Olivia's mind faded in and out, a restless fever dream gnawing at her unconscious mind. Voices, the frantic words of those near her, hurriedly ushering her along through… through…

'Where am I...?'

'Ms. Goodwitch!'

'Get her into the bullhead, quickly!'

More voices and the sounds of an engine flickered beyond conscious thought, but were lost as her mind began to wander further into the depths.

'Hey, Olivia! You still with me or what?' Olivia blinked her eyes open to stare in confusion at… Jace? She reached a hand out, feeling it make contact against flesh, "Jace? Is that really you?"

'Of course it's me, Olly. Who else were you expecting?' Jace grabbed her by the hand, a shiver washing through her body as some strange calm came over her.

Olivia's eyes unfocused, Jace's figure shifting to someone else. A boy her own age with black hair and a green coat. Her mind slipped, trying to put a name to him, instead reverting back to Jace's worried frown as her headache began to pound incessantly.

'She's coughing up a lot of blood.'

'Can't you do something!?'

"I don't feel good, Jace…" whispers of other voices droned out Jace's response, and Olivia was forced to try and block them out, focusing instead on her friend… 'My brother'.

'You do look a little pale. When's the last time you ate?' Jace stepped forward to run a hand across her forehead, grimacing at what he felt there, 'We'd better get some food in you.'

The sounds of someone young sobbing nearby. More shouting. An arm shaking her, trying to keep her awake.

'But I already am awake…'

Olivia felt her stomach protesting, nausea surging forth and barely being held back by her own force of will, "I don't think food would be the best thing for me right about now, Jace."

'How about we go for a walk then?'

Her body felt exhausted. Incapable of moving an inch away from where she already stood. With a sigh, Olivia sat down instead, choosing to lay down sideways against the grass beneath her feet, "Let's just stay here and talk…"

'Get the aura enhancers!'

'Olivia! Stay awake, please!'

'Sounds good to me,' Jace agreed, sitting down with his legs crossed next to Olivia's place on the ground, 'Watcha wanna talk about, Olly?'

"That name, for one," Olivia muttered, drawing her knees up to her chest, "I thought I told you to not call me that?"

'What else am I supposed to call you? Plain old Olivia is boring,' Jace smirked, looking down on her smugly.

"We agreed on a different name already, didn't we?" Olivia replied in confusion, her mind wavering and having difficulty grasping the memory that lay just out of reach, "There was another name…"

'What, like Spider Girl?' Jace taunted, 'You shot that one down already, remember?'

Olivia shivered, trying to ignore the sharp pain in her arm, "Definitely not that one!"

'They aren't doing anything!'

'Just give it time, Miss Valkyrie. It won't be immediate.'

'Hmmmm,' Jace crossed his arms with a frown, then shrugged, 'I'm stumped. Can't I just keep calling you Olly?'

"No way! That name is so dumb, Jace!" Olivia laughed despite herself, a dry rasp racked with coughs. She bent double, feeling her body retching for a few seconds but with no visible signs of anything coming out.

'Oh my god! Keep her still!'

'T-There's so much blood…'

Olivia recovered from her fit and tried to shake her head, but felt her body stiffen. Her eyes raised back over to Jace, "I'm sure there was another name we decided on. Wasn't it like… a flower or something…?"

Jace's eyes lit up, seeming to finally recall what it was that Olivia was talking about, 'Oh, right! The Black Lotus!'

"Yeaahhhh, that's what it was," Olivia scoffed lightly, "How could we forget a name like that?"

'Crim's going to be jealous, you know,' Jace smirked, stroking his chin before letting out a melodical laugh, 'It isn't every day that you get to choose your own code name.'

Memories of the grassy hill out in the Mistralian forests came rushing back to mind, and Olivia looked down to see her hoodie covered in syrup, the forest lying in every direction around them while the bodies of dozens of Grimm faded away into black ash, "Weren't we…?"

'The enhancers should be kicking in right about now. Just keep holding her steady. She'll fall unconscious soon enough.'

'Weren't we what?' Jace frowned, holding up a plate filled with food. Olivia accepted it from him and got to work, feeding her stomach that felt so empty all of a sudden. The pain shooting through her body began to numb, the… delusion… of Jace fading along with it.

Olivia's heart dropped, seeing her brother beginning to vanish. She let go of her plate to try and rush forward, to grab on to him once more, "Jace! Don't go, please!"

'I'm not leaving, Olly. I'll always be there for you.'

Olivia's arms broke through the smoke holding the last vestiges of Jace together, his form evaporating into the darkness that surrounded her. She collapsed back to the ground, tears coming unbidden to her eyes. Eventually, even her own form began to dissipate, legs melting into the black as the numb feeling overrode all else. It drifted up the rest of her body in a painstakingly slow manner.

Olivia cried in the dark as even she vanished, quieting only once oblivion took hold, and all faded to nothing.

Weiss held Ruby close to her, the younger girl's body shaking as they both watched Olivia's thrashing begin to relax. She was being held down by every member of team Lion, her semblance giving them a run for their money while her body had been struggling to move in her fevered dreams.

'Jace…' Weiss could recall the name from their dinner out in Vale. Olivia hadn't spoken much about her past, but the faunus had shared a few happy memories of her brother. Her muttered words and phrases had been mostly incoherent, seemingly carrying on both sides of the conversation with herself while fading in and out.

Blood caked the front of Olivia's chest, much of it also pooling down on the ground where she had puked once more. Other specks could be spotted on everything and everyone nearby. Four empty aura enhancer injectors were scattered across the cabin floor, rolling this way and that beneath people's feet as the bullhead rocketed towards Beacon.

"I-Is she going to be okay?" Ruby managed to gasp out between sobs. Her forearm futilely rubbed across her face, tears instantly replaced the moment they were wiped free.

"Olivia is tough," Weiss tried to hide the doubt that she herself was feeling. She had never seen a more visceral or sudden sickness in her life, though given where she had lived, that was hardly a difficult bar to surpass, "She'll make it through this. Don't you worry."

Team Lion was able to relax now that Olivia had well and truly fallen unconscious. They stepped back with looks of exhaustion, wiping sweat from their brows. Ren's eyes raised to lock with Professor Goodwitch's, the question being unnecessary to vocalize.

Miss Goodwitch shook her head, breathing out a sigh of relief, "Miss Mandevilla should be fine as long as we can get her back to the infirmary at Beacon. In all my years, I've only seen a few students fall ill to this same sickness," she frowned in annoyance, "Most of them reported it sooner, though."

"Is it contagious?" Yang grimaced, rubbing a hand across her face and seeing it come back with a fine misting of blood that Olivia had coughed out while they'd been holding her down.

"Yes and no," Miss Goodwitch replied in a soothing manner, "For humans, it is no worse than the common cold, and is often mistaken as such. For faunus, the sickness runs rampant, affecting you in proportion to the strength of their aura."

"Wait…" Nora looked down on Olivia worriedly, "If it makes you more sick the more aura you have…"

"Aura enhancers are not quite what the name suggests, Miss Valkyrie. They improve the speed at which your aura regenerates. They do not improve upon its max capacity. The sickness would have drained Miss Mandevilla's aura reserves, keeping her from being able to heal the internal damage properly. Now that the enhancers have taken affect, they'll allow her to maintain at least a small aura level that will fluctuate as it fights against the sickness."

"So we're fine, then?" Pyrrha asked, following Yang's example and trying to wipe her face clean at the very least.

"The worst you would get is a headache and a fever," Miss Goodwitch confirmed, "As a precaution, the headmaster will likely be requiring that all faunus students go to the infirmary for their shots. Preventative measures must be taken to ensure that this doesn't cause an outbreak among our faunus students."

Blake had been sitting on the other side of Ruby, gripping her own knees tightly until she heard what Miss Goodwitch had said. Weiss watched her shuffle uncomfortably. Blake's hand drifted up to feel the bow atop her head, and came back down with a small red smear.

"How long does a faunus have before they'd get to the same point as Olivia?" Blake interjected, raising her eyes up to Miss Goodwitch.

Their teacher's face grew guarded, and she tapped her chin, "We'll be enforcing the procedure as quickly as possible, if that answers your question. I would expect most faunus to be wary of waiting too long. Needles are a blessing compared to trying to deal with this."

Blake nodded, replying with a simple, "I hope they get the treatment they need," before turning to look at Ruby. Her hand lightly brushed against the other girl's, and Ruby grasped it tightly, seeking whatever solace she could find.

Weiss's eyes drifted up, settling on the bow that Blake wore… the bow that she'd never seen the girl without. The smallest hint of suspicion began to form, but with Ruby sobbing into her shoulder... she chose to ignore it for now.

'There are bigger things to deal with…'

Ruby sniffled, managing to pull away from Weiss slightly while still holding both of her teammate's hands, "S-She's going to be okay then…?"

Miss Goodwitch gave Ruby a consoling smile and nodded firmly, "Miss Mandevilla will spend the weekend in the infirmary, perhaps longer. She will be good as new soon enough, though."

Ruby let out a few deep breaths, interrupted by the racking sobs she continued to recover from. After a minute, she let out one final sigh, and let go of her teammate's hands to wipe her eyes free of the tears staining her cheeks. She looked to Olivia and gave a small giggle, "She was out of it pretty bad there for a minute. It sounded like she thought she was the Black Lotus."

"The Black Lotus?" Weiss decided to indulge Ruby in whatever it was, as long as it kept the younger girl's mind off the state their teammate was in, "What's that?"

Ruby shook her head, "Just a character in the comics that I let Olivia borrow. She's one of the main villains earlier on in the series."

"Those comics she was reading the day you locked the two of us in the dorm?" Weiss asked quizzically, thinking back on the large box that she hadn't seen pulled out since, "What's it about?"

"Ozborne the Great and Powerful, a hero that goes around solving issues on Remnant, mostly by fighting them off. The Black Lotus is a recurring villain during the Mistral arc that uses all of his weaknesses against him to keep escaping and pulling one over on him."

"How does he end up beating her?"

Ruby let out one small laugh, "He doesn't." She appeared as if she was going to say more before the bullhead lurched to the side, slowing down midair to come in for a landing on Beacon cliff. Everyone held on to something for a moment as their weight shifted drastically, swaying back into place only as the ship touched down.

Their eyes were greeted by a few medical staff as the ramp lowered, a gurney waiting between them. Miss Goodwitch ordered everyone out of the way while they hovered it up next to the bed, and shifted Olivia's small figure on to it. Ruby was the first to jump up and follow after, her brow set in determination. Weiss half expected the teacher to demand they stay, but sighed in relief when no call came after them. The rest of the class allowed them all to pass before getting up themselves.

Weiss and Blake followed on Ruby's heels, as did team Lion with Ren and Nora leading their pack. The nurses rushed Olivia along the paved walkway, hurrying towards one of the larger structures on campus that lay within the ring of buildings surrounding the CCT.

Yang looked across all of them, to the blood splattered in various places and staining more than one garment, "I don't know how long it'll take Olivia to wake up… Does everyone want me to bring them a change of clothes?"

"It's likely best if we don't linger in ours for too long," Pyrrha agreed, grimacing at the flecks of blood that decorated part of her combat uniform, "I would hate to run into a faunus student and risk spreading the sickness to them."

Blake paled and looked down at her own clothes as well, eyes darting across the blood staining her top, "Y-you've got a point…" she sent a questioning glance towards Ruby and Weiss, "Want me to grab you both something else to wear as well?"

Weiss nodded, "My school uniform should work out nicely," then looked to Ruby, who's eyes were dead set on Olivia's face as she watched for any change, "Grab Ruby's while you're at it?"

Blake nodded and broke off with Yang and Pyrrha, the three taking it upon themselves to help in any way they could, even if it was merely a change of clothes.

"Oh!" Weiss piped up as Blake walked away, eyes intent on the bow atop her head. Her eyes dropped to Blake's own once the girl turned around, but staring as she had, she didn't fail to notice the bow twitch atop her head, "Perhaps you could bring the box of comics? Olivia will need something to do while she's recovering…"

"Yeah. Message me when you find out the room number," Blake accepted, turning back to hurry a few steps and catch up with the other two.

Weiss allowed her feet to carry her forward as her mind pieced together what she'd learned. Now that she knew what to look for from the book Olivia had given her, it was very clear that Blake was a faunus. Only her own predisposed idea that the girl was a human had kept her from seeing it until now.

'The bow, the way she always stuck by Olivia's side…' Looking back on it, she could faintly recall a few instances that had been odd at first glance, but that she'd waved off as Blake simply being another awkward teen.

Weiss thought on it for a while as what remained of the group made their way to the infirmary. A small pit had formed in her chest, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

'Am I upset that there's another faunus on my team?' Weiss gave the question a very thorough investigation, prying into her own feelings as well as she could, 'No… that isn't it…' Something was upsetting her about the situation, though.

After a few more moments mulling it over, the reason became clear. If Blake had continued hiding her heritage even after Weiss had become friends with Olivia, then the only explanation to be had was… 'She still doesn't trust me…'

The sinking feeling in her chest grew as she continued thinking on it. 'Is it because I'm a Schnee?' Was her damned name to blame for her teammate's insecurity? Did Blake not feel safe around her, not enough to share even the most basic of details about her race?

'Can I really blame her…?'

As awful as it was, Weiss thought back to how she had been only a couple of weeks prior. If Olivia hadn't been so upfront about Weiss's ignorance, then she would still believe that her family's company was being unfairly targeted. As much as Weiss hated to admit it... she had felt contempt towards the faunus for what they'd done. Never to the point of blatant racism, she could never go that far, but Weiss had felt that the faunus should feel guilty for what members of their species were doing to her own.

The group entered the hospital, gravity dust infused gurney slamming through the wide double doors and allowing them entry. Pavement gave way to a shiny white tiled floor, and the gut wrenching aroma of things that were a little too clean. They followed after the nurses, one of the three stopping to check in at the front desk before rushing back and announcing that they would be going to room 13C.

Weiss pulled out her scroll, careful to make sure her hand was clean of any blood first, before opening up her messages and navigating to her text conversations with Blake. She quickly typed out the room number and then hesitated with her finger over the 'send' button. Weiss bit her lip, wondering if she should bring up her newfound knowledge with the faunus.

After a few moments, she failed to summon up the courage to do so and simply hit send, letting Blake know where they would be. She sighed in vexation, but ultimately thought it was for the best… 'I should confront her in person…' Weiss glanced ahead to Olivia's unconscious form and couldn't help but believe that the other faunus already knew. With how close the two were at times, it only made sense that they'd been in on the secret together.

They arrived at the room and one of the nurses blocked them off from entering along with them, "You'll have to wait out here. We can't have you crowding up the place," she raised a hand at the immediate rush of arguments about to come her way, face sternly gazing down on Ruby in particular, "Your friend will be fine. Let us do our work."

The fierce team leader glared up at the nurse for a few moments longer, then seemed to deflate, falling back on her heels and shoulders slumping, "Yeah… okay…"

The nurse gave a firm nod and entered the room, shutting the door behind them. Weiss had a momentary view inside and could see the nurses already hefting Olivia onto the hospital bed, propping her up partially and beginning to remove her clothes so that she could be cleaned of both the sick and blood that stained her uniform and skin.

Weiss placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder as the girl continued to stand in place, staring at the door as if she could see through it. With a quick glance around, she noticed a long bench across the hall and steered the younger girl in its direction. Ren and Nora took the hint, Nora going so far as to fall into place on Ruby's other side so that she ended up between the two older girls.

Nora grabbed Ruby's left hand with two of her own and leaned into the other girl's shoulder, sighing with a soothing note of relaxation, "Don't you worry, Red. Olivia is tougher than any of us. If Miss Goodwitch says it'll take a few days? Pfft, ha! Olivia will be out of there in a day!"

"Olivia is surprisingly resilient," Ren agreed, leaning forward to look at Ruby around Nora. He held his hand out in a silent offer, raising one eyebrow minutely.

Ruby shook her head lightly and rubbed her arm across her face, "Thanks, though."

Ren smiled and sat back, "Any time."

Weiss let out a small chuckle despite herself, "I suppose we're going to need to stock up on soup and blankets. If even one of us catches a cold then we all might eventually."

"I wouldn't mind missing classes for a few days," Ruby grinned.

Weiss smacked her on the shoulder, though it lacked any real force, "None of that. If I catch you faking it, Ruby Rose, then I'll… I'll tell your father!"

Ruby gasped, "You wouldn't dare…"

Weiss crossed her arms, "I would."

Ruby narrowed her eyes playfully, "You're pure evil, Weiss Schnee. I thought we were partners, but you were just waiting until my back was turned to sink the dagger in."

Weiss scoffed, "I use a rapier."

Ruby laughed, her earlier nervousness and fear diminishing greatly. She sighed contentedly, "We got lucky that those Grimm attacked when they did… If it hadn't run away from us to Olivia then we might have taken too long to find her…"

"Is that a usual behavior?" Weiss frowned, raising an eyebrow to the other three, "My sister helped me train with her summons, so aside from initiation, I haven't fought many actual Grimm."

Ren spoke up first while the others were still mulling the question over, "It isn't unheard of. Older Grimm are more intelligent, and can tell when a confrontation isn't going to go their way. It may have simply been smarter than most and decided that the fight wasn't worth it."

"Have you ever seen any do that before?"

"We avoided them for the most part," Nora chipped in, but nudged the hammer leaning against the bench next to her with her foot, "When we didn't have a choice, then I didn't really give them a chance to run."

"You avoided them?" Weiss asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

Ren nodded, "My semblance does more than calm people. It can remove your emotions completely for a time. Doing so will hide you from the Grimm. Nora and I traveled from town to town that way in Mistral."

"That's so cool~!" Ruby fawned, looking to Ren and Nora with a pair of wide eyes, "You could sneak up on them and bash their heads in easy!"

"It was effective," Ren agreed with a self-satisfied curl to his lips.

The door to the hospital room opened, the three nurses filing out. The first two continued down the hall while the last stopped, looking the four of them over with a critical eye, "I overheard you all talking about changing clothes. Make sure you clean what you're wearing thoroughly before you even think about putting it back on," her eyes stared more intently, "There's antibacterial soap at the sink. Make sure you use it to wash off your faces and hands as well."

"Yes, ma'am," Weiss spoke for them.

Ruby glanced past to the door, sheepishly turning her eyes up to the nurse, "Can we… go in?"

The nurse smiled lightly and gave a small shrug, "You may. The patient won't be awake for quite some time though, so don't expect to get a conversation out of her. We've got her set up on an intravenous dose of aura enhancers. She'll be under for at least the next day while her body fights off the sickness."

The nurse looked them over, "If there's nothing else…?" When no one offered up any more questions, she nodded firmly, "Try not to disturb her too much."

With that, the nurse followed after her colleagues down the hallway, leaving the four of them in the hall by themselves.

Ruby jumped up once she was gone and walked over first, keeping what the nurse had said in mind and carefully opening the door. Olivia had been changed into a hospital gown, and lay on the bed with a thin blanket pulled up to her chest. A line ran from a standing pole topped with a bag of blue liquid down into Olivia's arm, vanishing into one of her many black veins.

Ruby led the rest of them inside, eyes scouring the small room and falling on what she sought. The young leader snagged some of the chairs that were set off to the side and arranged four of them around the bed, two on either side. She sat down in the one closest to Olivia's left.

The spider faunus's body shook, her expression twisted into a frown verging on pain, her breath coming out in ragged pants. Ruby's eyes brimmed with tears once more, and she shuffled closer to intwine her fingers with Olivia's own.

Almost immediately, the faunus's expression started to calm. The shivering stopped, chest rising and falling more evenly while Ruby let out a small squeak of surprise. Olivia's hand closed to hold hers more tightly, fingers lacing with Ruby's and the hint of a smile appearing on her lips. Weiss smiled and sat down next to Ruby, rubbing a comforting hand across her back.

"See? Olivia is going to be just fine."

"Is she… awake…?" Ruby leaned forward, whispering into the faunus girl's ear, "Olivia, can you hear me?"

After a moment of no reaction, Weiss let out a quiet laugh, "I bet it's her sixth sense," she squeezed Ruby's shoulder, pulling her back slightly, "Spider faunus have a ridiculously good sense of their surroundings. Even if she can't say it… I bet she's glad you're here, Ruby."

Ruby smiled happily, giving Weiss a thankful nod before leaning against the side of the bed. She rested her head on the edge, mere inches away from Olivia's own, "A leader never leaves a teammate behind…"

They waited there for a while longer. Eventually, Ren got up from his chair to head to the sink and wash the blood off his hands and face. Nora did the same once he was finished, followed by Weiss a minute later. She returned to Ruby's side and looked at her closely, spotting the blood on her cheek, along with a little that had ended up in her hair, nearly blending in with the natural scarlet tips.

"Go wash up, Ruby."

"But-..." Ruby frowned in worry at Olivia, squeezing her hand more tightly, "She needs me here…"

Weiss sighed, grabbing Ruby by the shoulders and pulling her up out of the chair, "Don't worry. I'll take over while you're getting clean. You can't help Olivia if you end up getting sick yourself, right?"

Ruby begrudgingly had to accept. She used her other hand to pull the one Olivia was holding free. Weiss immediately took her place while Ruby shot worried glances back over her shoulder.

Weiss sat down in Ruby's chair and hesitated a moment, doubt invading her mind. 'Would Olivia want me to try and comfort her?' With the recent realization about Blake, Weiss felt her shoulders fall slack, 'Maybe I should just wait for Ruby to get back…'

Olivia's shivers began anew, her breath once more coming out ragged and the smile fading from her face. Weiss reacted instinctively and moved her hand to Olivia's in hopes to ease her pain.

To her surprise, she reacted much the same as she had with Ruby. The tremors subsided, breathing returning to an even pace and hand reflexively tightening around Weiss's own. Olivia shifted slightly, her body moving almost imperceptibly closer and head inching to the side. Her lips parted, a quiet sigh escaping.

"Weiss…"

Weiss froze, unsure if she had actually heard Olivia correctly. The faunus gave no further outward signs, simply smiling minutely as she had been before. The heiress felt her cheeks heating slightly, and tried to hide it from Ren and Nora by raising a hand to fix her bangs. Olivia's hand closed more tightly, fingers digging in to ensure that Weiss wouldn't let go.

Weiss's other hand fell away from her hair, and she brought it down to hold Olivia's with it as well. The faunus relaxed, fingers returning to a more tender embrace while Weiss rubbed her thumb soothingly across her wrist.

The door to the room opened in a rush, and Weiss had to stop herself from visibly panicking when the other three entered, hefting clothes and comic books alike. Yang and the others had already changed, dressed in their regular Beacon uniforms instead of their combat outfits. They had also washed, not a hint of blood remaining on their skin or in their hair.

Yang and Pyrrha both separately carried a small bundle of clothing, and handed them off to their respective teammates, gesturing for them to go change in the adjoining bathroom. Blake set down the box of comics on the chair that Weiss had previously vacated, her uniform and Ruby's sitting on top of the stack. Blake's eyes fell on Weiss and Olivia's hands, and she smiled affectionately.

"How's she doing?"

Weiss had to force herself not to glance up at Blake's bow more than she would have normally. Every little motion that Blake made with her head caused the bow atop to move though, making Weiss believe that the ears hidden beneath were going to twitch once more. She shook herself out of it and looked back to Olivia, keeping her voice low, "She's going to be just fine. The nurses said she'll be out for a while because of the aura enhancers, but we can visit as long as we don't disturb her."

"Good," Blake smiled.

Ruby returned from washing herself and looked ready to resume her position. Weiss gave her a stern look and nodded to the uniform that Blake had brought, "Get changed, first. You're hardly out of the woods if you're still wearing bloody clothes."

Ruby glared, though there was no real anger behind it, and snatched her uniform off the box of comics. She headed over to the bathroom and stood outside of it, waiting for Ren and Nora to finish up before entering herself. The two Mistralians grabbed another couple chairs on their way back over and set them down for Yang and Pyrrha, all of team Lion now on the right side of the bed.

Eventually, Ruby returned and Weiss was forced to give her place next to the bed back up so that the young team leader could resume her position. Olivia's hand clenched more tightly as Weiss stood up to leave, causing the heiress to hesitate as well. With Ruby ushering her to move though, Weiss used her other hand to free herself.

Even after Ruby had taken her spot back over, Olivia's smile didn't quite return.

The group discussed the events of the day, sharing exactly how everything had panned out for them. Lion revealed that the majority of the Grimm had fled, leaving the group scratching their heads, wondering where exactly team Rainbow had gone. Once they'd received the group wide message from Miss Goodwitch though, they'd rushed back in a panic to find Rainbow hefting Olivia into the bullhead.

"Where did you find her?" Pyrrha asked.

"Next to a group of trees," Ruby replied first, eyes staring at the calm expression on Olivia's face, "She must have puked and then passed out next to it… There was so much blood mixed in, I thought the Grimm might have beaten us there at first…"

Ruby shook at the memory of it, and Weiss gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, "Hey, let's not think about what could have been, alright? There's no point to it. Olivia is alive, and she's going to make a fantastic recovery."

Ruby gave her a thankful smile and nodded sharply, "You're right."

After a few more minutes of idle chatter, a few of them brought up the topic of food. With a promise that she would take care of it, Weiss excused herself out into the hallway to call up pizzas for delivery. She had memorized everyone's favorites as well as she could, and ended up ordering one of each. The price was negligible as far as she was concerned, and was more than willing to try and brighten everyone's day, if only a little.

Weiss was beginning to pocket her scroll when she felt more than heard someone off to her left. She turned to the side and had to hide her surprise when she noticed the Headmaster standing only a handful of feet away, patiently waiting for her call to have ended.

"H-Headmaster! Sorry, I didn't notice you walk up!"

"No, no. My apologies, Miss Schnee. I sometimes forget how engrossed in their own activities people can become," he glanced to the door, then back to Weiss with a smile, "I take it Miss Mandevilla is doing alright? No sudden complications?"

Weiss shook her head, "The nurses said she should be just fine. Thank you for coming to check up on her, though."

"Of course," Ozpin sipped from his mug and then lowered it to swirl the liquid within, idly pondering something before raising his eyes to her, "Would you be willing to give a short recounting of the events? Miss Goodwitch could only tell me so much, seeing as she wasn't present for the initial discovery."

"Oh, um, sure!" Weiss collected her thoughts and straightened, "Olivia was showing signs of being sick by the time we left the bullhead and… thinking back on it, I can see now what else we missed. After we began our walk through the woods and had found a clearing of trees to collect sap from, Olivia left us under the pretense that she was going to puke. After a while though, we got worried when she didn't return. Blake and I were just about to go search for her when the beowolves attacked."

"And these beowolves. Were there many of them?"

Weiss thought back to the fight and gave a small shrug, "Ruby killed quite a few, and Blake killed a couple. The last one tried to run away and we followed it. That's how we managed to find Olivia so fast."

"Hmm," the Headmaster made the small noise in his throat before taking a long sip off his mug. Once he'd finished, his lips quirked into a small smile, "Thank you for your time, Miss Schnee. It seems you were lucky to have found Miss Mandevilla when you did. We can only thank the brothers that the Grimm did not instead lead you astray."

The Headmaster turned to leave, and Weiss gave a small "Goodnight" towards his retreating form. Ozpin returned the sentiment with a wave over his shoulder, soon vanishing around the corner of the hall and leaving Weiss alone once more. With a shake of her head at the oddity of the man, Weiss returned to her place in the room and waited for their dinner to arrive.

After they'd all eaten and had their fill, many began excusing themselves to go to bed. The hour grew much later, and eventually even Ren and Nora excused themselves as well, leaving only the members of team Rainbow behind in the room.

Weiss sighed and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Come on. We should all get some sleep."

"No. She… she needs me to stay here," Ruby argued quietly, clutching Olivia's hand more tightly while refusing to be drawn away, "You saw how she was before…"

Weiss's first reaction was to argue, but looking down and seeing the peaceful expression on Olivia's face, she couldn't help but agree. Weiss squeezed Ruby's shoulder lightly, "Alright. One of us will stay here until she wakes up. I'll be back in a few hours to trade you places, agreed?"

Ruby thought on the proposition and eventually nodded acceptance, turning back to lay her head against Olivia's bed, "Not too soon though, okay?"

"Okay," Weiss followed Blake to the door, and together the two of them exited the infirmary.

They walked silently, thinking on all that had happened during the day. Weiss couldn't help but find her eyes drifting over to Blake's bow, that small ache returning to her chest. She gathered up her courage as they walked, finally slowing down on the path and causing Blake to slow as well, the other girl's eyebrows raising in confusion.

"Weiss? Is something wrong?"

Weiss avoided her eyes, looking at the path beneath their feet. She could still see Blake partially, notice her shifting uncomfortably with the heiress's continued silence.

"Do you… do you not trust me, Blake?"

"Wha-...?" Blake's confusion was palpable, "What made you think that?"

"Because you're…" Weiss hesitated, but she wanted to know the truth. She'd already made so much progress with Olivia. Why should Blake be any different?

"Because you're a faunus, right?"

Blake's breath caught, and Weiss couldn't help but raise her eyes and see the fear that had appeared on her face. Immediately she regretted it, but with no way to take back what she'd said, pressed on, "I noticed how you reacted when Miss Goodwitch was talking about what Olivia has, and the way you raised your hand to your… they're ears, aren't they? Hidden beneath your bow?"

Blake's eyes darted around them, seeming to check and make sure they weren't close enough to anyone else that they might overhear. With the hour approaching midnight, and the majority of the campus in total darkness though, there was no one else around for Blake to worry about.

Ever so slowly, her hand drifted up to the fresh bow that had replaced the bloody one from earlier. Blake grasped one end of it with trembling fingers, and carefully pulled on it until the knot came loose. The bow spilled off to the side, revealing the two feline ears that sat atop Blake's head. The instant they were free, both lowered sideways, mimicking a cat that was currently afraid.

"Blake…" Weiss felt that pain in her chest grow, and took a step forward as if to console her teammate. Blake immediately stepped back fearfully, hands partially raising in a defensive manner. Weiss stopped moving closer, and let her hands fall back down to her sides, feeling tears beginning to brim at the corner of her eyes, "Do you hate me too…?"

Blake's eyes widened further, and she stopped backing up, "N-No. I don't hate you, Weiss."

"Did you think I would try to hurt you? Why were you hiding who you were…?" Weiss wanted to know the answers. If not because of her, then what would have caused Blake to act in such a way?

"I… I'm not hiding from you, Weiss…"

Weiss raised her eyes in confusion, wiping the tears free with the sleeve of her uniform, "Then… then why…?"

"I'm…" Blake bit her lip for a moment, uncertainty clouding her eyes, "I'm hiding from…" she seemed to struggle for a moment, then gave up with a sigh.

"Everyone…"

"Everyone…?"

Blake nodded timidly, "All humans… You never know who's going to be the next racist that belittles you, or refuses service. Hiding who… what I am… It's just easier that way…"

"But…" Weiss shook her head, "You could have told me, Blake. I wouldn't have treated you differently."

"Wouldn't you, though?" Blake glanced up into Weiss's eyes, expression doubtful, "Even if Olivia has helped you to get better. Hell, maybe because Olivia did. I… I wouldn't want you trying to compensate for anything you might have done in the past by giving me special treatment, either. I just… want to be like anyone else, Weiss. I'm not human, or faunus… I'm just Blake, your teammate."

"Well, if that's how you want to be treated…" Weiss played with the cuff of her right sleeve, rolling the button between her fingers nervously, "I can do that." A thought came to mind, and she glanced sharply back up at Blake, "Does Ruby know?"

Blake shook her head, and Weiss let out a sigh. At the very least, it hadn't been a secret being kept solely from her on the team. That truly would have felt like a small betrayal, the trust of her team being less than she had previously thought. Even now, the pain was still there, yet Blake's explanation had served to ease it.

Weiss nodded, "Okay. You're Blake. Just Blake. I… I can handle that."

Blake looked her over, and after gazing closely for a few seconds, smiled in timid confidence, "You really think you can pull it off?"

Weiss smirked, "Pull off what, Blake?"

Blake snorted, "Alright. We'll see how you do. Maybe…" she looked wistfully into the distance, back towards the hospital they'd left, "Maybe if you manage to keep it a secret… I might tell Ruby then, too," she glanced back to Weiss, a smirk on her lips, "One is enough for now. I only have one extra set of ears to keep track of what you're saying."

Weiss laughed lightly and stepped forward, walking past Blake a small ways and slowing down until the faunus had caught up, "I'll do my best."

Blake smiled, "I know you will, Weiss. For what it's worth…" she darted her eyes to the side before facing ahead once more, "A part of me is glad you know. It isn't easy keeping secrets, and I've got too many to count. Having one less to worry about is… nice."

"Well then, I'd better not disappoint."

The two of them enjoyed each other's company on the way back to the dorm, eventually finding themselves back in the room. Weiss changed into her night shirt and left her uniform on the chair nearby, ready to be changed back into once it was her turn to look after Olivia. She set her scroll on the nightstand and opened up her alarm app, then paused, looking across the room to Blake and her two sets of ears.

"Do alarms bother you?"

"Weiss…"

"...Yes?"

"No special treatment."

"...Right," Weiss chided herself for messing up so soon, but in her defense, was only trying to be nice. With a glance across to Blake's silhouette, she shrugged and lowered the alarm's volume, knowing that the quieter tone would still manage to wake herself up regardless.

Weiss crawled beneath the covers and turned over to face the wall. Her breath came out in a long sigh, the emotional fatigue of the day weighing heavily on her. With one last yawn, she turned ever so slightly to look across the room.

"Goodnight, Blake."

"Goodnight, Weiss."

The teammates fell asleep without another word, only the shared feeling of trust between them.

It was well past midnight, the only light in the room coming from the monitor that measured Lotus's pulse and aura level. The monitor let out a low, methodical beep, signalling each beat of the faunus girl's heart.

The child sat with her head against the side of Lotus's mattress, both their hands slack in each other's grasp as the younger girl slept quietly. If she had been awake, the girl would have seen the frown that slowly began to form on her friend's face. Would have heard the heart rate monitor beginning to pulse more rapidly.

The door opened silently, and a lithe red haired woman stepped in, shutting the door behind herself. She eyed both of the sleeping girls, and gave a small huff, choosing to ignore the one that was unimportant for now.

Widow walked to the opposite side of Lotus's bed and picked up the nurse's chart, reading the results of their findings. She recognized the sickness. It was one that had plagued Atlas long ago, killing off a significant portion of their faunus population before the doctors had been able to discover a cure that worked for those without aura.

Noticing that Lotus's heart rate had increased, Widow set the chart back down and stepped closer. Lotus shuffled slightly in her sleep, eyes flickering back and forth beneath her eyelids. Widow sighed, and placed her hand along the veins of her forearm, slowly and lightly stroking back and forth to try and soothe her daughter.

"I only wanted to make sure you were safe, Little Spider…" Widow whispered it quietly, making sure to block the noise from reaching the younger girl completely, "You have nothing to worry about from me…"

After a few minutes, Lotus's heart rate returned to normal, and her expression calmed once more. Widow continued to try and soothe her, sixth sense remaining on high alert, knowing that she was deep in enemy territory.

Widow felt a flash of anger as the Schnee's presence moved within range. Her hand raised to tighten on her dagger's hilt, and the heart rate monitor spiked once more. Seeing the sudden spike, Widow forcefully calmed herself, letting her hand fall away to her side. She leaned down, and kissed Lotus on the forehead before pressing her own against her daughter's.

"I'll save you from this self-destructive path soon enough, my Little Spider. It's only a matter of time before these people turn on you… but I… I will never betray you…"

With that, Widow made her leave, making sure that everything was as it had been before she entered.

Widow felt the small Grimm beetle circling her heart, and placed her hand up to try and comfort it as well.

'Now then… Let's get to work, shall we?'