Chapter 34

Blake was sat upon a chair outside of a closed door. There was a blanket around her shoulders and her hair was still wet from the rain outside. Her golden gaze stared to the floor at a loss, her expression sombre. She could hear footsteps pass in front of her upon the hard floor as they echoed through the white hall which she found herself in. The storm outside still hadn't let up as a distant boom of thunder was heard.

Her mind was trapped in the events that had occurred not an hour or so before. How she was completely unable to save Yang from the Paladin after it grasped its claw around her. If not for the General's men Yang would have died there and then and she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. It crushed her heart as she closed her eyes, forcing back the tears. If she was faster, stronger, if she had maybe paid more attention... She heard the scream in her thoughts again as she shuddered, shutting her eyes tighter to block the memory out.

The General had informed her that Weiss and Neo had been found and not only that but Winter was alive. She hadn't the chance to see anyone other than Yang and that was before they took her into the room she now sat outside of. Winter and Neo were also in there they had told her, but Weiss was taken elsewhere to have herself checked as she was considered of less priority than the other three due to their critical nature. Everything had happened so fast, too fast.

She could hear heels clacking towards her down the hall as her ears twitched beneath her black bow, opening her golden eyes as she could see two deep blue heels and a light blue skirt that partly covered thin pale legs. Her eyes darted up to meet the soft blue gaze of Weiss. She too had a towel wrapped around her upper form, her hair still wet and clinging to her skin. Immediately Blake stood to her feet as she wrapped her arms around her friend, holding her tightly as Weiss returned the gesture. It was the first proper reunion they had since being separated, they hadn't the luxury to stop and take in the fact during their time at the mansion.

"Weiss! Are you okay?" asked Blake as she pulled back from the embrace, her hands placed upon the shorter woman's shoulders as her expression filled itself with concern.

Weiss nodded with a slight shiver. "Y- Yes... Just a little cold..." she forced a smile at her friend. "What about you? Is Winter in there?" she asked, her eyes glancing towards the closed door besides Blake.

"I'm fine just..." Blake paused as she looked to the door and back towards Weiss. "Weiss, about your sister..." she began.

As if anticipating Weiss asked hesitantly, "How bad is it...?"

She struggled to force the words from her mouth as she spoke, "We... We thought she was... When it happened..." she answered as her eyes glanced away from her. It was easy for Weiss to piece together what Blake was trying to say as she turned and made for the door in a brisk pace. She was halted as Blake caught her arm. "Wait, they're still working in there, we can't go in yet" said the Faunus.

Weiss looked back to her, "What? I'm her sister" she answered.

"I know but running in will only make things worse. We need to wait" pleaded Blake as her grip upon her arm loosened. Weiss turned her attention back to the door as she frowned. "It's for the best" added Blake.

Weiss lowered her head before moving herself to sit down upon one of the chairs outside of the room. Blake had released her arm and took a seat besides her. "So... what happened?" asked Weiss.

"To... put it simply" began Blake as she held her hands together in her lap. "We were escaping and some woman attacked, someone I'd never seen before. But everything about her was familiar... The colours she wore, the weapon she used, the mask" she continued, she hadn't much of a chance to think about it properly but now that she did... Everything about that woman was like some sort of copy of Adam. But she was clearly more skilled, probably older too. "Winter shut one of the doors, separating herself from me and Yang to fight her. We ran as fast as we could to find a way back... When we got to the catwalk we could see her though... She just... The woman, she stabbed her in the chest, the sword it went right..." she halted herself again as she looked up to Weiss.

"But she's okay right?" asked Weiss.

Blake bit the inside of her cheek before speaking, "It's not just that though... She lost her hand too after she broke the keypad on the door. The woman just came running back at her and..." she felt she didn't need to finish her sentence as Weiss could likely put it together. "I'm sorry Weiss, we tried-" her voice was cut off as the woman held a hand out towards her in a halting fashion.

"Don't" she spoke firmly before lowering her hand. "After tonight I'm done with throwing the blame on others" she answered before her gaze turned to the door. "I'm just happy she's alive... That all of you are. With the way things went it could have ended much worse..." she answered. The Faunus considered her words and nodded in agreement. Weiss pondered briefly before turning her attention back to Blake. "...Did Yang find you then? After Beacon?" she asked curiously.

Blake nodded once more, "Yeah. She came to Vale looking for me while I kept avoiding her like an idiot" she answered, her tone still saddened after having discussed Winter.

"Why were you avoiding her?" asked Weiss in return, she seemed to have been taking all of it very well, perhaps a sign that she had matured during her time away from the team.

"To be honest, I was scared of how she'd react. Running away from my problems always seemed easier than facing them, so it's what I did" answered the Faunus.

"Well, that's because it is easier. It's more that it's not the right thing to do" responded Weiss. "What about... Ruby?" she asked, eyes glancing idly down the hall.

"We came here with Winter first, Yang's dad is looking for Ruby. We haven't heard anything though, like with you, any time we tried to call we wouldn't get a response" said Blake as she watched Weiss.

The woman frowned softly, "Sorry about that... I wasn't allowed to contact anyone outside of the mansion... But I needed to know you were okay, both you and Yang. I tried calling Ruby too but... nothing" she answered with some regret.

"And... Winter? Why didn't you call her?" asked Blake.

Weiss turned her attention back to the Faunus, "I was mad at her. Everything my father said to me, it made sense. But when I saw her I remembered, she has always loved and cared for me, she'd never have done something like that knowingly or without cause" she replied, her head dipping slightly as if in shame of having doubted her sister for even a second.

"Well, everything will work out now... right?" asked Blake as she rested a hand upon Weiss' shoulder reassuringly.

"I hope so" said Weiss as her blue eyes looked up to her. "That... other girl though... Why is she here?" she asked, referring to Neo.

Blake moved her hand off of Weiss' shoulder as she responded, "Her name is Neopolitan, Roman said it once before he escaped when we fought that prototype Paladin. I don't trust her at all but Winter sort of hired her. It's a long story but she thinks she turned over a new leaf. Though she has this weird obsession over Yang" she said, expression souring slightly at the last sentence.

"Is... that why she has her name tattooed on her neck...?" asked Weiss.

The Faunus furrowed her brow, "Yeah. She tattooed her own name onto Yang's too" she answered, clearly annoyed at the fact.

"I guess you got obsession right... But that must have been a long time ago right? Because she seems... nice, if not a little blunt. She did hold my own sword to my throat when I refused to leave the mansion..." admitted Weiss.

"She what?" asked Blake, forcing herself to keep her voice lowered as she looked to her with concern.

Weiss held out her hands in front of herself, "Oh, no don't worry. I'm pretty sure it was because she really wanted us to leave, but she can't speak right? So she had to send a clear message... or something..." she quickly added.

"Weiss she held you hostage, I told you she can't be trusted" answered Blake.

"Winter told her to stay by my side and that's what she did. She saved me. Multiple times in fact. If not for her I'd surely be... Not here..." said Weiss, her voice softening towards the end of her words.

Blake was unsure what to think, she still didn't trust Neo all that well but she had no true cause to risk herself for the sake of Weiss. "I still dislike her" replied Blake flatly as her eyes turned forward in a stubborn nature.

"How did you all meet my sister exactly?" continued Weiss with further questions.

"That was Yang. From what she told me she got into a fight and was arrested, or she thought she was. She was taken to Winter who told her one of her objectives was to re-unite teams from Beacon so that they could help keep the peace or something like that. Since then Winter has been helping Yang and eventually we all just started on our way to Atlas to find you" responded Blake.

Weiss thought on her words as she answered, "I never would have expected you all to come crashing into my home with her..." said said.

Blake paused for a moment, something had been pushing at her thoughts and eventually she decided it was better to not leave it for a surprise. She turned to her friend as she spoke. "Weiss, there's... something else I need to tell you" she began as the shorter woman raised a brow at her. "You see... After me and Yang were reunited... We started..." she said, once again finding it difficult to voice her words as Weiss narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion. "We're... together. As in... together together..." confirmed Blake as she glanced away awkwardly.

Weiss raised both her brows in surprise as she took the words in. "Like... dating?" she asked in confusion.

"Like... couple..." corrected Blake, keeping her eyes away from her.

The shorter woman took in a breath as she looked around, "Well..." she said, breathing out. "How-... How long has this being happening now?" she asked.

Blake's voice had lowered into a mumble by this point. "A while" she replied.

"Have you become... intimate...?" asked Weiss again.

The Faunus looked to her with a shocked expression, "Uhm..." she began. "Sort... of? We haven't- Why are you making me talk about this?" she asked.

"I just want to know if I need to sleep in another room if we stay somewhere" said Weiss. Blake didn't offer her a response as she continued to glance awkwardly about. The heiress sighed softly to herself before smiling gently. "Really though? I'd never have expected it. You're very quiet and isolated, Yang is really loud and popular. But if you're worrying for my blessing or consent to allow this in the team or some such, I've no issue with it" she answered.

To this Blake smiled in response, it wasn't what she was looking for but it certainly helped up her spirits knowing that Weiss was fine with her relationship. "Thanks Weiss" she answered.

"Restrain her!" yelled a voice from the room as the sound of something metallic clashed against what was likely the ground. The sudden sound caused both Blake and Weiss to stand up from their chairs and look to the door. Weiss made to take a step forward but was once more halted by Blake's hand. "Keep her still!" yelled the voice again as another clang of some objects falling over was heard.

"What's going on in there!?" asked Weiss, her expression full of worry.

"It's too early for Winter and Yang to be up..." answered Blake, eyes narrowing at the door. The sounds soon stopped as all returned to silence and a doctor exited the door, closing it behind him. He looked to the two, there was a cut upon his left cheekbone.

"Hey, what happened? We heard noises" asked Weiss as she looked to the man.

The doctor sighed, "The one with the pink hair, she just woke up and tried to... I think she was attempting to escape. She tried to stab me in the face with a spoon-" he paused and touched his cheek, blood dabbed onto his fingers. "It kinda worked I guess" he answered.

"Is she okay?" continued Weiss.

"Yeah, she's sedated now and we strapped her down to the bed. Do either of you two know if she has any history with hospitals? It's not the first time I've seen a freak-out like that" asked the doctor.

Blake shook her head, "No, we don't really know anything about her past" she answered.

The doctor sighed once again, "We'll keep an eye on her. The last thing we need is her stressing herself out and those around her" he answered as he looked to the door. He opened it wide. "You can head in now by the way, we're all done for the time being" he answered.

"Thank you for everything" nodded Weiss as she and Blake entered the room. Inside were three beds. The one furthest on the left held Winter, the one in the middle was Neo (and besides her a couple of objects littering the floor that another member of staff was cleaning up) and upon the right bed was Yang. All three were asleep.

Immediately Weiss made her way over to Winter. She reached to grab her left hand into her own but found that there was no hand to grab. She paused and looked at the bandaged stump in horror. She gripped her arm with her hands as she sat down besides her sister, "Winter..." she said softly with a sorrowful expression.

Blake had made her way over to Yang, standing over her as she examined her form. She thankfully seemed no different than she had before. There was something over on the left side of her however as she leaned across the bed to pick it up. It was a tape measure? Blake glanced around and watched the last member of staff leave the room as her eyes narrowed suspiciously before placing the tape measure down upon the table besides the bed. She moved her hand to Yang's cheek and brushed her fingers across it gently, she still blamed herself for not being able to rescue her in time and she doubted she would lift that blame from herself for some time.

Weiss turned to see Neo in her own bed, leather straps bound her wrists tightly. She turned to lean over towards her curiously. The first thing she noticed was that her breathing seemed... off. It was ragged as if she was struggling to do so. She also noticed that her expression was tense, like she was in pain. She touched her hand over hers as she frowned. Upon the contact she heard Neo's breath hitch before steadying into a normal pattern, her expression also softened. Perhaps she was just having a bad dream?

Regardless here they all were. Two of them conscious while the other three laid broken and asleep. Blake wasn't sure how long they'd be here, they still had one more person to find after all. She turned her head to the door as a man stepped in adjusting his tie with one hand. It was General Ironwood. He looked over the two before he spoke, "It's about time we had a talk" he stated, his eyes peering towards Weiss as she glanced away. This wasn't the first time she'd met the General, he often came to visit her father at the mansion, though rarely did he actually speak to her.

Author's note:

Just a quick shout-out to Generic Name Guy for his multi-paragraph reviews. You make my heart melt buddy. I'd thank you privately but I have no way to contact you.

- 2101817