Blake stood beside Yang's desk, tapping her foot anxiously. She bit her lip nervously, watching intently as Yang twirled the tips of her hair around her fingers. She held a phone up to her ear with the other hand, calmly listening to the person on the line.
"Alright, thanks!" Yang finally said, hanging up the phone.
"Well?" Blake asked immediately. Yang waited a long moment, the blank expression on her face effectively driving Blake crazy.
"Did you get SSSN?" Blake prompted further. She buzzed with excitement, knowing that this could be huge for the gala. Slowly, Yang's mouth curled up into a smile.
"Yep," she stated proudly, her grin only growing as Blake hugged her tightly. A second later, Blake pulled away, looking rather sheepish.
"I…got excited, sorry," she mumbled.
"That's pretty cute," Yang said candidly, turning a little pink. Blake felt her face heating up as well. But before she could think of a response, there was a knock at the door. They both turned to look as Qrow stuck his head in, looking slightly disgruntled.
"Yang, we have a—"
"IT'S A CRISIS," Ruby cried, barging into the room behind Qrow.
"Well, not yet," Pyrrha chimed in. Jaune followed her in, shaking his head and looking vaguely ill. Yang looked between the four of them.
"By all means, come in," she deadpanned.
"What's the crisis?" Blake asked.
"Okay, I guess Pyrrha's right, it's not a crisis yet," Ruby backtracked with a nervous laugh.
"I'll handle this, kid," Qrow said to her fondly. He then focused his attention on Blake and Yang. "Basically, there've been outbreaks of a new strain of flu, G1R1, in areas close to Vale."
"They call it the Grimm Flu," Jaune said with a shiver.
"And unfortunately, they say it's more common near bodies of water," Pyrrha added. "Like, say, Lake Signal." Yang cringed.
"Shit. It hasn't spread to Vale, right?" she asked. Qrow shook his head.
"News only just broke," he explained. "No reported cases so far." Yang sighed heavily, standing up.
"Damn, I've gotta get ahead of this," she muttered.
"It's going to be fine, Yang," Blake said softly, laying a hand on Yang's to stop her from picking at her nails again. Yang shot her a grateful smile.
"Yeah, I know." She paused to take a deep breath, giving Blake's hand a squeeze to reassure herself.
"Okay team, let's do some research on this, figure out what to do, then call a press conference so the public doesn't, y'know, freak out," Yang commanded. "I'd like to do it at the lake if possible cause frankly I don't buy that 'water transmission' bullshit."
"Aye, captain!" Ruby saluted. The others nodded their approval and filed out of the room. When they were gone, Yang turned to Blake, noticing a sly smile on her face.
"What?" she prompted.
"That was very take-charge of you," Blake complimented. Then she let out an uncharacteristic giggle. "You can let go of my hand now, though."
"AH." Yang immediately dropped her hand, a bright pink hue spreading from her ears down her face. She coughed, trying to disguise her embarrassment.
"W-Well, I am head of the council Public Health subcommittee. I've gotta be prepared for this type of stuff."
"Right. Stuff," Blake said innocently. "Like, holding my hand?" Yang's entire body radiated heat.
"Oookay calm down Belladonna, I've got work to do," she said, fighting mightily to control her blushing. Blake gave her a smirk but stopped her teasing.
"I'm so Belladone," Yang breathed.
"What was that?" Blake asked.
"Uhh, nothing."
Luckily, Blake dropped it and Yang was able to focus on research for the next hour. After speaking to some experts, she concluded that the panic over the flu was greatly exaggerated. As expected, the water transmission rumor was totally false. And while the disease was quite contagious, it was easy to treat and recover from.
That afternoon, Yang stood on the docks by Lake Signal, sharing the information with the public. It was an unseasonably cold day, and the gusting wind coming off the water made Yang shiver slightly.
"So, as you can see, there's no reason for panic over this," she explained to the crowd. "Obviously, take precautions to stay healthy, but quarantine is unnecessary." Cameras flashed and reporters scribbled down notes. Yang flashed her trademark smile.
"Any questions?" she asked. Immediately, a woman with dark hair raised a hand. Yang gasped when she realized who it was.
"Cinder Fall…" she whispered under her breath. Beside her, Qrow scowled a little. Yang turned her head a little the other way to exchange a glance with Blake, who looked similarly worried.
Yang took a breath and cleared her throat.
"Yes?" she questioned.
Well," Cinder began with a smirk. "Why are you so intent in glossing over this, hm?" Yang blinked in surprise.
"Look, I'm not glossing over sh—anything, I assure you," she answered sincerely. "Everything I've said is true."
"True according to you," Cinder said, her smirk unshakeable. Yang's confusion was palpable.
"Wha—no, true according to the experts that I've spent all day consulting." She maintained direct eye contact with the irritating woman. "Scientifically backed, Miss Fall," Yang continued with a wink.
"Politicians always say that," Cinder responded, seeming to address the crowd more than Yang herself. "Personally, I've seen multiple reports confirming that Grimm Flu is already crawling through Lake Signal."
"Viruses don't crawl," Yang grumbled. Cinder ignored her.
"Even simply standing here is a hazard to our health." The crowd started to shift nervously.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" A masculine voice called out. A large, angry-looking man with dark orange hair starting making his way to Yang's podium.
"Some of us have children! Not me, but some of us!" He yelled angrily. Yang groaned internally as she recognized him: Cardin Winchester, the dull, anger-prone football quarterback from high school. As he charged forward, Blake swiftly positioned herself between him and Yang.
Without hesitation, Yang moved closer to her, rather impressed by Blake's courage.
"Sir, please back away," Blake said calmly. Cardin scoffed, shoving her out of the way…and off of the pier.
Yang watched in slow motion as Blake started to fall. She acted automatically, and before her mind could catch up she grabbed Blake's hand, yanking her around her own body and back to safety. For a second, Yang felt relief gushing through her as Blake regained her footing. The feeling was short lived, as Yang realized that in the process of helping Blake, she had lost her own balance.
Yang still managed to send a wink and a smirk as she staggered off the pier and fell straight into the lake with a splash.
It was even colder than the air outside, and when a disoriented Yang opened her eyes, the murky water stung painfully. She squeezed them back closed.
"YANG!" Blake's voice cut through the sound of water rushing past her ears. Yang fought to the surface of the lake, shocked at how cold the water was. Her head broke the surface and she coughed a little, water dripping out of her drenched hair into her eyes. Blinking rapidly, Yang looked up at the pier. Qrow appeared to be physically restraining Blake from leaping into the water after Yang. Treading the cold water as best she could, Yang offered a grin to the cluster of reporters and citizens staring down at her.
"Told ya it was fine," she called.
After Qrow had dropped down a ladder for Yang to clamber up, she retook her spot on the podium.
"So," she started with a smile. "I believe I've demonstrated my belief in the water safety." There were a few chuckles at that. "Any other questions?"
The conference winded down soon after, and Cardin thankfully remained silent. Cinder, for her part, skulked off, presumably back to Black headquarters.
When it was finally over, Yang closed her eyes and let out a deep, whooshing breath. She felt a gentle touch on her arm.
"Yang, are you alright? You're shaking," Blake's soft voice drifted into her ears. Yang opened her eyes to meet Blake's, which were filled with concern.
"I'm fine," she responded with a small smile. "Just a little cold out here."
"Let's get you inside then," Qrow chimed in, wrapping a blanket that he had conjured from somewhere around Yang's shoulders. "You did good, kid," he added, giving her a sideways smile.
Yang smiled back at him and Blake, feeling great in every sense.
The next morning, she felt anything but.
Yang cracked open her eyes with a groan. Her head was throbbing and her throat felt like it had been stabbed. Multiple times. The asshole birds outside refused to respect her pain, chirping like there was no tomorrow. Yang buried her head under a pillow.
"Don't you have to fly South for the winter or something?" she grumbled into the blanket.
"Wait a minute…" Yang yanked her head out of the pillow, which ended up being a bad idea judging by the way her vision swam in response. She blinked a few times to try to clear it, staring at the clock on the nightstand. Slowly, the numbers came into view: 9:17. She was late.
Yang yelled a few choice expletives, jumping out of bed and immediately regretting it. Lights flickered behind her eyelids and she sat back down on the bed, holding her head in her hands.
"What the hell.." she groaned, trying to banish the worry and generally sick feeling in her stomach. Refusing to accept the obvious, Yang stubbornly got out of bed again. More slowly this time, she went about getting ready, all the while repeating the mantra "I'm not sick, I'm not sick, not sick, not—"
Yang stopped in front of the mirror, biting a lip at her appearance. Red face, runny nose, bloodshot eyes.
"Yikes," she whispered to herself. "No..not sick, not sick, not sick…" She splashed some water on her face hastily and continued her routine.
It was another 45 minutes before she made it to City Hall, groggily stumbling up the stairs and nearly ramming into Port as he exited the building.
"Why, hello there Yang! A lovely day, is it not?" he practically bellowed at her. Yang winced at the loud voice.
"Yeah," she droned emotionlessly."S'great." With that, she stepped around him to enter, ignoring his indignant muttering about "children these days." Yang flicked her hair out of her face and yanked the door open, fighting the urge to turn around and clock him in the throat.
She staggered into the office a few minutes later, over an hour late at this point. The first thing she saw was Blake leaning on Ruby's desk, talking softly to the younger woman about something. She was facing away from Yang, wearing cruelly tight black pants that immediately drew Yang's view downward.
If the fever was bad already, it was definitely worse now. With great effort, Yang drew her eyes away, blood rushing past her ears with every fast-paced beat of her heart. And when Blake turned around and saw Yang, she gave her a look that sent Yang's disease-ridden body into a frenzy.
"Yang!" Blake almost ran across the room to her. "Where were you? You've never actually been late before… We were worried," she explained, gesturing at herself and Ruby, who had followed her over to Yang.
"I, uhh.." Yang trailed off, unable to even form a coherent sentence.
"You okay, sis?" Ruby asked, worry streaked across her face. "You look a little…off."
"I'm fine," Yang mumbled. Blake frowned at that.
"No, you're not," she said firmly. "You look horrible."
"Blakeeeey, you don't think I'm pretty?" Yang asked, crestfallen.
"O-of course I do," Blake said quickly. "But right now you're obviously sick."
"Am not." Yang whined like a toddler, crossing her arms defensively.
"You are too," Ruby chimed in. "Listen to Blake, she knows what she's doing." Yang pouted at them both. Blake rolled her eyes, gently reaching out to place a cool hand on Yang's forehead.
"Shit," she muttered. "Yang, you're burning up."
"It's cause I burn for you, baby," Yang replied with a wink. Her suave moment was rudely interrupted by a vicious coughing fit. Blake quickly grabbed her arm to steady her.
"That's it, I'm taking you home," she said.
"Whoa, aren't you gonna buy me dinner first?" Yang gave her an absolutely shit-eating grin.
"Shut up." Blake turned, ignoring Yang's chuckling at her own joke. "Ruby, tell Qrow that Yang is sick. I'm taking her to the doctor and then home." Ruby hesitated.
"Do you want me to help? I can use the Ruby method: milk and cookies!" Blake stared at her for a moment, unsure if she was serious.
"I, um, I got this," she responded with a smile, turning back to deal with Yang.
"Alright!" Ruby called, dashing off to find Qrow.
"Yang, come on," Blake commanded, pushing the other woman towards the door.
"N-no," Yang protested weakly. "I've…I've gotta stay and help with the gala. They need me." She gave Blake a pleading look.
"Yang…I will force you," Blake threatened, completely unmoved. Yang shook her head quickly vigorously, having still not learned her lesson from earlier that morning.
"Ohhh. Shit," she managed to say, swaying for a moment. Her body was unbearably hot, and as her vision swam, she zeroed in Blake's concerned face in front of her. Her hazel eyes looked almost gold in the light. Strong arms grabbing her were the last thing Yang felt before her vision went black.
AN: Looks like things are getting...pretty Grimm :D (yes I hate myself)
I've also gotta apologize yet again for taking forever to write this .
Unfortunately things at school are rather...busy.. So I'm not sure when Part II of this chapter will happen but I'll do my best to get it out in the next couple weeks.
I haven't given up on this story at all though! I've got Plans :3
Leave a review if you'd like and thanks so much for reading!