A/N: Small TW for suicide in this chapter.
(If you're having suicidal thoughts, please know there is hope. Please call a Suicide Prevention Hotline [1-800-273-8255 in USA] or reach out to a support system. You are not alone.)
PN: Looking back at your records and the case files, it says that officially, you two never went to Mistral. You're saying that's not the case?
YXL: We wanted to keep our little trip to Mistral a secret. If we brought the trip up to the department, then we'd have to wait forever for them to set up flights for us to get over there, and then they would have to coordinate with the Mistral cops, which was never a good thing because they were crooked as fuck. As risky as it was, our best bet was to fly under the radar and go see my mother on our own. The only downside was that there was no backup for us if things went south with her, which was never a good thing. The last thing you'd want to do with my mother was to go to her head-on, without a safety net. But, hey, somebody had to go see her, sooner or later.
BB: We caught a flight early in the morning from Vale Intercontinental Airport into Haven Memorial Airport in Mistral. After that, we picked up a rental car and drove around 2, 3 hours south just to get to Raven's quarry. It was my first time in Mistral.
NV: Really?
BB: Yeah.
NV: You know Ren grew up in a village near Mistral? Koyo-no, wait, kuryo-
LR: Kuroyuri, Nora.
BB: We might've passed by the village when we were diving down to the quarry.
NV: So, what was your opinion on Mistral?
BB: Can I be honest?
NV: Thought we were already being honest. But go on.
BB: It's...kind of a shithole. No offense.
LR: [Laugh] None taken.
From the minute Blake stepped off the flight and into Haven International Airport, she instantly felt she was far away from Vale. Gone were the shiny, clean, brightly-lit terminals in Vale Intercontinental Airport, filled with gleaming monitors displaying flight information and families and businessmen bustling here and there to catch their flights in the nick of time. No, Haven International was a far different beast - dim fluorescent light fixtures buzzed and flickered above cracked linoleum floors that were in desperate need of polishing. Half the terminals still used archaic, LCD boards for their flight information displays, and the selection of preflight restaurants one could dine at consisted only of a Starbucks and a McDonalds. Barely a single soul was in sight as Blake and Yang trudged through the airport towards the car rental agencies on the ground floor of the airport.
The view outside towards Mistral wasn't any better. The sun was gone from the sky, covered by a gloomy, grey haze. Although the temples and castles atop the hill in the middle of the city loomed over all else with regality, Blake didn't have to look far to see the rest of the city were shabby brick buildings, the tallest ones being only 5 or 6 stories at most. One area of the city was clearly the slums, built up entirely of only ramshackle sheet-metal huts.
By the time the two had gotten to the car rental agency and dashed through filling out the paperwork, it was only 7 in the morning. Yang wasted no time finding the car - a black Crown Vic - and beginning the drive down south, with Blake close on her heels.
Like the airport, the highways leading out of the city were devoid of life; the only cars Blake saw were two or three old jalopies that Yang quickly passed up. After half an hour of traveling away from the city, Blake saw the city limits of Mistral quickly dissolve into barren marshlands. Off to the side of the road, the ground was nothing more than wet clumps of mud, and the trees were naked and barren, their branches devoid of any leaves. To Blake, it almost looked like the tree limbs were wretched, crooked fingers, clawing at the dreary grey sky. In the distance, Blake could see two or three oil refineries, their towers billowing a thick plume of smoke stretching into the sky.
YXL: Mistral was always a working-class type kingdom. No one there ever dreamed of going anywhere, being anyone big or important. Half the continent were uninhabitable marshlands and bogs, or untamed wilderness. With no natural resources in abundance that could be taken advantage of and a lack of a suitable economic center in Mistral City, the kingdom initially turned to industry to survive. And they thrived, for a little bit. Steel mills, refineries and what-not popped up all over the continent, but all the shit they were pumping out into the atmosphere was beginning to have an effect on the soii and air. I mean, it got to the point that you couldn't go an hour outside without it getting hard to breath. A few decades later, It was too little, too late to fix the damage Mistral was doing to their land, but they went ahead anyways and shut down a lot of the industrial plants for environmental reasons. Given that a majority of the kingdom's workforce were steel and refinery workers that were now out of a job, coupled with an economy and government that was slowly falling to shit, many Mistralians turned to the only thing they could do to put food on their family's table - crime. The whole continent became a breeding ground for all sorts of characters - drug runners, traffickers, cartels and tribal warlords - if an illegal buck was to be made, it was almost certainly made in Mistral. There were a bunch of different factions and warlords popping up all over the badlands in Anima, but for the past two or three decades, there was really only one person that all the criminals there truly feared, one name that they only spoke in whispers. And I was her fuckin' daughter.
"Hey, Blake," Yang called to the passenger side, rousing her partner from her daydreaming trance, "we're almost at Raven's quarry."
"Okay," Blake quietly said.
"Listen," Yang began, "I need you to be careful when we get there, okay? We're a long way from Vale, and we got no local support on this one. If you say the wrong thing, we could end up in some serious shit. Just be careful of what you say, got it?"
"I got it," Blake firmly replied. Yang, satisfied, nodded and then returned her eyes to the road.
A few minutes later, Yang took a right off the main road they had been traveling on and cruised down a dirt path road that twisted and turned throughout a small collection of trees until it eventually opened out to a massive, expansive quarry. Blake gazed in awe at the massive crater at the center of the quarry, which was a brown, sunken hole within the ground at least 3-4 acres wide in either direction. Blake could make out yellow construction equipment humming away, with bulldozers ferrying rocks or cranes moving large pallets and metal rebar from one side of the quarry to the next. A truck was seen climbing up the side of the quarry, it's back filled with grey bedrock.
Blake shifted her gaze once again straight ahead of her as she found the two of them hurtling towards a security gate with a booth in front of him. Yang pulled up to the booth and rolled down her window as a rotund security guard with a scraggly grey beard, clad in a light blue uniform, came lumbering out of the booth and towards the driver's side of the car.
"Howdy," the guard croaked in a thick Southern accent.
"How you doin'," Yang greeted the man. "I'm here to see Raven Branwen."
"What's your business with her?" the guard interrogated.
"I'm an international assassin. I've been ordered by the powers above to terminate Raven Branwen," Yang said in a monotone voice, her voice flat and cold.
The guard stared at Yang with a confused look, before he erupted into a wheezing fit of laughter.
"Okay, joker," the guard said, "what're you really here for?"
"I'm here to pick up some 'candy,'" Yang replied. "I'd like to talk prices with Raven."
The guard then nodded in understanding.
"Alright then. She's in the vehicle bay in the main warehouse, just down the road about 100 yards, then make a right. You can't miss it," the guard said before returning to the booth. The gate suddenly rose in front of Blake and Yang, and Yang then shifted the car into drive.
BB: 'Course I knew what 'candy' really was, it was slang for explosives. Yang told me her mother ran that quarry in Mistral as a front to buy and sell dynamite, C4, shaped charges and what-not for herself and other B&E crews. Of course, in the books it all looked okay, because a quarry's gotta have some demolition equipment on hand. But supposedly, Raven was selling north of Ⱡ2,000,000 worth of explosives per year to crews. With the money she was making from that, she probably didn't even have to hit scores. But, as I was about to learn, Raven Branwen certainly wasn't interested in kicking back and becoming some demolitions saleswoman.
It was only about a minute drive from the quarry gates to the main warehouse. Yang had pulled the car up to a side door in the warehouse and then killed the engine. Not a second later, Yang opened the driver's side door and stepped out. Blake followed suit close behind.
"Remember, you're my fuckin' shadow," Yang said. "You don't do anything or say anything unless I say so or I do it first."
Blake nodded quickly. Yang then turned on her heel and opened the side door to the dimly-lit warehouse and stepped inside. Blake, her heart pounding in her chest, took a deep breath and then followed suit.
The inside of the warehouse only had a few lights hanging from the top. Blake's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and quickly scoped out her surroundings. Within the warehouse, there were shelves upon shelves stacked with crates and various metal machine parts. Warehouse workers clad in yellow visibility vests and hardhats barked orders at each other across the floor. In the distance, the soft beep of a forklift backing up could be heard.
"C'mon," Yang beckoned to Blake as she began to briskly march through the warehouse. Blake quickly matched Yang's pace and kept at her heels as the two traversed across the floor. At the other end of the warehouse lay a large sign that said "Vehicle Bay", with a large arrow pointing towards a pair of doors.
Blake could feel her throat constricting from fear and anticipation of what lay on the other side of the door. She felt like she was walking into the lion's den, with not a single clue of what awaited her once she was actually in the thick of it. It was exactly how she felt every time she met with Adam. Still, at least she knew she wasn't marching in alone. In fact, Yang's uncharacteristic pensiveness and anger that Blake picked up on ever since the two left the airport was almost reassuring.
If Yang wasn't scared, then Blake had no reason to either. At least, that's what Blake told herself as Yang approached the set of double doors, and with a forceful thrust, threw the doors open with a loud clang.
Blake could see through the doors that the machine shop was a hollow, hangar-like building with a few industrial dump trucks and bulldozers being worked on in the distance. The sound of circular saws grinding and metal clanging echoed throughout the building. About 30 paces from the door in clear view was a table surrounded by a large group of people, all clad in fine silk suits and blazers, currently staring at the two detectives approaching them. Seated in the middle of all of them at the table, however, was a black-haired woman with red eyes, who was unmistakingly Raven Branwen.
LR: What was meeting Raven Branwen like?
BB: Intense, that was for damn sure. She was sitting in the middle of all these people, and she just...I don't know. She looked terrifying, I guess. You had to be there for it to make sense. She was wearing this crimson suit and tie with a black shirt. She had this long, flowing black hair and these red eyes...she could mean-mug you from a mile away, and you could feel the blood beginning to drain out of your body. That's what I felt when I saw her. It felt like she could shoot a laser through your head with her eyes, the way she would look at you.
NV: [Scoffs] Come on, now. How terrifying can one woman actually be? You ask me, I think you just scare easily.
BB: Trust me, if you ever cross paths with Raven Branwen, you'd see that she is definitely no joke.
"Mornin', rats!" Yang bellowed as she strided towards the well-dressed group in front of her.
It only took one or two glances from most of the heads within this group to realize the firestorm coming their way, and for them to quickly turn on their heels and began briskly walking away from the table. A few even broke out into a dash away from the duo as they approached. Blake caught Yang smirking at the sight of how quickly Yang was able to break up her mother's meeting, before her face hardened.
"Nuh uh!" Yang barked, pointing a finger at her mother who had now just risen from her seat. "You, stay."
Raven paused mid-ascension, and, seeing that she had no other option but to comply, simply sat back down in her seat with a glare. Yang quickly turned her gaze to a woman in a brown suit and buzz-cut walking away.
"Baldy! You fuckin' stay, too," Yang commanded.
The woman with the buzz-cut paused in her tracks, and then turned around. The woman glared back at Yang and Blake with piercing blue eyes, and then walked back towards Raven, standing next to her side.
Yang took another 4 or 5 strides to the table Raven was sitting at before she grabbed a chair situated on the other end of Raven, flipped it around, and sat herself down in it, reverse-style. Blake grabbed another chair and sat herself in it, seated behind and to the right of Yang. Blake could see that whatever malicious glare Raven had, Yang was currently matching hers with her own, her eyes shooting daggers towards Raven and her lips pressed into a tight line.
"Hello, Mom," Yang growled.
"Hello, Yang," Raven replied coolly.
Blake's eyes darted back and forth between Raven and the woman with the buzz-cut, a smirk growing on their faces.
"Hear you've been busy, ma," Yang hissed.
"Yes, clearly I am," Raven replied, "As you just saw when you walked in, I was in the middle of an important meeting, trying to spec out a new expansion for the quarry, when you decided to rudely fuckin' interrupt me-"
"Don't get fuckin' cute with me," Yang sternly replied. "You know why I'm here."
"Actually, I don't have a clue," Raven replied, before turning her gaze to Blake. Blake felt as if she was turned to stone as Raven's eyes fell on her. "Who's your +1, Yang?"
"This is Blake," Yang replied, "my partner."
Raven's eyes squinted as she seemingly scanned Blake from head to toe. Blake felt her cat ears on the top of her head depress in fear, before Raven stuck out her right hand to Blake.
"Pleasure to meet you," Raven said.
"Likewise," Blake said, meeting Raven's grip. Blake felt as if her fingers were going to snap in two under Raven's death-grip handshake, before Raven withdrew her own hand.
"You must know that Yang's my daughter by now," Raven said. "Charmer, ain't she?"
"I'm starting to understand where her temper comes from," Blake quietly replied. Raven gave a small smirk before turning back to Yang.
"Yang and Blake, this is Vernal," gesturing to the woman with the buzz-cut. "She's my protegé and operations manager for the Anima Stone Quarry."
Vernal gave a quick nod before returning her hard glare towards the two.
"So," Raven said, leaning back in her chair, "you here for a case or something?"
"No, I'm just here because I got nothing better to do on a Friday, and I figured I could kick around some rocks for fun," Yang sarcastically replied. "Of course we're here for a case."
Raven scoffed.
"You know, last I checked, you're in the Vale Kingdom Police Department, not Mistral's," Raven replied. "Unless Vale finally annexed Mistral or something overnight, I'm pretty sure your jurisdiction ended when you had to cross a fuckin' ocean to see me. You shoulda talked to Palermo and Dao in the Mistral PD."
"You mean those two fuckin' crooks you're paying off? Yeah, no fucking way," Yang retorted. "Besides, if you got no respect for boundaries, why the fuck should we?"
"What are you insinuating?" Raven replied.
"You know what I mean. Three dead in Forever Fall," Yang said, her voice lowering to a rumble, "White Fang. Bearer bonds stolen, in not only a White Fang van, but also in Salem Mob territory. Maybe you would've seen in the news when it first happened, maybe you knew even before anyone else knew..."
"You saying that I hit that van?" Raven replied.
"Bingo," Yang said. In the corner of Blake's eye, Vernal suddenly stepped forward, her face now flustered and angry.
"You're outta line," Vernal said. "There's no way in hell that those bearer bonds could've possibly been stolen by us-"
"Sinead O' Connor, was I fuckin' talking to you?" Yang snapped towards Vernal. Vernal ceased talking, and her mouth pressed into a hard line. Yang turned her head back to Raven.
"7.62 mm casings were found at the scene, mom," Yang said. "Only took 5 shots in total to stop the van and clip everyone inside. Whoever hit that van were professionals with military grade weapons and a damn-good shooting hand. Sounds familiar? It should, because that's your fuckin' MO. I know your crew inside and out, and you guys are ticking all the boxes with being a suspect on this one."
"Bullshit, that's my MO," Raven retorted. "My MO isn't professional marksmanship and big fuckin' guns, my MO is being smart. Whatever bozos hit this White Fang caravan are good shots, I'll give them that, but I know at least 10 different ways that I personally could have robbed that caravan without having to redecorate the interior of the van with someone's brains and have every single cop in town looking for my ass."
Raven leaned forward in her chair, bringing her eyes close to Yang's.
"If you really knew my crew inside-out, you'd know that we don't kill people during our robberies, because we have an interest in self-preservation and not getting pinched like a fuckin' idiot. We don't leave mountains of evidence like that," Raven said softly. "And ask yourself this - why the fuck would I want to go play World War with Salem and the White Fang with this robbery?"
"Yeah, well, it's not like you ever gave a shit about ripping off big outfits before," Yang said. "I know you were behind that robbery in '14 that hit a Salem mob safehouse. For all I know, you got a death wish and you're stupid enough to want to piss off all the wrong people again."
"So you've been following my cases," Raven said with a slick grin.
"Of course I am," Yang said. "Needa do my homework if I'm gonna have a shot at pinching you or blowing you away down the line."
Raven snickered.
"You're gonna blow me away now? Just like you blew away Shay D. Mann?"
"You're goddamn right," Yang growled before she leaned forward to meet Raven's gaze, the two's faces almost touching. "I put two rounds in that fucker's head, and I will do the exact same to you. Don't think I wouldn't."
"I'm counting on it," Raven replied. "But God knows you're not gonna get me on this Forever Fall shit, because I didn't do it."
"Oh yeah?" Yang interrogated. "If you didn't do it, prove it to me."
Raven paused, before she tilted back in her chair, an air of smugness growing on her face.
"Vernal?" Raven said, causing Vernal to stand at attention. "Where were you during the night of the Forever Fall Robberies, about 4 days ago?"
"I was here, ma'am," Vernal said, "Working on some paperwork and handling invoices."
"What about Tom Manslow?" Raven interrogated.
"Driving a dump truck full of bedrock to Higanbana, checked into the truck weighing station on I-44, at 5:32."
"Dawn Keep?"
"She was procuring new generators for the quarry equipment in Argus. She visited the vendors at 5:45 pm."
"And Zhiyi Gao?"
"Arrested for public intoxication in Mistral City. Held in a holding cell from 7:46 to 12:21 until someone paid bail."
"There you have it, Yang," Raven replied. "All of my crew is accounted for during the time of the robbery."
"Okay," Yang said, "But what about you? Where were you during the robbery, exactly?"
Yang was met with silence, as Raven shifted in her seat.
"Why do I have a feeling you already know where I was?" Raven asked. Yang simply shook her head, her lips pursed.
"I just wanted to hear you fuckin' say it," Yang said, before raising her voice. "I told you a long time ago to stay away from Dad and Ruby-"
"You really going to do this now?" Raven asked.
"Yes, we are," Yang replied, "We're gonna have a long fuckin' talk about this."
"We need to have a talk about me catching up with family?" Raven shrugged.
"Oh, so that's what this is?" Yang retorted. "You're family, now? After all these years, you just decide you can barge back in and say we're all family again?"
"Yang," Blake softly said. Yang quickly turned backwards in her seat and snapped her head towards Blake and glared at her.
Because Blake was sitting off to Yang's side for most of the time, she didn't have many opportunities to get a good look at Yang's face, but now that she had Yang's full attention and she was facing her head on, she was starting to wish that she didn't. Yang's lips were parted and her teeth bared, and her lilac eyes no longer seemed bright and cheery, but was now full of rage and hatred.
Blake almost instantly shied away at the sight of her partner's oppressive glare. In the reflection of Yang's eyes, Blake could see herself flinching away from Yang. Yang must've seen how frightened Blake looked, as Blake saw pang of guilt sweep across Yang's face before she quickly put on a hard demeanor again.
"What, Blake?" Yang quickly spat.
"Look…" Blake stammered, "Maybe we should...keep the case in mind, y'know?"
Yang's face quickly expressed annoyance before she scowled and then turned back to Raven.
"Your partner's right," Raven smugly replied. "Whether you personally like my excuse or not isn't important in the context of your case. What is important was that I was in Patch the day of the robbery, not Forever Fall."
"Alright, then," Yang said. "Let's say, for argument's sake, you had nothing to do with this shit. If that's the case, then at the very least, you at least know something about who did it."
"Why the fuck would I know anything about this?" Raven asked, frustrated, "I already told you, I had no fucking part in this thing-"
"Come the fuck on, mom, don't play stupid with me," Yang replied. "You don't think we don't know that every single robbery that happens in Forever Fall doesn't somehow end up on your radar one way or another?"
Raven shook her head.
"Look," Raven said, "I don't know anything about any robberies in Forever Fall, no one's ever came to me-"
"Don't lie to me," Yang interjected, "Sure, Salem may have staked her claim over that area, but you and I both know that any crew looking to take down a score up there likely has to get permission from you first. Meaning whoever hit that van must've came to you first."
Raven sighed.
"Well, whoever did hit that van didn't come to me first, that's the honest truth," Raven replied. "God knows I would've shot the idea down the minute someone came to me with that fuckin' cowboy shit, 'cause it's gonna bring too much heat on all sides, which it most certainly did."
"Well, do you have any idea of which crew did it?" Yang asked.
"Not any crew that I know of," Raven asked. "Believe me, I put the fuckin' pressure on all the big crews that work in Forever Fall, and none of them seemed like they did it. None of them have the balls to go behind my back and do an unsanctioned robbery in Forever Fall that big, anyways."
"So you're saying you know who didn't do it, and that's all you know?" Yang said, flustered. "Gee, fuckin' great, that really narrows it down-"
"I'll tell you this much," Raven said, "It's gotta be some new crew, or someone out of town. I'm talking real low-level, incognito guys who can fuck both me, Salem and the White Fang over, and we wouldn't have the slightest clue who they were. If you already got files on them over there in your little police department, they're already too big."
Yang sighed.
"Alright, that's better than nothing, I guess," Yang said. "How soon can you find out who did it?"
"Wait, hold on," Raven said, putting up her hands, "You want me to go find the suspects for you?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Me?"
"Did I fucking stutter, or something?" Yang spat impatiently.
Raven gasped incredulously, before shaking her head in awe.
"You are out of your fucking mind, Yang," Raven replied coldly. "Who the fuck do you think you are, to come in here and tell me what to do? Fuck you, I'm not finding out shit for you. You don't fucking run me, you little-"
"Right now, the talk in the town is that you did this fuckin' robbery, regardless of whether you did it or not," Yang interrupted. "I know the Salem mob's already pointing fingers in your direction, and it's only a matter of time before the White Fang catches wind too. You think those nutjobs are gonna wait to pull the trigger the minute they got the slightest whiff of who might've ripped them off?"
"Yeah, well, if they decide the pull the trigger on me, they better make sure they kill me," Raven replied, "'cause I will inflict pain on those motherfuckers on a whole 'nother level-"
"Miss Branwen, please," Blake suddenly cut in, "The White Fang-they're not a joke. They don't take this kind of stuff lightly, and you do not want to end up on their list. Please, it's in your best interest you help us, so you can clear your name and avoid a war-"
"You speakin' with inside knowledge on how the White Fang thinks, or something?" Raven said to Blake. Blake froze, shivers running down her spine.
"Look, kid, I appreciate the concern," Raven continued, "but if the White Fang wants to come for me - which I seriously doubt they will - I've been in worse scraps before."
Raven then turned to Yang.
"Now, you two have overstayed your welcome," Raven said. "I want you all out of my quarry in five minutes, or I'll tell the Mistral Police I'm being harassed by two detectives."
Yang shook her head.
"You know what's at stake here, don't you?" Yang replied.
"I'll take my chances," Raven replied. "Now, out."
Yang pursed her lips and sent her mother one final look of death, before she abruptly stood up and quickly turned away from the desk.
"C'mon, Blake, let's go," Yang said as she marched past Blake's chair. Blake, still bewildered, quickly glanced towards Raven.
"Pleasure to meet you, hun," Raven drawled sarcastically, folding her arms.
"Sixty-two!" cried the cashier from behind the counter. Blake's ears perked up at the sound of her number being called, and then quickly grabbed the bag of food and coffee set before her.
"Thanks," Blake quietly muttered before taking the food and setting off for her table.
The McDonalds in the airport was a lot busier than when Blake first saw it in the morning, given that it was lunchtime. Blake had to dodge and weave between people and tables just to get to the table Yang was sitting at in the back of the restaurant.
Yang didn't even notice Blake coming up to her, her gaze fixed on the view outside the restaurant's entrance and towards an empty gate across the walkway. The gate had a large window that opened out towards the tarmac, where a 747 in the distance was currently floating down like a deflating balloon towards the runway.
"Here's your coffee," Blake said, setting the small coffee cup in front of Yang. Yang quickly looked up, startled by the arrival of her partner. Blake quickly saw the dejected, troubled look her partner had the entire drive back to the airport seep back onto her face.
"Thank you," Yang whispered.
Blake pulled out a chair and sat herself down, pulling out a chicken salad wrap and gingerly peeling away it's paper wrapping. The car ride back was a silent mix of emotions for Blake and Yang, but emotions soon gave way to fatigue and hunger within the first hour of the car ride back. Jet-lagged and sleep deprived, Blake wanted nothing more than to be seated comfortably on a flight back to Vale, away from the soot-covered wastelands and crumbling roads of Anima. Or, at the very least, she could've taken a snack at a gas station or something, but she knew better than to get on Yang's nerves as they were driving back.
Blake took a hearty bite out of her wrap. The chicken was soggy, and lettuce mushy and soft, yet Blake savored the bite, as it was the only real food she had in the last 16 hours or so. Blake glanced up and saw Yang watching her eat. Yang quickly glanced away, but, seeing she was caught, quickly gave Blake a small smile.
This time, Yang's grin wasn't joyous or beaming, like it usually was. The glow was gone from Yang's eyes, the lilac hanging in around her pupils like dull floaters. The crooks of her mouth seemed stiff, making the smile seem all the more forced. There was usually a fire in Yang, but it seemed snuffed out now.
"You, uh...you sure you don't want anything to eat?" Blake quietly proposed. Yang shook her head.
"Not hungry," Yang hoarsely replied. "I'll just get the peanuts on the flight."
Blake nodded slightly, her amber eyes casting worry over her sullen partner. Yang must've noticed this, because she pursed her lips, and then laid her palms on the table.
"You got any family, Belladonna?" Yang suddenly quipped.
Blake paused, mid-chew. Her eyes widened ever-so-slightly at the unexpected inquisition from her partner. Blake then hastily chewed the rest of her food and then struggled to get it down her gullet.
"I, uh...yeah." Blake replied. Yang scoffed.
"That it?" Yang replied. "That's all you got to say about your family? 'Yeah?'"
Blake blushed in embarrassment.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Blake stammered. "I-uh-"
"Don't be sorry," Yang replied. "I was just wondering...I dunno, the last few days have just been all about dealing with my family, which you can see is exhausting as fuck."
Blake quietly laughed at Yang's dig.
"I guess I never heard anything about your family," Yang replied. "Plus, I could use some stories about not-fucked-up parents or whatever right now. Remind me that there still are some out there in the world."
"You're talking to the wrong gal, Yang-"
"C'mon," Yang slowly drawled, "My mother is a literal thief and liar. I don't think your parents can be worse than that."
Blake scoffed.
"Well, you're not wrong," Blake said with a sigh. "I guess my parents were angels compared to your mother. No offense."
Yang softly chuckled.
"My mom was a community leader in Mountain Glenn. That's where she met my father. He was the head of a Faunus Labor Union, Local 273," Blake said. "Both she and my dad were out on the streets everyday, picketing and rallying for better rights for Faunus in the Glenn. They both bonded over their sense of justice I guess, and it wasn't long till they got married. Then, they had me."
"So, are they both still at it with their jobs?" Yang asked, "or did your mom stay at home with you or something when she had you?"
"Actually, it was my Dad who stayed at home," Blake said. "He and Mom did their best to raise me as well as they could, at least in a place like Mountain Glenn. I guess I was fortunate to have them. Kids in the project in Mountain Glenn, they'd have no parents growing up."
Yang nodded understandingly.
"You have any siblings?" Yang inquired.
"Nah, just me," Blake replied. "It was just us in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment in Mountain Glenn. But, we had each other, and I guess that was that."
Yang smiled, clearly warmed.
"So, what are your folks up to now?" Yang asked. "Tell me they were able to finally move to someplace nicer for retirement or something."
"They…"
Blake paused, her words trailing and her eyes casting downwards towards her side.
"They died when I was 11. A fire in the apartment building broke out. They didn't make it."
Yang's smile quickly dropped as her mouth stood ajar, her eyes wide with surprise. Blake returned Yang's shocked look with a hurt gaze of her own. Blake sighed, before she wearily stood up.
"I, uh, forgot napkins for my wrap," Blake said, "I'll be right back."
Yang watched, bewildered, as Blake stood up and walked towards the napkin dispenser.
"That is bullshit," Ilia said, tapping away at her phone with her eyes glued to the bright blue glow of her screen. "Fuckin' grade-A bullshit."
Blake brought her cigarette up to her mouth for another drag as she observed Ilia. Ilia was seated square in the middle of the hood of her Cutlass, her legs crossed into a pretzel pattern, as her gaze remained fixed to her phone. The occasional gust of wind would sometimes blow past Ilia, swaying her curled, brunette ponytail and causing her black windbreaker to rustle in the breeze before the gust would die down. The wind was especially chilly with the sun beginning to set, and Blake could feel every blast of icy air rip through her black sports coat and into her bone, causing her to shudder. Blake watched in amazement as Ilia seemed unfazed by both the freezing wind and the miraculous view of the warm orange sunset against the silhouette of Vale's skyline in the distance.
The minute the two got back from Mistral at around 3, Blake didn't waste time setting up a meeting with Ilia to inform her of the latest developments in the case. Ilia similarly wasted no time clearing up her schedule just to meet Blake. They met and parked their cars in their designated spot: a little overlook off the beaten path on the grassy cliffs overlooking Vale. It was a beautiful spot, and quiet too, where the two knew they wouldn't be interrupted by tourists trying desperately to get a shot of the city skyline as day turned to night and the lights of the city came to life.
Blake planned on filling Ilia in on the current situation in less than 10 minutes and then part ways with her before anyone could get a chance to spot them together, but then Ilia offered a smoke, and then one cigarette turned into two, two turned into three, and then, like everything with Ilia, the two lost track of time as they shot the shit.
"Bull-shit," Ilia repeated with emphasis, still glued to her screen, perched on her car.
"Well, I mean, there isn't much else we can do," Blake replied as she leaned against the side of her own car, a dark blue Camry. "Jacques Schnee is definitely going to win those counties, their district zoning is gerrymandered to shit."
"It's not even that," Ilia said, still typing, "Even majority Faunus districts in the kingdom are voting for the guy. It's the worst in the suburbs, go figure, but still. Like, I just don't fucking get it - no matter how hard we work the campaign offices down there, Schnee just doesn't take a hit in the polls."
"Well, it makes sense when you think about it," Blake said after exhaling. "They're low-income districts, mostly blue-collar, union job Faunuses, but they're outside Mountain Glenn and Vale City. As far as they're concerned, they're not the ones that Schnee keeps saying he's going to relocate or liquidate, so they're not at risk. Hell, couple that with the fact that he keeps talking about how he's going to do everything to create union jobs, they probably think that Schnee's actually fighting for them."
"S'pose you're right," Ilia said. "Still, don't they know this guy, like, literally said he'd hunt the Faunus like a game hunter if the law allowed him to?"
"People don't give a shit about that, Ilia," Blake said. "All that matters is who's gonna help people put food on their family's tables. And he's promising union jobs, whether he's actually gonna do it or not."
Ilia sighed, and shook her head.
"Either way, that motherfucker is just causing me more work," Ilia said. "Banesaw's all over me left and right about the campaign. I gotta go find this Schnee staffer who's been stirring up shit in some bumfuck town on the northwestern shore, straighten him out."
"What do you mean, straighten him out?" Blake asked.
Ilia looked up from her phone towards Blake, her face scrunched up in confusion, before she realized what Blake was insinuating.
"No, no, none of that. No wet work," Ilia replied, before returning to texting, "Banesaw just told me to knock his ass around a little. Believe me, I'd clip this fucking guy if I could, but Adam said we're already going to be offing a bunch of small-time dealers in the Glenn later this month, so whacking this guy is gonna have to wait."
Blake nodded, careful not to display her shock at how casually Ilia mentioned the prospect of both murdering an opposition staffed as well as a whole crew. Blake took one last drag of her cigarette, before exhaling a haze of tobacco smoke and dropping the cigarette to the ground, quashing out the butt with her wingtip shoes.
"Hey, Ilia," Blake said, "Is there anything else you need from me while I'm here?"
"Not unless there's anything else you wanna add to what you told me already," Ilia replied, finally flicking off her phone and slipping it into her pant pocket.
"I'm gonna follow up with Branwen," Blake replied. "With her looking at the Forever Fall crews, and with Roman and Junior on the lookout for anyone trying to cash those bearer bonds, we'll find the perps soon enough."
"Well, can you trust Branwen to find this crew?" Ilia questioned. "How do you know she'll tell us too?"
"Well, I don't know for sure," Blake replied. "But personally, Branwen made a pretty good case that she was innocent. I personally believe she knows what's at stake, so she's gonna help us."
Ilia slowly shook her head before slipping out her phone again, her disapproval causing Blake's stomach to drop slightly.
"What's wrong?" Blake asked, confusedly.
"I dunno, Blake," Ilia replied. "What you 'personally believe' isn't going to float it. God knows it won't with the guy up top."
"You mean Adam?" Blake asked.
Ilia nodded, still fixed on her screen.
"C'mon, Blake, you should know that better than I do," Ilia coolly replied.
"Look, we oughta just wait till I get a word back from Branwen," Blake said. "If she doesn't come up with anything or I pick up on some bullshit from her, then we'll start talking about how we'll go after her."
"Alright," Ilia shrugged. "Makes no difference to me, as long as we get some names I can cross off and make Adam happy."
Blake pursed her lips, before sighing. Ilia then abruptly set her phone down next to her on the hood of her car, before she uncrossed her legs and then jumped off of it.
"Hey," Ilia said, "Before you go, I got something for you."
Ilia walked over to Blake and reached into her windbreaker's pocket. She then pulled out a small, plastic electronic and handed it to Blake.
"I got some burner phones for you," Ilia replied. "Believe me, it was a pain in the ass finding a flip one in Vale that I could pay in full with cash. Everything's a fuckin' smartphone here nowadays."
Blake transferred the phone to her right hand and flipped the cover up, the dated digital display flashing a pixelated message asking if Blake wanted to dial a number or go to her contacts book.
"You know the drill," Ilia said, "Call me once with it, then junk it. I should be in the contacts for the phone, I'm the only number in there."
"Thanks," Blake muttered, before slipping it into her suit's pocket and turning to her car.
"Hey, wait," Ilia said, stopping Blake in her tracks and causing her to turn around to face Ilia once more. Before Blake could respond, Ilia leaned forward and stole a quick peck on Blake's cheek.
"Can't wait to see you again," Ilia said in a low, seductive voice, a sly grin on her face.
Blake curled her lips slightly at Ilia's comment and gesture.
"I'll call you when I get more info," Blake gruffly replied. Ilia nodded.
"So where you off to?" Ilia curtly asked.
"Dinner."
"With who?" Ilia further pried.
"...My partner," Blake said, after hesitation.
"Partner?" Ilia asked, shocked. "How come I'm just hearing about a partner now?"
"I thought you knew its standard for detectives to have partners sometimes, Ilia," Blake responded. "Besides, I thought Adam told you."
"No, no he didn't," Ilia said, her face beginning to harden and her tone dropping. "Why the hell are you going out to eat with your partner?"
"Well...that's what partners do," Blake responded, her voice quivering.
"No, that's what donut-eating, pension-pushing cops do," Ilia said. "Last I checked, that ain't you."
Blake stared at Ilia with a deer-in-the-headlights look, unsure of how to approach Ilia's shocking aggression.
"What's your partner's name?" Ilia replied, making the next move first. "Her name, Blake."
Blake paused, her mouth slightly ajar and her eyes narrowing as she debated on whether to tell Ilia or not. Why in the world was Ilia so fixated on the idea of Blake having a partner? Blake sensed trouble immediately, but she had no other option.
"Yang. Yang Xiao Long," Blake replied.
Ilia returned Blake's inquisitive look with one of her own.
"I'll take a look at her," Ilia said.
"Don't bother," Blake hastily responded. "She's harmless."
"How do you know that?" Ilia insolently interrogated.
"Well, I mean...I've been with her 3 months," Blake stammered. "I don't think she has any idea about me. Plus, I think she's taken a liking to me."
"Whaddya mean, 'taken a liking' to you?" Ilia inquired again.
"I-I mean, she likes me as a partner," Blake responded. "Like, she thinks I'm good at my job. Look, Ilia, I don't think she's going to be an issue-"
"There you go again, talkin' 'bout how you feel," Ilia coldly responded.
"Ilia…" Blake quietly responded, her ears flattening against her head. Ilia simply sighed, and then turned away from Blake, grabbing her right elbow.
"Go have dinner, Blake," Ilia coldly said. "We'll talk later."
Blake's mouth creased into a frown, her brow furrowed in worry, before she cast her eyes downward and then opened the driver's side door.
BB: Despite all the shit we went through that day, Yang and I still had dinner to look forward to that evening. We'd made plans for the night in advance, earlier in the week, but tonight was the night we'd finally go grab a meal together with her girlfriend. The plan was that I would drive over to Yang's apartment first at 6, and then we would all drive over together to the restaurant, a Mexican place called La Casa Hermosa.
NV: Heeey, that's that Mexican joint on Fifth and Wabash, just south of the river, right? Shit, Ren and I just went there last week! I had two tortas there cause it was so damn delicious. The food was good, right Ren?
LR: It was a little too greasy for me.
NV: Hey, the more grease, the better it is for me, baby. So, Miss Belladonna, tell me - what did you think of the food there?
BB: [Sigh] I couldn't tell you. We never got to the restaurant.
Blake spent a good 5 minutes circling around the block before she finally found someone pulling out of a spot, conveniently located right in front of the apartment building Yang had said was hers.
Yang's apartment was located on the eastern side of Vale's residential district in a neighborhood called Townsend Park. Considering Vale's whole residential district by the river was where the city's richest lived, Townsend Park was a lot more middle-class in comparison, but still upscale enough to house a collection of post-modernist, sleek apartments like the one Yang lived in. Blake knew it was impolite, but she had to wonder how Yang was able to afford a place like this to live in, or whether it was the Schnee money paying for this place.
Blake adjusted her dress before stepping out of her car and grabbing her purse. Blake wasn't sure whether the place Yang and Weiss were taking her was the type of place that she had to dress nice for or not, so she decided on something in the middle ground just to be safe; a casual, flowy blue dress that hung from straps on her shoulders. Blake also decided on a little black bow to cover her cat ears for the night. Once again, she didn't know what type of place this restaurant was, and she wasn't entirely sure on how Weiss Schnee stood with Faunuses, so she decided on the safer option again.
Blake approached the front door of the apartment building and was prepared to buzz Yang's apartment to let her in, when a chattering, young couple exited through the front door and held the door open for Blake. Blake quietly muttered a 'thanks,' then entered the apartment building's lobby, signaled the elevator, and took the ride up to Apartment 32.
As the doors to the elevator closed and Blake leaned against the wooden back panel of the elevator, Blake couldn't help but feel a small smile grow across her face.
So this is what a normal life must feel like, Blake thought to herself. No worrying about cases, no having to wake up at midnight to go investigate a burglary at a convenience store, no having to look over her shoulder constantly for people who want to stab or shoot her, or incurring the wrath of Adam.
Blake scoffed, thinking about how starkly different her own life was compared to a "normal" life. But, at least for tonight, she could take a brief reprieve, courtesy of Yang.
The doors to the elevator shuttered open, and Blake stepped out into a beige, brightly lit hallway with a maroon carpet. Blake practically felt herself float with excitement towards Yang's apartment at the end of the hall. As Blake approached the apartment door, anticipation began to grow inside her as she wondered whether it would be Yang to open the door, or her girlfriend.
Blake stopped in front of the door labeled "32," curled her fingers into a ball and prepared to give the door two slight raps. Before she could, she caught the sight of the door already slightly ajar, a sliver of light coming from where the door parted from the frame.
Blake's heart must've skipped a beat, and her stomach dropped instantly. Why was Yang's door already opened?
Blake slowly opened the door, the hinges creaking. The interior view of Yang's apartment suddenly appeared in front of Blake. She would've admired how posh and modern Yang's apartment looked like, if she didn't notice the scattering of broken glass and the puddle on the hardwood floor in the foyer in front of her. Blake felt the dread build up inside her even more - something wasn't right here.
Blake scanned the apartment, verifying that there wasn't another soul in sight, before she knelt down to the broken glass on the floor. Blake quickly picked out a broken bottle handle amidst all the debris. Coupled with the pieces of black glass with white text sprawled on it and the intoxicating fumes from the puddle, Blake deduced that this was a whiskey bottle.
"Yang?" Blake called out in the apartment, to no answer. Blake quickly turned to her right, seeing a small hallway with an assortment of doors. Blake slowly rose to her feet, her eyes locked and focused on these doors, as she noticed another door slightly ajar. Blake tiptoed over to the door, her fear quickly turning into panic as her mind raced, trying to think of an explanation for why the apartment was in disarray. Blake paused outside the slightly ajar door, and then slowly gave it a light push. The minute Blake got a good view of the contents of the room, Blake's heart practically stopped.
On the middle of the floor in the room, near the leg of the bed, a woman in a grey shirt and jeans lay completely still, her back facing towards the door and her long, blonde hair flayed out on the carpet floor.
"Yang!" Blake shouted, before darting towards Yang's body and kneeling beside her. Blake quickly rolled Yang flat on her back and then gave two light slaps on Yang's face, which was completely still with eyes shut and mouth ajar.
Then, Yang's lilac eyes opened wide - wider than Blake had ever seen before - before Yang gasped, sucking in air for a good second with a horrendous, wheezing sound. Before Blake could feel relieved that Yang was still breathing, Yang suddenly keeled back over on her side and vomited, emitting a repulsive, guttural noise.
"Ugh!" Blake quickly exclaimed, before Yang gave two more quick, disgusting heaves onto the carpet, before groaning and lying back down, flat on her back.
"Ohhhhhhh…" Yang moaned, before pressing her hands into her temple. "...nnnh...Blake, is that you?"
"Yang…" Blake croaked, "Yang, what the fuck happened?"
"I, uhhhhhhhhhh…" Yang said, before she abruptly shot up and rose to her feet. Blake quickly stumbled backwards as Yang staggered out of the bedroom and towards one of the closed doors. Yang threw the door open, revealing a bathroom, before Yang dropped to her knees and quickly threw her face between the toilet seat before vomiting again, the horrific sound of her retching reverberating in a hollow echo from the toilet bowl.
Blake didn't think twice before standing up and then rushing over to the bathroom, quickly brushing Yang's hair out of her face and holding it behind her head before she laid her left hand on Yang's back to steady her. Blake felt Yang's back constrict and lurch with each heave, before Yang's coughing echoed from the bowl, indicating she was finally done.
"Are you okay?" Blake asked as Yang then rocked backwards on her heels, landing against where the wall of the bathroom met the tub with a thud. Blake was awaiting a response from Yang before she saw Yang's eyes pressed shut and her mouth contorted and quivering, before a soft sob echoed out of Yang's lungs. Blake watched in shock as Yang quickly curled herself into a ball against the wall and lifted her right hand towards her forehead, her sobs turning into full-out howling, each guttural cry causing her chest to rise and fall. Tears began to stream down her face.
"Hey…" Blake whispered, before crouching down towards Yang and extending her hand to Yang's left shoulder. In a flash, Yang flailed her left arm towards Blake's arm, slapping her hand off her shoulder.
"Getta' fuck offa me!" Yang shrieked, before her sobbing ceased and she opened her eyes towards Blake. The whites of Yang's eyes were bloodshot-red, but the tears glistening in her eyes gave her lilac eyes an almost transfixing sparkle. Blake stood motionless as their eyes connected for a second, before Yang quickly blinked away tears and began sobbing again, lowering her head away to hide from Blake's view.
Yang began slamming her head against the bathroom wall as she continued bawling, each blow resulting in an echoing thud from the wall.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Blake cried out, jumping forward and wrapping her hands on the back of Yang's head, holding it tight to prevent Yang from snapping her head back against the wall.
Blake then wrapped her arms around Yang's head further, pulling Yang's head close against Blake's body in a soft grip. Blake felt Yang's tears beginning to seep onto the soft cotton of her dress as she felt Yang's burning-hot face dig into her skin. Blake lifted her left hand to Yang's scalp and ran her fingers through Yang's golden mane, softly petting her head, as she began to rock Yang back and forth.
"Shhhhh, hey," Blake soothed, continuing to rock Yang's head back and forth as she sobbed, "It's okay...it's okay…"
Blake felt Yang's arms clamp around the back of her neck and pull Blake closer into Yang. Blake felt Yang struggling to stand up, so Blake quickly maneuvered her hands around Yang's waist and hoisted her up. Now on her feet, Yang quickly leaned into Blake's right shoulder, her body still mostly limp. She was heavy, like a sack of potatoes, but Blake grunted and then steadied Yang with her right hand across her back and her left hand on the back of her head. Yang, still sobbing uncontrollably and her arms still wrapped around Blake, rested her head on Blake's shoulders, tears streaming off her face and onto Blake's skin.
Blake felt like she was holding a quivering animal as Yang began to shudder. Blake felt Yang's chest lurch forward, then depress with each deep sob. Blake pulled Yang's head tight against her shoulder, pressing her fingers into the back of Yang's head, as she gently caressed her back.
"It's okay…" Blake softly whispered, "I got you. I got you."
BB: I'm sure anyone's first instinct when they see Yang Xiao Long throwing up and breaking down would probably be amusement, or something. Most people only saw the side of Yang that was out there pursuing leads or cracking heads, so to see her bawling like a little kid would probably seem funny at first. I'll be honest, maybe I felt that way too when I first saw her, for like a split-second. But it really didn't take long for me to see the other side of Yang, the one she doesn't show to anyone on the streets.
Once the hysterical crying had subsided, the first thing Blake asked Yang was how much she drank, to which Yang said she had 'no clue.' Blake further asked if Yang needed to go to the hospital, to which Yang replied that there was 'no fuggin' way imma be tankin an amblance toothy hopitel.' Blake pursed her lips in protest, but obliged.
After verifying that Yang indeed would be fine, the next step was getting Yang calm and cleaned up. What should have been a relatively simple task quickly became complicated, as the inebriated Yang struggled to get herself out of her grimy, stained clothes so she could take a shower. Blake had to help Yang pull the shirt over her head and hold Yang steady in the bathroom, making sure she didn't accidentally fall and bang her head against the porcelain tub's edge.
Blake blushed as Yang threw her shirt into Blake's arm, as she was down to nothing but her bra. Blake felt guilty gawking at Yang when she was clearly at the lowest she's ever seen her, but she couldn't help but catch a glance as she fumbled and hopped around with her pants. Whatever inkling of suggestive excitement Blake had was replaced by morbid curiosity, as she spotted two round scars on her back, which were unmistakingly scars from a bullet.
Yang threw her Blake's jeans into her arms, snapping Blake back into reality.
"I'm good from 'ere," Yang slurred.
Blake nodded sheepishly before bowing out of the bathroom.
After dropping the clothes off in the laundry room down the hall, next came the fun part of cleaning up after Yang: taking care of the vomit. Blake grabbed a pair of rubber gloves, garbage bags, and what felt like a metric-ton of Clorox, and got to work.
Blake dropped a pair of fresh clothes for Yang through the cracks of the bathroom door. Every so often while cleaning, Blake would call out to the bathroom, making sure that Yang was still standing and hadn't fallen in the shower. Incoherent responses, which quickly turned into primitive grunts, always greeted Blake as a response, reaffirming to Blake that Yang was still doing okay.
Blake was sweeping the broken glass into a dustpan when she heard the bathroom door open. Glancing up, Blake saw Yang sliding across the wall as support into the main area of the apartment, clad in a blue t-shirt that said "Beacon Academy" in college font, and a pair of grey joggers.
If "hammered shit" was a human being, Yang was it. There were bags under Yang's eyes, and she looked frail and ill, her skin a ghostly pale white. Yang's flowing golden hair were reduced to wet, clumpy strands that hung like vines off her head. The same dullness in her eyes that Blake saw in the airport McDonalds was back again, slowly scanning across the apartment with lifelessness.
Blake shot up and walked over to Yang, quickly throwing herself under her shoulder as support while wrapping her right arm around Yang.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Yang slurred.
"No, you're not," Blake bluntly replied, as she took tiny steps forward to move Yang to the glass dining table in the middle of the apartment. Blake lowered Yang into a chair at the table, eliciting a labored groan from Yang as she creaked into the chair.
"Wait here," Blake said, before turning back to the kitchen and grabbing a glass cup out of the cupboard. Filling it with tap water, Blake raced back to Yang and placed it gently into a dazed Yang's hands.
"Thank you," Yang whispered, before thirstily gulping down water and then setting the glass down on the table.
"I...feel like a fuckin' train just hit me," Yang croaked, before taking another swig. Blake pulled up a chair to the right of Yang.
"Yang, what happened?" Blake responded. "Where's your girlfriend?"
Yang gave a scoff, before throwing her hands in the air in a defeated shrug.
"She's gone."
"What do you mean, she's gone?" Blake asked.
"I mean she left," Yang said, before raising her right hand to her temples, gently massaging them. "Of all the days she coulda left, she chose today."
"Well-what happened? Why?"
"Why?" Yang said before letting out a sarcastic snort. "You wanna know why? Jacques fuckin' Schnee is why, her fuckin'...cocksuckin'...slimy rat fuckin' father…"
Yang then leaned to her right and instantly tumbled out of her seat. Blake shot straight up out of her own seat and bee-lined to Yang.
"Yang!" Blake shouted out.
"Aw, I'm fine, I'm fine," Yang muttered before staggering up to her feet again. "I just need some more booze, then I'll be okay."
"No, Yang, no more drinking. Come on," Blake said, while grabbing the glass of water in her other hand. "Drink some water, it'll make you feel a little better."
"Fuck water!" Yang slurred out, before swinging her right hand in front of her, swiping at imaginary enemies but only connecting with air. "Fuck it, I'm just gonna get more drunk. Get drunk like my fuckin' alchie uncle. Weiss always fuckin' hated me when I was drunk-you know I haven't gotten piss-drunk in over a year because of her? That fuckin', fuckin'..."
Yang didn't finish her thought, before her face scrunched up and her mouth contorted again, tears beginning to trail down her eyes once more. A soft whimper emanated from Yang's lungs.
"Oh, Yang," Blake whispered, before wrapping Yang around in another hug.
YXL: Weiss had enough. It was simple as that. All the shit I was doing...just piled on and on, until she couldn't take it no more. That whole voicemail thing that Henry saw me about the day before? Yeah, that was the cherry on top.
JA: Did they leak the voicemail out to the public or something?
YXL: No. They played it for Weiss and her team, instead. In the middle of her pre-trial meetings. They were looking for a way to remove her from the case since day 1, and my little rant to Jacques was enough ammunition for them to at least recommend she be recused from the case. It was a public case, real public...her team couldn't afford to have their reputation tarnished by some out-of-control cop who was dating one of the main attorneys. When you're going up against cases that are essentially backed by Jacques Schnee, what else are you gonna do?
JA: What happened next?
YXL: She blew up when I got home, that's what happened next. She was mad at me for fucking with her work, but most of all, she was mad at me because I didn't listen to her. She told me time and time again to let her handle things, but I never trusted her to do it. [scoffs] Whether I liked it or not, though, that's the way things were gonna be, because she and I were through after that. And then, that was the last I saw of Weiss Schnee. Well, sort of.
"C'mon," Blake said, hoisting Yang's arm over her shoulder as Yang shuffled to her feet from the table. Yang grunted as she struggled to stand up, and Blake felt Yang suddenly crumple and lean in towards her.
"Whoa!" Blake said, catching Yang. Blake then regained her own balance and then struggled to keep Yang up as the two staggered to the sofa in the living room.
"I'm sorry," Yang slurred.
"It's okay," Blake whispered, before the two reached the couch. Blake began to slowly lower her shoulder to let Yang down onto the couch slowly, but Yang went ahead and plopped herself down on the sofa without so much of a word of warning to Blake.
Yang had drunkenly informed Blake of her desire to sleep at this point, and Blake knew that there was no way that she could get Yang all the way to the bedroom, so she made the executive decision to relegate Yang's sleeping quarters to the sofa for tonight.
"Wait here," Blake said, before rushing into the bedroom to grab a comforter and a small garbage container from the bathroom. Blake quickly returned to Yang, who was now laying flat on her back and staring emptily up at the ceiling.
"Here, Yang," Blake said, tossing the comforter up in the air with two hands to flatten it out, and then letting it gently fall down on top of Yang. Blake then gently used her right hand to roll Yang on her side.
"Don't sleep on your back, Yang," Blake soothed, "I don't know if you got it all out of your system, but just in case, sleep on your side. I have a garbage can here for that too."
"Mmmhhh," Yang returned as a reply.
Blake sighed, and then put her hand on Yang's shoulder. Yang's eyes cracked open slightly, completely bloodshot from the tears shed over the course of the night.
"Blake."
"Yeah?" Blake replied, meeting Yang's gaze.
"Please, just...fuckin' kill me," Yang mumbled.
"...what?" Blake cried out, perplexed.
"Please, I don't...I don't wanna live in this world anymore," Yang whispered. "I'mo so fuckin' tired of everything. I'm no good to nobody anymore."
"Yang, you're talkin' crazy-"
"I'm a fuckin' waste, look at me!" Yang whimpered. "Only 23, and I'm already some burnt-out, jaded asshole cop. And I-I-I can't make nobody stay with me. Everyone leaves when they see how fucked up I am."
Yang sniffed her nose as tears began to roll down her eyes again, pooling into a wet spot on the pillow underneath her head.
"Weiss had the patience of a saint. You know that?" Yang said, scoffing. "She kept trying to help me become a better person. But even I found a way to grind her down. She kept waiting on me to change for her, so we could have a life together, but I just can't do it. I can't stop...I can't stop fightin' people, cause that's my job, and I dunno what the fuck else I'm gonna do with my life."
Yang let out another small whimper before bucking Blake's advice once more and rolling flat on her back once again.
"Look at me now, Blake. What the fuck do I got?" Yang moaned. "I got a sick Dad on his way out, I got a Mom whose only ever been in my life when she does something fucked up and I gotta chase her around the block for it, and I got a long list of exes that got fed up with my crazy bullshit. Now, I gotta add the one woman who made life worth living for the last few years to that list. I got nothin'."
"Yang, don't say that," Blake replied firmly, grabbing ahold of Yang's right hand, which felt clammy in her grip. "You're not alone - you got me. I'll stand by you, Yang."
Yang scoffed.
"That's cute," Yang sneered, before dropping Blake's hand. "But I gotta say, Blake...There's...there's somethin' about you..."
Yang's voice was beginning to fade, and Blake saw Yang's eyelids begin to droop. Blake quickly shook Yang to keep her awake.
"What? What is it?" Blake responded.
By this time, Yang had fully fallen asleep, her nostrils suddenly sucking up air as she snored. Her chest began to rise and fall slowly as she began to fall into a deep slumber on the couch.
Blake stared at Yang once more, perplexed, before she grabbed a throw blanket laying on the nearby chair and a half, gently laid it on top of Yang, and then tiptoed out of the apartment, gently shutting the door behind her.
Long winded A/N incoming:
This is more or less the end of the first act of the story. With that being said, I unfortunately have to say that I'm gonna take a small hiatus in posting for this fic.
I initially had the first 5 chapters of this story ready to go when I first published a month ago, but recently I've been unable to find time to begin writing the next 5-6 chapters that comprise the next act of the story. I'd much rather have the next act at least 90% complete and ready to publish rather than write week-to-week and leave y'all hanging because I didn't have the next chapter ready in time. (I also might finish wrapping up some short fics I've been writing, but idk)
I have no idea how long it's going to take to write the next few chapters - it could be finished in 2 weeks, or it could take 2 months. That being said, I want to reaffirm that this is a small hiatus and I'm certainly not abandoning the story - you'll be getting a new chapter posted some time at least in the near future. I already have the remainder of the story planned out, just need to find the time to put pen to paper :/.
I also wanted to say thanks to everyone that gave this story a kudos/favorite/bookmark etc., or just took the time out to read this fic. Those of you leaving comments about how much you like the story so far - sorry if I haven't been responding recently, but you guys make my day, thank you so much. I'm ready to hit the ground running working on the next part of the story, and I don't think I'd feel so excited if it weren't for you all.
(TL;DR - I'm taking a short hiatus from the story to finish writing the next act. Thanks so much for the support so far)
