Footage
[Weiss]
Date: Sunday, March 29th

"So, what do you think about an alabaster white for the table decorations? Or maybe eggshell?"

Weiss' eyes dart up as her brother enters the garden, carrying two sheets of white paper with him and presenting them to his twin. She reaches up to take the papers, holding them side by side and examining them. Wordlessly, she handed him the alabaster and set the eggshell into the discarded pile. Whitley smiles and places the paper next to their choice of decorations; he didn't seem to want to go all out this year, probably not wanting to overwhelm his boyfriend when he arrived, but it was clear that he wanted to make an impression.

"Now all we need is to find a cake." Whitley clapped his hands together happily and Weiss let a tiny smile come to her lips, enjoying the more positive side of her brother. "I was thinking of a fruit cake instead of a regular butter cake like we had last year."

She smirked a little bit, "You mean the cake you demanded to have to try and prove to Oscar that you're not lactose intolerant?"

Her brother instantly jabbed a finger at her, "Hey! I didn't know it'd have milk in it!" He tried to explain, "I can handle butter, and it is titled a butter cake!" His phone dinged.

Weiss chuckled as he pulled out his phone, but her heart fell when the man smiled and excitedly texted something back to someone. She cleared her throat, "How does Father feel about your relationship?" She asked tentatively, her chest twisting as she thought of her own. Ruby had texted her a few times since then, but Weiss never responded. She would sit for hours, staring at the text and imagining how the conversation would go, there were a few times her fingers hovered over the keypad, but she never typed anything.

Whitley looked at her. "He doesn't mind." Of course he doesn't. Her twin's voice became cautious. "Why do you ask? What's wrong?" As the words left his mouth, Weiss' phone began to ring and she tensed up, refusing to look at the contact number. Her hand twitched, wanting to reach for it and answer, just to hear her voice again… Whitley took her phone and his eyes scanned the name on the screen, he chuckled and offered the cellular device to her with a smirk on his face. "It's for you."

She didn't move, her eyes darting between her brother and her phone. If she grabbed her phone, she knew she would instinctively answer. "I-I can't." She murmured as the call came to an end, the screen fading to black. "If… I contacted her," her voice cracked and Whitley offered her an almost knowing look, "I can't let anything happen to her…" He set her phone down and tentatively placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to let her know that he was listening.

"He won't hurt her," he attempted to reassure her, but even he appeared to be unsure, "I know Father is terrible, but he's not a killer…"

Weiss' voice shook and she leaned away from him, her eyes darting back down to her phone when it began to ring again. With a shaky finger, she swiped right and ended the call; she watched the contact disappear from the screen and her gut twisted with guilt. She whispered an apology under her breath, wanting more than anything to hear Ruby's comforting voice.

She shook her head.

She looked back to her brother, "He may not be a killer by his own hands… But I can assure you that he knows some people who can kill her without anything tracing back to him." She shook her head and cleared her throat, burying her grief and pain beneath the surface. "Anyway, you wanted a fruit cake for the party?"

Whitley's demeanor changed immediately, "Precisely like we had on our thirteen birthday," he stopped and his fingers drummed against the table momentarily, "except I don't seem to recall what kind of recipes they had…" He hesitated, "I think Mother chose everything for our birthday that year."

The air around them became thick upon the mention of their mother. The woman had died from liver cancer when the twins were fourteen years old, only a couple months after their birthday. When she was diagnosed with it, there had been a chance that she would have beat it with the proper treatment, but she refused and she spiraled deeper into depression, which caused her to drink more, despite the alcohol having been the sole reason for her condition.

Their father didn't grieve. He put on an act as though he genuinely cared for their family's loss, but somehow he seemed happier. After her funeral, her name was never mentioned around their father again, like it was some kind of unspoken rule.

"She did." Weiss spoke after a long minute. "That was the only time I really saw her smiling."

"Yeah," Whitley agreed with a small smile, the mood changing ever so slightly. His voice became smug, "Although, it was more of a recovery party for me than it was a birthday party for you." Weiss suppressed a roll of her eyes, "I looked death in the face and laughed, after all."

Weiss let out a soft laugh, "I know, I didn't mind, I was just happy you were going to make a full recovery this time." The boy sitting across from her frowned and his hand turned into a fist, he avoided eye contact with his sister. "Whitley?"

"I wish Father would remove those photographs from…" his jaw clenched and his body tensed up, "back then. That's not me, why is he still keeping them up for our guests to see?!"

Weiss offered him a tiny smile, "Well, whether or not Father agrees… You're my brother." Sure, she still resented the malpractice they performed on him, but she did love her brother.

Whitley nodded a bit. "Thank you." He let out a forced breath and stood to his feet, clearly not wanting to be spoken to. "I am going to see what kind of fruit cake recipes the staff has."

Weiss remained silent as her brother stiffly exited the room and the door swung shut behind him, letting up a cool gust of wind. She sighed and leaned back against the chair, rubbing her forehead before leaning up to look at the party decorations neatly organized in front of her. Part of her didn't even want to celebrate her birthday, Ruby didn't and she was perfectly happy.

Their birthday reminded her of the fact that she almost didn't have a twin, but she knew that her brother cherished his birthdays for the same reason she dreaded them. Being fifteen years old and learning that your sibling was laying on their deathbed due to a mistake made during their surgery could scar you, especially when your father didn't seem to care what happened to his son.

But, here recently, their father has been taking more of an interest in her brother. Whitley seemed to revel in the attention, and his personality was slowly beginning to change. Sure, he'd always been obnoxious, but there was something different about him that Weiss was having a problem placing.

The door creaked open again and Weiss lifted her head, frowning when she didn't see her brother walking through. The doorway remains empty and she pushes herself away from the table and stands up. "Whitley?"

Finally, a short man walked through the door with a tray in hand and Weiss let out a sigh of relief. "Klein," she greeted him and he smiled warmly at her, returning the gesture politely setting the tray down to face her, "I'm sorry, I thought you were my brother." She explained as she approached and took a cup of coffee from the platter, she returned to her seat and raised the cup to her lips.

Klein was their family butler, he'd stepped up to take care of her and Whitley when their mother turned to alcohol. He was there when Willow began to neglect them, he's the only reason she and her siblings ever smiled some days. But most of all, he was there through Whitley's illness and helped nurse him back to health… He was more of a father to them than their biological father.

"Master Whitley's presence was requested in your father's office." Klein told her gently, breaking her out of her thoughts. The man looked over the decorations and books spread across the table and he chuckled. "You both are already planning for your birthday parties?"

Weiss nodded and set her mug down, sliding over the colors chosen for the celebration. "Whitley is debating between eggshell or alabaster white." She informed him as she flipped the book of recipes closed, glancing towards the door again and waiting for her brother's arrival. As much as she wanted to plan the entire party herself, she knew he would want to have a say in the decision.

"I think alabaster white would look well," he answered, sliding the color choices back over to her and sitting down, "perhaps I can be of help?"

Weiss beamed, "Of course." She pushed over the decorations, cake, and colors of choice. "This is what we have so far," she leaned back in her chair and pushed it away from the table to stand up, approaching a box of decorations by the door, "Whitley said he'll see about using the banquet room tomorrow so we can figure out exactly how we want everything."

Klein smiled. "Always ahead of schedule, mhm?"

"I wouldn't say ahead," Weiss hummed as she set the box down on the table, rummaging through it and tossing out useless items, "more like behind since the party is in a few months…"

Her phone began buzzing and every nerve in Weiss' body tensed up, she clutched the edge of the box and stared blankly at the contact. Ruby was calling her again… She could see the notification of several text messages up at the top of the screen, Weiss' heart constricted again and a numbing feeling washed throughout her being.

"Who is this?" Klein asked worriedly, sitting up and taking the phone as the contact disappeared off the screen. "Friend of yours?"

Weiss hesitated, wondering if she should tell him. Of course, she knew that she could trust him and that he wouldn't tell anybody. She breathed in a shaky breath and answered him, "My girlfriend…"

A befuddled look crossed the man's face for a moment and he blinked, his voice calm when he spoke to her. "I thought you were dating Mister Vasilias?"

"No," she muttered with a small, embarrassed smile, "we were never dating. We just," Weiss hummed in thought, thinking of a way to explain it, "Neptune was helping me hide my relationship with my girlfriend…" Should she tell him about Sun? No, that was Neptune's secret. She shouldn't expose him like that.

"So, why didn't you answer her call?" Klein asked.

Weiss' gut churned and guilt twisted inside of her, she stiffly moved to her phone and switched it off so that she doesn't have to see the notifications. "Father," she informed him, "he'll hurt her if I contact her…"

Klein smiled a little bit and Weiss frowned at him, "What?" She asked suspiciously, the man stood up from his chair and gestured for her to follow. Weiss stayed put for a few moments before hesitantly following him out of the room, he looked back to make sure she was behind him and he raised a finger to his lips. "Where are we going?"

"Your mother let me in on a little secret before she passed."

Weiss paused in her steps at the mention of her mother, there's a dull ache in her chest. She shook the feeling away and quickened her pace to fall into step next to Klein, frowning when he stopped in front of an old door and unlocked it. He pushed it open and his lips quirk up as he gestured for Weiss to enter the room, her jaw became firm and she cautiously stepped into the dark room.

She was blinded when Klein switched on the lights, revealing her Mother's old bedroom. Her chest tightened again and her feet moved, carrying her forward to examine the decorations; there was a large portrait just above the bed of just Willow and the Schnee kids. It was one of those after Whitley's surgery, before everything went downhill. Weiss smiled a little bit, thankful that her mother had cared enough to replace the photo after the operation. But, her mother's eyes were sat and sunken, almost sorrowful. The smile she was wearing appeared weary, but she was happy…

Looking away, Weiss' eyes trail down to see the image of her older sister, she sighed when she noticed the mournful and grateful expression Winter wore.

That had to be a picture taken before Winter left for the military… She'd never seen any of these pictures anywhere in the manor, but she remembered taking some of them. Especially the one after her brother's operation, because Whitley had just gotten his hair cut and was trying on his new clothes that he needed to grow into.

"Weiss."

She turned her head and noticed a large screen in the corner of the room. There were multiple cameras displayed on the screen, showing footage of nearly every room in the manor. She walked over to where Klein was waiting for her. "Your mother had these set up soon after your and your brother's tenth birthday." Klein informed her.

"I see…" Weiss murmured as she sat down in the chair, pulling herself up to the desk and glancing through the cameras. If they were recording the entire manor… Dread and humiliation settled inside of her gut and she looked up at Klein sheepishly, "None of these record my bedroom, do they?" She asked in a high-pitched voice, trying to conceal her embarrassment and seem unsuspicious.

"Camera 41." Klein told her with a tiny smirk, he then gave a reassuring look. "Don't worry, I never peek into yours or Master Whitley's bedrooms."

Panic surged through Weiss' veins and she sucked in a breath to keep her composure, her blue eyes glance rapidly around at the screen before locating camera 41 and she switched it off. She let out a relaxed, shaky breath and turned back to Klein. "Das ist peinlich…"

He simply raised a brow, not bothering to question her sudden panic.

While she was thankful he'd shared this information with her, there had to be a reason behind it. Right? "I have a question," he looked at her with a kind smile, "why did you show me this?"

He laughed and he moved away, towards the door. "It is about time Jacques is put in his place, no?" Realization swells in her chest. The video cameras mean that his actions have been caught on record! "I will leave you to search for the evidence, your father might be wondering why I have been gone for so long."

"Danke schön, Klein." Weiss smiled.


The writing of this AU has fallen behind a lot, and it is entirely my fault because I've been so focused on completing White Instinct.
I'll be needing some new suggestions for codenames in future chapters. Let me know if you have any!