Blake II – Photographs

"Okay" She laid down on the couch, keeping Gambol Shroud on the floor beside her and staring up at the ceiling. She slid the bow from her hair and ears and placed it on the table. There was no need to hide her ears here and she would take the opportunity to release them.

After a few moments of lying there, Torchwick's breathing slowed and he fell asleep. Blake continued to stare up at the ceiling, thinking back to all her previous encounters with Torchwick. How can he sleep so soundly with all that he has done? The fact that the Torchwick who was helping her escape the police and seemingly giving her a place to hide was so similar to the snarky criminal who ran a mech through a busy highway and robbed every dust shop in Vale was stuck in the front of her thoughts. Why had he saved her from that cop? Torchwick was a lying, manipulative schemer who always seemed to underestimate her, much to his dismay. The first time they fought, he had shown himself as a skilled fighter, but it looked like the Battle of Beacon had left him almost as bad off as Yang. The comparison brought the chill back to her bones. For a moment, she was watching Yang shiver in her sleep again before she returned to the dark room, quiet save for Torchwick's light breathing. Shaking her head slightly, she closed her eyes and tried to steady her heartbeat. One moment she was seeing the back of her eyelids, the next she was back in the fight.

She smelt the burning bodies again, Ether's muzzled face hid her sinister grin as she loomed over Blake. Adam didn't interfere this time. Ether threw her to the ground and slid her blades into Blake's stomach. Blake wasn't panicked despite the pain. She was cold, resigned to her fate. No one was coming to save her this time. Except it was far worse than that. "Get away from her!" Yang's voice ringing in the empty room stabbed a new hole into Blake's heart. Yang ran into the fight but instead of losing an arm, she was impaled on Ether's blades. Blake tried to scream but she couldn't, her heart hammering in her chest. Ether threw Yang's body down next to her and Blake watched the light fade from her eyes.

Blake woke with a gasp, digging her nails into the couch. She didn't know where she was for a moment looking around the dark room quickly. She jerked back to the other side of the couch when she noticed Torchwick looking in her direction with his weapon pointed at her. After a moment he sagged back down and seemed to be asleep again. Was that an instinctual reaction? As she stared, she realized that he had indeed fallen right back to sleep. Blake tried to close her eyes and calm down but all she saw was Yang's dead eyes staring back at her. She felt her stomach lurch and covered her mouth as the bile rose in her throat. It was just a dream. Yang isn't dead. Ether is the one who's dead!

Blake stared at the opposite wall and tried to steady her breathing. She needed to find something to focus on, so she grabbed the only item on the low table beside the couch. It was a picture frame showing Torchwick leaning on his cane with Neo standing next to him leaning on her closed parasol. They were both grinning at the camera. They might be criminals, but they do take a good picture. The joy coming from the picture brought a melancholy smile to her face. She had barely been gone from her team for a few hours, but it was already hurting. Ruby was in a coma, Weiss had been taken away to Atlas, and the White Fang took Yang's arm. She couldn't see any of them again and, for the first time in a while, she was alone.

As Blake's fingers absentmindedly played along the edges of the frame, she felt a button. As she pressed it, the picture changed. This time Torchwick was sitting in the chair he was currently sleeping in with his legs crossed and a book in his lap. Blake had to stifle a laugh when she noticed the confused look on his face as he stared at the person taking the picture with a pair of reading glasses at the end of his nose. Who would think he needs reading glasses? While trying to look at what book he was reading, she noticed the grey metal of his left hand holding the book open. That probably has a story to go with it. It looks like Atlas tech. Maybe he couldn't cut it as a criminal in Atlas and came to Vale?

Blake clicked the button again and couldn't suppress her giggle. The next picture showed Neo floating down to the ground using her umbrella. Her face was disgruntled as she glared at the person holding the camera while holding her Beacon regulation skirt down with her free hand. Blake couldn't blame the photo taker, who she presumed was Torchwick. Neo did look adorable in the picture. Wait, is she my age? Blake had done as much research as she could on Torchwick and his tiny partner. Torchwick had an expected history, orphan surviving on the streets turned criminal mastermind. Neo Politan was a different story. All the information the VPD were able to send over on Neo was that she was a young, occasional accomplice for Torchwick. No other affiliations or family to speak of. Maybe she is some stray he picked up. Did he pick her up on a lark and bring her to shelter? Blake covered her eyes with her free hand. Oh, for fucks sake, that is basically what he did with me. Blake turned to stare at the sleeping criminal on the other side of the room. What are your goals here, Torchwick? Blake knew he was strong, but with him lacking an arm, she was confident she could beat him if he tried anything.

Thinking about Torchwick's injury led to thinking about Yang's so Blake forced himself to look back at the frame in her hand. She clicked the button again and the picture changed. The picture showed a human man and faunus woman that Blake couldn't recognize. The woman was wearing a long, sleek, red dress that matched her hair and standing in front of her companion with her hands clasped in front of her. Unlike her companion, she was looking at the camera. Her crimson locks were tied back in a ponytail that was draped over the shoulder furthest from her companion. The most striking things about her were the two fox tails curled around her partner and her multicolored eyes, one pink and one brown, that seemed to shine with her smile. Her companion has an arm wrapped around her waist, a wedding band prominent on his hand. Why do they have a picture of a random couple?

Blake looked up to see if the man would answer her question and her mind shut down for a moment. Torchwick? No, it couldn't be him. The Torchwick she knew wouldn't get married, let alone to a faunus. Even if he did, he would have been smirking at the camera in his usual confident way. This flame haired man was smiling softly and looking down at the woman in his arms with a look that could only be qualified as 'cherished'. This new man certainly resembled Torchwick. He had Torchwick's hair and eye color, but he had a full but trimmed beard and his hair was cut in a very short, military style. Who is this? Maybe Torchwick has a brother? She looked closer to the face trying to find a difference. He looks so similar. Are they twins? Blake's train of thought stopped abruptly when she noticed the scar. When Blake had first held Torchwick at blade-point on that dock, she noticed a slight scar under his right eye usually hidden by his hair. The man in the photo had the same scar.

Blake stares at the scar on the sleeping man across the room aghast at this new information. Torchwick married a faunus? No, it had to be a plot to steal her money or something. Blake looked back to the photo to triple-check only to find that the picture had changed again. Torchwick and his 'wife' were in this one as well. This time they were standing beside a chair and smiling down at the pair sitting in it. Well, to be more precise there was a man sitting in the chair with a woman sitting in his lap. The new girl was a white-haired fox-faunus with white eyes and wearing a wide grin as she looked up at the sitting man. As Blake brought her eyes up to look at the fourth person in the picture, ice filled her veins. Adam's scared face smiled at her from the picture until the frame fell from her numb and trembling fingers. Adam's speech to Ether about his mentor played in her head and Blake felt bile rise in her throat again. Did Torchwick bring me here for Adam? Adam's blood splattered face was at the forefront of her mind as she grabbed her weapon and moved to Torchwick. She knocked his weapon across the room and slammed her boot into his chest to hold him in the chair at blade point. "Who are you! Who are you to Adam!"

Torchwick raised his hand in surrender, keeping his eyes on her weapon as it shook by his neck. "Calm down Kitty Cat, why don't you just take a breat-"

Blake pushed the blade against his neck, forcing him against the chair and cutting a small line across his throat. "Answer my question Torchwick! Are you just holding me here until Adam comes to kill me?"

Torchwick blinked once then tried to speak as blood begins trickling down his neck. "Okay, okay calm down."

Blake removed the blade from his neck but kept it ready. Torchwick was a schemer and she wouldn't let him get the best of her. "Talk." Torchwick rubbed at his cut neck and winced at the pain. He took a deep breath and locked eyes with her. His eyes were trying to focus on the sound of her voice, the darkness sapping the memorable green of his eyes. He is thinking too much. He's plotting something. "I said talk. Now." Blake moved the blade to the side of his neck again.

The smirking human breathed in deeply before spitting a gout of flame. Blake activated her semblance to leap out of the way of the flames. While she was dodging, she saw a blade fly past her and slam into the command console next to the door. The lights came up, blinding her for a moment. Blake jumped back blindly, hitting a wall and readying her weapon. When her eyes readjusted, Torchwick was across the room from her with his cane held ready at his side. "Okay, now that I don't have a blade at my throat, the hell are you on about?"

Blake ignored him, desperately trying to think of what to do. Before she could close the distance to fight Torchwick, the door to their side slammed shut. Blake turned to see Neo standing in front of the door with her eyes white and wide with horror as she looked at her partner in crime. Before Blake could use the opportunity to try and make it to the door, Neo turned and slammed her into the back wall. The force of the blow made Blake's vision blur. "Vanille!" When Blake's eyes refocused, she was pressed against the wall with the blade at the end of Neo's parasol inches from her left eye. Blake froze at the cold fury in Neo's eyes. She swallowed heavily as terror gripped her soul. Was this how she was going to die?

Then, Neo turned to look at Torchwick and Blake saw her eyes change. The fury drained away as tears filled the shorter woman's eyes. Then cracks started forming on the tricolored woman's head before shattering as Neo leapt toward Torchwick, her weapon tossed aside, forgotten. The taller man wrapped his remaining arm around the small woman as she wept into his stomach. No cries left her mouth, only ragged breathing as she clawed at the crime boss' back. Blake stared at Neo's pure white hair and the large fox ears that now protruded from atop her head. She looked down at the same woman sitting on Adam's lap as he nervously smiled at the camera with a face that matched his hair color. As the fear and panic left her all at once, Blake had a moment to notice the picture getting closer and closer, but she blacked out before she hit the ground.

The first thing Blake felt when she woke up was warmth. She felt the tingling of her Aura, stronger than it had been in a while, slide over her body as she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the large, white fox ears poking out of the mass of hair in front of her face. The second thing was the steady breath playing across her collarbone. It was only after noting the first two things that Blake realized she was naked. Blake grabbed the other person's shoulder and pushed them away with the added force of her foot into their chest. In the moment she had as her companion got to their feet, Blake took stock of her current situation. She was in a shower room, though smaller than the communal showers in Beacon. She was sitting on a small stool and had been leaned against a wall. Her clothes and weapons were nowhere to be seen.

Looking back at her companion, she found Neo looking back at her in her white-haired fox-faunus form with her hands raised in surrender. Neo was also naked and held a dripping wet cloth in one of her hands. Blake blinked and tried to process what was happening. Wait, was she tending my wounds? Blake didn't understand. As she watched the calm girl opposite her, Blake took note of her physique. Neo had a huntress' body, toned and scarred. Aura may protect their bodies but sometimes, in training or live combat, you take real damage and end up scarred. The most obvious scar was the thick, jagged line across her throat. Blake didn't remember seeing it in the picture she found. Is this her real body?

Neo cleared her throat before placing her hands on her hips and winked at her as if to say 'You like what you see?'

Blake flushed slightly and looked away. "Sorry for staring"

Neo rolled her eyes and began signing. Do you think I mind you looking if I chose to be naked in here?

Blake sighed before looking back at her. "I suppose not." Neo seemed surprised for a moment that Blake could understand her. Adam has taught it to her when she had first run away from her parents to join Sienna's White Fang. She had always wondered where he learned it.

Neo tossed the rag at her to get her attention. Blake barely caught it before it hit her in the face, turning to the fox with her ears folded forward. Neo smirked before signing. How are your legs feeling?

Blake stood up, her legs wobbling a bit from how she had been sleeping but there was no pain. "Just scars now. I suppose I should thank you." Neo waved her off and sauntered over. She plucked the cloth from Blake's hand before bending slowly at the waist to pick up the stool and steaming bowl of water. Blake tried not to leer at the shorter woman, but she couldn't help watching a single droplet of water trial down her back. Neo placed the stool and bowl in the center of the shower and gestures for Blake to sit, Torchwick-like smirk plastered on her face. Well they are partners. "I am can wash myself, thanks"

Neo rolled her eyes I'm not gonna bite you Kitty Cat. Just sit down so I can wash your back.

Blake wanted to argue, but she was confused, mentally exhausted, and emotionally drained. As if she sensed the cat-faunus' dismay, Neo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a warm smile before crouching behind her and grabbing the towel. As the warm water flowed down her back, Blake allowed herself to relax, focusing on her Aura. If she was going to escape from here, she would need every scrap she could before the fighting started. In the back of her mind she knew she likely couldn't escape Neo and Torchwick in a confined room with one exit without clothes or weapons, but she would have to try if it came to it. For someone who, according to Yang, hit like a truck, Neo's hands were surprisingly soft as they worked circles around Blake's back.

Just as Blake forced herself to tense to not doze off, she heard a familiar voice from the next room. "Roman, listen I am just trying to protec-"

"No! You WILL be standing on my doorstep within six months, Adam." Torchwick was angrier than Blake had ever heard him, but what scared her the most was the fact that Neo now held both her shoulders and was shaking. Whether from fear, anger, or something else Blake couldn't tell.

Adam sound exacerbated, and distorted from the scroll call, but there was a tenderness in his voice that Blake had heard only rarely. "Roman, they would never let me step foot-"

The sound of a fist hitting the desk stopped the bull-faunus in his tracks. "Don't underestimate me, Adam. I will take care of the issues here and at home. I will make sure that you have a safe home to come back to. You worry about getting your information, lying low, and then hopping a ship before your deadline. If some of your buddies don't like your decision and decide to come looking for you, you are well aware of what I will do to protect my family."

Adam's voice sounded so small that Blake had to strain to hear it. "Family?"

Torchwick's voice lost every ounce of anger and now sounded pained and earnest. "Yes, Adam, family. You are my family, same as Vanille. You always have been and always will be. Now please, just take off the mask." Torchwick's voice broke during the last sentence with the emotion in it.

Blake was so flabbergasted by the sudden expansion of Torchwick's emotional range that she barely caught Adam's whispered, "Thank you." Torchwick's loud sigh seemed to indicate the call was over, but before Blake could fully grasp that, Neo ran straight out the door and into Torchwick's arms. The taller man seemed taken aback for a moment before wrapping his arms around his shorter partner in crime. Blake stood up and walked to the open doorway to marvel at the scene in front of her. Torchwick looked up for a brief moment before noticing her nudity and turning himself and Neo completely around. Blake barely registered that as her mind raced to connect dots that her previous exhaustion prevented.

Blake stared at the ruined joint where Torchwick's arm used to be. Dismembered. She shifted her gaze to the wound on Neo's neck. Crippled. Finally, she turned to the picture frame, now sitting where it began on the end table, thinking on the red-haired fox-faunus. Slaughtered. She didn't need Torchwick to answer her question anymore. She knew what his relationship to Adam was now and, despite how complicated it seemed in her head, Torchwick summed it up in a single word. Family.