Early Sunday Morning, Weiss's Apartment.
Jaune wasn't sure of the time, his regular relaxed awakening had been halted by his Scroll receiving a call, several calls actually.
He had eventually extracted himself from his partner's warm embrace, he was quite surprised the incessant noise from his Scroll had not also woken up Weiss. He was almost ready to congratulate himself on utterly wearing Weiss out until he saw the faintest flicker of an eyelid and knew she was simply pretending to sleep still.
"Morning beautiful," Jaune leaned over and kissed her on the shoulder, the only part of Weiss's form that was above the sheets and also wouldn't give him a mouthful of hair, the gentle kiss went unanswered for but a moment before the prone form of Weiss stretched full under on the sheets, an image that even obscured by the sheets had Jaune's heart going a beat faster.
"Hello handsome," Weiss responded as she swept her hair from her face as she gracefully moved into a sitting position, bringing the sheets with her to keep herself warm, even then she shivered ever so slightly at how cold she liked to keep her bedroom. Aside from the slight shiver Weiss ignored the cold instead sending a loathing look towards where Jaune stood, haphazardly fishing through the pockets of his pants trying to find his Scroll, the device that she blamed for ruining her pleasant sleep. "So whos responsible for ruining our morning?" The simple question was punctuated with a yawn as she slipped from the covers, hastily pulling a soft cotton robe on, the soft material was welcomingly warm.
Jaune eventually found the pocket that held his scroll, at least on the third time checking it. Expanding it to its full size he checked his history, at first blinking in confusion as several of the call's came from a number he did not recognize, though the one at the bottom he did. "I'm not sure what this one number that called wanted but the most recent one is the Huntsman office, though not Neptune's extension." As Jaune finished checking the history his Scroll it surprised him by vibrating as if on cue, a text message appearing on the screen.
'Huntsman Jaune Arc,
Your services have been requested on behalf of Headmaster Glynda Goodwitch of Beacon Academy, Please report to Huntsmen Dispatch Facility by 0900 this morning. Come prepared for immediate departure.'
Jaune found himself blinking rapidly as he reread the admittedly short message. Tired as his mind was, and not truly registering the message it at least did cause him to check the time, an action that put his mind to ease somewhat as it was still well before nine in the morning, several hours in fact. "I think I have a mission." Jaune said finally.
"You don't sound so sure of that?"
"I'm honestly not," Jaune tossed his Scroll to Weiss allowing her to read through the message herself. "I've never had the Huntsman office contact me directly before and like I said I don't recognize the other number that called multiple times."
Weiss caught the Scroll and first read the message once, her brow creasing slightly, wondering what sort of mission Glynda could need Jaune for, the academy had a catalog of both skilled and powerful Huntmen at its disposal without requesting outside assistance. She then checked the other number that had called, her eye's widening slightly as she recognized something about it. She didn't recognize the number but instead how the numbers read out across the scroll, the pattern being identical to her Sister's contact line.
"The other call came from an Atlas Military Scroll, though it has a Vale number." Weiss paused for a moment. "Those are uncommon to find outside of the top Brass of Atlas Military."
An audible groan escaped Jaune's lips. I groan that any Vale Huntsman would likely mimic with the same information, likely Vacuo and Mistral as well. Dealing with Atlas on any level was paramount to pulling teeth, everything they did had a very structured order, an order that had become even more rigid after all the conflict the world had suffered during the escalated fighting years prior.
"I know how you feel," Weiss said apologetically, not caring for her birth nation anymore either, barring a few personal acquaintances her father hadn't ruined she couldn't care less what happened with the Northern Kingdom anymore. "But there is a silver lining, while I'm sure this call came from an Atlas Military Scroll the number is definately from inside Vale."
"I guess that is something at least," Jaune said as he finished getting dressed. The clothes had still been clean and he had intended to use Weiss's shower before donning them again but with his summons to the Huntsman office he needed to get home and gather his gear, the distance between his home and Weiss's being enough that if he hurried he might have enough time for a quick shower and hopefully a bite to eat. "Probably limits that number to Glynda, or maybe Ciel."
"I doubt Glynda would use an Atlas scroll so you can probably narrow that down to Ciel alone."
Jaune groaned again, although this time in surprise as Weiss had surprised him with a short intense kiss.
"You best get going."
"Kicking me out are you?" Jaune grinned as he unbuttoned one button on his shirt, the action received an appreciative look from Weiss but also ended with her fastening it again.
"Absolutely I'm kicking you out." Weiss grinned impishly. "Mostly cause I rather not have a highly trained and determined Atlas Agent tear down my front door looking for you!" With that Weiss vanished into her bathroom, the sound of running water was heard almost immediately.
Jaune stood alone in Weiss's bedroom for only a moment before he departed, he smiled while shaking his head, the thought of Ciel breaking down the door into Weiss's home all to easy to visualize.
Sunday morning, Inside a Bullhead traveling away from Vale.
Jaune slowly rotated a dial on the console in front of himself, eventually, it reached his desired location and in doing so the Bullhead he was piloting leveled out nicely, going from its previous state of maximum thrust to a much gentler gliding speed. He knew he had no real reason to open up the Bullhead as much as he did but he so rarely had the privilege to fly one of Beacon's aircraft that he couldn't resist the temptation.
The Bullhead Beacon provided for their assignment was a military issue, meant for speed and maneuverability than anything else, though aside from those two differences it was identical to a regular Bullhead, well a huntsman Bullhead, it had a small armament of weapons. Weapons that any Huntsman knew was next to useless in an actual fight with Grimm. The missiles couldn't lock onto Grimm and the Gun's were only slightly better, still, the running joke was that any Grimm that was killed by a Bullhead was likely blind and deaf to allow a Bullhead close enough to kill itself.
Enjoying the moment was over and now it was back to business, as he slowly corrected the preplanned flight path that the airships computer had plotted out, the correction was slower than what an experienced pilot could manage but Jaune had the ship back on course in moments, one of the multitudes of monitors indicating when he had achieved the proper heading.
With a practiced motion, Jaune hit the sequence of switches that put the Bullhead into autopilot, with a slight shudder the machine switched over and Jaune reclined in his seat.
"Pretty fancy flying."
Jaune turned his head towards the person who sat in his co-pilot seat, Coco Adel, the fashionable woman had no piloting experience that had earned her the seat. She had claimed it because she claimed it was comfier than the chair's in the back, quieter too. While she had looked immaculate as ever it hadn't been hard to figure out Coco had had a late night and an early morning, her glass's couldn't completely hide the bags under her eyes and if that wasn't enough she had arrived with a tray of coffee's, none of which she offered to share. "Hardly. Flying in a straight line with the engines maxed isn't exactly hard."
"Yeah true, but to someone without the ability to do so it seems pretty impressive." Coco replied, shifting in her seat, the action allowing her room to rest her head against the wall of the cockpit, a position that she somehow made look comfortable.
"I agree, not everyone is capable or piloting these crafts and I would suspect far fewer do so when they have a well-documented history of motion sickness." The voice of Ren filled his ears as the retired Huntsman chimed in on the conversation.
"Indeed, it is quite the impressive challenge to overcome." The final occupant of the Bullhead also felt the need to chime in. Velvet Scarletina unfastened herself from her seat as soon as the aircraft became fully stable.
"And your one to know all about challenges," Jaune replied, not needing to see Velvet to know that once shy and cautious Huntress was now a very powerful and confident woman, and not just in terms of her being able to snap in half anyone who might be racist against her. Now she is confident enough to back those that would still attempt to harass her or anyone else be it Human or Faunus with simply her words alone.
"So fearless leader, what exactly is Beacon's assignment for us that has us dragging a retired Huntsman back into service, among other things." Coco gestured towards Ren who took no offense from the words, he himself had stated an identical sentiment when they had met at the Huntsmen offices.
Velvet paused for a moment, her demeanor changing from her being relaxed around her friends to one of a leader. Glynda had assigned her leader of this expedition during the short meeting at the Huntsman Office, While she was a confident person now she still had very little leadership experience, at least in comparison to two of the Huntsmen she was now in charge of, Coco being her former leader made the appointment even more awkward.
"A week ago while the Spring and Summer maidens were exploring Salem's abandoned territory they discovered one of the missing Relics. Their attempt to retrieve the relic was met with an overwhelming response from the local Grimm population." Velvet spoke from memory in a matter of fact speech as possible, delivering the information she was giving with as much clarity as she could. "As we are all well aware the Grimm population of Salem's territory is staggering, as well as being home to some terrifying breeds. Suffice it to say both Maidens were forced to retreat and report on their discovery rather than risk fatal injury and transference of their Maiden power's to potentially less cooperative recipients."
"What do you mean less cooperative recipients? I mean maybe the Summer Maiden but it's obvious where the Spring Maiden would end up." Coco paused for a moment, filled with entirely to much silence. "Um, that is to say, I don't think either Maiden should risk their lives that is."
Velvet smiled at her former team leader, the moment's pause was broken when she began speaking again. "After their report was received Qrow Branwen was sent to investigate the possibility of recovering the Relic through a straightforward attack. His report confirmed a sufficiently large attack force could recover the relic but also would require outside assistance from Huntsman without prior knowledge on the importance of the Relics. His report then led to the formation of a stealth-based recovery team, this team."
The three occupants of the Bullhead without any knowledge of what they were being deployed to do all collectively groaned in frustration, not a single one eager to be embroiled in the affairs of Maiden or Relics again, yet each also understood the importance of recovering the powerful items.
"Yeah, I understand how you feel." Velvet said sympathetically. "Now that we are underway and you understand the importance of this task I suggest you inform anyone you need to of your absence. I'll complete the briefing when you are done." Velvet looked apologetically towards Ren, the Huntsman only just learning he was going to be away from his home and family much longer than he expected to be.
The three others all glanced at each other momentarily before deciding what they should do next, Jaune and Coco both spent more than a few moments looking halfways at Ren wondering what exactly the quiet man was thinking.
Ren on the other hand simply sat quietly his eyes closed and reflecting in thought, considering what he need tell his wife, that moments reflection ended all to soon as he produced his scroll and after a few short moments he was in a quiet personal conversation with his wife, or at least his side was personal, everyone aboard the Bullhead could hear every one of Nora's responses, cheering them on and loudly telling them to kick a Grimm for her since she couldn't be there herself to do it herself.
Jaune smiled happily to himself, glad that Nora was still Nora, easily cutting through the seriousness of the situation and putting what was likely a very anxious and uncertain Ren back into a more regular state of mind. Still Jaune reminded himself of how dangerous Salem's territory was and still is, the absence of their leader had little effect on the Grimm that inhabited the rest of the land.
"So, are you going to call Yang and apologize or do I need to kick you in the head?"
Jaune nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Coco's voice, it was playful and probing but he also detected underneath that also accusing. "Apologize for what?" Jaune said on reflex more than anything, he winced slightly as he saw Coco's eyes narrow slightly, his response likely sounding more defensive that confused.
"That's a good question, I don't know what you should apologize for either but Yang wasn't herself last night and I'm guessing you're to blame." Coco said smoothly, her voice laced with intrigue.
"What do you mean she wasn't herself?" Jaune was suddenly worried for his fellow blonde thinking that she might be in some sort of trouble of bad situation.
"She wasn't interested last night."
"What do you mean interested?"
Coco raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Are you serious?"
"Serious about what?"
Coco looked Jaune in the eye's for a long moment, long enough to Jaune to feel awkward. "Hmm, so that's the case... Alright, nevermind what I said before, you're off the hook for now."
"Wait, what does that mean?" Jaune's question was left unanswered as Coco choose not to reply, instead, she moved towards the rear of the small Bullhead and laid herself out across several seats, clearly intending to sleep. "Ugh, fine be weird and mysterious." Jaune shook his head in mild annoyance over the weird conversation before he pulled out his scroll, his mind deciding who to call first, his readily deciding on the obvious answer, and in a moment his White Haired Angel appeared on his screen.
Thursday Late Afternoon, Vale, Blake.
Blake had had a week, she was both exhausted and frustrated. The exhaustion was easily explained away, she was still not even being close to the level of physical fitness a Huntsman is expected to have, she was physically fit and in a short situation she could more than hold her own but in a drawn-out situation, she could feel the fatigue pile up quickly.
The fatigue piling up hadn't been a problem the previous week, between Jaune and Yang working together the two stamina powerhouses took on the brunt of the work, she, of course, did her part, or so she thought.
With Jaune's absence this week she had to be doing far more than she was likely ready for, her tired limbs readily agreeing with her mind. Her limbs feeling weakness tried there best to support her entire way home, but despite her best effort she was forced to stop and rest, a bus stop bench was her current home, the same bench she had used every day this week. Yang had checked the route for her and even sorted out her fare, going so far as to get a ticket set up for the entire month, Blake remembered trying to protest saying she wouldn't need it but after the following day and the next and then again today she understood Yang's insistence.
Her frustration was also in a sense easily explained, Yang had been tiptoeing around a subject all week, a subject that the blonde wasn't being exactly subtle about either.
It hadn't even taken a minute after their meeting on Monday for Yang to begin hinting at her knowing some secret, that secret became more obvious as the morning wore on and they left for their mission.
Yang in under the belief that she was in a physical relationship, of course she denied it since she knew she wasn't.
Denying it had no effect on Yang though, she doubled down and kept up with the teasing. Blake had chosen to ignore Yang, but ignoring the blonde when she didn't want to be ignored was a hard task, impossible really.
She had lasted until today, a pathetic three days before the slow teasing finally wore her down and she slipped. She had simply asked how Yang came by this knowledge, what proof.
Yang had no physical proof but she had a very clear picture she painted with her words. Some way or somehow Yang had seen her leaving Jaune's apartment the night before he left for his current mission.
The image Yang painted was a perfect picture of her sneaking out of Jaune's apartment. Of course Yang didn't know Jaune wasn't home and that she was actually breaking in to steal something as insignificant as sandwiches.
Instinctively her stomach rumbled at the thought of Jaune's cooking, her mind accustomed to the new action paid it no heed, her mind and body were at odd's whenever she thought of the Blonde Swordsmans cooking, her body ready to do anything to be in possession of it while her mind was now vehemently against her actions, her current dilemma with Yang only reinforcing her minds stance.
She embarrassingly denied the whole instance, claiming it must have been someone else leaving Jaune's apartment that Yang saw.
Yang had given her a long look after that, Blake dreaded every second of that gaze, and then Yang was, for the lack of a better word, done. She hadn't mentioned anything further and every her teasing stopped all at once.
Any other person would probably have been relieved, she wasn't though, instead, she spent her time with her mind split, half focused on dealing with any Grimm they encounter while the other trying to think of a way to prevent Yang from mentioning anything to Jaune when he inevitably returns.
Thursday Evening, Residence of Ren and Nora.
The household was quite, far quieter than Weiss was ever accustomed it to be, she understood why though. The Twins and Sif were all already put to bed, and the two who remained awake sat quietly in the kitchen. A similar scene from the night before, every night beginning Monday actually.
Weiss had chosen to return the documents Ren's courier had delivered that morning herself. At the time she wasn't sure what prompted the shift in her usual procedure but she was glad she did.
She had arrived at Ren and Nora's home to find the residence even more eerily quiet than it was this night, again the children had been put to bed but that typically mattered little for the home, if Nora was awake there was always an energy that flowed through the building, livening and brightening the place. Instead, the house sat quiet and somber. Nora had assured her that nothing was wrong but that was clearly a strong face she was putting on for herself.
She had insisted on staying and eventually the two talked, the topics had ranged from the mundane to the more extravagant, but they never settled on the topic that she knew was the source of Nora's subdued attitude. Not even her attempts on the two following nights garnered her any success, and tonight was feeling like it would be unsuccessful as well.
She was in no rush to push the subject either, as the days went by without even a message from Jaune she gradually began to feel increasingly anxious herself, no longer seeking out Nora to support the mother of three but now seeking solace in her company as she truly began to understand the fear Nora was experiencing.
Every night previous she had kept the conversation happening, simple questions that Nora could answer with a yes or no when she didn't feel like talking or a back and forth conversation that would have no point and would eventually trail of into her asking Nora easy questions again.
Tonight there were no questions, both Women sat opposite each other, knowing without a word spoken what each was thinking. Seconds became longer and longer, a single minute feeling like an eternity.
Weiss couldn't understand how this felt so hard, or how Nora could even endure it, Jaune and her were only beginning to date and she felt her dread in a way she couldn't describe. Fathoming how Nora felt was impossible, Ren's absence with no word must be excruciating.
Weiss raised her head not remembering when she had begun to look at the floor, she had resolved to say something comforting to her friend. Words that would easily sound hollow, however as her eyes found Nora she realized any words would be pointless.
Her friend was slumped low in her chair her eye's and cheeks wet with silent tears, at some point during the long silence Nora had begun to silently cry her frustrations out.
Without a second thought, she gathered up her sleeping friend and carried her to the bedroom. After that she found herself a comfy chair in the living room and a blanket and curled up to sleep herself, hoping she could find the act restful.
A much shorter chapter than usual for this story and one that's devoid of much dialogue.
Jaune and Ren off to help make the world safer, Yang teasing Blake and Blake being embarrassed by being caught even if for the wrong reasons, also now needing to find a way to intercept Yang telling Jaune.
I won't add anything for Weiss and Nora, just that it is something that I have experienced, from the other side, it's hard and it never gets easier.