Part Twenty-Four
Blake felt pretty confident. Well, relatively speaking.
She still wasn't nearly as confident as she used to be, but a year after… it happened, and she felt comfortable. She was seeing the crisis counselor less and less, she was smiling more; her nightmares still happened, but they were less frequent. She was getting comfortable with her body again - not just being in it but what it liked. This year there were two classes where she didn't have her friends, but she didn't enter a panic, she didn't skip class, she just sat in her seat and took her notes. People called her "cat girl" because of all her headbands, and she was maybe starting to like it.
Nora and Ren were in her study hall and pulled their desks over to get help with homework. Nora of course carried the entire conversation, Ren shaking his head and lifting his shoulders, but Blake answered her questions and for a while it was like old times in middle school, during lunch, when the eight of them were all together.
Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the screen.
You know what you did.
She frowned, looked at the number, but it wasn't one she recognized. She shrugged and put her phone down. Wrong text.
At lunch she sat with her friends and Oscar, and her phone buzzed again: Do you have any idea what you did to me?
Blake sighed, and typed out a reply: sry I dont know u. Wrong nmber.
An immediate response: Yes you do.
"Guys," Blake said, turning her phone around, "Do any of you know this number?"
Ruby and Yang leaned in immediately, frowning, before Weiss took the phone to stare at it, Oscar leaning over to read the texts.
"Not a number I know," Weiss said, "but let me go through my contacts first." She pulled out her phone. "I don't recognize the area code though…"
"Looks a little skeevy," Yang said, leaning back.
"Looks a little mad," Ruby said, munching on her sandwich. "That's what's confusing. Blake is probably the nicest person at this table."
"You're pretty nice," Blake said, shaking her head.
"But I'm also pretty annoying," Ruby countered, nodding sagely. "It's the price you pay for skipping a year of school - but I get cookies so it doesn't bother me."
"So, the number isn't on any of my contact lists," Weiss said. "And I just googled the area code. I'm not an expert, but I think this is a burner phone."
"That's even more skeevy," Yang said, shuddering. "Block the number."
"Yeah, this is starting to sound suspicious," Oscar said softly.
"Okay," Blake said, taking the phone back from Weiss. It buzzed just as she took it, and she looked at the new message.
Send me a picture or this goes out to the whole school.
And attached to the message was a picture of Blake, stretched out on a bed and in the bra that… that…
She dropped her phone, staggering to her feet. She ran to the bathroom, ignoring the startled questions from her friends, and was immediately sick. Her skin started to crawl as she remembered that night, how weird she felt from what she later learned was spiked wine, lying down on the bed to try and feel better, and then… "That's right. Pose for me, I know how much you like it. The livestream will love it too."
Blake stepped out of the stall, still sick to her stomach, and Ruby and Yang were both there, pulling her to a hug. Beyond them was Weiss, texting furiously on her phone. They left the bathroom and Oscar was there, too, holding her phone.
"The number's blocked," he said softly, offering it.
Blake shook her head, disgusted with her phone. She didn't want to touch it.
"We're going to Guidance," Yang said firmly. "They need to know that psycho is still out and kicking."
Blake was led to the main office, and as the bell rang they all glanced around, figuring out what was more important.
"I don't…" Blake took a breath, tried to be brave. "One of you can stay," she said. In truth she wanted all of them to stay, she wanted to surround herself with safe people, but that was the coward in her, and she had to stand up on her own eventually. She had to handle her own battles. But… one person wouldn't be so bad… right?
"I'll stay," Ruby said firmly. "You guys go to class. I'll let you know if I need you."
"Ruby…"
"It's fine, Yang, I got this."
"Text us," Weiss said firmly.
Five minutes after they left the Guidance counselor stepped out and took her in. Ruby followed, hugging her arm for support, and Blake was grateful to have a friend with her. Blake unlocked her phone and pulled up the texts. She set them on the desk and let the counselor read them.
"... do you know who sent this?" the counselor asked, grabbing her phone and dialing an extension.
"My ex-boyfriend," Blake said, "Adam Taurus."
The rest of the day was spent on it: the counselor called in the assistant principal, and then the school resource officer, who called in another cop. She explained her story for what felt like a hundred times: she met Adam shortly after they moved to Vale, they dated, he took her to parties - did he take pictures? Yes; he liked it when I posed, he said I looked mature, and I felt mature when I did. Did you ever take your clothes off for the pictures? No, I knew I was still too young for that and I wasn't comfortable. Tell us more about the parties? They were high school parties mostly, and one college party - that I didn't like, I felt like a kid there. Was there drinking? Yeah, always, and games like spin the bottle and sometimes not even games, just people making out on the couch or the stairs or wherever. Did you do anything at those parties? No, I wasn't comfortable, and Adam made a point of protecting me, he even would tell the boys to back off; it made me feel special, protected. What happened on Halloween last year? Adam invited me to his place for a date, we had wine, and everything was really fuzzy.
"I remember lying down on his bed to try and feel better," Blake said. "He told me to relax, it would be okay. Then I woke up and I was in my bra, and he was telling me to pose. I told him I didn't want to, I didn't feel good. He tried to put me in a pose, he touched…" She looked at Ruby, a year younger than her, and she suddenly hated that she was here, listening to this, and at the same time she hated herself, because she didn't want her to go. Her skin was crawling again, she could just feel his hands on her, remembering his phone being out, the flashlight bothered her eyes. "I ran to the bathroom," she said. "I think I was sick. The next thing I really remember was being outside, running. I hid in an alley, and that's when I called Yang."
She didn't remember making the call, only crouching and making herself as small as possible, talking and not understanding why her voice sounded so weird. Then she heard Adam, cursing, saying she was costing him big time and that she would pay for it. "That's when I saw the knife."
Then: Yang running Adam over with her bike, Yang standing in front of her, bright yellow hair haloed by the light overhead, and Yang holding her arm, blood and flashing lights.
She shook her head, shaking slightly, and her cheeks were wet.
"What's going to happen?" Ruby asked. "Will that picture really go out to the entire school?"
"We're tracing the phone now," the officer said gently, and Blake couldn't decide if she hated the gentle tone or not. She needed to be yelled at - this was her own stupidity. "If he turns it on, we'll find him."
Somehow… Blake didn't feel better knowing that.
She didn't sleep that night.
Oscar reflected that his life had changed a lot in the last year. Before it was just him and his dad. Before-before, it was him and his dad and his mom. There were never many people in his life, Mom didn't like leaving work to drive him to a friend's house and his dad had a lot of long hours at the university. His dad did try and drive him places when he could. After, when they came here, Oscar didn't go to friend's houses because his priority was making sure his dad was okay. But then his dad had met Qrow.
Now things were different. Qrow had moved in, his dad was happy and… Oscar's life was much fuller. Qrow was cool, understood that his dad came first, and Oscar suddenly found he had more free time with Qrow helping his dad. And he had a bigger family. Granted, he was friends with Ruby and Yang first, but now they were his… what? Step-cousins? And their friends, Weiss and Blake, were just as much his friends. Ruby had explained to Oscar that there was a solemn vow that they were all siblings now. That if Oscar ever needed a mom that Mrs. Belladonna could be his mom, Mr. Tai was now his dad or uncle and it was all complicated and confusing.
But…
It was full. Oscar had never had such a big family. Before his dad started seeing Qrow, the idea of going over to someone's house was strange. Now, they did cookouts, went to a lake house, spent afternoons doing homework or baking together. There was so much to do that Oscar wasn't ever bored. And in high school everything changed again.
Qrow was now a teacher, his dad couldn't make the long drive to get to the high school to pick them up and Qrow was still at his school teaching, so they were all trusted to take the bus home and to be home alone. His dad would get home, usually shortly before Qrow, and he would either find Oscar and the girls at their home or Mr. Tai's and it usually ended up in a big family dinner.
And in high school, Ruby had explained that they had some duties to do.
"You remember that Blake had a rough time last year?" she asked during that first week of school.
"Yeah," he said. "She was in the hospital right? So was Yang."
Ruby nodded. "Well, she had a hard time going back to school. We're part of her defense squad."
"Defense squad?"
"Yeah!" Ruby smiled. "See, we all changed our schedules so that she always had one of us in class so she wasn't alone. And as her sisters we made sure no one bothered her. You're officially part of the family now, so you're part of the defense squad."
Oscar gave a flat look. "I'm still a short farm boy. I'm not great for being a defender."
"Are you kidding?" Ruby said, all enthusiasm. "You defended your dad didn't you? You defended him against that big guy at the supermarket! You're totally defense squad material!"
Oscar was still dubious, but he shared a history class with Blake because all her tardies and absences had prevented her from getting credit the previous year, so she was repeating. He sat next to her and while she didn't talk much, she only talked to him. After the threatening texts, she got even quieter and he always shimmied his desk next to hers so that she wasn't alone. He was too shy to talk much and she was too scared to talk much, but they leaned over the history book and could point out answers to each other without needing much conversation.
Her phone was on the desk when a notification came up and Oscar saw it before Blake did.
I haven't gotten a picture yet. Do you want that picture to go out to the entire school?
Oscar grabbed the phone and shoved it into his pocket.
"Oscar?" Blake looked up from her notes.
"Quiet over there," the teacher said.
"May I go to the bathroom?" Oscar asked.
"Hey," Blake hissed. "What's wrong?"
"Mr. Pine, the answer is no."
"Thanks, bye!" Oscar took off and left. He was going to get into trouble for this, but if he was part of a defense squad, he had a responsibility to do. He pulled out his own phone and texted the rest of the Blake Defense Squad. He went right to Guidance and found Blake's counselor and handed over Blake's phone. He couldn't unlock it, but the notification was there on the lock screen easy to see.
"Has Blake seen this?" she asked.
"No," Oscar said. "I didn't want her seeing that in the middle of class. I brought it right here."
The counselor nodded and picked up the phone, calling Oscar's class and calling for Blake to come down.
"That was good of you," she said softly. "Now she can learn about it in a controlled environment."
Oscar nodded solemnly.
He waited and Weiss was actually the first to arrive. "I'm doing the support," she said to Oscar. "Ruby and Yang will be in her next class taking notes for her. You go finish taking notes for her in history."
Nodding Oscar stood. "Lunch?"
Weiss smiled. "Hopefully. She'll need all of us."
Of course on his way back to class, Oscar ran into Cardin Winchester.
"Hey Pussy Pine."
Of course with all that had changed in his life this hadn't.
"I've seen you just hang out with girls all the time," Winchester said and of course Winchester had a growth spurt and was as tall as an adult while Oscar wasn't. "So what, you with all the girls because you're a tranny? Or you just proving you're not a fag?"
"We're in high school, Cardin. Grow up."
"I have. I'm bigger than you."
Oscar grimaced and just kept walking. After the fight last year and being grounded, he knew that getting into a fight was a bad idea. He knew Winchester just wanted to get him pissed off and angry because he wanted the show of Oscar getting in trouble. He'd learned that much from guidance, his dad, Qrow; he knew that Winchester was baiting him.
Didn't mean he still wasn't angry. He just knew he needed to walk away.
"Poor Pussy Pine, doesn't want his dick in a cunt."
God why was Winchester like this? He wanted to slug him.
"Oh, come on, Pussy Pine, you're not gonna call your fairy dad?" Winchester laughed. "I bet his cunt is always loose for the switch hitter. Or do they both do you? I hear faggots love little kids-"
"Back off," Oscar turned, furious. "You're just a homophobe who doesn't know anything because you don't want to." Oscar didn't have time for this. He was supposed to get back to history and take notes for Blake. She was dealing with enough, she didn't need him unable to take notes because Winchester was an asshole.
"Well, it looks like Pussy Pine has a spine." Winchester gave a cruel grin. "Tell me, who's dick is up your ass to make your spine?"
"Fuck off, Winchester."
Oscar blinked, surprised and turned to see Yang behind him, eyes almost red with fury. "Yang? How-"
"You're good, Oscar. Family defends each other," Yang gave him a smile.
Family…
"Now Oscar has class to get to," Yang turned to Winchester. "But I'm in study hall. That means I can get you to back the fuck up."
"Please, Pussy Pine doesn't-"
Yang slammed her fist against the lockers, making them rattle.
Winchester frowned, then looked Yang up and down and smiled. "I hear you're a dyke. Want to see what a dick in your cunt is actually like? You won't be a dyke after a proper fuck."
Oscar was getting tired of this and he was getting angrier.
"Mr. Winchester!"
A teacher came out of the classroom. "You can go see the assistant principal right now!" the teacher growled. "I'm writing you up for language, intimidation, hate speech, you'll have a week of detentions with me on top of whatever administration gives you, and I'm calling home."
"What?" Winchester gasped. "I didn't do anything!"
"Come with me to administration. You very much did."
Yang gave a crooked smile. She turned to Oscar. "Told him I could make him back off."
Oscar blinked confused. "How?"
Rubbing her fist, Yang tapped at the lockers. "Make a big enough noise and teachers come out of their rooms to investigate. We don't get in trouble and Winchester keeps mouthing off and gets heard."
"Oh…"
Yang put an arm around his shoulder. "That's what family does."
Family… Oscar had never been part of a large family. For so long it was just him and his dad. But… this? This was probably the best part of how much his life had changed. He let out a low laugh, unable to figure out what to do with everything he'd been feeling in the last ten minutes. "I'm going to get written up for cutting class," he muttered, looking to his class just down the hall."
"I'll walk you back. I know your teacher. I'll explain a few things." Yang squeezed his shoulder. "You won't get another freebie again, but you won't get in trouble this time. How's Blake?"
"I didn't see her in guidance. She's probably read that text now. Weiss is there."
Yang nodded. "Notes duty for the Defense Squad. And good on you, Oscar, for catching it."
Oscar returned to class.
After dropping the girls off at Oz's for some kind of study session, Tai put his car in gear and drove over to the Belladonna's. He'd gotten an email asking for them to talk, and he had a dark suspicion on what it was about. He wasn't looking forward to it, but it had to be done, and he took a deep breath when he parked.
Kali was at the door and ushered him in almost immediately, taking his jacket and pointing him to the kitchen. Ghira was there and they shook hands. "Thanks for coming," the big man said.
"No, it's fine," Tai said. "I guess I should have seen this coming. How's everyone doing?"
"The class action suit against Schnee is going better than anyone expected - it looks like he's going to pay out. The custody battle, I'm told, is going to be much more difficult, poor girl."
"Sorry to hear that," Tai said, sitting down. Kali reappeared and put a kettle on for tea, Ghira sitting down. "Weiss is a good kid."
"They're all good kids," Ghira said, "Better than anything we could have hoped for as parents."
"Yang and Ruby said it's getting hard to keep Blake in school," Tai said, "How's she holding up?"
"Scared," Kali said, rubbing her arms. "We've changed her phone number twice but she keeps getting those awful texts. That predator wants her to pose for him, or he'll send pictures of her assault out to the entire school. It's been three weeks and she wakes up every morning to comb through the internet to see if the proverbial shoe has dropped."
"This is getting untenable," Ghira said. "The police are useless unless there's a threat of violence - and half the time they're so blinded by their own prejudices they don't take a serious threat as anything more than a joke."
"Honey, we don't need your community organizer talk," Kali said firmly. "However true it is, for now they're taking this seriously."
"As seriously as they take anything," Ghira said, running a hand through his dark wash of hair. "Did you know in the beginning they asked what Blake had done to make that Taurus predator mad?"
"I remember," Tai said, face grim. "At the hospital, they thought it was teen drama." Halloween night last year was blurry, Tai was in a near panic before he finally mentally shut down, but he did remember Ghira yelling - he had to move Ruby to the other side of the waiting room before it had calmed down. "Then they heard about the date rape drug."
"Rohypnol," Kali said, shuddering. "But at least they have the harassing texts. I can't understand why they haven't tracked the phone yet."
"He's probably using a burner," Tai said. "Or a couple of them. Yang said they've blocked something like five numbers now."
"That's what we wanted to talk to you about," Ghira said, rubbing his chin. "Blake hasn't sent anything, and we're making sure she doesn't. The boy hasn't sent anything for over a week, and she's desperate to think it will all just blow over."
"It won't," Tai said.
"That predator was grooming Blake almost as soon as they met," Kali said, her normally soft voice bitter. "He was going to get her compromised and then blackmail her into doing whatever he wanted - and then she'd disappear. He's trying to force the issue now, but Blake has a strong support network between your girls, her counselor, and the school. How is young Yang doing with all of this?" she asked.
"She puts on a brave face," Tai said, rubbing his forehead. "But she isn't sleeping as well, and you can tell when she's thinking about it because her hands start to shake. I've put her in a self-defense class - I don't have the money for both her and Ruby - and I can only hope it's enough."
"That's a good idea," Kali said, getting up as the kettle started to whistle. "Where is she going? Maybe we can sign Blake up…"
"But back to the original point," Ghira said, face dark. "Taurus is good enough to change his number, and he's good enough to keep ducking the police, and that means eventually he's going to go through with the threat. I've asked Blake repeatedly what kind of pictures he has but she insists she always kept her clothes on."
"It won't matter," Kali said, pouring the tea and shaking her head. "The one picture he did send was from the night of the assault, when she was drugged. She's admitted there are gaps in her memory - she doesn't even remember calling Yang. I can't even imagine how much time he had to…"
The silence fell over all of them, and Tai was reliving last year: driving to the hospital, seeing the ER fill with gurneys from the highway accident, being unable to see Yang, police asking him questions he couldn't even comprehend, Qrow shouting…
"What kind of a parent are you?"
He shook his head. Two calls to his therapist had been all he needed, and he wasn't going to let this overwhelm him again. He took a deep breath. "You're asking what we should do if - when - those pictures come out."
Ghira nodded, his face grim. "Blake is going to want to hide again. Even with summer school she had to repeat world history, and I don't want her to lose credit again this year because of absences."
"Yang used up all her absences with the broken arm, but she was a trooper and got all of her credit back, and I know she wants to be there for Blake when things go south." He offered a half grin. "She does have a crush on her."
"Oh. Oh," Kali said, straightening as she handed out the tea. "Oh, I didn't know."
"She's only out to family right now, but she started to tell a couple of people at school: probably including Blake."
"Just like Blake to protect her friends' secrets. She did that with her cousin Sun, back in Massachusetts. Thick as thieves they were; we were so worried when we moved here, but she fell in with your girls pretty fast."
"Not fast enough," Ghira muttered. "She has to face her problems. She has to go to school when those pictures get sent out. Kids will want to talk about it no matter when she decides to go to school, better to get it over with now."
Tai frowned. "Do we know if the school is doing anything to prepare the student body?" he asked. "Is the principal going to call an assembly or something?"
"There's the very real concern that it will draw attention to Blake," Kali said with a sigh, sipping her tea. "She can barely get through a day at school as it is, this might drive her home. Last I heard they're trying to blend it into a class meeting where they talk about a couple of issues at once." She ran a hand through her short bob of hair. "I agree with Ghira, she needs to face her problems; but she needs time to heal, too. She has a lot of anxiety right now, and going to school exacerbates it. I'm so torn."
"Well," Tai said slowly. "My home is a safe space. So is the professor's. So is yours. Whatever the other kids say, the friends she has won't care. Ruby already calls the group of them the Defense Squad."
"You know that, and I know that, but teenagers don't," Ghira said. "This is a world-ending event, and Blake can't seem to understand that being a victim of digital stalking like this is more horrifying than a body of teenagers thinking about her at all."
Tai leaned back in his chair. "We all went through it," he said, a whimsical smile on his face. "I remember when everyone thought I had streaked through the halls in high school. I couldn't lift my head up in class for two months. Nobody even blinked when I actually did it in college. Qrow says he still has the picture somewhere, that he'll use it for blackmail if I ever need it." He snorted. "We were so young and stupid then…"
"We all are at that age," Kali said, smiling herself. "Someday I'll tell you how I met Ghira at a protest."
"Kali," Ghira hissed, turning bright red. He coughed. "Regardless, we should all be prepared for the worst case scenario: the pictures coming out."
"I'll talk to my brother Qrow," Tai said, nodding his head. "We all have our numbers by now. We'll let you know if we know anything."
"Same here," Ghira said.
"You want to come over for Thanksgiving?" Tai asked. "I'm already having Qrow and Oz come over, it'll be tight but Blake could use a big, soft family right now."
"We had the same thought," Kali said with a soft smile. "We're going to visit my brother's family in Massachusetts. Blake hasn't seen her cousin Sun in weeks, and a familiar face and a different location will help, I hope."
Tai nodded again. "Here's hoping the worst doesn't happen."
"Amen."
"Agreed."
Oscar looked at the clock and begged for it to go faster. Detention was almost over and he really needed the day to be over. Granted, he'd kinda earned the detention given his tendency to be late coming back from lunch because he and everyone else lingered to keep supporting Blake as she tended to start shaking like a leaf every time her phone buzzed. She'd taken to always giving the phone to someone to see what the notification was. Most of the time it was fine, but it was obviously stressing her out.
So maybe Oscar deserved detention for being late. But being late for a good cause made it better. Everyone else had gone home. The last text he'd seen before turning in his phone for detention was that they were all at Mr. Tai's place. Qrow would be showing up to pick him up, which was fine with Oscar. The late bus meant a chance of being in the same place as Cardin Winchester, and the less Oscar saw of him the better.
"Mr. Pine," the teacher said. "I know you're trying to help a friend. But you also need to be aware of your own needs. Don't go neglecting yourself."
"Yes, ma'am," he said politely.
"Here's your phone. You have a ride?"
Oscar checked his phone. "Yeah. My…" what should he call Qrow…? "My other dad is picking me up."
His teacher smiled. "Good. I won't say have a good day, you've been in trouble with me. Have a thoughtful day."
"Yes, ma'am." Oscar finished packing his bag and headed out. He texted Qrow that he was on his way and headed to his locker to get his coat. November was getting colder and with Thanksgiving next week winter felt like it was just around the corner. The flagpole was the set meeting spot, so Oscar walked out to it and double checked his phone.
15 min, parent meeting ran late
Oscar shrugged and opened up other texts to see how the group chat was doing.
"Well, Pussy Pine."
Oscar groaned, looking up to see Winchester there, football gear making him broader and more intimidating.
God, he was so done with this. Years of bullying.
"Winchester," he replied. "Where's the rest of the team?"
The helmet came off and Winchester just grinned. "I'm keeping a look out for the bus. Away game. If you were there, I'd call it a gayme."
Oscar rolled his eyes, looking back to his phone.
"Waiting for your fag-dad? Or the fuck-boy of his?"
Not punching him, not hitting him, not kicking him into next week.
"Nice coat by the way. Very stylish, tranny-boy."
Not punching, not hitting, not kicking. Oscar sent a text on the group chat that Winchester had just showed up and a veritable barrage of texts came back of support from everyone.
And Oscar couldn't quite hold back the smile. He had a huge family now and they all supported him. He'd never had that before and it was… he couldn't think of a good word for it.
Winchester walked over, looming over him. "Come on, Pussy Pine. Just go crying for you fairy-fag-dad. We both know that's what you want. Cry like a little girl."
Oscar gave a flat stare. "You say that like it's a bad thing to be a little girl."
"Well, you are a pussy. I just keep wondering who's dick you take. You haven't exactly manned up, after all."
Oscar was soooooo tired of this. "Your version of 'manning up' is toxic and requires a dick measuring contest of who's more masculine, which is a contest no one ever wins."
"That's because you probably have a toothpick dick since you're made to be a pussy, like your fag-dad and his fuck-boy."
"Cardin, you've been harrassing me for years now. Aren't you tired yet?"
"Like I said, Pussy Pine, you're a pussy. Of course you're tired, you're a weak little cunt that can't even take one shafting before cumming."
God, this was disgusting. How the hell did you get homophobes to stop? On the internet you could at least block them and report them. How the hell did you handle them in school? And why was Winchester's language so vulgar this year? All the innuendo and allusions to sex. What the hell?
"So, what, you're fairy-fag fucks your ass while his fuck-boy fucks your mouth?" Winchester kept looming. "I bet they like to see you blushing through all those freckles, tranny. Do they strip you before fucking you or do you take it rough? I know guys aren't built for being fucked and need lube. I bet you take dick without the lube in that wet pussy of yours."
"What's with you, Cardin?" Oscar growled. "You keep talking about fucking. Why do you keep…" Realization seemed to dawn on Oscar and his mouth dropped open.
Winchester licked his lips.
"Is that why you've been fixated on me for years? Is that why your language has gotten so crass? You're gay for me?"
Winchester took several steps back, face paling. "What the fuck, Pussy Pine!"
Oscar glared. "Why else are you always being a jerk to me? Back off, I'm not interested."
Winchester kept sputtering. "My God, you really are a faggot."
Qrow pulled up and Oscar was happy to have an escape. He turned to Winchester before he sat down. "If that's your version of flirting, you're never going to get laid."
"Pussy Pine!" Winchester yelled, furious.
But Oscar sat down and turned to Qrow. "Can we please leave?"
Qrow studied him. "Do you need me to kick his ass?"
Oscar shook his head. "No. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think I have him figured out. He can't really hurt me anymore."
Self-hate? Anger as a result? Oscar knew what that looked like all too well. The loud and angry sort that caused damage, that was his mom. The quiet, inward reflected kind, that was his dad for a long time. At this point, he could only pity Winchester. His phone was still buzzing and he pulled it out to start replying.
"Need anything?" Qrow asked quietly.
Oscar hesitated. "Ice cream."
Qrow smiled, knowing what that meant, and turned a different direction.
The week of Thanksgiving was spent with Blake's cousin Sun, and Neptune (why thank you, I make blue hair look amazing), and Gramma Sienna and Ilia and all of her old friends. Pictures, food, more conversation than Blake thought possible - she told Ilia she was bi and Ilia told her she was gay. They chuckled and teased Sun and Neptune - remembering their old nickname of Sea Monkeys, Gramma Sienna told them stories of her activist days in the eighties and marching down to the capitol. Blake had turkey to the disapproval of her parents and - after being vegetarian for so long - was sick afterwards as her body protested the meat. Friday was full of shopping and crowds and texts from Yang and Weiss, Blake snapping a selfie of her and Ilia and Yang saying they looked cute together. This was followed by a text from Ruby saying Yang was jealous and Blake laughed.
She hadn't heard from Adam in a month, his last threat was on Halloween night - she spent the day home from school terrified he would send the picture, but nothing happened, and she finally believed that he had given up.
Blake and Ilia were up late Saturday night talking, sharing stories, discovering when they realized what they were, talking about what turned their heads and how simple touches lit fires in them. Illia admitted she was in love with someone, cheeks bright pink, and Blake admitted she was scared to fall in love: Adam had proven she was a poor judge of character and she didn't trust herself yet. Illia looked down, sad, but brightened to say that it was only natural, and that they had all the time in the world. Blake was sad to leave Sunday, the break from Vale had been wonderful, and for the first time in weeks she looked forward to going to school.
She texted Weiss, Yang, and Ruby about her great weekend. Weiss admitted her weekend was hard, her father had managed to insist on a family dinner and it was all about her mother and how "ill" she was, her little brother snide and condescending, and Blake added her support with Yang and Ruby.
Ill come ovr mon and help u decrate, she type quickly, its ur 1st xmas with winter, rt? Well make it specl.
Blake, your typing is atrocious. But yes, I would love to have you come over and help me decorate. Winter was thinking silver as a main color.
We did that 1 yr. It was depressing aftr a while, u need a real color 2 balance it.
I'll pass that on.
Monday was full of smiles on the bus, music blaring in her ears as she hopped off the bus. Her first class was world history with Oscar, and he passed a note saying he was happy to see her smile.
Second period she was by herself, and the teacher was going through a list of vocabulary for the next unit they were covering. Blake was busy taking notes and definitions, and maybe it was her imagination, but a lot of people seemed to be looking at her as she wrote things down. Her anxiety flared, but she shook her head, knowing it was probably nothing - had been nothing for several weeks. But when the bell rang she noticed a lot of kids were looking at her in the hall, and that wasn't her imagination. Her stomach started to twist, and when she made it to math with Ruby she was grateful to see a similar face.
"Am I being paranoid again?" she whispered. "Is everyone looking at me?"
"I don't know," Ruby said, "I'm bad at seeing stuff like that, but I'll sit next to you - today is bookwork day so it shouldn't be much of a problem."
But the seed had been planted. Blake kept looking around the classroom, and it felt like everyone was pointing to her. She kept shifting in her seat; it was only third period, one more class and she could make it to lunch - there, someone definitely made eye contact and turned with a smile. Blake didn't recognize the face. She kept her head down after that, grabbing her phone to check her messages. No one had sent anything, no texts from Adam, but there were thirty messages on her social media, and she was afraid.
The bell rang before she could ask Ruby to look, and the next class was Civics with Yang. Blake nearly ran to class, looking for that beautiful blond hair and making a beeline to her.
"Something's wrong," she said without preamble. "I have thirty messages. I'm afraid to look."
Yang's face was already serious, and Blake handed her phone over. Yang scrolled through the messages, and her face got darker and darker. Her eyes were almost red when she looked across the room. "Hey Mercury!" she called, gesturing for him to come over.
The junior came over, eyes roving over Blake in a way that made her uncomfortable.
"You wanna explain this?" she asked, holding up Blake's phone.
"What?" Mercury asked. "It's an honest question."
"Not really," Yang said, "What gave you the idea?"
"Oh? You didn't get it? Here, let me send it." Mercury pulled out his phone and unlocked it. "Though honestly, you should ask the source," he looked up and gave a lecherous grin, "given how close you two are."
Blake knew. She didn't need to see Yang's face when she saw the message Mercury had sent, she didn't need to see her jolt to her feet, she already knew. Yang dropped her phone as she started shouting at Mercury, and there, on her screen, was the picture of Blake from last year, in her bra and posing. Pasted on the photo was text: There's more where this came from.
Blake picked up her own phone in morbid, slow motion, opening her messages, knowing what they contained but unable to look away.
When do *I* get some?
Pose for me.
Tits next time or it's lame.
You do that for everybody?
You'd look way better with my dick in your mouth.
And so on and so on. She read all of them, lost to the outside world, and then read them again, and again, and again. Twelve new messages. Then thirteen. Then twenty. The pic was spreading to the entire school, more and more people were seeing it, and her feed was getting flooded with people asking about it or remarking on it or begging for more. Blake was shaking, her cheeks hot and wet, and she couldn't stop reading it.
Someone finally yanked the phone out of her hands, and she looked up to see everyone staring at her, Yang stuffing the phone in her back pocket. The desks were askew of their neat little rows, and Mercury was looking like someone had shoved him, but two dozen eyes were on Blake, and all of them knew.
And she did what she did best:
She ran away.
"Blake!"
The halls were a blur, she didn't know where to go, she just wanted to be away. All she could see were those messages, the picture, the more where this came from, her mind unable to process the enormity of what had just happened. She felt disgusting, and her stomach twisted so much she stopped wherever she was just to be sick. Everything shuddered and even when nothing was left in her stomach she still heaved, her body trying to get rid of this sickening feeling. Cold air prickled along her skin, and when she could finally look up she saw she was outside, just passed the school parking lot and on the gravel path that led to the athletics field.
Gingerly she stepped around her sickness, but she felt light headed and cold, making it maybe a dozen steps before she had to sit down on the gravel. The cold air made her numb, and that felt better than what she was currently feeling.
Anything would be better than what she was currently feeling.
Guys, Blake ran away! Did anyone see where she went?
yang what even happened everyone was staring in math
ADAM SENT THE PICTURES!
w h a t
I agree: what? This is terrible! How are we supposed to stop something like this?
I don't know! I wanna kill that dirty bastard!
Guys, guys I'm on the second floor, I just saw her run out to the parking lot where does that gravel path lead?
The athletics field. Thanks, Oscar! I'm on it!
"Good luck, Weiss," Yang muttered, putting her phone down. She and Mercury were in the main office, the civics teacher having thrown them out when the shoving had started. Yang glared at him from the other side of the office, but Blake was her first concern and she felt better for having Weiss go after her. The next step was guidance, so she got up and moved down the short hall to the other part of the office, going to the guidance counselor's door and knocking. "It's an emergency!"
The counselor came out and Yang showed her the picture. That led to more calls and the SRO sweeping in to ask some questions. When Yang finally got out she saw Mercury still in the office, sitting and sullen. She walked over to him.
"Just so you know," she said in a low voice. "I'm gonna tell everyone in the building that you get off on rape pics."
Mercury's face was a sight to behold; he sputtered and jerked to his feet. "What are you talking about?" he demanded. "Why would you do something like that?"
"Cause that's what it was," Yang said, unrelenting and happy to see him squirm. "A rape pic. The SRO is going through the feed now to see who wanted to see more, and he's gonna pull you all into his office and ask what kind of rapist you are."
"You can't be serious!" Mercury said. "What the hell is your problem?"
"My problem is that idiots like you don't think about where shit like this come from!" Yang said. "All you see is a pretty girl half dressed and your stupid weiners stop you from thinking about anything else: like who took the pic or why she isn't smiling or about her having no idea that people were spreading this around! She was a freshman when this was taken, you sick piece of garbage!"
"Black," the SRO said, all business. "My office now."
Mercury gulped, face losing color, and Yang felt perverse pleasure that he was suffering. He looked back at Yang, slow dawning horror spreading over his face. Yang sat back down and pulled out her phone.
Just so everyone is on the same page, she said in a text to Velvet and the few other upperclassmen she felt safe texting, if anyone is getting off on that pic that's being spread around, it means they're getting off on a rape pic.
Wait, WHAT?
Is THAT why Blake was out so much last year?
OMG who even sent the pic?
Adam Taurus, remember him?
That creepy senior? I totally believe it then. He was creepy AF.
Tell everyone to stop jerking off, Yang wrote, let them know what they're really looking at.
On it, Velvet replied.
Yang sighed, and hoped it was enough.
Author's Notes: Yang, girl, WHAT ARE YOU DOING. But more on that later.
Blake's story is different than everyone else's in the fic. Where every other character's arc is a balance of self-indulgence and vaguely matching the beats of their arcs in the series, Blake's story here is instead a visceral reaction to a PD Image had a few months before the Apocalypse started. As high school teachers she and the rest of her school were talked to by a Human Trafficking cop about how teens can be/are harvested for business and... like... teachers left in the middle of the PD crying it was so sick and twisted and gross and sad and everything else. It literally only takes 30 seconds for someone to fall into the blackmail that Blake just suffered in this chapter and... Look, the detail-details, they come from that PD.
As if all of that isn't dark enough we also get Cardin Winchester to act like a youtube comment section and - like - I kind of want a show after doing a final read-through of this chapter. In retrospect we should have reordered this a little better. What a mood turn compared to the last chapter.
On the up side, Oscar's arc is now closed as he's figured out Cardin and realized just what having a big family can be like. The adults are well aware of how dangerous things are getting and are trying to keep everyone's heads above water - Tai is still Best Supporting Character (TM).
Next chapter: things keep sucking for Blake, Yang has a problem, and Qrow relives his darkest memory. Just... Drama. Drama everywhere.
