Chapter 24

Content warning: Soft cuddles, hints at Weiss's trauma from life back in Atlas

That day, there was no training. Weiss was clearly not up for something so sexual, and Blake couldn't bring herself to force it upon her. If Blake were honest, she had no taste for it that day either. Instead, she held Weiss, cuddled her, and even asked the heiress what her favorite show was. She was surprised when the heiress answered something Blake had watched in her childhood. It was something about a dysfunctional- though loving family and their struggles to make it through the years when each week was paycheck to paycheck. Blake hadn't grown up poor- a Belladonna and high amongst the ranks of the White Fang, but she had learned struggle when on the road with the rest of the renegades. She wondered what Weiss got from the show, but she hadn't the coldness left in her warmed heart to question it. Wanting to comfort Weiss, she found a copy of it on the connection Weiss's privileged scroll somehow managed to get all the way out on the island and held it up for them to watch. They cuddled together like that, occasionally giggling at the stray joke, snuggling, and… and… did Weiss- did Kitten- did… did she just?

Kiten? Weiss? One of them? Both of them? Fuck, the most logical conclusion felt to be that it was someone else entirely! Whoever it was, they kissed Blake's cheek. She kissed and snuggled up closer. She was too cute like that. Too cute and Blake needed to think- to process what the hell just happened, but… but Weiss was cuddled close to her, and she was sleepy and… but! She couldn't let herself fall back asleep! That would be bad. Weiss demonstrated she could slip from the paw bindings… she'd also demonstrated that she could be trusted in a way… in a way Blake could hardly believe. It was comfortable, and she was tired, and the heiress had done so well, been so good, and… and… Blake kissed her Kitten back. On the forehead, but it was a kiss. Not the taunt like every other times she allowed her lips to grace the heiress's body.

"You've done so well today Kitten." Blake praised with heavy eyelids. "You were so good and…" She wanted to address what she was speaking of more directly, but… there just weren't words for it. Frankly, simply saying 'thank you for not killing me' felt a little crude for her intentions. "Thank you." She settled on what felt like the dumbest thing to say. "If you want, this is it. We'll try to ramp up slow; make them as easy for you as we can. If you can help us out… this'll be done. I'll do my best to make your day-to-day as palatable for you as possible. If there's anything you want, I'll get it for you." Blake seemed to trail off drowsily. "Hopefully… hopefully, Jacques will cave quickly and you'll be on your way home… home n'... n' you'll never have to…" Blake yawned. "Never have to deal with me again"

"N… nu." Weiss stirred from her state, lingering on the edge of sleep.

"No wha… Kttn…" Blake's eyes slipped closed, and she was asleep again. Asleep, exposed, vulnerable.

"N… no!" Weiss hiccuped with fear, but Blake didn't wake. She may have been a cat faunus, but she was a heavy sleeper.

It wasn't long before the Kitten found herself crying into Blake once more. This time, she didn't even consider removing her paws. She just clung to Blake and tried to figure how much of her emotions were really her, and how much was whatever Blake had done to her. Either way, that night, as she cried into her Owner, she had but one thought. One thought, set to the background of something Blake had once said to her "You're mine I'm the only one who can hurt you now" Those words looped in Weiss's mind. Had the faunus meant them? It sounded evil the first time she'd heard them… but… now it seemed so much more like a promise Blake was intending to break. She could almost deal with only ever being hurt by one person for the rest of her life; all the more so if it was Blake.

It all made for one thought. She needed Blake.

They didn't sleep forever. Again, Blake woke first- to a new wave of shock and guilt. Weiss hadn't so much as fiddled with the loose paw gloves. Blake considered removing them for Weiss, but feared that might actually stress the Kitten out to have them removed without warning. Instead, she just loosened them. If Weiss wanted them removed, she could do that easily on her own now. The ribbons wouldn't be hard with both her arms free, so Blake left those alone. For the Kitten's comfort, she removed the belt. Somehow, Weiss didn't wake through all that- or if she did, she pretended to be asleep. Either way, when it was all over, Blake Kissed Weiss's forehead and wiped away the trails of tears that lingered on her Kitten's face. For good measure, and nothing else- because it would have been bad measure to let her hostage catch a cold and get sick, Blake pulled the blankets over her Kitten and tucked her in for the night.

If it hadn't been for the fact that the scroll also controlled Weiss's collar, Blake would have left it with the show playing for Weiss, but… she couldn't. If- when. It was a matter of when now- and in her heart of hearts, Blake knew when would be in only a short matter of hours. When Weiss complied, maybe she could move in a television to keep Weiss busy during her days in captivity. She'd earned it, that much was sure. Hell, for her life, moving the television out of her own room and down to Weiss's was still a lackluster trade. But, that was a problem to be dealt with another day. For now, Blake had a White fang meeting to attend to- one she was already late for… but there she lingered by Weiss's bedside. Things would change tomorrow. Weiss wouldn't much be her Kitten anymore; she'd just be the captive down in the basement. That was more or less the deal they had. Blake would honor it. She didn't want to. She wanted to keep her Kitten, to hold Weiss close a little longer. But… that was just dumb ass wires getting crossed in her head. It'd been since Adam that she'd had anyone- so it was still all too easy for the wires of 'person I'm fucking' and 'person I have romantic feelings for' to get crossed. That was what Blake assured herself with. It made sense. Right? Yes! It had to. Had to. She couldn't have actual feelings for a fucking Schnee! A Schnee who voted for the… but Blake didn't much believe that did she. It stunk from the moment she heard it. Weiss wasn't the person who would vote for that, these weeks only proved that to her. It's not like White Fang votes had never been fudged by the maniacal intentions of their leader before… it wasn't unrealistic that the Schnee Dust Corporation of all things could slip into the same trap. She'd have to ask Weiss of that one day- to learn the truth. Best to wait tho. If she had confirmation now, she might lose her nerve- Blake scoffed to herself. Lose her nerve, as if she hadn't lost it already, falling asleep with the heiress, twice at that!

Blake wiped her face clean of tears before they could fall. "Goodnight my good Kitten." She whispered the praise and kissed Weiss's cheek before standing and heading off.

The White Fang hall was emptier than the new empty usual when Blake arrived. She knew Marrow, Jaune, Coco, and Neon were off on an operation, but without them, it felt just so empty.

"You're late." Velvet fretted, arms crossed over herself anxiously.

"Sorry." Blake held her head a little low.

"You want to tell us what the status is?" Sun gruffed.

Ilia just stood silently in her corner, only visible because of her outfit as the rest of her blended into the dark meeting hall.

"She'll comply tomorrow." Blake assured.

"She better!" Sun snapped.

"Hey! It was your boyfriend's idea to have the whole thing work weekly." Ilia's voice seemed to boom far too loud for someone nearly invisible.

"Guys! Don't fight." Velvet shrunk to fit her small voice.

"I just want this over and done with!" Sun glared at the ground.

"We all do! But this was the plan!"

"The plan's working." Blake tried to ease tensions.

"It's working too damn slow!" Sun's head rose just to display his fury. "Anything other than getting this over with yesterday is too slow! Neptune is in danger every day that we sit here! Weiss's father suspects someone close to her tipped Blake off; told her to get caught; you know, exactly what Neptune did! The whole reason this operation is even happening!"

"You're not the…"

"I'm not!" Sun turned to Velvet.

"You're not the only…" Velvet tried louder, but she still barely broke a whisper.

"WHAT!?"

"You're not the only one with someone in danger out there!" Ilia yelled.

Sun shut up quickly at that.

"It doesn't mean we can be inhuman monsters… it doesn't mean we can be them."

Sun gritted his teeth. "Aren't we already? What's the point of these fucking half-measures!"

"It doesn't matter. She's… broken." The word echoed in Blake's mind just to sear itself there; like a brand she'd have to live with whenever she took an inventory of herself. A marker of what she'd done. "We stick to the plan, and she'll do whatever we want."

"Sure." Sun huffed. "Just make it quick."

"The plan was small escalations! Boil the frog in a bath that only raises one degree at a time." Ilia quoted Sun's boyfriend back to him.

"Enough about Weiss. How is Neon's op going?"

Velvet shook her head, ears drooping.

"Well, you're the one in contact with Coco!" Sun pressured Velvet.

"I haven't heard from her since last night."

"That's twice what I get from Neptune when he's working a mission."

"She always messages before she goes to bed and as soon as she wakes up." Velvet's breath hitched in her throat.

"Is she alright?"

"I think so?" Velvet guessed. "She's been missing more and more, but she says it's because the SDC has their officers working to the bone."

"Can someone tell me why we didn't send me again? I get sending the non-faunus, Marrow, and Neon; they can hide their tails easy, but I literally BLEND right in! They can only tell if I-"

"You know damn well why." Blake huffed.

"I am one of the only faunus that would be safe on a mission like that; hiding into the Atlesian military. Better me than Marrow! They'll recognize him under that stupid wig."

"Yes, but then one Cardin, or one Schnee would say the faunus are an inferior race and-" Blake stopped herself at the first sign of Ilia turning red with fury. She'd made her point.

"They're not safe!"

"Which is why we need to get them out! And we do it through hastening this shit with Weiss." Sun tried to spin Ilia's words into agreement.

"Hey, Neon said Flynt was ready to flip." Velvet tried to cheer the room in a scared voice. "If… if she believes in him, then I do too. He'll do what's right." She wasn't nearly as confident as her words. Her voice might have wavered, but her whole body shook like a leaf amidst Menagerie's worst hurricane.

"Velvet's right. With Flynt working for us, we'll have that much more of a foothold in Atlas." Blake exhaled slowly. "Hopefully it won't matter, but we'll see."

"And Qrow?" Sun asked of the whole room, but mostly Ilia who had last been in contact with him.

"He's off doing something with Ruby, Yang, the robot, and the kid."

"Is he really a kid if he's… older than all of us put together and times like… a thousand?" Sun huffed.

"They still running queen grimm all over the map?" Blake asked.

"Pretty much." Ilia confirmed.

"Alright." Blake nodded.

"So? We'll have a video to send out tomorrow?" Sun's irritable tone pressed things along.

"One way or another, I'll have something for you."

End of Chapter 24