Chapter 48
Velvet stepped off the elevator and into a glorified construction site. The tarps and warning signs were unsightly, but they were better than blood and blast damage at least. She was surprised that Weiss had rushed to return to her office before the work was complete, despite having no shortage of other options. Perhaps she was making an attempt to return to normalcy. Well, normal for her.
Yatsuhashi smiled politely as Velvet approached the heavy doors that led to Weiss' office. She returned the smile and added a small nod as she passed, stepping through the doorway and into the office, allowing the doors to swing shut behind her. Weiss was standing before her desk, hands clasped before her, posture stiff and upright. She looked as if she were about to meet investors, not an old friend. That could only mean one thing.
"I'm going to be angry, aren't I?" Velvet sighed, covering her face with her hand.
"That's likely." Weiss confirmed.
"What did you do?" Velvet inquired.
"I didn't do anything, not yet." Weiss replied.
"Then what are you about to do?" Velvet paused for a moment before gesturing toward Blake, who sat in one of the chairs before Weiss' desk. She was hunched over, elbows on knees, head in her hands, clearly tense. "And why is she here?"
"Blake will be working for me as a security consultant." Weiss explained. "After the...incident...we need to make changes, and she has the knowledge and expertise."
"I thought you were a bartender." Velvet noted.
"Blake's been a bartender for a few years, but before that she was…" Weiss trailed off. "Her occupation was more...covert."
"Military?" Velvet guessed. "Intelligence work?"
"Not quite, but in a manner of speaking." Weiss stated.
"I was in the Fang." Blake admitted, not looking up.
"Oh for the love of…" Velvet groaned. "You're going to hire a member of the White Fang to protect you from the White Fang?"
"Who could have better knowledge of their inner workings?" Weiss noted. "And she's a former member."
"So she claims." Velvet countered. "We can't trust her word. This is insane! She could be an assassin."
"If I was an assassin..." In a flash, Blake drew a knife from her boot and thrust it in front of Weiss' neck, stopping just inches short of her flesh. Weiss did not even flinch. "I could have killed her before you got here. Or the last time I was here. I could kill her now. I had her in my car, alone, in the middle of the night. If I wanted her dead, she would be dead. The only reason she's still alive is because the Fang doesn't know how easy it would be." Blake flipped the weapon around, catching it by the blade.
Weiss took the knife and examined it. "The fact that she was able to sneak this through security should be proof enough of our need for her services."
"No, it shows we need a professional to overhaul company security." Velvet argued. "I still see no reason to trust her, let alone employ her."
"I trust her." Weiss declared, returning Blake's blade. "Ruby trusts her. That's enough."
"Being a former member of a terrorist organization does not qualify her to do the job." Velvet insisted. "We should just hire an expert."
"I was personally trained from childhood by Kali Belladonna, head of Menagerie's Ranger Corps." Blake claimed. "I learned more about anti-terrorist operations before I was a teen than most of your so-called experts ever have."
"Right." Velvet rolled her eyes. "I'm supposed to believe the first lady of Menagerie personally trained you. Now why would she do that?"
"Because I'm her daughter." Blake replied.
"Oh, so you're a princess then!" Velvet gasped in faux astonishment. "Stop the presses, Menagerie's missing princess has finally surfaced! What a joyous-"
"It's true, Velvet." Weiss interrupted. "I had Penny look into her background. She did image comparisons. There's no doubt."
"Well, there is a 99.7% chance that Blake Morelle is in fact Blake Belladonna, daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna." Penny interjected. "It is impossible to be 100% sure, owing to the period of time elapsed between the file photos of Blake Belladonna and the present."
Velvet rubbed her temples in exasperation. "Fine. Fine! Hire her. I knew I was going to walk out of here pissed."
"Blake isn't actually the reason I asked to meet with you." Weiss corrected. She walked around her desk and sat down, gesturing for Velvet to do the same in the chair beside Blake. Velvet hesitated, but took the seat with a weary sigh. "So, Ilia Niji, my new assistant."
"She didn't come through SFO, so I don't know anything about her." Velvet noted.
"It seems we know very little about her." Weiss continued. "But Blake-"
"Oh gods, she's Fang too, isn't she?" Velvet groaned.
"We don't know for sure, but it's a distinct possibility." Weiss confirmed. "She got a visa by betraying a White Fang officer, so she may have genuinely defected."
"It could also be a ploy." Blake admitted. "The officer in question was fairly important, but given the power dynamics within the leadership, he might have been seen as a liability or a threat. I doubt he would have been burned for nothing."
"So she's a probable White Fang operative." Velvet summed it up. "Call the military and be done with it. Let them sort it out."
"Absolutely not." Weiss refused. "First, we don't know for sure, and I can't in good conscience throw her to the wolves if there's any chance she's innocent. Second, even if she is a spy, she can be turned."
"And what makes you think that's possible?" Velvet asked.
"I grew up with her." Blake answered. "I know her. She's not ideologically committed. She only joined because of me. Given a full view of the facts, there's every chance she'll decide to defect."
"And if she's an assassin who stabs Weiss in the throat on her first day?" Velvet challenged.
"She's not an assassin." Blake declared. "She doesn't have it in her to hurt anyone. Her personality...imagine Ruby, but without self-confidence."
"Mhm, and why don't you just walk in and tell her everything?" Velvet inquired. "She followed you in, she'll follow you out. If she doesn't, we just call the cops."
"She needs to choose on her own." Blake insisted. "She's never had a real choice in her life. Besides...I don't deserve it."
"We'll put her up in an apartment, monitor her 24/7, make sure she doesn't have access to any really critical information." Weiss changed the subject. "We'll let her see the real SDC, the real Weiss Schnee, the-"
"Brainwash her?" Velvet suggested.
"She's been brainwashed by the Fang." Weiss shook her head. "What we're doing is more like...deprogramming. Replacing their falsehoods with truth."
"It worked for me, and I was truly committed." Blake added. "Even after I left the Fang, I spent years hating humans, hating the SDC. It only took a few weeks with Ruby and seeing all this with my own eyes to convince me that I was wrong. It will work for her."
"Plus I'm sure information we glean from monitoring her will assist Blake in her investigation of the bombing and the Fang's presence in Atlas." Weiss claimed.
"This is absolutely insane." Velvet stated.
"I know it sounds crazy, but it's the right thing to do." Weiss asserted.
"No, this is a stupid risk." Velvet stood, planting her hands on the desk. "I won't let you do this. Someone has to save you from yourself."
"Please." Blake managed barely more than a whisper.
"You think you'll convince me when she didn't?" Velvet scoffed. "No. Not a chance."
"What do I have to do?" Blake pleaded. "Do I have to beg?"
"That would be a start." Velvet huffed.
To Velvet's surprise, Blake slid out of her chair, kneeling before her. The feline bowed her head until she was prostrate before her. "Please. I'm begging you. Please let us try this. It's...I don't deserve this but I can't...just please."
Velvet glared at Blake, who did not even risk glancing up at her, lest her submission appear insincere. Velvet glanced at Weiss, whose steadfast determination was clear. "Ugh...fine. But under several conditions."
"Anything." Blake agreed.
"First, we're going to take every, and I mean every, precaution to minimize the risks." Velvet demanded. "Second, Blake, you will monitor, analyze and report on all of Niji's actions. You'll also report to me about any investigating you do on the side."
"She reports to me." Weiss cut in.
"No, you don't have the time to focus on it." Velvet refused. "She'll report to me. I want daily, written reports. In person as well if it can happen. If I give orders, you will follow them. Third, Weiss' bodyguard will be fully informed of this operation. Someone needs to be ready to step in if you're wrong about Niji." She paused. "If anything goes wrong, I am personally holding you accountable Blake."
"Of course." Blake nodded. "I accept full responsibility. If I'm wrong...I'll take the fall if it comes to that. I deserve it."
Velvet rolled her eyes. "Get up off the floor already." Blake obeyed, returning to her seat, tears visible in her eyes. "I still don't trust you. We're going to have to take some precautions with you as well. We'll fit you with a tracker-"
"Absolutely not." Weiss interrupted. "I am not going to tag her like an animal."
"Fine." Velvet sighed. "If you're going to be armed, you'll use a registered firearm we provide."
"That's a bad idea." Blake warned. "You don't want anything that can be traced to the SDC."
"She's right." Weiss concurred. "This situation calls for a degree of plausible deniability."
"Fair enough." Velvet relented. "But I don't want you to cause any situation where such deniability would be necessary. If you screw up and get in trouble with the law, we're not going to bail you out."
"I understand." Blake consented.
"We'll need to work out more details." Velvet advised. "Like who will know about this, and just how much they'll know. Your bodyguard will need to know everything. She should be informed as soon as possible."
"I'll call her in later today." Weiss said. "She can help us with the details."
Velvet walked to the door before turning back to the pair. "Don't make me regret this more than I already do."
Yang winced as she walked past the tarps and caution tape. What looked like remodeling to most had a very different significance for her. She had no idea how she would manage to sit before the spot day in and day out once her new job began in earnest. Yang wondered why the current occupant of her future seat, Yatsuhashi, was not going to get the job permanently. He certainly had seniority over her...and pretty much everyone in security at the SDC. Perhaps he just did not fancy the idea of being so close to an assassination target. Maybe Weiss did not quite trust him enough. That made Yang wonder why Weiss would trust her instead.
Yang's racing thoughts screeched to a halt as the large doors to Weiss' office unlocked with an audible clunk. Yatsuhashi waved Yang in. She took a moment to collect herself. This would be her first meeting with Weiss, her new boss, in a fully professional setting. She did not want to screw it up by bumbling in while distracted. The day's training session had left her a little beaten up, but a shower and some aspirin had mostly fixed that. The fatigue would be harder to deal with, but she hoped it would not show.
As she opened the door, Yang was surprised to see Blake sitting before Weiss' desk. "Hey Blakey, why are you here?"
"The same reason you are." Weiss spoke up. She gestured toward the vacant chair beside Blake's. "Take a seat, you must be tired from training."
Yang did as instructed, dropping into the empty seat. "What's going on?"
"We're about to launch a...sensitive operation." Weiss explained. "And we hope you're going to play an important role."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "I haven't even had my real first day, and you're roping me into something? And what does Blake have to do with it?"
"I've hired Blake to look into the bombing, and this venture is somewhat related." Weiss replied. "We have reason to believe my new assistant, Ilia, is a White Fang spy. We're going to confirm this, then if she is, turn her to our cause if possible."
"Uh...okay?" Yang managed, not really sure how to respond. Of all the possible reasons for the meeting, she had never considered anything like this.
"We'll be monitoring her, feeding her curated information, and occasionally applying subtle pressure." Weiss continued. "You'll be part of that, and you'll make sure I'm safe if she tries anything more violent than espionage. Any questions?"
"Many." Yang admitted. "First off, how do you know she's Fang?"
"I knew her." Blake answered. "She joined with me."
"Wait...you're Fang?!" Yang demanded.
"I was." Blake admitted. "But I abandoned the White Fang years ago."
"So you...I...Maidens…" Yang stammered. "This is too much. I can't-"
"You can, Yang." Weiss interrupted. "You want to find the people who maimed your sister? You want to punish them? This is how."
Yang stared in silence for a moment. "Who knows about all this?"
"The three of us, plus Velvet at the moment." Weiss replied. "We haven't decided if anyone beyond that should know. Secrecy is essential."
"And everyone who knows is potentially in danger." Blake warned. "That goes for anyone close to you, Schnee."
"I'm well aware of that." Weiss nodded. "Blake and I had been discussing some tactics that might help turn Ilia. We think Ruby-"
"She is absolutely not going to be involved." Yang declared. "No way. I'm not putting her in harm's way, especially not after what just happened."
"She won't be in any danger." Blake insisted. "Ilia wouldn't harm her."
"Yeah, how can you be sure?" Yang demanded.
"I've known her since we were kids." Blake explained. "She doesn't have it in her to harm an innocent. Personality wise, she's actually similar to Ruby in some ways. She's a good person, she's just been misled."
"Misled by you." Yang accused.
"Yes, and others." Blake confirmed. "Before I met Ruby, I hated humans, even after I left the Fang. I really did. Ask Sun, he knows. Less than a month around her and I'd changed my worldview entirely, and Ilia isn't nearly so self-assured. A few hours around Ruby and she'll be questioning everything she knows."
"This is a terrible idea." Yang advised.
"Yang, please." Blake implored. "Help me save my friend."
"If you're not willing to do it for Blake, keep in mind that Ilia may have information that can lead to the people who harmed your sister." Weiss added. "If we get her on our side, we'll be one step closer to bringing them to justice."
"I will take full responsibility for Ruby's safety." Blake pledged. "No harm will come to her. I promise you."
"Fine!" Yang threw up her arms in exasperation. "What do you need from me?"
"Just be extra vigilant around Ilia, but don't give anything away." Weiss instructed. "And don't tell anyone about this. Not even Ruby."
"Watch Ilia like a hawk, don't tell a soul, got it." Yang let out a small sigh, a feeling of deep fatigue suddenly evident in her chest. She slumped forward, burying her face in her hands to rub at what she was sure was an impending headache. She needed a cigarette.
"I realize this is a rather large development to be thrust upon you." Weiss noted. "It took us all rather off guard."
"It's okay." Yang groaned. "I understand. Miss Schnee I...may I go?" She looked up to find Weiss fixing her with a look of hesitance, but was given a nod all the same.
"Take care Yang." Weiss responded. "I'll be in touch."
Yang nodded, biting back a groan as she pushed herself to her feet, the aches and strain of the day making an intrusive return. This was just another item to stack atop the pile of the thrumming unease in her being. She needed to isolate, to process, to calm. She felt winded. Former White Fang, former. Blake was a former terrorist, of the group that had maimed her sister. Ruby had been living with her, Sun loving her, and all the while she held this secret. And Yang had been smiling through gritted teeth just to keep the peace. She did not look at Blake as she left, but felt her burning gaze all the same.