AN: To paraphrase "Mad Max: Fury Road": "I write, I die, I write again!"

Holy crap, Batman. It's been, what, two years? A lot has happened in those two years. I have two daughters now. My military career is progressing at the cost of even less time to write anything. I've been working on my own original story (in fact my wife is rather put out that I focused on this fanfic instead of working on that, especially since I said I'd have my original work done by next August...not much time left, really, so I can't blame her), but yeah. Two years. I didn't want this to be a dead fic any longer. A shout out to superevilbadguy who actually helped motivate me to get this done. She's writing a delightful "Little Witch Academia" fanfiction title "Bats and Brooms: The Luna Nova Fast Pitch Witches" that I highly recommend.

But, yeah. I know it's been so, so, so long since I've updated. Those of you who have this on alert, hello! I still live, amazingly enough! I hope you haven't completely given up on this writer! I'm sorry I took so long!

Part of what that was was simply coming to terms with the major break that this fanfiction took from the RWBY story. Season 3 started it, but the newest seasons finished it. I mean, I first introduced Winter when all we literally knew about her was her name. So, it took me a long time to be at peace with how greatly my little universe diverged from the canon. And it all couldn't have happened without funblade's Future AU. So much respect and love to her creative process that planted the little idea behind this story in my head.

And so, without further ado, I present to you the 4,157 word long newest chapter for this story!

Read, enjoy, and as always, PLEASE REVIEW!

Edit: It's been brought to my attention that on the mobile site, this entire chapter is bolded. So, I'll break from my usual form and not have the AN be bolded...hopefully that works.

Repercussions and Reconciliation

Yang sat at one of the corner tables at her bar, the space only dimly lit by the few lights she still had on at this very early morning hour. She had a bottle of scotch and a glass in front of her, the chilling stones Ruby had gotten her as a stocking stuffer one Christmas were long warmed by this point, but she hadn't bothered to get up and replace them, far more content to sit here, fairly glaring at the bottle of amber liquid as her thoughts kept coming back to the events of the day.

It had started so well, though! Having the chance to introduce Melody to Weiss was definitely awesome, as it wasn't often that the normally uptight CEO really gushed about something. Then, of course, Onyx had pulled his stunt before she had even had the chance to see Ruby…she grimaced, the mellow haze the alcohol had put her in nowhere near sufficient to prevent the bitter taste that came to her mouth. She hadn't really had the chance to visit her sister with everything that was going on, and she was getting increasingly pissed about that fact. Tomorrow, no matter what. I'll see her tomorrow. Then she glanced at the clock on the wall, blearily checking the time. Err, today, rather. I'll see her later today.

And speaking of Onyx…even so many hours after the explosion, there was still the faint, acrid smell of smoke in the air, despite his experiment being conducted in the little backyard that came with the place. If it had been inside, she might have lost the building. That little bit of grace hadn't prevented the dressing down she had received, though…

Her grimace deepened, hot shame welling up as the Fire Commissioner's furious tirade replayed in her mind. It wasn't very often that she got screamed at, but the old man hadn't held anything back after the fire had been put out. What made it worse was that quite a lot of what he said was absolutely true. Vale might be a city of Hunters and Huntresses, with the usual mayhem that went hand-in-hand with such a populace, but now, after declaring that stupid war on the Crimson Claw…

It had been funny the first time those few years ago after she had gotten the bar, he had snapped, but less so with each passing incident. Now, he had thought that she had been the target of a terrorist attack. Cops had arrived first, weapons drawn, ready for a crack at revenge for the hospital incident. Of course, that delayed the fire department while the fire began to spread across her lawn, growing close to her bar before the police declared the scene safe and allowed the firefighters to do their thing. The senior cop there had backed up the Commissioner, acidly telling her that they had almost activated a mass incident and a terrorism task force when they realized what had actually happened.

"You can't do stuff like this anymore, Xiao Long!" the Commissioner had snarled. "I don't give a damn even if you saved the entire bloody world, crap like this is a waste of our resources! There could be other, real emergencies that we'd be delayed responding to because you can't control you own damn employees!" He had spun and stormed off, snarling under his breath, leaving Yang standing there, her face a bright red as a crowd looked on, some of them recording the incident on their scrolls. The last bloody thing she needed. Then the police captain who had backed up the commissioner coldly told her that they were fining Onyx, and that if anything like this ever happened again, they'd press charges and throw his ass in jail, not to mention fining the ever loving hell out of her and her establishment.

…and all she could do was stand there and take it, because they were right! What argument could she make in her defense? Onyx had caused an explosion that could be seen half the city away! Social media was already chock full of people panicking, wondering if the explosion was a bomb, if they were under attack, if the Crimson Claw had struck again…what could she say? That it was Onyx being Onyx? His delicious food wasn't an excuse for him to do shit like this. And so, after all the cops and firefighters had left and the crowd began dispersing, she had whirled, grabbing the taller man with soot blackened face and clothes by his ear and dragged him into the bar and then into the kitchen, chasing out all the other workers with a furious glare alone before she screamed at him for the next thirty minutes, venting her own shame and frustration at all of this. It wasn't safe, she had snarled, you nearly burnt down the damn bar, she had yelled, you nearly hurt someone, she had seethed, getting a sick sense of enjoyment at the look of shame on his face as he stood there, silently taking the abuse. And underneath it all was the thought that she didn't voice aloud: you're the one who kept me from seeing my sister, asshole!

Now, so many hours after, she felt shame at that thought, even though at the time it had just fed her anger. Onyx wasn't a bad man, of course, he just didn't think things through sometimes while he was on a culinary experimentation kick. She loved having him as an employee ninety percent of the time, and he was an excellent cook, but now…she grasped her glass of scotch and took a deep, burning sip. There were consequences for one's actions. They all found that out today. The number of jokes that had been made at the bar's expense while they were open had been countless, and she had been glad that he stayed in the kitchen for the rest of the day…she could take it, but she wasn't entirely certain if he could have, if he had been manning the bar. But even while she had been returning barbs with all the fake cheer she could muster, she couldn't help but think about the Commissioner's words, words that even now echoed in her mind.

It could have been a terrorist attack.

The explosion could have been a bomb that the Crimson Claw had detonated at her bar, killing who knew how many of her employees and patrons. For the first time, it was starting to sink in exactly how tough it was going to be to fight the Crimson Claw. For the first time, she was actually worried about the safety of those around her. The thought of the bastards actively targeting her didn't bother her, in fact, she hoped they did, just so she could fight back, but…

…she had a lot of friends and associates that were vulnerable. She couldn't be at the bar all the time, even when it was open. It wasn't exactly a secret when she went on the occasional Hunt. Or even when she was out and about on the town while Michelle kept an eye on things…all it would take would be for someone to simply walk inside the place and see if she was at the bar where she usually was and ask if she was there if she wasn't to confirm that the place was pretty much defenseless. That and…if it had been a bomb, what could she actually do if she didn't have any warning? She might survive such an attack, but she'd be injured, possibly as bad as Ruby had been. And it really would be so easy to just drive a van loaded with explosives and park it in front of the bar or in the alley leading to the loading dock or even at the loading dock itself. That much explosive power could easily destroy the building (not to mention the buildings around them) and kill most of the people inside it. How could she stop something like that? That wasn't an assault that she could beat back like she had at the SDC attack. It would be one or two Crimson Claw attacking a soft target, one that she just physically couldn't protect all the time! So what should she do? She sighed, wearily running her hand down her face. What she should be doing is sleeping, not drinking scotch alone in the dark at nearly three in the morning while ruminating over the current situation.

Wait…was that the scuff of feet at the front door? She blinked and then blearily peered through the gloom as a silhouette appeared through the translucent, colored glass. Who could it be at this hour? She straightened in her seat, glancing towards her office where she had left Ember Celica shortly after she had closed for the night and had made the decision to try and drink away some of her woes, as weapons and booze really did not mix very well. Did she need to-?

Then the sound of a key getting inserted into the lock caught her attention, and she relaxed, realizing who it must be. Only three other people besides her had keys to the front door, Michelle, Ruby, and Blake. Given that it couldn't be Ruby and it really wasn't likely that it was Michelle…sure enough, the door opened, revealing her dark haired girlfriend, dressed very casually in a nondescript hoodie and comfortable jeans. At the sight of her, a flood of relief ran through Yang. Weiss had texted her earlier and said that Blake had gone to the hospital and had briefly visited with her and Ruby, but it was nice to actually see her girlfriend. But then, the relief was followed by anger. Why had it taken so bloody long for her to show up? She didn't offer a smile or a wave to Blake as she walked through the doorway and carefully closed and locked the door behind her, but she did lift her drink in a salute. "Drinking some scotch. If you want some, feel free to grab a glass from the bar," she said in a flat voice, face equally as expressionless.

Blake paused at that, her amber eyes flashing briefly in the low light, but then she nodded and strode over to the bar and grabbed a tumbler. Without a word, she made her way to the small table and joined Yang, and it wasn't lost on her that Blake very deliberately sat across the table from her, rather than on one of the sides so that she would be sitting next to her like she normally would have. With a sigh, Blake poured herself a good three fingers of the liquor before raising her glass in a quick toast and taking a sip.

They sat there, in silence in that darkened room, each nursing their drinks even as Yang pondered at the oppressiveness of the stillness that gripped them both. So different from all those other times where they had comfortably basked in each other's presence without need or want of conversation, Blake usually reading her books while Yang played video games. Silence was no stranger to them, but the uncomfortable feel to the here and now certainly was.

When it became clear that Blake wasn't going to start the conversation, Yang drew in a breath. "So. Been a minute," she murmured, carefully watching Blake's face for her reaction. Save for a small flinch, Blake kept her face passive, and she took another sip of her scotch.

"I was doing something for Weiss."

Yang nodded at that, her mouth slightly pursed. "Makes sense, makes sense. But, uh, did you have to do it on the day of the funeral?"

At least Blake had the good grace to look guilty. "I…wasn't in the best state of mind," she hedged, and Yang fought the urge to snort.

"Really? I couldn't tell," she said in a deadpan tone, and a small glare rippled across Blake's face, and once again, that uncomfortable silence reigned. She found herself drumming her fingers on the table and had to force her hand to stillness. "So, what brings you here?"

"My scroll is still upstairs," Blake answered softly.

Yang straightened, a frown settling across her brow as frustration and anger reared up in her chest. "Yeah, it is, right on the coffee stand. Blake, why the hell couldn't you have at least taken your scroll? We were worried freaking sick!"

"I couldn't."

"Why, because you didn't want to talk to us? I was afraid that you had run away again, and I don't know why! Weiss said that it was something that she couldn't openly talk about, something about that Rabbit Faunus I captured before the hospital attack, but she hasn't said anything else about it, since, always claiming that someone might be listening! What happened?"

Blake's eyes dropped to her glass of scotch, and she stayed silent for a drawn out moment before finally sighing and pouring herself more of the drink. "Yang, I didn't take my scroll because I was concerned it could be tracked by the Crimson Claw or others who would like to see the SDC go down in flames, not because I didn't want to talk to you. I…I've missed you terribly, Yang. But I had to do what Weiss told me before I could come back for my scroll."

Yang scoffed. "For your scroll, huh? What would you have done if I wasn't home or down in the bar, sneak in and get it before disappearing again?"

Blake's frown was hurt. "No! Never! I only stopped by because I saw Bumblebee out front…Yang, I might be here to get my scroll, but I wouldn't have come in if you weren't here. I wanted…I wanted to explain myself before you made your decision…"

What was that supposed to mean? "My decision?"

"I…" Blake started, but stopped, her expression growing tortured. She took a deep breath, her hands curling into fists on the tabletop. "I've done something…something really wrong, Yang. But even though it was wrong, I feel justified in what I did because we found out about the hospital attack just in enough time to act. If it wasn't for that…Ruby would have died."

Yang frowned, biting her lip. "If it wasn't for…what?"

Blake took another deep breath, eyes darting nervously towards Yang's hands as her tongue quickly wet her lips. She reached out for a second, hands twitching before stilling, and Yang hesitated for just a moment before she gently took Blake's hands in her own. "Blake…tell me."

And so Blake did, spending the next thirty minutes describing precisely what she had authorized, what she had overseen, what she had done in the dark to help preserve the peace that Weiss was trying to build. Yang wouldn't lie and say she wasn't bothered…no, her stomach roiled in distaste multiple times, the scotch sitting uncomfortably in her gut, and for a moment she was actually afraid she was going to grow physically ill at the thought of Blake torturing someone…but was it really so different than what Yang herself had done while capturing Vern Williams? She could still very easily recall the abject terror that had been on the man's face as she had punched him. Worse, she had enjoyed that fear, had taken pleasure at mocking him with that crooning song as she hunted him down in the abandoned warehouse. Sure, Blake was wrong with what she had done, but Yang could see the decision making process that had led to it. She herself had her own contacts in the criminal underworld, and she knew full well some of the things that they did.

And so, even after Blake finished talking, Yang kept holding her hands in her own. Now that it was silent again and she didn't have to focus on what was being said, she tilted her head, lilac eyes looking at their hands as she gently ran her fingertips over Blake's palms. "You saved Ruby's life," she murmured, fingers continuing to move over warm, calloused skin.

Blake looked to the side, a blush coming to her cheeks. "But what if Vern hadn't been lying when he said he was willing to cooperate? What if we could have been more prepared than we were? What if we could have prevented all that death, saved the Beacon students, kept Weiss from being injured?"

Yang frowned. "Oh, is that why you didn't go to the funeral? You were feeling guilty about the death?" Blake didn't answer her question, and Yang winced before continuing, speaking with firm resolve. "Hey, don't be like that! What's happened has happened, we can't change it, and to think otherwise is madness."

"But-"

Yang's hands tightened on Blake's. "No!" she snapped, hair flickering slightly with her ire, the room flaring slightly with the light. "No," she repeated, more gently this time. "Blake, think about it. I'm not as smart as you are, but even I know how that would go. Say we knew about it in enough time to prepare. They obviously had really, really good intel about what defenses we had, and those soldier guys were obviously very highly trained. What do we do when we are prepping for a Hunt and find out our target is more than we can handle on our own?"

Blake's eyes were slightly distant as she stared into the darkness, thoughts whirling behind her amber irises. "We attack with more Hunters and Huntresses than we originally planned for."

"Or…?"

Blake blinked, realization dawning. "Or we don't fight them on the ground, we hit them with air support." She frowned in distaste as she let out a hissing breath. "Little bitch was on to something there…"

Yang quirked her head to the side questioningly. "Who?"

Blake shook her head. "Winter. When she took over the company for Weiss while she was injured, she had asked me how I would have assassinated Ruby. I said I'd use a sniper. She laughed at me, and said she would use a bomb, take down the whole side of the building."

Yang froze at that. "Uhh…you are talking about Winter, Weiss's spoiled socialite sister, right?"

Blake huffed, annoyance rippling across her face. "Oh, yes. I'll tell you more about her, trust me. She's not the airheaded twit that we all thought she was. But even so, she had a point. If we had reinforced the hospital, then the Crimson Claw might have decided to just use a bomb. While their strike team didn't succeed in their mission, they demonstrated that they have the capability to launch a complex attack like that. If it wasn't for Penny, they wouldn't have lost a single fighter. They killed twenty-one, including two students of Beacon. Their primary objective was failed, but the secondary objective was achieved, and then some."

They really were capable of a lot, aren't they? Yang asked herself as she worriedly gnawed on her lip. Onyx's explosion really could have been a terrorist attack. But what to do? Well, no, that was silly. There really was only one thing she could do.

"I'm closing the bar!" she blurted.

Blake's attention snapped back to her, eyes wide in disbelief. "What?" she asked, voice utterly shocked. "But Yang, you love this place!"

"Which is why I have to do this," she answered, suddenly firm in her decision. It was the tough decision, but the right one. "I don't have too many employees, and have enough saved up to pay them for vacation for a few weeks, at least. If this extends much past that, I can go to a bank for loans, or maybe even Weiss."

Blake's voice was far softer this time. "But…Yang, you love this place," she murmured, worried frown on her face.

Yang shrugged. "It won't be permanent. Think about it. You said Winter took over the SDC for Weiss, you'll follow Weiss as her head of security, I won't have to worry about running the bar, and we even have Melody Derevo saying she wants us to help hunt down the bastards who killed her sister."

"Her sis-? Oh, that's right. Iva Braun." Her frown turned thoughtful. "She could be useful. I've seen some videos of her demonstrating her real ability with a violin. And if all of us are free to act…"

"Except for Ruby."

Blake nodded. "Except for Ruby."

Yang grimaced at the thought of her sister, lying in a hospital bed alone while the rest of them disappeared. The thought didn't sit well with her, not at all. "Well…maybe we can have Weiss stay with Ruby. At least until she's healed enough to leave the hospital. The Schnee manor that was built here in Vale could be a good base of operations. Easily defensible with its outer wall and surveillance gear, so a sneak attack even with a bomb truck would be difficult, and if we're all there plus the standard contingent of guards…"

Blake nodded, hands tightening slightly on Yang's. "We're too vulnerable right now. The Crimson Claw can attack us at any time, or…" and her gaze ran around the bar, pausing on a picture of its opening day where Yang had posed with all her employees, "…or they can attack us where we're weakest."

Yang ran her thumb over Blake's knuckles. "Of course, they can still go after our various associates…"

"We'll always have that risk. But going after your employees piecemeal doesn't send the same message as destroying your bar. Plus, the Crimson Claw has been very busy all across Remnant." At Yang's curious glance, she shook her head. "Too much to explain now, I want to have all of us together when I talk about it. There's trouble elsewhere. Speaking of, we need to get in contact with the smugglers."

Yang glanced at the clock on the wall. "Later. Right now it's too late to do much of anything." She paused, shooting a slightly worried glance at Blake. "Hey…earlier, what did you mean by 'my decision'?"

Blake fidgeted in her seat, dropping her gaze to look at her lap nervously. "I was afraid that once you found out…you'd kick me out."

Yang blinked, shocked. "Blake, no! Like, sure, I'm not happy about it, but as I said, you saved Ruby! There's no way I'd kick you out!" Then she paused, her expression softening as she turned Blake's hands in hers, gently rubbing her thumbs in circles over Blake's now exposed palms. "Besides…I missed you," she murmured, careful to add a sultry breathiness to her words.

"You…oh."

It was funny just how quickly the atmosphere changed. One moment they were talking about battle plans, and the next Yang was almost painfully aware of her girlfriend's presence, her hands suddenly very warm in hers as Blake titled her head just so, looking up at her through lowered eyelashes as she teasingly bit her lip, and Yang squirmed slightly in her seat. She really, really had missed Blake…

Then they were both standing, desperately embracing each other as they kissed, tongues battling for dominance in the passionate kiss, and Yang's head swam as much from the heady feeling of it all as from the liquor, the desire burning through her veins melding nicely with the desire that thrummed nicely in her lower abdomen, and she moaned as Blake nipped teasingly at her lip. Her hand went up, running briefly through Blake's midnight dark hair before finding one of her cat ears, brushing it softly before moving just behind it and pressing her knuckles against Blake just so…

Blake actually whimpered as she sank slightly, knees giving way under the surge of pleasure that Yang knew that spot gave her, and then Blake was recovering, coming back up and rocking her pelvis against Yang's with a needy moan. Ooookay, yeah…

"Upstairs?" she breathily asked, and Blake purred her answer as she tucked her face into her neck, nipping slightly.

"Please…"

Heart hammering with anticipation and definitely wet down below, Yang took Blake's hand and led her to the staircase that led up to her apartment as she wet her lips. The two of them were well overdue for this. Let them deal with the woes of the world tomorrow.

For the remainder of tonight, it would just be the two of them and their passion, and frankly, that's just what they needed…the door to the apartment opened and closed, stillness once again settling over the room now empty save for a bottle of scotch and the two tumblers that had been witness to repercussions and reconciliation both, just as they had borne the weights and sorrows of those who had come to this bar, but they did not mind, for with every sad tale, they had also seen the birth of hope, just as had happened this night for two who so desperately needed it…