So, turns out Adam has some – ah – physical aspects that would make it all but impossible for him to hide without his mask on like he does in this fic. Lol. Light way of putting it. Honestly, I like the addition – adds some character – but obviously just assume this is AU and that one aspect of his past didn't happen.

It shouldn't affect much.

Cover Art: Jack Wayne

Chapter 38

"Thank you again, Jaune. You've been a generous host as always." Cinder drew forth a little extra lien and placed it into his hands. "A tip. Why don't you use it to go on holiday or something? You could use a little time off."

"I'll consider it."

"That's all I ask. Come Emerald, Mercury. I'm sure Jaune wants to get to sleep at last."

Emerald nodded and followed Cinder dutifully, while Mercury slid by with a wink and a wave. "See you later, bro. Try not to let the bed bugs bite – unless you want them to!" He laughed at a joke neither Jaune nor Emerald understood.

"Ugh. You're such a doofus. Goodnight, Jaune."

"Y-Yeah. Goodnight." Jaune waited until they were all gone, Roman and Neo having left before them, and locked the door. For safety's sake he drew down the blinds too, only allowing his panic to show once he was sure they couldn't see him. He slumped back against the door, blinds crinkling against his back. "Holy shit. I can't believe I'm still alive."

Alive, well and quite a bit of lien richer – for all that it burned a hole in his hand now. Quite possibly blood money. He tossed it down on the counter and stared at it. Whatever its means, it was still lien. It would be more suspicious if he didn't take it.

Just don't ask where it came from, he told himself, pushing it into the safe beneath the till. Last thing I need is to find out I'm the prime source of money laundering in Vale or something. Though, it would explain why I have so many customers who are criminals.

Cinder, Roman, Mercury, Emerald, Neo and now Adam, too. Gods, were there more?

Well, there was Blake. Technically speaking, she fit the bill.

A bump sounded from upstairs.

Oh yeah, and Ruby. Breaking and entering was a crime, wasn't it? Risking his life ought to have been one too or shaving twenty years off his life through panic alone. Downing the remains of Cinder's cooling drink, he wiped his mouth, slammed the mug down and stomped up the stairs, making sure Ruby could hear his annoyance.

He found her sat on his couch, munching on a packet of biscuits. Ruby froze, one near her mouth as he stormed in and planted his hands on his hips.

"Um. Hey?"

"Hey? Hey!? What the hell were you thinking, Ruby?"

Swallowing quickly, Ruby brushed some crumbs from her mouth. "I was thinking about how my best friend is apparently letting dangerous criminal come and use his shop to host their dastardly meetings."

"Don't make this about me. You broke into my apartment!"

"Dangerous criminals!"

"Breaking and entry!"

"Dangerous criminals!"

"Damn it, Ruby." He threw his arms in the air and collapsed into the one-seater couch. "What do you want from me? What was I supposed to say to them? No, I won't let you rent my café as a conference room because you're planning nefarious crimes – oh, by the way, please don't kill me for having figured out the truth? What would you have done?"

"Fought them."

"Yeah. Exactly. And what should I have done?"

"Not fought them…" Ruby said miserably. "But that doesn't make it okay to hide what's going on either! You could have told me."

"And had you come to listen in, putting both yourself and me in danger?"

"I wouldn't have done that!"

Jaune raised a single eyebrow.

"Uh, I mean, okay, maybe, but I'd have been better prepared."

"Ruby, you would have told you entire team, and I'd have had to deal with hiding four people up here. Four people, one of whom is Blake, who pathologically cannot stay hidden if the words `White` and `Fang` are mentioned in the same sentence."

"She's not that bad…" Even Ruby didn't sound convinced. "And besides, we could have dealt with them and kept you safe."

"Sure. Not knowing anything about how strong they are, what they can do and knowing full well that if you fail, I get to take the blame for it. Probably being killed in the process. At least that's what Roman seemed to think…"

"Ahah! So you did know!"

"I only just found out. Like, yesterday. A whole day before they arrived and after already having hosted them before."

"Do you expect me to believe that? They were talking out loud about their evil plans. Even I heard them."

"Were they? All I heard was nonsense about the housing market, investments and property discussions." He paused as Ruby tilted her head to the side, confused. "I'm guessing that's not what actually happened."

"Uh. No. They were pretty explicit." Ruby watched his face, looking for any deceit. He wasn't sure what she found, but she looked satisfied. "It could have been a Semblance. Maybe make you hear things that aren't true or replace the air around you with random noise. I guess it makes sense they wouldn't talk about stuff like that in front of you." Her eyes lit up. "And that means you're not a criminal! You're not guilty."

"I am by association."

Ruby winced.

"Besides, it's not being guilty that's the problem here. Imagine what'll happen if Cinder figures out that I ratted her out. It wouldn't matter that you found out on your own; I'd still be a witness to get rid of. I can't hide in Beacon like you or even defend myself if things get bad."

"I-I can defend you," Ruby whined. "We can protect you."

"Ruby... I appreciate the thought, but I doubt you can. You have school, classes, the festival. I have my work. You can't keep an eye on me all the time while they can wait until the exact moment they know you're busy to strike. Or, you know, just shoot me through the window when I least expect it. I don't have the aura training you do – no way I'd be able to get it up in time."

"So, that's it? There's nothing we can do?" Ruby sunk into her seat, despondent. "I refuse to believe that."

Jaune's fingers drummed on the armrest of his seat as an idea came to him. "There's nothing I can do," he said slowly. "I've been trying to think up a way out since Roman told me, but I'm screwed. I'm weak, outnumbered and ultimately just one guy running a diner. I'm not hero material even if I had a plan. But you. You are."

"Uh… I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"You're a huntress."

"In training!"

"You're a hero."

"In training!"

"You can find a way to stop them."

"In trai-" Ruby cut off, swallowed and shook her head. "W-What? Why me?"

"Because you can fight. You can do something, and you can look after yourself and rely on your team to watch your back. Let's face it, Ruby, I'm pretty much useless."

"That's not true! You're a good friend, a good businessman and you make a mean cup of-"

"I meant useless here. Not in general life."

"Oh." Ruby sat down again, her `you're better than you think you are` speech dying on her lips. She considered what he'd just said and nodded. "Yeah, you kind of are."

Don't be annoyed, Jaune. She's agreeing with you.

"Right." His brow twitched. "My point is, even if I could come up with a plan to stop them, I wouldn't be able to act on it. You can, though. You've got Ozpin, Glynda and everyone else on your side. Plus, if you act against them, they shouldn't be able to trace it back to me."

Ruby's smile glowed. "Keeping you safe."

"Yep."

The smile fell. "And putting all the pressure on me…"

"Yep."

"A-And I can't tell anyone the full story because my team would do something stupid and put you in trouble."

"Yep. Or, well, Blake would."

"She's really not that bad…"

"She really is. Anyway, it's the responsibility of huntsmen and huntresses to deal with the big bad people anyway, especially when they're huntsman-level as well. Not like the police can do anything. Think of this as work experience."

"Work experience…" Ruby's expression was flat. "Saving the entire Kingdom is work experience…"

"It's a matter of scale. For my job, having someone brew coffee is work experience. For yours, saving the world is work experience. It fits."

"That's not fair at all!"

"Life isn't fair," he said, remembering one of his father's many lessons. "I wanted to get into Beacon and didn't. I tried to become a Hero but wasn't good enough. Now, you get your chance to be the hero. Good luck, Ruby! I believe in you!"

"H-Hey! I didn't ask for this."

"You kind of did. You broke into my apartment and listened in. What did you expect to hear?"

Ruby sat speechless.

"I'll help if I can," he promised, "But since I was trapped in someone's Semblance, I didn't even hear what the plan is. I literally have no idea what's going on. That's all you."

"I can tell you," Ruby said quickly.

"No, no, no. The less witnesses the better."

"The less witnesses the more I have to do on my own!"

"It's okay. I believe in you."

"I DON'T!"

"Really? You should. My Dad always says that all you need is a little confidence."

"Your dad's advice is terrible!"

"Hey. It got me this far."

"This far being our current situation." Ruby groaned into her hands. "Which is awful. Very, very awful. Heck, you applied to Beacon with zero qualifications based on that advice. Which, I'll admit, was pretty confident all things considered… but maybe not even remotely intelligent."

Jaune shuffled a little, not quite able to deny Ruby's point. "Well, what advice did your parents give you?"

"Mom said to never trust blonde-haired blue-eyed men. They're only trouble."

"Really?"

"No. She married one." Ruby grunted. "But she should have said it! Would have saved me a lot of trouble. Can I at least tell some people?"

"You can tell whoever you want as long as I'm kept out of it. Just tell them the truth; that I didn't seem able to hear what they were talking about and I heard innocent things. Don't get me wrong, Ruby, I want to help you do this and if you have any ideas of how I can, great. Let me know and I'll do whatever I can. It's just… Well, what can I do?"

"Nothing." Ruby sighed as she realised it. Or rather, as she accepted it. "There's nothing you can do. You could barely fight off Café Prime, let alone a terrorist organisation. Ugh. I really hate you sometimes, Jaune. You're my friend, but sometimes I wish you weren't."

"Look on the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"This'll look really good on your résumé."

"Hate you so much… Can you at least do something to help?"

"I can serve good coffee to bad people and hope that somehow fixes all our problems."

/-/

"This is good coffee."

"Thank you."

Jaune's lawyer – or rather the SDC's lawyer – was not necessarily an evil man but considering that he was the legal representative for one of the most culpable men on the planet, and that he'd defended Jacques Schnee against all manner of cruel business practices, he probably was evil to the core. At least Roman didn't make excuses for his crimes.

But, to be fair, this evil man was on his side, so he let it go.

"How is the case going?"

"As expected. Café Prime don't really have a leg to stand on with some of these charges – especially your eviction notice. It's all showmanship, threats. They were hoping to intimidate you into giving in once you realised the costs of hiring a legal team to handle all of this. Quite out o your budget, I'm afraid."

Jaune winced. "And now…?"

"Handled by the SDC, so there's no worrying on your part. I'm being paid by the hour."

And spending that hour drinking coffee at one of his tables, his briefcase shut on the desk before him. His lawyer hadn't really done anything since arriving, or at least not anything visible, but considering he hadn't seen Sterling in what felt like days, this `nothing` was working wonders.

"Okay, I'll bite. Why haven't you done any legal work yet?"

The man chuckled. "I wondered when you'd ask. Well, Mr Arc, I'm holding off because frankly, this serves your purposes better. Yes, I could have had all of this documentation sorted through and dealt with days ago, but Café Prime saw fit to give you a deadline of two weeks and I intend to milk that."

"For more money from the SDC?"

"Goodness no. For more negative media coverage of course. The public is ripping Café Prime apart and I've little desire to expediate the case and see that drawn to a close. Let them stew in their own mess for a little bit. I dare say they've earned it."

My God, he really is evil…

Then again, he'd been threatened, blackmailed, attacked and belittled over and over again. There had been more than enough sleepless nights for him that the thought of Sterling going through the same wasn't quite as sympathetic as it should have been.

"Another coffee?"

"Please."

Leaving the solicitor with another drink and some cake, Jaune scanned the patrons once more and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't find Cinder or any of her minions. They didn't come every day of course, but he wasn't sure how relaxed he could have acted if they'd been present so soon after what he'd learned the night before.

Team RWBY were absent, too. He wasn't sure if Ruby had told the rest the truth or if she was just angry at him for lumping all the responsibility on her. But it's not like it isn't her responsibility. Or that of huntsmen. Besides, she can just tell Ozpin and be done with it. As long as it was clear that it wasn't him who had done so.

Now, if there was a way he could get Ironwood in the know without incriminating himself, that would be good. Hm. Maybe that was something to talk to Roman about.

"Jaune," Russel called. "Your owner is here."

"My owner?"

"He knows how it is," Miltia said, sashaying into Jaune's like she owned the place – or him. Making her way to the counter, Miltia drew her legs up onto the seat and winked at him. "The usual, babe. Junior woke up with a hangover and is begging for caffeine, the fucking man-child."

"No Melanie today?"

"Who do you think he was drinking with?"

"Ah. I'll include some painkillers along with the order."

"Hm. Coffee and painkillers. Now that's my man."

Jaune laughed and began to collect her order, much of it already prepared since they came at the same time every single day. It was just a matter of stacking them all in cardboard containers so that Miltia could carry them easily. Luckily, she'd brought three mooks along, the uniformed gangsters standing awkwardly behind her, unused to being surrounded by people who not only didn't care about them but would have no problem dealing with them if they tried anything.

"They new?" he asked.

Miltia rolled her eyes. "Fresh meat. Coffee shift is the intern shift."

"Kind of weird to see that holds true for criminal empires as well as normal business…"

"Yeah, well, it's always easier to make the new guy handle everything." Miltia raised her voice a little. "I'm here to make sure they don't try anything stupid. And to see my boyfriend, of course." Leaning forward, Miltia pursed her lips and waited.

It was embarrassing with so many people watching – and everyone had turned to watch, sensing some prime live entertainment happening – but he leaned in nonetheless and kissed her. From behind her, it might have looked chaste and sweet, but Miltia took her chance to nibble on his lip, swipe her tongue across it and stare at him with smoky eyes.

"Hm," she said, leaning back. "That's the kind of pick-me-up I can get behind."

"Do you have to tease me like this?"

"Whenever I have the chance." She kissed him again, quickly this time, and pulled back. "Still waiting on those flowers, lover, and what comes after. That part especially."

Finally, his control gave and his cheeks flushed bright red. Miltia instantly cheered, that being her goal from the start.

"You're terrible."

"Now, that I'll admit to. Well, I'd stay and make out with you all day, but you've got work and I've got a hungover twin sister." Miltia sighed. "One of those is harder work than the other. Look after yourself, lover boy. I'll see if I can't drag Melanie down tomorrow to join in on the teasing."

"Do you have to say it so blatantly!?"

Forcing the bags into her mooks' hands, Miltia blew him a kiss as she strolled away. "Mwah! Later, baby."

Russel waited for the door to close before he clicked his tongue, making `whip lash` noises loudly.

"Oh, shut up. Go get a girlfriend yourself before you take the piss out of me."

"He'd need a girl willing to put up with him first," Velvet drawled, coming by with an order. "Or his hair. Unlikely in either case."

"Ganging up on me, now? Sure, that's fair."

"Jaune's my boss. You're just a colleague. Sorry, you were always going to lose out."

"Ha flipping ha."

Jaune listened to the two go at it with a smile. He almost thought they might be able to hit it off themselves if they gave it a chance, but he had a feeling he'd be in for a world of denials and protests if he so much as suggested it. That said, he knew Yang had money on the two at least making out by the time the year ended.

He has fifty lien riding on it himself.

"Hey, Russel, Velvet."

"Hm?" The two spoke in unison and turned to him. They weren't involved and he intended to keep it that way for their own safety, but he trusted their opinions. They'd never done him wrong. At least not when it counted.

"If you had a problem come up that you weren't sure how to deal with, what would you do?"

Russel and Velvet exchanged looks. "Depends on the kind of problem," Russel said.

"Imagine it's that you've seen some pickpockets. Crooks of some kind."

Russel shrugged. "I'd bring them down and call the police."

"Same," Velvet said.

"Uh. Okay. Not super helpful." He thought of a better way to explain it. "Okay, what if you saw some really dangerous crooks that you knew were deadly. Let's say White Fang or something. You know, genuinely dangerous criminals."

"Right." Velvet nodded, understanding. "Well, I'd get Coco up on a rooftop with her minigun, me beside her and Fox watching us. Yatsu would walk in and scare them out into the open and we'd pin them down. Yatsu could then knock 'em out at his leisure."

"Nice," Russel complimented, nodding at the brutal plan. "Me? I'd point Pyrrha at them and be done with it."

"Yes, well, we can't all have Pyrrha Nikos on speed dial."

"Heh." Russel grinned smugly. "I can."

"You're so irritating…"

Again, not exactly what he was looking for. Jaune palmed his face and sighed. "Is there any way you would deal with a dangerous problem without attacking it in some way? Like, I don't know, diplomacy or careful strategy?"

"Boss, you're asking a huntsman and a huntress how to handle a problem."

"He is right, Jaune. We're not exactly taught how to do things – uh – nicely. But if you want an arm broken, I can do it in ten or more different ways unarmed. Hundreds more with a weapon."

"And we can storm a building." Russel said. "Even if it's fortified by a hundred people."

"And plan an evacuation from Grimm."

"Make a weapon out of sticks and rocks."

"Dismantle and rebuild a fully functioning mecha-shift weapon."

"Survive in hostile conditions for three weeks on grubs and mealworms."

Velvet's eyes narrowed. "Make a weapon out of literal stardust."

Russel crossed his arms. "Pee while standing up."

"What? I can do that!"

"Guys, guys!" Jaune stepped between them, pushing the two apart before the competition could turn violent. Or at least into a shouting match. "Seriously, I could cut the sexual tension with a knife."

"There's no-"

"You're insan-"

"Now," he interrupted, speaking over them. "Are there any other ways you would handle a problem that don't involve some kind of ridiculous knowledge of sticks, rocks and mealworms? Something a normal person could do if they were in trouble?"

Velvet and Russel looked at each other for a long moment.

"Call a huntsman?" Russel offered.

Jaune sighed. "You're useless, both of you."

"We're specialised," Velvet countered. "Really good at doing one thing – fighting Grimm – and, uh, not very good at a lot of other things. To be fair, most of us have been learning this since age eleven. It's not like there was much time to learn a wide range of topics when half your classes are how to use aura to stop rubber bullets."

"While you were leaning geography and maths, we were learning the best way to navigate a map in the dark and bullet trajectory in windy conditions."

"You huntsmen are loonies."

"Specialised loonies," Russel said, grinning. "Very specialised loonies."

/-/

"Going out again?"

Mercury hummed, turning away from the door to find Emerald stood off to the side, leaning against the wall. "I was thinking of it," he said. "Why? That a problem? Cinder need me for anything?"

It was Cinder who answered, splayed out on the couch in their room. "Not presently."

"It's just that you've been going out a lot," Emerald said. "A lot more than you ever did before. What's changed?"

"Nothing has changed." Mercury kept a straight face, even as Cinder turned subtly in his direction, listening. Trust Emerald to point something out that would catch the boss' attention. Emerald could be a bitch like that.

"Then what are you doing?"

"Killing time. Laying about." He shrugged. "Nothing has changed and that's the issue. I'm just bored. I know we're playing the waiting game for now, but I've never been good at just sitting around doing that. You know how I am."

Cinder nodded, turning back and dismissing his behaviour. There was something to be said for being seen as a sociopathic layabout. Give him a fight and he'd be there, give him someone to kill and he'd be down, but ask him to sit still and do nothing for weeks on end? Sure, but not without a little whining.

Of course, Emerald couldn't accept that, nor the implied sleight towards Cinder. "The plan-"

"Is fine," he interrupted. "The plan is still there. But the plan involves us not sticking out, and frankly, me wandering around here bored is going to do that. Loads of Beacon students go and waste their time at Jaune's. I'm blending in better than you are."

Cinder chuckled darkly on the couch. "He does make a valid point, Emerald. You've been… anti-social."

Emerald looked horrified – and furious. The latter was directed at him. "Yes, Cinder. I'm sorry."

"Now, now, it was only a little criticism. Nothing to apologise over." Cinder never turned to them, too busy taking her own relaxation. Unlike him, she found it anywhere. "Let Mercury spend his time how he wishes. It's no concern of ours so long as he doesn't jeopardise our plans."

"More likely to do that here at Beacon than out at a diner," he pointed out.

"Indeed. Well, if you believe you need my permission, you have it."

"Heh. Thanks." He didn't need it, but the look on Emerald's face at having Cinder turn against her was priceless. He wished he could take a picture and frame it. "You want anything bringing back? Might be a while, but I can carry something."

"A kind offer, but I shall be fine, thank you. Emerald?"

"Uh. N-No. Nothing."

"Emerald…"

"Nothing, thanks," Emerald amended, looking physically sick at having to thank him.

The bigger thing to do would be to let her go, let it go. Naturally, he rubbed it in. "Aw. No probs, Em. I'm always out to do the best for my teammates – not to mention my best friend and partner."

"We are not-"

"You are best friends and partners," Cinder corrected. "As your cover demands."

"Y-Yes. Of course."

"Geez, Em." Mercury rolled his eyes. "Get your head in the game."

"I will end you," Emerald mouthed.

"Try it, bitch," he sent back. Louder, he said, "Well, I'll be off then. If you need me for anything drop me a line. I'll keep my scroll on."

"That is appreciated, Mercury. Have fun."

/-/

"He's acting unusual."

"I am aware." Cinder leaned back on her seat and let out a quiet sigh. "But that is no justification for us to act just yet. So far, Mercury has done nothing to harm our goals." Her goals, though she rarely phrased them as such. Better to ensure Emerald felt she was… involved. "It may be as he says, that he is nervous of the upcoming action. This will be his first major move. And yours."

"Yes, and I'm not running around as much as he is."

"People handle stress in different ways."

"Do you think he's a risk?" Emerald asked.

"If he is, he will be dealt with. As for what I believe…" Harder to answer, only because she was so distracted. There was too much to focus on, too many variables. Mercury was an issue but not an immediate one. "There is no one he could go to without incriminating himself. Mercury is involved now and has little chance of escaping unharmed."

"It's not his logic I'm worried about, Cinder. More his loyalty."

"Then you have been looking at things the wrong way for years," she snapped. "We never held Mercury's loyalty, not once."

Emerald made a surprised sound.

"We arrived to hire his father and found him on the verge of death, the building burned down. While it was better to take something rather than nothing, Mercury's recruitment was anything but ideal. He follows my instructions because he is aware what will happen to him if he does not. Loyalty has never played a part in our arrangement."

Mercury was loyal to himself, but then, that was not so difficult to deal with. Few were the people truly loyal to another. Roman cared only for himself and Neo, vice versa as far as she could tell for the little monster herself.

"I'm loyal to you," Emerald protested.

"Of course, Emerald. I know."

She was not, of course. Emerald thought she was, but the truth was far different. Emerald cared only for herself and her comfort, the life she'd been given in the palm of Cinder's hand. Emerald thought she loved her, perhaps that she was in love with her, but that was no different. Emerald did as she asked because it increased the chance that she might appreciate the girl's efforts and reciprocate.

In the end, Emerald followed her orders to win something. Or to keep what she had. Again, loyal only to her own desires, as Cinder was to her own with regards to Salem. She would bow, scrape and make clear her subservience, but only so long as it supported her aims.

Salem knew that, Cinder felt. Every good ruler did.

In the end, everyone is selfish. It's just a matter of finding out what they want and dangling it in front of their faces. At least until one's aims are met.

Smiling, Cinder placed her scroll down and picked up a bottle of wine. "Come, Emerald. With Mercury gone, I'm sure the two of us can find out own entertainment. A movie, perhaps? Or just am afternoon to ourselves."

The doubt on Emerald's face disappeared, replaced with a euphoria that was almost too desperate. She was quick to rush over, quick to collect two glasses – and even quicker to sit down next to Cinder, their hips touching, despite the empty seat opposite. Rather than protest, Cinder looked through her lashes at Emerald and smiled coyly, reaching over the girl and brushing her hair against Emerald's arm, reaching for the remote.

Emerald was putty in her hands.

Just as Mercury would be, if he wished to survive.

/-/

"I've got her!"

"Hold her down. Watch out for- OW! Watch out for her feet. Ow! That's it, these heels are going." Twin thuds as a pair of heeled boots hit the back wall and fell to the base.

"Get off me!"

"No!" Weiss snarled. "Not until you promise to use some common sense for a change!"

"I'm not the idiot here. The White Fang-"

Yang slammed her hand over Blake's mouth.

"Oh, thank goodness," Weiss gasped. "I thought she'd never stop."

Ruby, meanwhile, could only despair. Sat on Yang's bed as she was, watching as her sister and partner wrestled their final teammate to the floor before she could reach the door, window or Gambol Shroud. Whichever came first.

She's not that bad, Ruby's brain mocked, recalling the words she'd used on Jaune earlier. Blake can be trusted to be calm and composed. She won't do anything stupid.

"Yeah, right…"

Jaune had been right. The very moment she'd mentioned the White Fang, an attack and someone that mentioned her by name, Blake had gone from listening intently to preparing an all-out attack on… well, Ruby didn't know on what. What was Blake's plan, even? Walk out into the city, climb the tallest building and scream a challenge to the White Fang? Run away, skip class and hide out in the city until she mysteriously found an answer and attack them on her own?

Annoyingly, the latter sounded very likely. Stupid Blake…

"And we've got her," Yang cheered, sat on Blake's back with one hand holding Blake's wrist behind her, pinned under one knee. The other was holding her mouth shut still, though the occasional flash of aura showed that Blake was trying to bite her way through. "You got a rope, Weiss?"

"What do I look like, a BDSM expert? I have a belt…"

"That'll do, Weiss. That'll do."

Five minutes later, Blake was back up on the bed and leaning against Yang's side, her ankles strapped together, and her wrists linked behind her back. She didn't look pleased about the whole affair which, Ruby supposed, was fair. The death glares could have used a rest, though.

"Now that everyone is calm and unlikely to do anything foolish, we can continue. Ruby, you said that Jaune seemed oblivious to what was going on?"

"Yeah," Ruby said, lying only a little bit. "I asked him after what they were talking about, pretending I hadn't heard, and he said it was housing or something. I don't think he could have kept a straight face otherwise, and the bad guys didn't even act like they had to hide anything."

"Suggesting an auditory Semblance of some kind," Weiss finished for her. "Yes, that makes sense. Even if Jaune was complicit, they'd not speak so freely in front of him. It would be a needless risk. That you were able to hear perfectly well suggests it's targeted rather than area of effect."

"So, Jaune's innocent," Yang decided. "That's good. Not so great on the others, though. What do we do?"

"We find and deal with them!" Blake said.

"Hm, I'm not sure," Weiss answered, ignoring Blake's suggestion entirely. To be fair, they all did. "Going to Jaune won't yield anything and will just place him in danger. Naturally, confronting them is a bad idea. We've no idea who we're dealing with or how many. Even if we could deal with them, what's to say there isn't someone behind them? A backer or figure organising all of this?"

"Yeah." Ruby nodded, happy that Weiss was taking the lead and that the others – well, Blake not included – were willing to help. Much like Jaune, her plans all came down to `Welp, no idea`. But unlike Jaune, she was probably one of the only people who could do anything to stop this evil plan.

"As I see it, the White Fang are the big problem," Yang said. "They're not strong on their own, but there's a lot of them, which means we can't respond to everything they do. We kind of need Ozpin and the school on board with this."

"Yeah, but if I tell them now, Jaune will get in trouble."

"Ruby is correct," Weiss said. "Even if they believed him innocent, they would question him. That might well lead to Jaune being killed to preserve any secrets."

"Or," Blake said slowly, "We could find and deal with the White Fang and these people before they have a chance to harm him."

"Or," Yang said, "We would find a way to show Ozpin what's going on without incriminating Jaune's diner. Perfect! Nice idea, Blake."

"That's not what I said!"

"Not a bad idea," Weiss said. "Well done, Blake." She ignored Blake's furious howl. "But how do we do that? If we could catch them in the midst of a crime and blame it on luck, that might work. It would seem convenient, but things like that do happen."

"The CCT. I heard them mention dealing with the CCT Tower personally."

"Hm." Weiss tapped her arm with one finger. "Take down the CCT and communications would be limited. Take it over and they'd have free reign to do what they wish. Even small damage might make it inoperable at an opportune moment. More importantly, the CCT is on campus. It wouldn't reflect back onto Jaune if we happened to see something going on there. Why, it might just be bad luck on their parts."

"Great plan!" Ruby cheered. It was perfect, both keeping Jaune out of it and passing on the responsibility to someone else. Sure, she was playing hot potato with a kingdom-threatening conspiracy, but to be fair, Jaune did it to her first.

If she was qualified to deal with this, then Ozpin was doubly qualified!

"We'll work out a rota to keep an eye on it," Yang said. "It's not going to happen during the day. Probably take place when everyone is distracted, especially the teachers."

"The dance is approaching. It might happen then."

"Ruby, you're not using a terrorist conspiracy to escape dressing up and attending the dance." Yang said.

"B-But terrorists…"

"Don't care. I've already ordered your dress. We'll all handle it. Whatever happens, we'll take them on as a team. That means no you wandering off on your own, got it?"

Ruby sighed. "I got it. What about the rest of the bad guys? One of them said he wanted Blake."

"He can't have her," Yang said simply, shrugged. "She's mine."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "Yours?"

"Ours, I mean. Team RWBY's."

"Hmm…" Weiss let it go. "I guess all that remains is to convince Blake of the necessity of this plan as opposed to wandering all across Vale just looking for White Fang members to fight."

Blake glared at them, eyes narrowed.

Weiss stood and moved away. "As team leader, I think convincing Blake should be Ruby's responsibility."

"Totally agree, Weiss-cream." Yang stood quickly. "All yours, sis."

Ruby groaned as the two left.

Blake stuck her bottom lip out defiantly.

Ah Blake. You're always so controlled whenever the White Fang are mentioned. Definitely not prone to overreactions or anything. On a side note, while I still haven't watched season 6 yet, I did find all the um… how should I put it? All the different people lusting over Blake, to be amusing.

I have two girls like Jaune and it's a harem fic, but Blake can have half the cast doing the same and it's totally fine. And yet there's still no love for poor old Yang. "Seriously Blake, you have Adam, Ilia and Sun all mooning over you. Can't I have anyone?"

"Well, judging by how things are going, you MAY have love in your future."

"Really? With who!?"

Blake looked up. "Me."

"Damn it, Blake. Stupid harem protagonist and your sexy, sexy… oh God, no..."

Next Chapter: 12th February

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur