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Chapter 10: Reckoning

Adam woke up to an unfamiliar weight resting on his chest, his mind replaying the events following the previous nights' mission as he came fully to his senses. The first time between himself and Velvet had been a frantic expression of need and lust each of them desperate to feel the other against them as if it were the only way to assure themselves that their lover had indeed made it home safe; their subsequent experience had been a gentle and tender affair culminating in them collapsing in exhaustion and falling asleep in each others arms. Adam smiled at the sight of Velvets' sleeping form, her head on his chest and a leg draped across his waist, tightening his arm around his lovers' waist and softly kissing the top of her head he attempted to extricate himself from his current position without waking her, the attempt was in vain however as the sound of someone pounding on his front door resounded through the apartment, jolting Velvet awake
"Huh-wha….where am….oh hey" Velvet mumbled, still half asleep as attempted to make sense of her surroundings, face reddening slightly as she bit her lip nervously as she realised her own state of undress under the sheets, it was an expression Adam found utterly adorable
"Morning beautiful" Adam beamed leaning in to kiss her "You wanna take a shower first? I'll go see who that is" he indicated to the incessant knocking as he left the bed and searched for some clothes, moments later he opened the door clad in faded jeans and a black T-shirt to reveal a bleary eyed Gangrel who glanced at Adams' current attire as he invited himself in
"Fuck me, you get laid once and it puts Hot Topic out of business" Adam admittedly saw the funny side of the comment but kept his expression neutral
"I'm not in the mood for jokes today" he said simply "We need to have a talk"
"I gathered" Gangrel yawned, cracking his neck as he did so "Hence me being here on a Sunday morning when I could be nursing this hangover in bed" the Bear-Faunus had apparently chosen to celebrate the victory in his usual fashion
"So" Adam began "Blake Belladonna, former White Fang officer, my previous partner whose face you definitely know considering that we grew up together has fled to Beacon after deserting us, you apparently knew this because you have sparred with her team. You chose not to tell….care to explain?" Gangrel gave a small growl of irritation
"Okay Adam, firstly remember I'm not one of the grunts, the whole menacing routine doesn't work on me, hasn't for years. Secondly, yeah I kept it quiet for the time being….what are you gonna storm Beacon to find her? Then what?"
"Then she answers for what she did!" Adam snarled "If I have to storm Beacon I will!"
"Do you fucking hear yourself right now?" Gangrel spat "You're going to risk having Ozpin of your back, hell both of our backs, just so you can deal with your ex….That'll look great from Velvets' point of view as well"
"Do not bring Velvet into this"
"She's already in, you saw to that when you let her join" Gangrel countered "On top of that your ex and current girlfriends go to the same school and don't know about each other, by keeping Blake quiet I am keeping Velvet out of it as much as I can" sighing he added "Besides you're not seeing the big picture" Adams' eyes narrowed
"Oh this should be entertaining, go on Gang what big picture am I missing?"
"Weiss Schnee is a Beacon first year" the Bear-Faunus sounded exasperated
"Literally everyone knows that, it was on the news that she chose to attend an academy outside of Atlas"
"They're on the same team, Blake is hiding the fact she's a Faunus. If you rush in like an idiot you're going to fuck everything up, her Dad will pull her out and we'll have lost a chance for anything you're planning and we'll have the SDC on our backs like never before, Blake will probably vanish, you'll probably get me and Squish caught, there's a good chance of fucking up your relationship with Velvet which as a friend I'm warning you against, she's good for you, you'll be pissing off Ozpin himself, and on top of that it'll tighten the security around the Vytal Festival which Atlas Military is contributing to and I don't know what your new partners plans are but I doubt any of this'll be good for them either" Gangrel finished with his hands running through his hair in stress while Adam gave him a calculating look
"Okay fine, I'll admit Blake is a sore subject for me" he sighed "But don't go over my head like that again Gang, I give you a lot of leeway to basically run your own show but you should have told me. What do you know about the new business partners?" Gangrel shook his head
"Only rumours I've picked up, a few people think you're planning on taking over the world"
"Nothing that ambitious" Adam grinned "But keep what you've heard to yourself, this is information only the high ranking officers are supposed to know about"
"I thought I was one?" Adam shook his head at Gangrels' question
"You've spent the last two years at Beacon and coming on the occasional small raid when you can, if I'm bringing you in on this I need you to take a more active role, to be honest I want you to anyway"
"Why?"
"Our new partner has us working with people like Roman Torchwick" Gangrel nodded, already being aware of this "I need people I can trust and there's nobody I trust more than our old group from Lobo-Cachorro, without Blake you're the last one left, Felix and Luna are in Vaccuo, Fagin had to vanish, Harry's in a cell and Chitin…." Gangrel shook his head silencing Adam, it was a rule Gangrel insisted on We don't talk about what happened to Kai the Bear-Faunus looked pensive
"So what do you need me to do?" Adam considered for a moment, the sounds emanating from the bathroom suggesting that Velvet was done with her shower
"I'll let you know, but I'll be glad to have you back it's been way too long….By the way, did you really make the Schnee cry?"
"She's seventeen and half my size" Gangrel sighed shaking his head "It's not exactly something I'm proud of" he turned to leave, Adam giving some final words
"Don't get soft on me now Gang"

Weiss Schnee did not take disrespect of any form lightly, it was not befitting of someone of her social stature, therefore she had spent over a day gradually growing more and more enraged at the behaviour of the most solitary member of her new team, Blake Belladonna had been shooting harsh glares her way and had seemingly done her best to limit interaction between the two of them as much as possible ever since her training match with that monstrous, brutish….thug sapphire eyes narrowed at the mere thought of Gangrel Slate, Weiss had spent almost the entirety of yesterday repairing the damage he had wrought on her families' ancestral weapon. It was to this end that she had handed a not inconsequential amount of Lien over to Yang and told her to take Ruby out somewhere in Vale and enjoy some of their weekend away from the campus in an attempt to capture Blake alone, the girl in question now entering the dorm returning from breakfast
"Good morning" Weiss started, keeping her voice as cheery as she could "Do you have any plans for today"
"Get some peace and quiet" Blake said tersely, a frown forming almost as soon as Weiss had spoken, the heiress forced herself not to react
"Okay, well if you're studying then how about we work to-"
"You're not getting the hint" Blake interrupted "Leave. Me. Alone"
"Okay that does it!" Weiss cried, rising to her feet and closing the distance between the two of them "I can accept that you are just not a very sociable person, but you have been positively rude to me since Friday and I demand to know why!"
"Of course you demand" Blake emphasizing the last word "You're a typical Schnee, I had hoped you might be different to the rest of your family"
"How dare you!" Weiss gasped "You know nothing about my family"
"I know you're a bunch of bigots" Blake shot back, stunning Weiss momentarily before she recovered
"What is this really about Blake, we're team-mates and I want us to be friends, I'll apologise if I've offended you but I need to know what I've done" Blakes' gaze remained cold
"You need to apologize to every Faunus who was in our combat class in Friday, starting with Gangrel Slate" Weiss looked utterly dumbfounded
"W-what!" she sputtered out "He should be the one apologizing to me for his conduct, he's an utter savage!"
"It was a training match!" Blake shouted "And you chose to antagonise him 'always room for one more' Weiss, really!"
"Why does it even matter so much to you?" Weiss watched as Blake reached for the bow atop her head, blood rushing from the heiress's face as Blake revealed a pair of feline ears that she had kept hidden
"Oh sweet Oum" Weiss whispered, mortified "You're a Faunus"
"Yeah I'm a Faunus" Blake sneered "But don't worry I'm not going to shed all over the dorm, I don't need to be house trained and I won't eat your homework….or what other racist joke you're thinking of right now" reattaching her bow she made to leave, Weiss grabbed her wrist to stop her
"I had no idea, Blake I am so sorry" her voice wavered as she spoke "Why didn't you tell any of us?" Blake looked Weiss as if she were an idiot
"I'm a Faunus on a team with a Schnee, we've been here a week and you've already shown everyone exactly what you think of my people"
"I don't hate Faunus" Weiss whispered, seeing Blakes' stare she continued "I grew up pretty sheltered, I've never actually met a Faunus in person before-"
"So that excuses it?"
"No" Weiss cried "It's just, I've grown up with it just being a normal thing to me, Faunus are the butt of a lot of jokes at the sort of dinner parties my family had me attend. I know you're people, I'm not one of those that see you as animals, my Sister served with Faunus in her unit before she became a specialist….What I said on Friday, it was stupid I know that, but he just got under my skin with the comment about my scar" her voice trailing off and head lowering in shame, Blake sighed
"Yeah, Gang does get pretty nasty when he's trying psyche people out" Weiss looked up at Blake, realizing that her team-mate had the faintest traces of a Lower Atlesian accent
"You two knew each other before you came here?" Blake nodded
"I don't have any parents, well I never knew them I was placed in care at birth in a poor part of Lower Atlas, when I was five Gangrel came to the care home, he was there for five years while his Dad was in prison. I look at him as an older brother"
"What about his mother?" Weiss asked
"She passed away a few years before, an accident at an SDC facility" Weiss covered her mouth, realising just how hurtful her comments could have been
"Where will Gangrel be right now?" Weiss steeled herself "I'm going to apologise….but can you come with me, please?"

Velvet returned to Team CFVYs dorm to find it seemingly empty, stretching out on her bed and turning her head at the sound of the bathroom door opening to reveal her team leader
"Hey Coco, where are Fox and Yatsu?"
"Yatsuhashi went into Vale and Fox is in the gym" something seemed to be bothering the fashionista"I thought you having a team weekend?" Velvet asked, Cocos' face darkening
"We were, you excused yourself Friday night and you've only just come back now….where the hell were you?" the Faunus rolled her eyes
"You didn't seem too bothered about it at the time, I went out with a few other friends and my boyfriend"
"Wouldn't happen to be the same friends the were going to jump Yatsu on the flight here would it?" Coco hissed, Velvet sighed there is no way she's still bothered by this she thought to herself
"Yes I was with some of Team GRAP, they had their weapons trained on Yatsuhashi because he went over there and started trying to use his size to intimidate Gangrel, and let's not pretend you had nothing to do with that. So come on Coco, what is your actual problem?"
"My problem is you stood there and did nothing!" Velvet leapt from the bed enraged
"Oh this is fucking rich, I'm expected to have everyone else on the teams' back with no questions asked but when I get racist abuse almost daily I get told I'm on my own, Fuck you Coco!" the two were inches apart now
"Oh come off it Velvet" Coco laughed "I've seen you put your foot through a Grimms' skull, surely you can handle them"
"It's not the point!" Velvet shouted "It's that you never tried to help! I know I can beat them if it comes to that Coco but I hate hurting people, it's not like fighting Grimm" Coco pulled the Faunus into a hug as she saw the tears welling up in her eyes
"I'm sorry Velvet, I just thought you needed toughening up a little….I, fuck, I'm sorry"
"It's fine" Velvet mumbled into her shoulder
"No it's not" Coco sighed "I made a decision as leader and fucked up, I told the boys to let you deal with it, I didn't think it upset you this much…why didn't you say something"
"I didn't think you'd care, I mean it's not like we're great friends"
"Oh for fu- of course I care about my team" Coco sighed "We're the same age but you're all like annoying little brothers and sister to me" Velvet gave a watery chuckle at the joke
"So what happens now" she asked "I would ask if we're back to how things were but honestly they weren't great" Coco sighed
"You're right they weren't I've been a disappointment where you're concerned…..and that's why your new friends don't like me isn't it?" she asked connecting the dots, Velvet nodded
"I think Gangrel has got the idea you're a little racist against Faunus"
"Oh my Oum, Velvet what the fuck?" Coco mouthed, utterly aghast
"I know, I'll talk to him and tell him you're cool" Velvet made to leave Coco pulled her back a devilish grin on her face
"Oh no, we still have a lot to talk about" she savoured Velvets' confused look for a moment before continuing "Since when did you have a boyfriend? I want the details and I want them this instant, all of them"

Gangrel rested under one of the trees lining Beacons' campus with a large bottle of something distinctly non-alcoholic, he'd inflicted enough on himself following last nights' mission and the conversation with Adam had done nothing to aid his headache, the Bear-Faunus grinned to himself as he realised his position was a cruel twist of fate considering how he'd found Velvet yesterday, hearing footsteps approach him he kept his eyes closed simply stating
"Thumper if that's you don't worry I already know the jokes your gonna make"
"It isn't" recognising Blakes' voice he opened his eyes, grimacing at who was currently stood next to her
"Blake….the fuck is this?" Weiss Schnee stepped forwards with some trepidation, Gangrel could see the fear in her clear blue eyes
"I wanted to apologise, what I said the other day before our match was inexcusable" This is….unexpected he thought to himself, needed a few seconds to process what he'd heard before responding
"You're right, it was….But I'm guessing your scar is a sensitive subject as well" he watched her nod imperceptibly, her hand raising to trace the wound seemingly unconsciously
"It is, but I shouldn't have rose to it" Gangrel made room and motioned for them to sit down
"Forget about it, I'm trying to" he sighed "I went overboard and I'm sorry about that, that was not the way the match should have gone"
"So are we okay?" Weiss asked, seemingly hopeful
"Well I think you're the first Schnee in history to apologise" Gangrel smirked "So yeah we're cool" this drew a nervous smile from the heiress
"Hey Weiss" Blake started "Not to be rude but would you mind if me and Gang catch up, we haven't seen each other properly in a long time"
"Oh, of course not, I should finish the repairs on Myrtenaster anyway"
"If you need a hand I can message one of my team and tell them to meet you in the workshop" Gangrel offered her as she left
"No but thank you for the offer" she called over her shoulder, a few seconds passed by before Blake cleared her throat to get his attention
"Please stop watching the way she sways her hips when she walks Gang" the Bear-Faunus had the decency to look embarrassed
"No idea what you're talking about"
"Of course not"
"You read way too much smut, it's putting ideas in your head" Gangrel looked at Blake knowingly and added "And if we're going down this road let's talk about you salivating over your team mate when she was training yesterday" the feline blushed and punched Gangrel playfully on the arm
"I was not 'salivating' I was merely….Appreciating her technique"
"Technique?" Gangrel waggled his eyebrows suggestively "First time I've heard 'em called that….anyway, what's so important you had to send Weiss off like that, 'cos that was a little rude" Blakes' expression became serious
"I saw the news this morning, a freight company had a convoy utterly ripped apart last night; you know anything about it?"
"I was there"
"Gangrel what the hell?" she hissed "I thought you were going to tell me if you heard anything" the Bear-Faunus shook his head
"Didn't find out the job was until I was already en-route, besides Adam was taking charge personally….which reminds me, he knows you're here" Blake paled at that before asking in a tense whisper
"Do you have any good news for me" Gangrel shrugged
"He's not going to storm Beacon to find you, nobody died last night although I heard he did shoot an undercover Atlas operative in arm, those trucks were carrying smuggled in military hardware so realistically the fact we got rid of it is probably a good thing and Adam wants me to take more jobs from now on, so I'll have more chances to find out what's going on"
"Okay that makes sense, let me know if you hear anything important" Blake sighed, when the older Faunus nodded to show his complaints she continued "How have you been anyway, I heard from your friend Artemis that you drink a lot now….that you started around the time you left Atlas after the last Vytal Festival, that would have been when" Gangrel gave her a look that silenced her
"We are not talking about Kai, Adam already brought him up earlier today and I have got enough on my plate without dealing with the ghosts of dead friends"
"He was my friend as well Gang" Blake whispered placing a hand gently on his shoulder "We all miss him, don't blame yourself and don't suffer in silence when you know that there's people you can talk to"
"Blake, I'm going to tell you this once" the Bear-Faunus snarled "Drop this subject and let me handle it my own way" Blake got to her feet and gave her old friend one last sorrow-filled look before leaving
"Okay fine but understand that I'm not going to be the one to bury you. We've lost people to prisons, racist attacks and living conditions that would make people sick if they knew, I'm not losing you to a bottle of liquor"

Authors Notes:

Okay so to summarise: Adam knows where Blake is but he isn't going to go on the attack right now, Gangrel is being brought back into regular operations with the White Fang giving him more access to information to pass onto Blake, Weiss now knows Blake is a Faunus but not that she used to be in the White Fang, Coco & Velvet have had a reconciliation. Right now everything is somewhat stable, will it last? Well this story is ongoing so what do you think?
Chitin/Kai: the name has come up a few times now, I'm seeding plot points for later on, mainly the Volume two time-frame. Right now we're about two thirds of the way into Volume one (any spur of the moment ideas for chapters I have notwithstanding)
Smut: Yes the end of the last chapter and the start of this one probably earned this story its' M rating but that's probably as graphic as I'll get, I have nothing against graphic smut it just doesn't seem to sit right with the rest of the way the story is written

Also THIS STORY HAS OVER A THOUSAND HITS, I feel loved

As always thank you to everyone that reads, favourites, follows and reviews; special thanks to Air Force Muffin for reviewing the last chapter