A/N: It's kind of weird how often my chapters naturally end at around 1000 words. I don't plan it, I assure you.

Blake hid in the cover of a closed coffee shop while it rained. Her ears were flat against her head as she gingerly sipped some Vacuan black coffee. She hated the rain. It irritated her fur on her ears.

She wondered when Neo would get back. After Neo had saved her from the clutches of Cinder and Mercury—Blake took another sip to forget the sight of Neo dismantling the other assassin so effectively—Blake had gotten Neo to come clean.

The process had been slow and hard-going, Neo obviously encountering painful memories along the way. Blake was patient and gentle the whole way through.

Eventually, Neo had admitted that she had been a criminal together with Roman, and that they had worked for Cinder before trying to escape her employ.

Blake watched as she explained, her hands shaking when she mentioned Roman, becoming fists at the thought of Cinder, and finally, when she was done, her body was clenched, like a cat about to bolt.

Blake hugged her. Blake wasn't good with words, but she could do this. She stroked Neo's hair even as she stiffened, trying to convey just how much she understood. Oh she understood. She understood having done horrible things in the past and trying to escape it all for a new start. She understood so much but most of all…

Blake pulled back from the hug and looked Neo into her heterochromatic eyes, which were shifting in confusion and shock.

"It's not your fault. I forgive you, Neo. And it's going to be okay. You'll get over this." And then those eyes became a little glassy, and Neo had given her a quick hug back, full of meaning.

Then she'd pulled back and signed. What are you going to do now? Return to Beacon?

Blake smiled. "No. You need me here. Let me help you. If what you're telling me about Cinder's plan is true, we have to stop her. Take me with you, we'll stop her together."

Neo's eyes had gone wide, and then she broke out in the widest smile, nodding wildly.

That had been two hours ago. They'd had to find a new base of operations since the others Neo normally used were compromised by Cinder's posse. Blake knew a few places in Vale from the time she had been on the run from Adam until she'd been accepted into Beacon.

They were at one of them now, called Sable's. It was a fairly new coffee shop that had opened at the beginning of the year. Blake had been tired and hungry when she'd stepped through the door. It hadn't even opened yet, but the owner, Sable, had been kind enough to give Blake some food and water. Since then, Blake had become a regular. Sable's was one of the few places in Vale who didn't care that Blake was a faunus fugitive. And she was a great person besides. Serious, yet kind, hardworking and willing to listen. Blake was confident Sable would welcome Neo.

Neo hadn't come in yet. She said she'd had something she had to do. She'd left Blake here with a promise to meet her here when she was done.

Blake was starting to get worried. While she didn't think Neo was suicidal, whatever Roman had been to her had been someone important. When he died, Neo had been left with a great unhealing scar in her heart. Blake could see it when Neo thought Blake wasn't looking. A distinct deadness in her step, filled only partially by anger, which was dangerous. That was how Adam had gone. Blake shook her head to clear her thoughts. Neo wasn't Adam. Blake couldn't think that.

"Still waiting for your friend?"

Blake looked up to see Sable cleaning some mugs. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a young sprightly face indicative of a healthy lifestyle. While Sable wasn't a huntress, she had her Aura unlocked, and liked to keep active. Apparently her father had objected, but ultimately relented when she decided to go to Vale, deciding that having Aura and some training might be necessary for a young woman by herself in a big city.

"Yes, she should really be coming soon. I'm kind of worried something happened to her. She went through something traumatic recently, and isn't entirely emotionally stable."

"You must care a lot for her."
"I do. She's a friend, and…she reminds me of another friend I had. Adam. Before he got to the way he is now."

Sable knew about Adam. Not about him being the leader of the White Fang. But she knew how Blake and him had been partners, and how he'd changed, and how she'd had to run away from him.
"I understand. You are always welcome here, Blake. If you have nowhere else to stay, you can always come here. And when she gets here, I'd let to extend the same to your friend as well. A friend of yours is a friend of mine."

Blake smiled gratefully at the other woman. At that moment, the bell over the door tingled, and Neo came through.

Blake was at her side in an instant. She didn't look injured, but her face was somehow distraught all the same. "Neo? What happened?" "Neo?" Blake looked up at the apparent recognition. Sable had a look of pleasant surprise on her face. "Could you be the Neo that Father took back to Ansel the other day? My sisters have been talking all about you! Why, Sapphire has set her eyes on getting you together with our errant brother. Of course, whenever Jaune comes back home, but that won't stop her. You even somehow earned Jade's approval, and that's hard to do."

Blake was getting whiplash. She looked at Neo, who was turning red, and then her brain caught up to her ears, causing her to stare at Sable.

"Wait. Jaune, brother, sisters? You're one of Jaune's seven sisters?"

Sable blinked. "You know Jaune?" Then she brought out three more cups of coffee. "Here have a seat. I do believe we have a great deal to discuss."

A/N: Remember when Juniper said Sable had a coffee shop in Vale? Also, this was a nod to Coeur's Service with a Smile. One of his best works I think.