Ruby swallowed hard, leaning up against the wall to one of the underground passages located within the Schnee manor. She traveled this path often to get to the mines, but she didn't think the passages were used for shady dealings as well. The damp cold and air sent shivers down her spine. Drippings of ground water were the lullaby keeping her sane as it plunked against concrete, dirt paths, puddles, and metal pipes.
She didn't want to be down here, and still didn't agree with Blake's reasoning.
A worrisome thought betrayed her late at night when she thought about the risks at play. If the manor was brought under attack, Zhu would be at risk too. She couldn't guarantee his protection, or Sun's for that matter. Having a plethora of security personnel to boss around wasn't a comfort. Even if she knew the raw skill that many of them had. Ruby's quick and thrown together strategies failed her the moment she considered the fact that civilians were involved. She couldn't count on Blake on Weiss to be ready to fight either.
With no better solution to offer, and Ruby's own skill compromised due to her injuries, she forced herself to deal with the raw facts. The lives of the White Fang were cheaper and thus, more expendable than the lives of her friends and family. She suspected that was the mentality Yang used to come to terms with orders like these. So she waited in the dark passage until the cloaked figure she had been expecting arrived.
"Where's Yang?" The familiar sounding woman asked, hands poised at her back.
"Busy." Ruby said. "Blake sent me instead."
The clothed figured considered Ruby's words, and relaxed her stance. "I thought she didn't want you playing in the big leagues. What changed?"
Instead of answering, Ruby issued a question of her own. "And I thought you were in jail, Emerald." Ruby returned. "Why were you released?"
"Prison. It's not worth a pot to piss in. Not like jail, the bunks are comfy."
"Answer the question!"
"I was in prison." The dark skinned woman smirked. "Until my bail was paid with dirty money. I don't know all the details. I was blindfolded, bound, gagged, and brought to the basement of this lovely place. Then I was offered two options. Get sent back to max security, or become a glorified attack dog." She showed the scar in the base of her neck where a tracking chip had been imbedded under the skin. "The choice was an easy one. I know where to place my bets…and as far as the government is concerned, I'm Blake's property. I'm her problem now, not theirs."
"I never thought I'd see the day when she'd find a loophole for slave labor…Blake really scrapped the bottom of the barrel with you, didn't she?"
"She keeps us on a tight leash." Emerald said then.
Ruby said with a shake of her head. "I'm sure she does." She knew this was a bad idea, made worse by the fact that the rest of Emerald's team was untraceable…or as far as Ruby knew, anyway. "Problem is, I'm not the one holding that leash. What makes you think I can trust you?"
"Ruby, Ruby, Ruby…what makes you think you can't?" Emerald smirked dirtily. "I'll level with you. That chip does more than track. We act out, it'll discharge with the right command codes. It used to be used to keep Faunus in line, no one wants to be a crispy critter. Now they use it to keep inmates in line. Blake never took out the chip. She has the command codes from the warden."
"I'm surprised you haven't tried to dig it out..."
"Why do that and risk a good thing?" Emerald said. "I've been doing this for years, I know how to play the game, and I can go snooping around in sections of the White Fang you would only hope to have access to. I know you're a little naïve, but use your head. There more to this than meets the eye."
"I'm not a little girl any more, I'd suggest you watch your mouth."
"That's one thing I liked about you, the only thing really….always willing to throw down when it mattered." Emerald shrugged then. "So, what's the job?"
"Blake wants members of the White Fang dead. She said your people would do the dirty work." Ruby felt her gut twisted, but so long as she wasn't the one doing it, she thought it would be manageable. "I'll I.D. the bodies after you've killed them, but she wants their masks as proof too. She knows their scents, so you can't just swap them out."
Emerald practically ripped the folder from Ruby's hand, looking down the list of named to be taken out. "Murder is murder, you know that, right?"
"Trust me." Ruby said sickly. "I know. I wouldn't even be getting involved in this mess if my own family weren't at risk."
"Innocent little you punched out a kid?" Emerald asked with an upraised eyebrow. "Never would have guessed."
"I didn't, but that's not your concern and it's not the point. Blake's heard that there's going to be another attack on the manor. If stopping the attack is what it takes to keep the people I care about safe, I don't exactly have a choice in the matter…" Ruby looked Emerald up and down. "If you have information to prove otherwise, I'd love to hear it…I'd even retract the order now, and take the new info to Blake."
"I was the one who gave her that intel." Emerald said darkly. "It's going down, I promise you that."
"When?"
"Don't know. I've caused a little disruption in the ranks. It should keep them busy, but not for long. Couple of dead bodies though, that should bring things to a halt. Especially if I stage it right. With a semblance like mine, a few inconspicuous deaths is nothing."
"I still don't know if I trust you." Ruby told her. "I trust Blake though. I suppose that'll have to be enough."
Emerald barked out a laugh. "In spite of what you think, I'd never turn my back on a good meal ticket. Blake's a good boss, covers her tracks, and stays out of my way. Money's just a bonus when you consider that so long as I don't get caught, I'm free to do whatever the hell I want. So I'll bring you the corpses. Ten grand a corpse, that's the going rate, as always. Half up front."
"Half now." Ruby said, holding out a stack of cards holding copious amounts of lien. "Half later."
"A word of advice, it's going to take some time…" Emerald trailed off, counting the money handed of to her. "Jobs like this aren't quick, not if you want it done cleanly. Don't expect immediate payouts. I'll call you once I've got the bodies."
"I'm not looking forward to it." Ruby said, taking the offered handshake to seal the deal.
Freezing rain made climate conditions cold and dreary. It was the perfect day to stay inside, eyes fluttering with unwelcome wakefulness in the early morning. A small huff of air fell from her lips as she slung an arm over Weiss, uncomfortably trying to find a way to let sleep reclaim her. The white haired woman stirred besides her, letting loose a small laugh at her wife's indignant murmurings that was just above the tone of a growl.
They both settled again in the darkness of the room. Only their soft breathing and the occasional twitch of a furry ear against the feather pillow indicating that anyone might be in the room. Weiss soundlessly let her fingertips wander, thumb brushing rhythmically along Blake's exposed hip. There was a soft buzzing of the heater kicking on, gusts of heat draining into the room, but neither one of them cared about that. The blankets and their close proximity kept them plenty warm.
Then, as if to taunt the both of them, the reason of Blake's ire lit up once more. Another shared message blaring upon the screen of Blake's scroll. By bad habit and curiosity she checked it once again.
A sound of annoyance protruded tiredly and angrily from Weiss as she made do with the unusually bright light in her face, burning her sleepy eyes as she squinted. "Blake, put that thing down."
"It's just of matter of time now…" Blake whispered, voice scratchy from disuse.
"It's just Yang and Ruby." Weiss said, though why the excitable younger sister had even been woken up at such an absurd time in the morning was something to drill Yang on later. Another buzz and she found herself seriously considering marching across the hall and giving Ruby a piece of her frazzled mind. That, however, was an effort in futility, so she settled with trying to appease her normally rationally minded wife instead. "Ignore them. They're not going to shut up until someone passes out from exhaustion."
"The last message I got from Velvet was an hour ago." Blake said with a frown. "I wonder if her contractions are getting closer together."
"Probably…"
"Velvet always runs well passed her due date, but this is the longest she's gone."
"I doubt that's unheard of."
"I know it's not, but it still worries me. It might be more difficult than her other litters."
"Be that as it may, gluing your nose to the scroll isn't helping anyone." Weiss protested, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow. When she didn't feel the sagging of the bedding, or hear the rustling of the blankets, Weiss reached over, gently easing the scroll from her wife's grasp. Closing it and placing it in the bedside table, she gave Blake a soft look. "Ruby would be rising all sorts of ruckus if something was worth monitoring in the chatroom."
Blake sighed. "I know, but still, I can't help but look at every incoming text. What if one's important?"
"I'd assume someone would have the rationality to actually call."
"It's easier when I can be there to help keep the absolute ciaos in line."
"Considering the photo spam, I think Yang's doing a remarkable job of keeping the rest of Velvet's stampede busy."
"You say that now, but she's a terrible disciplinarian." Blake replied, fighting the urge to send another massive test about maintaining structure and order for the small children, but she knew it would only be lost on Yang. The blonde would then proceed to flagrantly disregard such things. "She's probably hyped them all up…"
Weiss glared tiredly, her sanity wearing thin. "No one puts Yang in charge of children expecting them not to be full of piss and vinegar by the end of it. With any luck, Yatsuhashi will keep them all relatively sane. Now lay down and try to relax."
Blake's head hit the bedding, and Weiss thought maybe the quiet would lull the exhausted Faunus to sleep, but that was not the case. Weiss watched the muted and blurry image of her wife in the darkness. A palm raised her cheek from the pillow, and her ears twitched soundlessly against thin air. It continued for several long moments, before Blake shuffled around onto her other side. This lasted only a little longer before she shuffled again.
A long, annoyed sigh later, and Blake grumbled. "I can't sleep."
"Any reason why?" Weiss asked, propping herself up on her elbow again.
"I'm just thinking."
"Well...?"
"Hmm?"
"What are you thinking about?" Weiss asked then, reaching over to fumble with a bottle of water that she kept on the low laying table, sipping from it.
"About the little things." Blake said softly. "Everything and nothing, all at the same time…Velvet makes everything so easy, but I know it won't be."
"Are you worried?"
"It's hard to describe." Blake nodded. "I'm not worried, just restless."
"I still say I'd feel better about all of this if you gave birth in a hospital." Weiss replied then. "I know Oobleck said that cat Faunus are made to birth multiples without issue, and that you'll be healthy enough to do it relatively easily since you only have three…but this just has me edgy."
"It had me edgy too, so I called Neon."
"Oh, and how is she?"
"As hyper as ever. I called just to check in, but I'd be lying if part of me wasn't fishing around for information. A litter of six is surprising to me, but she says that's normal in her family." Blake trailed off, as if lost in thought again. "She mated to a male...we can't blame dust."
"Six at once…" Weiss still didn't believe it. "That's just astronomical."
"We got to talking. I asked if she was from such a large littler, but she said no. She was a single birth too. However, she has plenty of siblings who were born in groups of three and four...I guess."
"…just like Velvet's siblings, then."
Blake made a small non-committal sound, trailing off as she fidgeted with the edge of the blanket. "I honestly believe Oobleck's right, and our litter sizes are seeded deeply in our genepool. If we hail from species that's known for larger families, then that's just the way we are. Neon told me the same thing everyone else does. That the cubs will be little by nature, a little smaller than regular human triplets. That's why staying in one place when they're young is so important. Though, even Zhu was a small baby."
"Octavia was also a slight woman." Weiss replied. "I'm sure that had something to do with it."
"She was, but regardless, Neon, Velvet and I are genetically built to have multiple children at a time. I'm not expecting labor to be easy, but the closer it gets, I can't help but wonder about it...and after...more so, it's that aspect keeping me up." After a short time of quiet over taking the room, Blake's voice met the air once more. "Weiss…can you work from home today? I…don't want to be alone."
Weiss sighed, she wanted to, but the company needed to be looked after. She could tell Blake was uneasy though, and that worried her. "I suppose that depends…will you actually let me bring some of my paperwork in here to sign and sort through?"
"Yes…"
That meek voice, was enough of a reason, but it was too early to worry about signing documents now. Instead she rolled over to reach for a book, finding the one she wanted as her fingers pressed against the bookmark. She handed it to Blake. "We have a few hours. If you don't want to sleep, why don't you read to me for a bit."
AYangThang: So, this was supposed to be out on Sunday, but this is late partially due to my head being half-way up my ass, and partly because real life decided to just get busy with family related things. It's honestly a fifty/fifty mix of both...anyway don't worry. I'm back now. Friday's update is coming out as planned too, so we're back to our regularly scheduled idiocy.
