I have returned with yet another chapter. Can't believe I've actually made it to chapter 40 (41 including the prologue). Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
It was early in the morning, on the day after the shootings, and Yang was in the base's gym. She was alone, as all the others were either still asleep, or occupying themselves with other things. To keep herself in peak physical condition, and because she enjoyed it, she spent a lot of time working out.
She was doing pull-ups with weights attached to her ankles when Winter walked in. "Sup Winter," she said, without pausing her workout.
"Good morning Yang," Winter responded, before starting up a treadmill. Despite being on the same side, she wasn't really sure how to talk to Yang. Her exploits were well known, so being alone with her was an intimidating prospect even when they were members of the same gang.
"Hey, I wanted to thank you for keeping Pyrrha safe yesterday," Yang said after a few moments of silence, remembering that she hadn't really spoken to Winter since then. Pyrrha was more than capable of looking after herself, but Winter had made sure that she came to no harm.
"It's no problem, Yang, I'm just glad I can make myself useful," Winter responded. She was grateful to Yang for showing her appreciation, but as far as she was concerned, she was just doing her duty as a member of the gang.
"You don't need to be so humble you know, you did risk your life for a bunch of people you barely know," Yang told her. Winter was going above and beyond for a gang of people she had only recently met, so, she deserved at least a little credit, even if she was only involving herself for the sake of her sister and getting back at her father.
"I'm just doing my job as part of the gang, I'm sure everyone else would do the same," Winter responded. She didn't want any special treatment. When she was still working for her father, everyone around her gave her special treatment, so she really didn't want things to be that way now that she was with the Huntresses.
"You're right, but Pyrrha is important to me, so I can't just say nothing," Yang told her. She couldn't just say nothing, Pyrrha was one of the most important people in her life, and Winter had kept her safe from Torchwick's people.
"Thank you, Yang, I appreciate it," Winter reluctantly accepted. Yang was genuinely grateful for what she had done and wasn't just giving her special treatment because of who she was.
"You okay?" Yang asked, sensing that something was going on with Winter. She got the impression that Winter didn't feel entirely comfortable about being around her.
"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Winter responded. She was quite surprised that Yang had picked up on how she was feeling. She hadn't expected Yang to be so perceptive to the feelings of others, despite having seen for herself that she was more human than her reputation made her seem.
"Well, I'm used to people feeling nervous around me, and you're really giving me that impression. Plus, you've got the same face that Weiss has when I talk about sex." Yang explained. She had become quite good at reading people, even the usually unreadable Schnees.
Winter was surprised by how observant Yang was. "Alright, maybe I do feel a little uncomfortable around you," she admitted, seeing no point in trying to hide it when Yang could read her like a book.
Yang was surprised by the admission and knew that she had to address it. She dropped down from the pull-up bar, before responding. "Unless you're planning on fucking us over, I'm not a threat to you, Winter, you don't need to worry about me hurting you," she said, trying to assure her that she wasn't in any danger.
"I know, it's just me being irrational. You would have killed me by now if you were going to," Winter told her. She would have been dead already if Yang wanted her dead, but that didn't stop her seeing Yang as a potential threat, based purely on the blonde's reputation, despite having seen proof that she was, in fact, friendly.
"You know I'm not the monster I used to be, whatever you've heard, that's not me anymore," Yang responded. She was still a killer, but she wasn't the monster she once had been. Now, she had friends, she was in love, and she was free from her mother, she was more than just a killing machine.
"I'm sorry, Yang. I'm just finding it hard to differentiate between the version of you that I know and the version I've heard so much about," Winter explained. It was hard to be at ease around someone with as fearsome a reputation as Yang, even when experience indicated that she had changed.
"You don't need to apologise. Even I find it hard to believe how much I've changed." Yang assured her. It was quite difficult to come to terms with her new self, so she didn't want Winter to feel bad.
Winter nodded, accepting what Yang told her. "You're not the only one, you know, Yang. I believe the two of us have more in common than I first thought," she said, having noticed the parallels between recent events in both of their lives.
"How so?" Yang asked her, having not had time to get to know Winter particularly well, given how things had been since breaking out of Beacon.
Winter sighed, as she thought about everything she had given up on. "Like you, I also turned my back on everything I once believed in. You did it for Pyrrha, I did it for Weiss. You went against your mother, I did the same to my father," she explained. They were very different people, but it was undeniable, that they had more than a little, in common.
"Huh, I guess you're right," Yang responded when she realised that Winter was onto something. "Sorry, you had to do all that," she added, feeling an unusual sense of pity, which only ever came about for people she cared about.
"Don't be, it was the best decision I ever made. For the first time in my life, I'm free from my family name," Winter insisted, feeling that she had gained more than she had lost. Having her sister and her freedom from her father's will, was better than staying in Atlas and following orders like a good little puppet.
"We're on the same page there, sister," Yang told her, sharing similar sentiments in regard to her decision to leave the Tribe behind. Winter was really starting to grow on her, much like her Weiss and the rest of the Huntresses had.
"Sister?" Winter questioned, not sure what to make of what Yang had called her. Back when she was still working for her family, everyone other than her relatives had treated her like their superior, but now, Yang was addressing her like an equal.
"Yeah. I mean, I like to think of the gang as my new family, you know, since Ruby's the only member of my family I don't hate. Plus, your sister and my sister are together, so I guess we're almost like sisters-in-law," Yang explained. "I can call you something else if you want me to," she added, not wanting to call her something she didn't like.
Winter shook her head and gave Yang a rare smile. "No, I like it. I'm just no used to people being so...friendly," she said. She appreciated how Yang considered her and the others to be her family, and came to the realisation, that she was surrounded by the family she'd always wanted, even if they were all murderers and other assorted criminals.
"Ha, I don't think anyone's ever called me that before. But to be fair, this was only a pretty recent development," Yang responded. She'd always had a weird level of charisma, but she'd never really been friendly with anyone other than her family until she'd met her cellmates at Beacon.
"Then it appears we have even more in common," Winter told her, recalling how she'd always been rather cold to people when she was still being a good little Schnee but had become much more hospitable since then. Given who they were, it was strange to think that the Huntresses were so easy to befriend and get along with.
"I know right. I mean, we're both tall, sexy, badasses," Yang joked. She was only joking around, but she didn't exactly think she was wrong about Winter, she was definitely tall, at least when compared to Weiss, she was undeniably attractive, and she'd proven herself to be quite the badass.
Winter was temporarily stunned by the comment but quickly regained her composure. "Need I remind you, that you are in a relationship?" she asked, having got the sense that Yang was trying to flirt with her, despite being with Pyrrha. It just the kind of reaction that could be expected from a Schnee, whether it was her or Weiss.
"I'm kidding. I mean you're definitely all of those things, but Pyrrha's the only one for me. Well, unless you count Arslan, but that's something else entirely," Yang confidently assured her, making it clear that she was just messing and was still fully committed to Pyrrha.
Winter breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods. You had me worried," she told Yang. She wasn't trying to be insulting or anything, in a different life she could certainly imagine herself experimenting with the blonde, but that wasn't something she wanted to get into.
Yang laughed and said: "Sorry, I saw the opportunity and I couldn't help myself." Out of all of the urges she had, the urge to jokingly flirt was by far the most innocent.
"I should have seen that one coming," Winter responded. While she hadn't known Yang for long and she didn't know her particularly well, she had noticed what her sense of humour was like, so she should have expected her to make a joke like that at some point.
At that point, Nebula walked in. "Oh, hey. Hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said, as she looked between the two who were already in the room.
"Not really, we're just talking," Yang told her. Even if something more had been going on, she certainly wouldn't be the one to object, especially since Nebula was one of their own. Nebula wasn't a member of the gang she knew particularly well, but a Huntress was a Huntress, whether she was familiar with them or not.
"Alright then, I'm gonna hit the weights," responded a relieved Nebula, as she made her way further into the room. It was pretty obvious, that like Winter, she also found Yang intimidating and didn't want to risk angering her.
Yang considered having the same talk with the new arrival, that she'd just had with Winter. But she decided that could wait, as she wanted to get on with her morning workout. After all, exercise was one of the things that were most important to her. She couldn't be the badass everyone thought she was if she didn't take care of herself, and that was exactly what she needed to be.
While everyone else was either getting their morning workout in, getting ready for the day or catching up on sleep, a few of the Huntresses had more pressing matters in mind. Ruby, Weiss, Coco, and Ciel, were watching the footage of two GTF members, snooping around Pyrrha's apartment and having a conversation that they probably didn't want being overheard.
While the two officers didn't say anything particularly incriminating, it seemed to be a pretty clear indication, that they were close to discovering the Huntresses or that they were already onto them. It had been bound to happen sooner or later, and now that time had come.
"Damn GTF, always sticking their noses where they don't belong," Coco commented. Having been busted by them, she wasn't a big fan of those officers, and she was far from the only one.
"What are we going to do about them? We have enough on our plate without them coming after us," Weiss asked, concerned at the prospect of having to add more people to their list of enemies.
"I don't know much about them, but I'm guessing we can't pay them to look the other way," Ruby responded. She was only vaguely aware of the GTF, so she wasn't entirely sure of the best way to combat them or negate the threat they posed.
"I say we let Yang pay them a visit. Take them out of the picture, permanently," Coco suggested. She really had an axe to grind with the GTF, and wouldn't have a problem with a certain blonde, tearing them limb from limb.
"As much as I like that idea, I don't think that would be the best course of action. They may be a threat, but they're also an enemy of our enemies. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this," Weiss pointed out. There were certain benefits to keeping the GTF around, as much as she disliked them.
Ruby could see where Weiss was coming from, and it made sense. "Weiss is right. Eliminating them would help our enemies. There has to be another way," she agreed, hoping there was a better way of dealing with the situation.
"May I make a suggestion?" Ciel asked, being as polite as ever. You would never know she was a criminal from looking at her or speaking with her, but she had an excellent mind for criminal activity.
"You don't need to ask, Ciel. If you have an idea, we're happy to hear it," Ruby assured her. She knew how intelligent Ciel was, so she wasn't going to complain about her making suggestions.
Ciel nodded, then made her suggestion. "If we can abduct one of them, then we could force them to do our bidding, and keep the GTF out of our way, from the inside." It was an ambitious idea, from an unexpected source.
"That's a nice idea. But, breaking them is easier said than done. They're tougher than regular cops," Coco pointed out. It was more likely to work than bribing them, but the GTF officers were tough nuts to crack.
"I think you're forgetting, Coco, that we have some extremely sadistic and dangerous individuals on our side," Weiss reminded her. With the likes of Yang and Neon at their disposal, breaking a GTF officer, was far from impossible.
"Alright, I see your point. But let's not get ahead of ourselves." Coco responded, still seeing so potential flaws with the idea. Taking one of the officers alive, wasn't exactly going to be easy, and that was only the tip of the problematic iceberg.
"I think we should try it. We have plenty of people and resources we can use to pull it off, and worst-case scenario, we end up having to off the GTF," Ruby told the other three. It was a long shot, but it seemed to be the best option they had.
"That does seem to be the best option," Weiss agreed. She had faith in Ciel's idea, in Ruby's decision, and in the ability of the gang, to successfully pull it all off.
"Alright then. Which one are we going after?" Coco then asked. They had a few options to go after, but they'd need to pick carefully, as the outcome was likely to depend entirely on which officer they targeted.
"I think we need to do some research. Maybe Sun and his guys will have stuff on them," Ruby responded, understanding the importance of getting things right. They needed names, backgrounds, schedules, addresses, and anything else they could get on the officers.
"Great, we get to see that sleazeball again," Coco commented, not being a fan of Sun after the way he was eyeing her and the others up when they went to his bar. His only saving grace was his info.
"Don't worry about him Coco, I'm sure Neon can keep him under control," Ruby told her. She sincerely hoped the Coco didn't end up trying to castrate him as she'd wanted to the last time.
"Relax, I'm not going to touch him. As long as his info's good and he doesn't do anything stupid," Coco responded. She would be civil, for the gang's sake, but that didn't mean she had to like Sun.
Sun was standing behind the bar of SSSN, having just opened the place up for the day, when he received a call from Neon. Of course, he picked up immediately. "Sup, Kitty Cat," he greeted. They'd been talking to each other almost constantly since they met, and already had pet names for each other.
"Hey, Monkey Boy," she responded. The names they used for each other, were ones that they would only accept from another Faunus.
"What can I do for you? Bearing in mind I'm working right now," he asked her. There were endless possibilities for what she wanted from him, given her rather unpredictable nature, and many of those possibilities weren't exactly appropriate for the workplace, even if he was his own boss.
"Oh, I can think of a lot of things," she whispered seductively, before moving onto her actual reason for calling. "But seriously, The Boss asked me to call you. We need some information, and we were hoping you'd have it," she told him, being as serious as she could manage, which really just ended up making her sound more like a stereotypical serial killer.
"Well, I'll see what I can do. Who is it this time?" he asked, getting down to business in his usual laid back but serious way. He was happy to help out Neon and the Huntresses, so he'd given them what they needed if he had it. He was also pretty much obligated to help out, having made a promise to Neon that he would do everything he could to help the Huntresses and never assist their enemies.
"The GTF, all of them," Neon told him, having been informed by Ruby, that the GTF was probably onto them and needed to be dealt with in some way.
"Damn, you ladies really are going after everyone," Sun responded, somewhat surprised that the gang had found yet more people to add to their extensive list of enemies. "Anyway, I can give you names, and a little about each of them, but they've got everything else locked down. You'd have to hack their systems if you wanted anything more," he then added. They were easy people to find things out about, living very secretive lives due to the nature of their work.
"Alright then. Send that stuff over to me, and I'll give you a reward," she told him, slipping back into her seductive voice. Getting everything he had on the GTF was a start, and she was more than willing to reward him for it.
"You've got yourself a deal, Kitty Cat. I'll have it to you in 10," Sun happily agreed. The deal was more than fair in his opinion, he just needed one of his friends to gather everything together, so he could send it over to Neon.
"Thanks, Monkey Boy. I owe you one," she responded, as pleased with their arrangement as he was. She was helping out the gang and getting what she wanted, so things couldn't have gone much better.
"Well, I look forward to seeing how you repay me. Anyway, talk to you later Kitty Cat," Sun said, as he started bringing the call to an end, so he could get on with upholding his end of their deal.
"See you around, Monkey Boy," she replied, before ending the call. All that was left was for her to wait for his response and pass the info on, then work on repaying the Monkey Faunus.
Not long after Neon finished her call with Sun, Ruby and several other Huntresses were looking through the small dossier that Sun had managed to put together for them. It wasn't as in-depth as they had been hoping for, but it was a great help to them, given how little they'd already had on the GTF. While they scraped together the rest of the info they needed, through other means, they could use what he had provided, to work out who to target.
The names on the list were familiar to a lot of the Huntresses, the GTF having been responsible for taking them down or making their lives difficult in the past. So, it wasn't exactly difficult to gain support for the abduction idea, even if some of them would have preferred just killing them all of it.
Once they had the intel they needed and has a target selected, they would be able to hit the GTF in a way they wouldn't expect. There was no guarantee that it would work out as they hoped, but compared to the bribery and murder options, it was the best plan by far.
Next time, the Huntresses go hunting pigs.
Announcement
I apologise to those expecting another chapter in the next few days, but I feel that I need to put this story, particularly the next couple of chapters on hold for a while. I'm not trying to make any kind of political statement, but given what's currently going on in the US, I don't think it would be particularly appropriate to put out the next few chapters. I will be returning to this story soon, but until things blow over, it will be going on hiatus.