AUTHOR'S NOTES: The fight for the Belladonna Lodge concludes. This chapter didn't quite go as planned, and it's a much shorter fight than the three-episode one in canon RWBY. The reason is that, once you take Ilia out of the mix (and once I sent Sun off with Kali), that fight gets a lot shorter. In canon RWBY, of course, Ilia was still part of the White Fang; here, she's been a deep cover CIA agent, so there was no reason for her and Blake to fight. Still, I hope it's a good chapter.

The Belladonna Lodge

Paisley, Lower Scotland, Menagerie

19 June 2001

Corporal Chatuskami Tamang stood guard at the top of the stairs, on the veranda, at parade rest. She held the barrel of the SA80 in one hand; the other was at the small of her back. The front door opened; she saw Ghira Belladonna stick his head out and snapped to attention. "Good evening, Corporal."

"Good evening, sir!" she snapped out.

"Would you like some tea?"

A quick shake of the head. "No, sir. Thank you, sir."

Ghira smiled. He rather liked the young corporal, who reminded him a little of Blake. "Right. Carry…" His voice trailed off, and he sniffed the air. "Corporal, have you seen anything unusual?"

"No, sir. I relieved the RSM just after your daughter left." She looked around. "Is something the matter, sir?"

Ghira peered into the darkness. Something didn't seem right. There was no noise, nothing on the street—though the latter wasn't unusual, as Paisley tended to be pretty quiet after dark, and the lodge was on the edge of town. Even the birds were quiet.

And suddenly Ghira knew exactly what was wrong. He had served in many corners of the former British Empire as a Royal Marine, both being ambushed and ambushing others. The fact that there was no noise at all was his proof that they were about to be hit. "Corporal," he said softly but firmly, "I want you to move back inside. Make it casual."

"Sir?" Tamang looked confused.

"We are about to be attacked. Move back into the house," he repeated, beginning to edge back himself. "That is an order, Corporal."

"Yes, sir—" Tamang brought up the SA80 to her shoulder, when suddenly she stiffened and gasped. Ghira heard something hit the door behind her, then saw the blood. A half-second later, he heard the distant crack of a rifle. Tamang fell to the ground as if she was a puppet whose strings had been cut. She looked down at her uniform and the spreading red stain in her chest. "Sorry, sir," she struggled out. "I think I've been hit."

Ghira grabbed Tamang by the lapels of her tunic and threw himself backwards through the open door. He felt before he heard the passage of another bullet over his head, and managed to get Tamang through the door before he kicked it shut. "Rai!" he shouted.

Ganju Rai had been sitting at the living room table, pouring tea and waiting for Ghira to return. He instantly figured out what was happening. "Sergeant Gurung! Get off the balcony now!"

Sergeant Gajendera Gurung walked briskly into the kitchen, then saw Tamang on the floor. He brought up the SA80, then turned and shut both the doors to the balcony. Unlike the heavy front doors, the balcony doors were more flimsy. He then took cover behind the kitchen table, where he could cover the balcony and provide flanking fire to Rai and Ghira.

Rai knelt next to Ghira, who slammed the bolt home on the doors. "White Fang," he growled. "Sniper. They'll probably hit the house next." Rai nodded, pulling off his uniform shirt and tearing off the sleeves as ersatz bandages. Tamang looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Sorry, RSM. I never saw the sniper. I'm afraid I've lost my weapon."

"Rest easy," Rai said. He lifted the corporal like she was a child and began carrying her upstairs. "Ghira, we can't hold the first floor. Too many points of entry."

"I know. We'll have to fall back to the upstairs bedrooms—" Then he leapt backwards, as the front door suddenly bowed in and began to splinter.

"Hit it again!" Corsac Albain shouted, then checked his watch. "Brother Fennec, have you heard from Sister Ilia yet?

"She's overdue," Fennec Albain replied. He fished out his phone, and nodded to Corsac to continue.

The White Fang had moved forward in a silent, fast run from side streets, where Tamang could not have seen them. Each of the twenty Faunus was dressed in black, except for their white masks. The sniper at the Fang hideout had taken care of the Gurkha on guard at the front door, but Ghira had sensed the ambush and gotten back inside. Fennec was not overly worried; they had anticipated that the ambush might be tripped early and the doors locked. Four of the burliest White Fang carried a large metal pole, a breaching device, and were slamming it against the thick front doors of the Belladonna Lodge. Corsac checked his watch again; they would have probably less than half an hour before the Paisley police arrived, and the White Fang had to assume that the Gurkhas had backup stationed somewhere in Glasgow itself. It would be more than enough time to kill Ghira Belladonna.

Fennec dialed in Ilia's number. It rang once. "Ilia."

"Sister Ilia, have you accomplished your mission?"

"I have. The package is on its way. I'm proceeding in your direction in the red Fiat Blake was driving."

"Very good. I'll advise Brother James."

"Is he still at the previous location?"

"Yes."

"Thank you. My ETA is five minutes." The line clicked off. He turned to Corsac. "Ilia should be here in five minutes. Should I have James kill her when she arrives?"

"Let her join the attack first," Corsac told him. This was Adam's addition to the plan: Ilia Amitola would be found among the bodies in the Lodge, and used as a scapegoat. The Albains had not been entirely sure of that aspect of the plan, but knew better than to argue with Adam Taurus.

There was a heavy splintering of wood, and Corsac whistled. The four White Fang dropped the breaching device and fell back; there was now a large hole in the door. They waited for gunfire to come through the door, but none came.

Ghira had fallen back from the door, grabbed the couch, and flipped it over. Rai knew they would never make the trip upstairs now, so he sat Tamang by the entrance to the library. Her head lolled when he set her down, and her eyes stared at nothing. Rai checked her pulse, sighed, issued a short but appropriate curse, and left her, grabbing her kukri as he did so. "Gurung, hold where you are!" He saw the hole appear in the door and ducked down behind the couch with Ghira. He handed the Faunus his pistol and the kukri. "Tamang's dead."

"Fuck," Ghira spat as he watched over the couch. Then he saw four cyndrilical objects tossed through the hole and land on the floor. He ducked down. "Flashbangs." Ghira clapped his hands over his ears and opened his mouth to equalize the pressure. Even with that and the cover provided by the big couch, the explosions were enough to feel like someone had hit him in the back with a truck. Behind the flashbangs came smoke canisters, and after those, the door was smashed open. Ten White Fang charged in, long killing blades drawn, and fanned out.

Rai recovered faster than Ghira. He popped up from behind the couch and opened fire with the SA80. With the smoke, it was hard to see, and he fired at shadows, in short, controlled bursts. One shadow screamed and went down, but he couldn't see if his shots had hit anyone else. Then the White Fang surged out of the smoke, screaming at the top of their lungs. One Fang leapt atop the overturned couch, but Ghira grabbed his leg and tossed him into the nearest wall with ridiculous ease. He dodged a thrust from another knife, shoved the Fang backwards, and shot him twice with the pistol, only to be grabbed by a Faunus nearly as big as he was, who wrestled the gun away from Ghira.

Rai saw three White Fang headed for him. He shot one, smashed another in the mouth with the SA80, and the third suddenly arched his back, blood pouring from his mouth as Gurung killed him with a burst. Rai threw down the SA80 and drew his kukri. "Aayo Gurkhali!" he shouted, and leapt into the midst of his enemies. The kukri slashed downwards, and a White Fang soldier's head fell to the floor.

Ghira grabbed the White Fang who had grabbed his pistol, headbutted him, and sent him stumbling backwards. Two others hesitated. Ghira bared his fangs and let out a bellow of pure rage; black claws appeared at his fingertips. Then he was knocked backwards as the Faunus with the pistol shot him through the shoulder. The war cry turned into a shout of pain.

Outside, Corsac heard Ghira's shout. "I believe it's time our chieftain stepped down, Brother Fennec."

"Yes, Brother Corsac," Fennec answered. "I'm afraid I'm inclined to agree." He pulled his own long-bladed knife from its sheath, and Corsac did the same. Fennec raised his voice. "Second team, go!"

The two White Fang charged Ghira, seeing an advantage in his wound. Ghira backhanded one of them, then rammed his claws into another's stomach. The Fang screamed as he ripped his way back out, tearing away skin and entrails.

Rai stepped back to cover Ghira's back, his kukri and his hand covered in blood. They saw the other White Fang coming through the door. Gurang had his hands full, fighting off two more Fang with the bayonet on his SA80. "Well," Rai puffed, "still not as bad as that night in Hong Kong."

Edward James lay on the roof of the White Fang safehouse, a block away. He watched the second team form up and go screaming into the house, and sighed. There wasn't much he could do here. He doubted the Gurkhas would be stupid enough to flee out the balcony entrance; he was frankly surprised he'd managed to shoot even one of them. James, like many members of the White Fang, actually had some military experience; he'd served in the British Army in Europe, where he'd learned his sniper's trade.

He heard footsteps coming up the ladder and took his eyes away from the scope for a moment, putting one hand on the pistol holstered on his hip. "Who's there?"

"Sister Ilia." The voice was muffled but was distinctly feminine.

"Ah, all right." He went back to his scanning. "How did things go at the dock?"

"Well enough," Blake Belladonna replied. James hesitated for a moment, finally realizing that the voice was not Ilia Amitola's. The hesitation cost him his life. Blake had grabbed a phone cord out of the wall downstairs, and now used it as a garrote. She whipped it around his throat, pulled backwards as hard as she could, and planted both knees into his back. There was a sickening crunch of bone, and James went limp, gasping for air through a crushed trachea. She let him fall off the roof to the street below, tossed the cord aside, and lay down on the roof, picking up the scoped rifle. Blake sighted through the scope, settled the crosshairs on Fennec Albain's head, and pulled the trigger.

The Albains started forward. Fennec put his hand on Corsac's shoulder. "Brother—"

The bullet caught him in the back of the head and exited out his right eye. Blood, bone and brains exploded over Corsac, splashing across his face. The body of Fennec Albain fell to the stairs. Corsac's knife fell from nerveless fingers. "Fennec?" he said in a quiet voice. "Fennec?" Dimly, he heard the screech of tires, and turned, still stunned by the sudden death of his brother, to see Ilia pull up in the Fiat. She was out of the car before it had fully stopped, and ran forward. "Sister Ilia," Corsac said, "I think Fennec is dead."

She ignored him, cupping both hands to her mouth. "White Fang! Get out of there! Fall back, retreat! The police are here!"

The second team of White Fang, hearing a familiar voice behind them, and seeing the bloodied, angry Gurkha and Faunus chieftain ahead, obeyed the order. They fell back, leaving twelve of their number in bloody heaps on Kali's once immaculate wood floor. They turned to Ilia for orders, but before she could give any, a BMW tore down one of the side streets, swerved, and skidded to a halt. The window rolled down and Private Pan stuck his SA80 out of the window. Sun Wukong jumped out of the driver's side and braced himself across the roof, pointing a pistol at the White Fang. "Drop your weapons!" he yelled. "Surrender!"

Several of the White Fang had guns of their own, and began to reach for them. "Do as he says!" Ilia shouted. Some looked back at her. She carefully withdrew Blake's Beretta and tossed it on the ground in front of her, raising her hands. Confusion swept through the White Fang ranks. A spark suddenly shot from the stairs just ahead of them, and they heard the whine of a ricochet. It was all the encouragement the surviving White Fang needed. They threw down their weapons and raised their hands.

"James," Corsac breathed. "He's a turncoat."

"It's not James," Ilia said out of the side of her mouth. "It's Blake." Realization came over his face, and one hand drifted towards his knife, but she shook her head. "Not unless you want to end up like your brother."

Ghira and Rai stepped out of the remains of the front door. Blood ran down Ghira's arm from where he had been shot, but he didn't seem to notice. "I think we've been relieved," Rai said, with a tired smile.

"I hope." Then all of them reflexively ducked as two fighters roared overhead and headed for Abbotsinch.

Blake jumped as well, almost dropping the rifle. She looked up, recognizing the silhouettes in the moonlight. "MiGs?" Then she realized where they were headed. "Oh shit. The charters."

She stood on the roof, watching helplessly as the MiGs streaked for the airport. Then a shadow flitted over the moon.

Kali Belladonna was flying without a G-suit or oxygen mask; she was wearing her old helmet, while her stockinged feet manipulated the rudder pedals. She'd been allowed to keep her little Gnat after she'd retired from the Indian Air Force and married Ghira, as a gift from the Indian government. Ghira had insisted that it be kept fueled and loaded with ammunition for its twin 30 millimeter Aden cannon, although it was a single-seater; he'd feared that one day Kali might have to flee for her life from a White Fang attack, which might include aircraft—namely Adam Taurus' Moonslice.

She wasn't fleeing, and Kali was glad not to see the distinctive shape of the Moonslice. The Gnat was a small aircraft, but a nimble and deadly fighter. The two MiG-21 pilots hadn't seen her: she'd positioned herself as high as she could without needing oxygen, and the two White Fang fighters made nice targets against the lights of Paisley. She dived, but held her fire. If she shot down the MiGs now, they would crash into the town, or worse, into the parked aircraft at the airport. She hoped there was no other air traffic around; she'd already declared an emergency in taking off from Glasgow airport, but had no idea if the air traffic controllers had actually shut the airport down. She noticed they were carrying rocket pods, not bombs, which made sense: the White Fang were going to make one rocket pass and then head for home; bombs would have cut into their already short range.

Now this is going to take some careful timing, she thought. She hoped the Adens were loaded with tracer rounds, opened fire to one side of the MiGs, and prayed her tactic would work.

It did. The MiG pilots saw tracer skitter past to their left, and instinctively broke right, abandoning their run, taking them out over the Firth of Clyde. She stayed with them in the turn, letting the gunsight pipper settle over the spine of the MiG, just behind the cockpit. She fired a short burst. The heavy cannon shells punched through the thin aluminum and into the fuel tank. The MiG became a comet, rolling into a terminal dive that ended in the dark water below. The other MiG pulled up into a climb, but Kali followed him into it; the Gnat was nearly as good in the vertical as the MiG-21, and she suspected she was up against inexperienced pilots. Another burst into the glowing tailpipe of the MiG, and the engine flamed out. As the MiG-21 stalled and began to fall backwards, the pilot ejected.

Kali watched a parachute blossom over the pilot, and the MiG tumble into the water as well. "Glasgow Tower, Kali One," she radioed, using her old callsign. "Splash two. You may open the airport now, I think the threat is over."

The Belladonna Lodge

Paisley, Lower Scotland, Menagerie

19 June 2001

"What a mess." Lieutenant Saber Rodentia shook his head as some of his men carried out stretchers from the house. Only two of the stretchers had living Faunus on them; the others were covered by sheets. Blood trails covered the stairs to the front door, and there was still one huge, dark stain where Fennec Albain had died. Blake, leaning against her mother's Fiat, stared at that stain for awhile. She'd killed before, more than anyone else in Ruby Flight, but it still bothered her. She was glad it still bothered her.

Ghira walked up to her. His shirt was off, but he did not seem chilled. A bandage wrapped around his shoulder and upper chest. She looked up at him and smiled. "You okay, Dad?"

"Mm. The bullet lodged in the muscle. Not too deep; a few stitches, that's all. I've had a lot worse." He put his arm around her. "I'm glad you're all right. Your mother is parking the Gnat; she'll be along presently."

"Can't believe Mom still had that old thing," Blake said.

"Glad she did." He bent down. "And Ilia, I'm told that you defected?" His voice betrayed him; Ghira didn't trust her.

Ilia sat in the Fiat, trying to stay out of sight. The police had handcuffed her, but on Blake's request put her in the car. She had told Rodentia that Ilia was looking to defect. He hadn't believed her either. "Yes," Ilia said, quietly. The enormity of what had just happened was starting to dawn on her. She was now well and truly out of the White Fang, an organization that had once given her life and a chance for revenge. Now there was just her friendship with Blake, and the hope that would be enough.

Blake leaned over to whisper. "Dad, Ilia's been a deep cover CIA agent since I left the White Fang. She's always been on our side."

"Despite what I said the other day," Ilia said, her skin turning a little pink. "I had to maintain my cover, Mr. Belladonna. I'm sorry."

Ghira straightened up. "Huh," was all he said.

"How are the Gurkhas?" Blake said, to change the subject.

"Tamang got killed by the sniper. Pan's unhurt. Gurung got some scrapes and scratches, and Rai's got about the same. Thank God they were here," Ghira breathed. If he'd been alone, or if it had just been himself and Kali, they would be the ones being carried out in covered stretchers.

Sun walked up to them and stopped in front of Blake. "Glad to see you're okay. Sorry I wasn't here."

Blake smiled and hugged him. "It's okay."

"Your mom knows," he whispered in her human ear. Blake barely managed to cover her expression of shock. That was a conversation for later, and she hoped Kali didn't tell Ghira, or there might be an addition to the body count. Ghira was already giving Sun a dirty look.

Rodentia came up to them and saluted. "We think we've gotten everyone—including the sniper you took care of, Mis—Captain Belladonna," he corrected himself, addressing Blake. "I've sent a team to the docks as well." He looked at Ghira. "I am terribly sorry we didn't get here sooner, Mr. President."

"This was a professional hit," Ghira replied. "It would have made no difference." All of them stared at Corsac Albain, still spattered with his brother's blood, being led to the back of a squad car. He stared back at them dejectedly. "Was it worth it?" Rodentia asked, and Corsac turned away.

Blake noticed that there was a steadily growing crowd of people, mostly Faunus, who were arriving and watching the cleanup of the bodies, and the escort of the prisoners to two paddywagons waiting to take them to prison. She suddenly had an idea and climbed up on top of the Fiat.

"Faunus of Menagerie!" she called out. Heads turned in her direction. Here goes, she thought. She'd never been good at speeches, though Adam had once said she could be rather inspiring when the mood was on her. For once, she hoped he was right. She pointed at the front of her house. "Humans didn't do this! We did this—Faunus! We did this to ourselves!

"We are just as capable of hate and violence as the humans, but no one wants to say it out loud. So why is Adam Taurus doing it for us? By doing nothing and staying silent, we let others speak and act in our place. And if we don't like what they're doing, and do nothing, then we have no one to blame but ourselves." She stabbed a finger at the bloody stain. "This is the message that Adam Taurus will bring to the world if no one stops him. But we can stop him!"

She looked out over the crowd. "You have to understand that all of you—all of us—are looking for simple answers to a very complicated problem. And I can't give the answer to you either. I don't know how to make hate go away. I don't. But I do know that this kind of violence is not the solution." She paused, glanced at Sun and her father. Both were smiling at her. "I understand that to ask you to leave your homes and go thousands of miles away to protect people you don't know is risky. But we have to. We have to forgive the humans the past. They have to forgive us the present, if we're to have a future together. Because if we have no future together…" Blake shook her head. "Then we have no future at all." She gave a nod. "Sun Wukong and I are going to Japan. By ourselves if we have to."

She heard and felt the door to the Fiat open. "I'll go with you," Ilia said. "If you'll have me." This sent up a lot of murmurs from the crowd. Ilia wasn't wearing her mask, but many recognized her all the same.

Rodentia gave her a look of disbelief. "I don't know…"

Blake nodded at the policeman. "Let her go."

"After what she said? After what she did?" Rodentia argued. "You're just going to forgive her?"

"I am," Blake simply replied. Rodentia could not know about Ilia's true allegiance, but both of them understood that forgiving a former White Fang member was a symbol.

"There is strength in forgiveness," Ghira added.

A young Faunus about Ruby's age, Blake figured, stepped out of the crowd. "I'm Dodge Mata, and I'll go!" he announced.

After a brief hesitation, a female Faunus with fins on her arms—one of the few amphibious species of Faunus—stepped forward as well. "I'll go!"

An older Faunus with antlers, who had been standing next to Mata, took a step forward. "No one will call me a coward! I'll go!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd as dozens of others stepped forward. Blake hopped down and grinned to Sun. "Looks like we got work to do," he grinned back.

"It looks that way."

He pulled out the notepad from his back pocket, then faced Ilia. "You know, you owe me for kicking me in the balls."

Ilia turned pink again. "I'm sorry."

He nodded, and slapped her on the butt. Ilia squeaked, her eyes wide. "There. Let's just call it even." He winked at her and walked over to the crowd to take names.

"Jerk!" Ilia called out after him, but then she started smiling.

"How long do we have?" Ghira asked the chameleon Faunus in a lower voice.

"Two days. Three at the most," she informed him.

He nodded as a taxi forced its way through the crowd and parked behind the Fiat. Kali stepped out of the back, saw Ghira, and rushed to him, embracing her husband. "Are you all right?"

"Fine."

"The Gurkhas?"

"One dead. Tamang."

"Oh God." Kali leaned against her husband. Then she saw Blake, who was still smiling, and Ghira and Ilia both beaming at her. "All right," Kali said, "what did I miss?"

AUTHOR'S ADDITIONAL NOTES: Rai's war cry translates roughly to "The Gurkhas are upon you!" It's pretty much the last thing you want to hear a Gurkha yell (and if you're opposing them, it probably will be the last thing you hear, period). I admit to cribbing the last part of Blake's speech from Julius Limbarni in The Wild Geese, and I'll admit I've done it before in other fanfics. Given that I think it's the best speech on racism outside of MLK, I figured no one would mind.