jacques in the chest with his truncheon. "We've arrested you for harassing the residents of that house and their staff when they leave the property, and we've got sworn statements from them that you're not allowed on the property and why. So I'll give you one chance: stop bothering them and take yourself back to Atlas, or I'm going to run you in again. And not for a night to cool off this time. You'll be up before a magistrate and might be looking at some serious time in jail. What's it going to be?"
Jacques' face contorted in a sneer. "Don't you dare touch me, you animal-!"
"Oh, that's it, that's showing disrespect to an officer of the law. Now I have to run you in. Try to be polite and see where it gets you." Sun pulled out his manacles and stepped towards Jacques, who tried to run. Bad move. Sun was on him in an instant, tackling him to the ground and wrestling him into the manacles. "Well, at least I've done one good deed for the day. Come on, you."
Across the street, Weiss, Blake, and Professor Oobleck watched as the paddy wagon ambled up and Weiss's father was loaded into it. "Do you think he'll take the hint this time?" Blake asked. She really didn't like Weiss' father; what he'd had to say to her once he found out who she was wasn't fit for anyone's ears.
"Doubtful. He's extremely stubborn, which is where I get it from, most likely." Nearby, a bell tower started to sound out noon, and Weiss turned to Oobleck with a smile. "Oh, is it noon already? Professor, would you like lunch?"
It was a bedraggled Jacques Schnee that shuffled out of the cell the next morning. These, these, ruffians was the only word he could use to describe these so-called officers of the law, had tossed him in with the drunks and brawlers and other common criminals. "Alright, you whiny pain in the neck, your bail's been paid. We'll send a letter in a day or two to your lodgings letting you know when you're up before the judge. If you don't show up, we'd better not catch you, got it?" The blue-haired constable at the desk shook his head. "And if you were a smart man, I'd steer clear of the Xiao Longs and find myself a good lawyer. Now beat it."
Outside, a red-haired man wearing a bowler hat stopped him. "Excuse me, Mister Schnee, might I have a word with you? I'm the gentleman who paid your bail, you see, and I think we share a common adversary in the Xiao Long family. I understand they've influenced your daughter in a most immoral fashion."
Jacques scoffed. "Not that it's really any of your business, but yes, they've exerted an unhealthy influence over my daughter. I mean to see it ended and her returned with me to Atlas. Her fiancee is waiting for her."
"Oh, and a fiancee waiting for her, what a shame, what a shame. It occurs to me that I might be of some help in reuniting you with your daughter if you're willing to accept my assistance."
"I think we might discuss that very matter, mister...?"
"Torchwick." The redheaded man gave a deep an ostentatious bow. "Mister Roman Torchwick, at your service, sir."