Ruby hated these meetings. Gatherings such as this one called for slow and methodical forms of action, two things the young would be huntress was not. Seated around the outside edge of a U shaped table arrangement in the private room of a Vale restaurant was the upper management of the local syndicate and a few select associates, Ruby herself included. She sat to the left side of Kaana who was discussing with the man to her right whatever dish the woman in green was currently cutting into. Being disinterested in the finer points of exotic spices, Ruby continued to study this room. Fifteen men and women sat eating their meals and chatting with the people around them. Beneath the thin cover of a friendly meal lay a dark seriousness to this dinner. Kaana told her before they left the mansion this afternoon that last minute invites to dinner by the upper members of the family were never to be taken lightly. Kaana feared that this summons was because her latest private endeavors were discovered.

Ruby listened to her host's loud conversation, he began to discus as he put it "some curious local happenings." His volume increased just enough to gather everyone's attention as he continued, while his tone was that of someone recounting an amusing tale, the chill those words sent through the room reminded everyone this was not a laughing matter. Now that he had the room's attention Mister Brontana, dressed in a white and blue suit, addressed his companions.

"Its interesting the activity that is happening in this city. Three shipments of military grade hardware," He snapped his fingers for effect "gone! Now isn't that just the darndest thing. Why its almost as if someone with major resources is stealing things in my city and not giving me my hard earned share. That is just rude wouldn't you say?" HIs laughter did nothing to hide his displeasure. "Why even the new local dust thieves were polite enough to come to an arrangement with me. But these new people are just being insulting, waltzing into Vale and not even giving me a call. Well its not like I can blame them at this point am I right?" He smiled and nudged the man in the black suit who sat next to him. A man who tried desperately to maintain a fake laugh amidst the threatening atmosphere. "Because at this point if I were to find them, heck I might do to them what this fine chef did to this fish here." Brontana violently stabbed his dinner the moment he finished his sentence.

With that their host continued with dinner as if nothing was amiss. Nothing more needed to be said, for everyone in the room heard his message loud and clear.

Hours later Kaana and Ruby returned to their home, the moment the front door closed Kaana's cool demeanor collapsed. Crying out in anger she threw a flower pot that used to sit next to the entrance across the room, shattering it on the opposing wall. "Damn it!" She yelled as the last pieces of the once whole pot hit the tile floor.

"Its okay Kaana, he doesn't know it was you." Said Ruby, trying to calm her upset friend.

"Oh no, but he suspects. He already knows about the thefts of military hardware. Hopefully he doesn't know about the sales to that Torchwick fellow. Bron would be even angrier if he found out he wasn't getting in on an arms deal. That was the whole point of that dinner. He knew something was fishy so he called all the suspects into a room hoping someone would crack. And if he doesn't find someone to blame soon, well, lets just say I would rather be that fish than go through what he has in store."

After the confrontation Weiss expected to see the police arriving in short order. Yet, nothing happened. The sun rose, classes were held, and life went on. Everything was normal except for one important difference, Yang.

Weiss barely saw Yang after that night. The blonde failed to return to the room after storming out. She did not show up for lunch and even skipped classes that day. After dinner JNPR came by and collected some of Yang's belongings, clothes, pillow, blanket, and the like. It was obvious to Blake and Weiss that Yang told the team across the hall what she learned the previous night. The heiress had never seen Nora so quiet before. To Weiss it looked as if something wanted to burst out of the girl, yet at the same time she was desperately trying to contain whatever it was. Ren was his usual controlled self. Jaune on the other hand tried and failed to make small talk about anything that was unrelated to the task at hand. His nervousness at trying to avoid bringing up the obvious only served to make the swordsman more of a dunce than usual. Pyrrha tried her best to control her teammates, quickly pushing a blabbering Jaune out of RWBY's room when he reached a point of maximum awkwardness. When she was the last to leave, Pyrrha turned to speak to Weiss. Failing to find any words she merely placed a reassuring hand on the heiress's shoulder. A simple gesture to say that it would all be alright, was all she could do before she turned and joined her team.

Part of Weiss wished Yang would turn her in so that all of this would end. She tried being happy, living life as she used to. For a time she even fooled herself into believing she was happy again. But soon every time Weiss would feel even the slightest enjoyment at life, she would be reminded of her lost friend. It was her fault Ruby was gone. Weiss knew she did not deserve to be happy. Ruby should have been the one to walk out of that forest, not her. Weiss soon learned that it was easier to not care about life rather than try to live it. She found a certain freedom and sense of control in not feeling. Her friends, her classwork, even her training, all passed by. Feelings were a weakness, something to be overcome. Removing these obstacles gave her the sense of control and the relief she so desperately craved.

So when Yang discovered the truth, Weiss was almost glad. This was the moment when all the lies and the pain would end. The end she so craved was at hand. Yet, nothing. As far as Weiss knew Yang only told JNPR, choosing to remain silent to all others. JNPR seemed unsure as to what they should be doing. Weiss was not sure if they remained quiet under Yang's orders or their own. She did not talk to them anymore to find out. Weiss knew she did not deserve their friendship anymore, not that any of it mattered. None of it mattered. Life and experiences slowly flattened into meaningless nothing. Life was better this way.

Three days after the incident in the team's room, during a particularly boring lecture on dust usage, when Blake's past finally caught up with her. She sat next to a disinterested Weiss, while Yang of course was seated on the opposite side of the lecture hall. Blake herself on the other hand tried her best to pay attention and stay awake. Normally she would start a hushed conversation with one of her teammates. But with the Yang situation the way it is and Weiss being increasingly distant of late, such distractions were unlikely to occur. For Blake, desperate times call for desperate measures. Pulling out her scroll from her pack she discreetly typed a message for Weiss.

"This has got to be pretty dull for you right? You must know all about dust given your heavy usage of it."

Send.

Blake watched for her teammate's reaction as the girl looked at her incoming message. With almost no emotion, Weiss quickly typed out a reply.

"No."

Not the riveting response Blake was hoping for. At the very least she was expecting an annoyed reply telling her to pay attention in class. As Blake began to type out another message she heard doors behind her at the back of the lecture hall open followed soon by the professor's silence. Blake turned her gaze up behind her to see professor Ozpin entering the hall followed closely by two men in police uniforms. If it was not for Yang's look of confusion Blake would have assumed this was her doing. From what Blake could see Ozpin looked upset about this situation, but at least the look he gave the officers when he told them to wait at the door indicated to her that his ire was directed at those two. He walked down the right side of the room to the row where Blake sat and moved over to face the faunus. He spoke in a low tone as to not bring any more attention to the poor girl.

"Excuse me miss Belladonna, these men from the Vale police department would like to have a word with you."

"Um...Okay sir." Blake was already calculating all the possible escape routes.

'The windows?'

'Possible. Its a long drop and I don't have Gambol Shroud so the landing is going to be rough.'

'The back doors?'

'Better option. Those cops don't look very difficult to get past. But at the same time I don't know if they have backup waiting out there.'

'That leaves the exit next to the board.'

'Doubtful I'd make it past the professor let alone Ozpin. Even if by some miracle I slip by them I am still faced with the same problem as the back doors.'

As if he could hear her internal monolog, Ozpin leaned a little closer to Blake and spoke again in a much softer tone.

"I suggest you go with them miss Belladonna. It would be best if those two could go home without any new bruises don't you think?"

Blake nodded in response and rose from her chair. When she reached for her pack Ozpin spoke again.

"It might be best if you leave your school supplies with your team..." Ozpin paused. Taking stock of Yang's distance from the rest of the team he continued. "...mate."

All eyes were on Blake as she was lead up the stairs to the two police officers waiting at the back of the lecture hall. When they stepped out of the room one of the officers reached for a pair of handcuffs.

"Now I don't believe those will be necessary. Don't you think?" Said Ozpin, that last part aimed squarely at Blake. With that the officer nodded at Ozpin and lead Blake out of Beacon.

As she rode the airship way from Beacon, part of Blake felt as though this would be the last time she would ever see it.

Soon Blake found herself in a small interrogation room at the Vale police department. She had not been arrested yet, which she found to be a good sign. The door swiftly swung open and in came a man dressed in a suit carrying a folder in one hand and a coffee cup in the other.

"Well, well well miss Belladonna. My name is detective Oak, you and I are going to have a bit of a chat about the White Fang." As he finished his statement he slammed the folder onto the table between him and Blake, causing its contents to spill out over the table. Blake looked in over the pictures and newspaper clippings in horror. White Fang protests over the years, all with her image circled. That life she tried to leave behind, back to haunt her.

Detective Oak took the seat across from Blake and began to speak.

"Now I am very interested in how you really ended up at the docks that night. Do you honestly expect us to believe that a member of the White Fang happened to stumble across their operation in the middle of the night, and do you really think I am going to buy for even a moment that you were trying to stop them?"

"I'm not part of the White Fang and I have nothing to do with their thefts." Blake shouted back angrily.

Oak threw his arm across the table and firmly grasped Blake's bow, ripping it from her scalp and slamming down on the table. Her cat ears instinctively flattened themselves against her head.

"I don't know, you look pretty involved to me you filthy faunus."

Back at Beacon Weiss was unsure how she should handle the situation. Ozpin assured her that the police only wanted to talk to Blake about the recent incident at the docks. But it was obvious to her that Ozpin was not entirely convinced of that fact. Weiss tried to get herself worked up about this new development, but somehow all she could feel was hollow emptiness. She saw this as the end of RWBY. Yet in some way that thought brought her peace. Her team did not deserve to exist anymore, not after what she did.

Later that day Weiss was at Beacon's gym per her usual routine. Keeping in top shape was paramount to a huntress. Normally her routine would leave her with a sense pride or accomplishment. The right number of laps on the track, always better than what most of her peers could do, well these days anyway, or a new personal best for crunches never failed to remind her how good she was. Yet like everything of late even this felt futile and flat. Just another thing on her schedule to be ticked off before she went to bed. Weiss retired herself to the gym's showers to clean off before returning to her room. The warm flow relaxed her muscles and helped clear her mind after that long day. Little did the heiress know that while she cleaned herself in the locker room shower, a certain tiger tailed faunus disguised in a Beacon uniform slipped unnoticed to the locker where Weiss's things were stored. The simple electronic lock stood no chance of keeping the intruder out.

Ruby rushed around her room as she simultaneously unpacked a box of pre-paid scrolls on the table and grabbing strawberries out of a bowl on her bed. She could not remember the last time she slept. The fifteen year old girl avoided it at all costs. Every time she felt herself surcoming to exaustion she swallowed another pill from her bottle of stimulants she acquired; anything she could do to keep the darkness away. The nightmares never stopped, every night they would return. Those she called friends would come to hurt her again. It seemed like every time she closed her eyes those demons were waiting for her.

Midway through unpacking another scroll an idea hit her. Rushing to the other side of the desk she looked over a report she already read a dozen times before. She quickly scanned it then shot back to continue her work with the scroll.

"Hey Little One, what are you doing up so late?" Kaana softly spoke as she poked her head into Ruby's room.

"I'm fine I don't need sleep look here now with the faunus arrested and her world is crashing around her I can focus on my partner she is a creature of habit hope you don't mind I borrowed Shara for something. Ruby spoke almost as fast as she dashed between her various projects. Kaana could barely keep track of the girl let alone follow her train of thought.

"Now Ruby while I don't mind you working on your own ops I think you need to slow down a little. Your enemies will be there in the morning."

"No need I feel fine." The girl paused to look at a picture of Weiss and Blake. Anger filling her face she crumpled the photo up and hurled it across the room before slamming her fist into the table. "Look, I'm okay. With one murder's comfortable life effectively destroyed I will be finishing with her soon. Ruby said forcing herself to be calm and collected. "Now I just have to deal with my former partner. Reminding her that there is someone out there who could release her darkest secret to the world at any time and there is nothing she can do to stop it, will certainly break her."

She then continued on with her rushing as if nothing had happened only now she was muttering to herself as she worked.

"They're not going to hurt me anymore. Once I stop them I will be safe. I can return to Yang and no one will desert me again."

Feeling the Young girl was now obvious to her presence, Kaana backed out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her, only to find herself face to face with her faunus assistant Shara.

"You're losing control of your little side projects, you know that right?" There was genuine worry in the faunus's voice.

"You think I don't know that." Kaana snapped. "I'm sorry. I'm just under a lot of stress right now. The situation with Bron and now this, I just don't know what to do."

"You need to focus more on the Brontana situation right now. If he finds out what you've been up to we're both dead."

"I know that. As long as we keep being discreet he won't find out, and if I can just give Ruby the right nudge I can get her back on track."

"Your last 'nudge' is what gave us this situation. You wanted a loyal soldier, well you got this." Shara said gesturing at the door. "A messed up child with an unhealthy obsession about destroying her friends. I'm impressed with her efforts by the way, just have to say that. I know this was the first time you've ever tried something like this, but it failed and we need to get an exit strategy."

Shara paused, resting a hand on her boss's shoulder. "Look, I'm your friend and we've been through some serious shit together and I've always had your back. But this, this whole situation with both of your projects is going to blow up in our face. Just promise me you'll fix this?"

Kaan reached up and put her hand on Shara's and smiled. "I will, don't worry. And, thank you."

"Any time."

Weiss sat at an empty desk in the library, she pulled out her scroll and checked the time. A full day and a half with no word from Blake, Weiss knew this was not a good sign. She came to the conclusion that Blake must have been arrested or at the very least is being held until charges can be filed. Scrolling through her messages, nothing. Not a single response to her message to Yang and JNPR about Blake's situation. 'Not that I would expect them to care anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if they were glad about this turn of events. Its not Blake's fault though. Its mine, they should be hating me, not her.' There were however three messages she made a point to save. They were each from a different number she had never seen before. Selecting them she viewed their contents once again. Each one was simply a copy of the same pictures Yang found. A simple reminder to Weiss of why she deserved this. Why her life was not worth anything anymore.

Returning her scroll to the pouch in her belt she rose from her seat and made her way out of the library.

Cold, that was what Blake felt in this cell. She had been taken to this small concrete cell with a single cot, sink, and toilet for the night. A respite from the intense interrogation. On and on Oak went about Torchwick, the White Fang, Adam, and her alleged involvement in their activities. She could tell that Oak knew more than he was letting on, but still she gave him nothing. Blake knew this was only a stalling measure, it was only a matter of time before her new life, the one she worked so hard for, would be lost forever.

Her moment of solitude was shattered when she saw detective Oak enter the room containing her cell with two, what she assumed to be, plain clothed officers. Smiling, Oak opened up her cell door and said to Blake, "Good news miss Belladonna, you're free to go."

"W...What?" Blake's confusion permeated her voice. Of the many things she did not expect to happen, being released was definitely on her list.

"Yes of course. We decided that we have no grounds to hold you, so you're free to go."

"Well, thank you. I guess I should be going now." Blake rose to her feet and walked toward Oak.

"Now since its such a long way back to Beacon, these men and I will give you a ride."

"No, I'm fine."

"Oh, I insist. A young lady such as yourself shouldn't be wandering all alone." Oak's tone made it clear this was not a request.

Blake squeezed her way past Oak and bumped into one of his companions, who proceeded to place a firm hand on her back to guide the girl out of the room. He was unaware that Blake was now in possession of is scroll.

Beacon's cliffs were peaceful and open. Weiss came here more and more recently. She stood at the drop's edge, the toes of her shoes hanging over oblivion. The heiress never saw herself as a quitter, obstacles were meant to be overcome and beaten. Every challenge was met head on, her drive was something her friends and family were always proud of. But now, now she wondered why any of it mattered. She used to feel enjoyment from being the best at whatever she did. She was Weiss Schnee, fantastic singer and even better huntress in training. Yet she found it impossible to feel any kind of enjoyment from what she used to love the most. 'None of it matters. Is there even a point to all of this? Does anything that happened really matter?'

The drop in front of her brought emotion to the girl. A comfort. A welcoming embrace to carry her away from all of this emptiness. The idea of not being around anymore brought a certain amount of comfort to Weiss. Her scroll beeped in her pouch. I quick glance proved it was as she thought. Another copy of that photo. A reminder of her greatest sin. Unwilling to see it anymore, Weiss tossed the rectangular device aside. The scroll crashed into a rock that lay to her left, spilling the scroll's contents across the grass.

Weiss closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the wind and imagined the sweet embrace of the open nothingness in front of her.

Author's Notes:

This chapter was much harder for me to write. This is a chapter full of things that needed to happen but I had a difficult time making it interesting to read. I hope I did well.

As for the deal with Weiss, that took the most time to write. See in order to make her internal dilemma come across as genuine I researched and read first hand accounts of depression. I felt anything less than a well researched take on this issue would be insulting to anyone who has gone through similar symptoms.

One last thing. Someone asked that if Ruby really wanted revenge way wouldn't she just kill Blake and Weiss. To quote Khan from the second Star Trek movie: "I have done far worse than kill you. I have hurt you, and I wish to go on, hurting you."

As always feel free to follow and review. I really enjoy seeing new reviews come in.

Thank you for reading.