It was another one of Weiss' meetings with Blake. Of all of her former schoolmates, Blake was the one person that seemed the most sympathetic. Not that she wanted sympathy. Not that she deserved it. But sympathy did help with cooperation, and the better everyone got along together, the faster she got to Cinder Fall. They had wrapped up another fruitless brainstorming session. Weiss felt as if she was letting Ruby down again. Every day she slipped deeper and deeper into self-loathing, something Blake had taken notice of. Every time she got ready to leave the Belladonna-Long's bar Blake would stop her, pull her into a hug, and tell her it's all ok.

"Yang has definitely been rubbing off on you." Weiss said as Blake repeated this same routine once again.

"She has, hasn't she." Blake bent down to pick up a sleeping Yin, who had insisted on spending time helping her mother every night. This mostly entailed staring at Weiss and Blake as they worked, soaking any information about the methods her mother was using to help track down Cinder, till she inevitably fell asleep in her chair, as was the case tonight.

"It wasn't till Yin that I really noticed the change, though. My whole life I never though I could be a good parent. I never expected that it would be so natural, and I think it has everything to do with Yang's influence. She's changed me so much, and I love her for it." An unconscious smile appeared on her face as she thought of her wife.

"You certainly are good for each other. If you don't mind me asking, how did you have Yin? She looked like you both."

"A new technique that lets two women conceive a child that's biologically theirs. The process is experimental, and we were the only success."

"They told me there weren't any successes." At Blake's questioning gaze, she continued "I was the chief investor for that project. When things between us got serious Ruby would always talk about wanting a big family and I thought…"

"You thought that you could make things up to Ruby if you gave her something she really wanted."

Weiss nodded. "I thought it would be a good start. You have to remember I had been planning an escape from my family ever since my wedding day, but there was one important part I had to make sure of. I had to make sure that Ruby would take me back. I thought that if I told her that she could have a child with me, she would at least give me a chance. But the team in charge of the project told me there were no successes, so I had to find some other way to make it up to her. I couldn't think of something good enough in time though."

"I'm sorry, Weiss. We asked the doctor not to report Yin's conception. It was for her own good."

"What do you mean?" Weiss replied angrily. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. If Blake had let the research team know, she would have gone to Ruby. Ruby would be alive.

"I know what you're thinking Weiss, but I won't risk my daughter's safety for anything. Hell, we won't let her go outside most days unless Yang and I are with her and we're going to have to home school her. Anti-faunus sentiment has gotten so bad these past few years that we have to keep her supervised almost every hour of the day. We thought that if it got out she's half human she wouldn't be safe from faunus either. The White Fang have begun targeting those with mixed bloodlines and I wanted her to be safe. If everyone knew she was half human she would be in danger of more than a bit of anti faunus abuse. Hell we lose a few patrons every time Yang and I kiss in public. I'm sorry." Blake replied, with genuine concern in her eyes.

"I understand. It was a long shot, it working for us the way it did for you two. One successful birth certainly doesn't make the entire project a success. One question though. How did you get the doctor to agree to keep it a secret?"

"I did nothing. Spend enough time around Yang and she can persuade you to do anything." Blake said, in an oddly proud, even boastful tone.

"Even marry her?"

"Yeah. Still not sure how she pulled that one off though." Blake replied with a wry grin.

"It's my natural charm, kitten." Yang's voice came from the stairway leading to their apartment above the Sundrop Lounge. She smiled brightly at the sight of Yin asleep in her mother's arms. She made her way downstairs, stopping when she came to the 'war room' as she had called it. In actuality it was just a large table with various maps and papers spread on it.

"Still nothing?" Her voice gave away an underlying sense of disappointment.

"I'm sorry Yang." Blake approached her wife kissing her on the cheek. "If I could just find out where she's getting the money to keep herself so well hidden-" she stopped herself as Yin shifted in her arms.

"Aw Kitten, you're doing your best. Don't work too hard though, I can't sleep without you there."

"I know, remember how, during my first overnight hunting exam, you kept the entire school awake with your pacing."

"It wasn't her pacing, so much as the fire alarms. I remember her almost burning a hole straight through the floor. My favorite part of that night was when she finally calmed down enough to go to bed, only to set the sheet alight five minutes later." Weiss was smiling along with Blake and Yang now, and she continued smiling after Blake put Yin to bed, to come back downstairs and continue their reminiscing long into the night.

That was one of the first times in a long time Weiss was almost happy. Since then, the belladonna long's had become a place of comfort for her, and the first place she felt cared for since Beacon. She almost didn't want it to end, but the gnawing guilt that she was sure would follow her to her grave made certain she remembered her newfound purpose in life. Kill Cinder, and take herself out with the bitch.

The Schnee family car pulling into the large parking lot infront of the Sundrop Lounge. Blake and Yang were waiting for them just outside. Blake approached the car window as they neared, an envelope in one hand, her other in its almost permanent home in Yang's steely grip.

"I have an address. It's a short trip out. Almost 4 hours by Bullhead. I have one chartered at this address" She handed Weiss a slip of paper from the envelope. "Evryone else will meet us there."

"thank you Blake. Really, thank you. How did you find her?"

"I'll explain on the way."

"I can't wait to hear how you did it Blakey. My Kitten always pulls through!" Yang said, earning a smile from blake, which only seemed to make Yang's smile grow even wider.

There seemed to be an underlying sadness to blakes smile, however. For whatever reason, Blake seemed… off. It was almost as if she was hiding something, but before she could begin to try and figure it out, she was interrupted by Yang. "So Kitten, how'd you track down that monster?"

"Yes, I believe we're all on the edge of our seats waiting for your explanation, please, do explain." Her father added.

"I got a tip from an old acquaintance that led me to an old classified project, which was designed as the successor to Mountain Glenn. It failed even faster than the first, and the details were never released to the public, for fear of growing anti-Vale sentiment, something that the current people in change could definitely do without. The White Fang gives them enough trouble."

"Who sent the tip? The only one of us with enough pull to dig up that project is Weiss' old man, and they were just as in the dark as I was." August gave Yang a dirty look at the old man comment. He preferred to think of himself as 'late middle aged' himself. Yang shrugged it off and continued, however. "Why keep it a secret from me anyway? You know I don't judge you based on your past so if it's an old friend from the White Fang you don't have to hide it from me. So tell me who it was Blakey, I promise I don't care."

"Yang, please, before I tell you, I need you to know that she came to me."

A puzzled look crossed Yang's face. "Who are you… you don't mean… I told her not to come near my family again!" Yang's eyes turned crimson, her body beginning to glow as the temperature in the car began to rise.

"Calm down Yang! I don't like Raven anymore than you do, but we needed this information. We would have never found Cinder if she didn't get it to us." Blake threaded her hand into Yang's despite the heat now radiating off her, and the temperature in the car suddenly dropped back to normal.

Yang's face was filled with remorse as she looked down at blake's gloved hand, seeing minor burn marks in the black leather.

Blake knew what Yang was thinking, however, and sought to stop her current train of thought. "Yang I'm fine." She managed to get out before Yang pulled off the glove and began inspecting her hand for injuries. Seeing none, she pressed a small kiss to the palm of Blake's hand. Blake moved her hand to Yang's face and began to softly stroke her cheek.

"See, I'm fine Yang. You won't hurt me, you can't."

Yang smiled, leaning into Blakes palm as she continued her menstruations.

"I'm sorry Blake, I just… she left me! Left my dad! And she didn't come back because she's a coward! No good reason!" Yang's eyes flashed red again, but her anger was immediately calmed by the reminder of Blake's soothing presence.

Before either Weiss or her father could speak however, the driver notified them that they had arrived at the heliport where their transport awaited them. As they got out, they were greeted by the rest of the group that had been at Ruby's will reading, but there was a newcomer among them, a woman almost identical to Yang, but older, with long black hair, and a long red bladed katana.