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Sunny Side Retirement Community, Atlas City, Atlas - 11:07
"Damn thing!" Yang swore as she gently pounded on a large box housing a thirty-something year old scroll. She'd had the monstrous piece of furniture constructed to preserve her first scroll that she'd ever gotten, although it was slightly unnecessary since the technology hadn't improved much since her time at Beacon.
"What's the matter now?" A young man in nurses clothing asked as he approached carrying a glass and pills for the woman that was sitting next to the retired brawler.
"The receptor's out of whack again. I really wish there was an easier way to get Vale channels here." Yang grumbled, sitting back down to stare at the 'bad signal' screen.
"Well, let me take a look and see if I can get it working again." He said with a smile before he lay down and slid beneath the box to see the circuit board that connected to the antennae atop the box.
"You were right. Those shirts must really be thin!" The woman whispered in Yang's ear making her laugh a little. The scroll snapped back onto the connection and the man slid back out.
"Thanks, sexy." Yang gave him a thumbs up as the pro wrestling match resumed from commercial.
"Sometimes I think you just like me for my body." He grumbled, a smile on his face since he'd been around the brawler long enough to know it was just her usual banter.
"Of course not!" Yang replied shocked. "You're also my dealer. You have a nice body and give me drugs, what's not to like?"
"I swear you'll get me fired if they hear you talk like that." He sighed, taking a small bottle out of his pocket and handing it over to Yang. "I doubt I have to tell you how to take those."
"Of course not." Yang sighed. "It's not like I'd be doing much harm if I didn't follow the directions anyway."
"Are they at least helping now?" He asked. The concern in his voice touched her, but there was nothing to be done at this point anymore.
"They're no different than the last set. Either way, I won't have long to deal with it." Yang smiled ruefully. "But don't worry yourself about me. I'll be fine."
"If you say so." He nodded and walked off to continue delivering pills to others in the common room.
Yang watched one of the wrestlers on her scroll start pounding the ground in surrender and sighed, handing five lien to the woman beside her and looking away as her chosen fighter went on to formally lose the match. Her eyes drifted across the room and came to a rest on a red hood that had just walked into the common area.
"Ruby! What are you doing here?" Yang asked, pulling herself to her feet.
"Apparently trying to get you to stop sexually harassing the nurses." Ruby replied before pulling her sister into a tight hug. "It's been too long."
"Well, you got busy and I… came here." Yang replied with a shake of her head. "Anyway, to what do I owe the unexpected visit?"
Ruby motioned for them to walk and Yang led her to an empty hall that led to a balcony at the rear of the building. "You can thank the team of assassins that caved in my living room last night."
"Are you okay? You weren't shot were you?" Yang grabbed her sister by the shoulders and looked at her face to make sure she wouldn't lie.
"No, I wasn't shot!" Ruby pouted. "You honestly think these noobs could land a finger on me, let alone a round?"
"Well, you were always the fastest in our class." Yang admitted with a grin.
"They were lucky if they caught a glimpse of me before I put fire rounds through their sorry excuse for combat armour." Ruby said with a smirk. "Anyway, they weren't the usual groups we're used to."
"How do you mean?" Yang asked seriously, all the joking gone from her tone.
"Wasn't Fang or Anti's. Not Atlas either as far as I could tell." Ruby said.
"A street gang maybe?" Yang asked.
"No. Too organized." Ruby replied. "Also, they seemed intent on killing me rather than robbing my house. The five thousand or so bullet holes in the walls account for that."
"That many of them?" Yang asked incredulously, doubting even Ruby could handle a full sized platoon.
"No. They just had big guns." Ruby smiled. "All flash and no bang."
"Well, at least you're okay." Yang sighed as she realized why Ruby had come to see her. "Okay, give them here. I'll see what I can dig up for you."
"Thanks Yang!" Ruby gave her a hug then pulled the zip-lock bag out of one of her belt's pouches. Inside was a bloody mess of fingers that she'd cut from her assailants hands.
"Did you at least remember to ice them?" Yang sighed knowing how Ruby often forgot the most important part of getting a proper identification.
"Yup! I got ice from a drink machine on my way to visit our princess." Ruby grinned slyly. "And I snuck the bag into her freezer last night."
"So… don't tell me… you two…" Yang spoke slowly as she watched her sisters reaction.
"We're working together!" Ruby exclaimed. "Or, really I'm her head of security because I'm bored and wanted to do something."
Yang sighed shaking her head. "Well, just don't make her as angry as you usually do."
"Hey! I never make her angry!" Ruby shook her finger at Yang. "You're the one who always breaks her stuff! She loves me!"
"Well, I can't deny that… and I can't help it if everything she owns is made of paper thin glass!" Yang replied.
The two were silent for a moment before they broke out in laughter.
"Man, I missed this." Yang sighed, her laughing finished. "Let me know if you need anything else okay?"
"You know I will." Ruby's smile faltered. "Anyway, how are you doing?"
"As fine as ever." Yang waited for Ruby to continue. When she didn't Yang sighed, knowing that it was pointless to hide things from her sister. "They say it's progressed to stage 4. There's nothing they can do anymore."
"Yang…" Ruby wrapped her arm around her sister and pulled her into a brief and gentle hug.
"I'm fine. These pills they give me are supposed to help slow any further progression, but they haven't been working." Yang sighed and cracked her neck while rubbing the back of Ruby's head. "I already have all my stuff in order, so you won't have to worry about doing anything."
"Yang…" Ruby didn't know what to say. She always knew stuff like this happened to people, but that was just it. It happened to other people. Not Yang, the invincible flaming boxer turned huntress.
"It's alright, Ruby. You know how I've always been." Yang smiled remembering a quote from somewhere she couldn't quite place. "Live fast, die young."
"But-"
"Shhh…" Yang cuddled Ruby closer. Even after all these years her relationship with her baby sister hadn't changed. Ruby might not be so naive anymore, but she always looked up to her even if she had no reason to anymore. "I'm here right now, and that's what matters."
After a few moments of silence, a muffled "Okay" came from the girl with the red hood. Yang smiled and released her sister who took a step back and quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"Hey! Who said you could cry?" Yang joked, poking Ruby in the shoulder.
"Sorry." Ruby mumbled, looking down at her boots.
"Ruby, I was joking." Yang said, realizing how shaken Ruby was at the moment.
"Oh. Ha ha. Funny." Ruby said as she turned to walk away.
"I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" Yang called after her sister. Ruby waved in response over her shoulder without looking back before she disappeared around the corner. A few rose petals floated back, letting Yang know Ruby had gone.
Yang leaned against the wall in defeat, the bloody bag of fingers hanging forgotten in her hand. Ruby had always been so open and caring about those close to her, but she had also been abandoned early in her life in the worst possible way. Yang had vowed when she took Ruby under her wing that she'd never leave Ruby like her mother had, but here she was breaking that vow unintentionally. For the first time in months she cursed her disease and felt sorry for herself, using Ruby as an excuse.
She didn't want to die, but that was inevitable. All she could do was be there for Ruby as long as she could, and possibly pass her torch on to the only other person on Remnant that she knew had a solid, long standing relationship with her little sister.
"Alright!" She pushed herself off the wall and looked down at the bag in her hands. "Guess I'll take care of this first."
Hidden Underground Complex, Eastern Wilderness, Mystral - 12:50
"Alright." The faunus replied to the armed guards and relinquished her weapon. Once again the guards stopped her and gestured to the kimono on the nearby table. She sighed heavily. "Pigs."
She quickly stripped and replaced her clothing with the kimono once the guards had inspected her body for 'concealed weaponry'. At one point in time she might have been embarrassed, but she was long passed that phase of her life. She walked past the checkpoint and down the hall to the lone room at the end where the man she sought was waiting.
"Hello. I apologize for the security, but one mustn't be too careful." He gestured for her to take a seat and she gave a slight bow as she did so. "Your target is this man. The usual payment will be provided."
"I see." The faunus picked up the picture of the man and having taken a look at it, started folding it over and over. "Unfortunately, I am currently under the employment of a different organization, and I cannot spare time to eliminate your target at present."
"How unfortunate…. However I will still entrust to you this assignment. You will receive payment on confirmation of the targets demise." He responded.
The girl finished folding the paper holding it between her thumb and index finger. It formed a small shuriken. "Normally I would accept your offer, except there are two problems. First of which, he's my current employer and I won't get paid until I complete my assignment."
The man's eyes grew wide in realization as she twisted the tip of the folded paper, making the point strong and sharp.
"Second of which…" She lashed out her arm, embedding the small bit of paper into the man's throat, silencing him as blood slowly seeped down into his red silk vestments. "He pays better."
The man started bowing forward as he lost consciousness, and she followed suit as if ending a professional meeting.
She quickly made her way back to the checkpoint and redressed in her usual monochrome combat outfit, sheathing her katana on her back along with her old multipurpose weapon from her time as a huntress. She left the complex to the wilderness above and found her aircraft exactly where she'd left it.
As she sat down at the controls, she felt her scroll receive a message. She opened it to find her employer had already transferred the funds to her account, adding a measly hundred million lien to the already massive number that exceeded five hundred trillion. She was about to close the device when another message loaded from an old friend she hadn't talked to in decades.
Hey Kitty Cat! Need some help with IDing a few John Does. Usual databases are causing problems. Fifty mil and a drink with your name on it at Sunny Side Retirement Community, Atlas. Room 304.
"Sunny Side…?" She mumbled in surprise split between the meeting place and who had sent the message. If for nothing else, she had to find out what the hell that was all about.
She called up her assistant back at her house in Mystral. "Ready my light gear and refuel the fast jet. I'll be there in ten minutes."
Alt: +2000m, Western Passage, Wild Territories - 14:32
She sat looking out the window of her private jet as the young pilot flew her to her destination. The glass of red wine in her hand free of any ripples, proving the man had enough talent to avoid the turbulent crosswinds the passage was famous for.
She looked down at her scroll which she had open to a file about her old teammates. She'd done most of the research over years of being in and out of contact with the three others while working both for and against them. She vividly remembered the last time she saw one of her old friends.
It had been during a blizzard in the far northern region of Atlas. She'd been hired to do some sabotage work and the bubbly Nora Valkyrie had been on assignment to defend her target.
They'd both taken shelter in the same small hut, talking little about their true reason for being in the wasteland. In the end Blake had used her cunning intellectual skills to ascertain that Nora was her enemy.
She sighed and took a sip of her wine, remembering equally how long she'd nursed the wound on her left leg that had been caused by getting too close to one of Nora's grenades exploding and the fact that she'd failed to complete her mission flawlessly. It had been the first time she'd only finished half of her mission before needing to retreat. The reason for that being the flaming ball of fury that left puddles of snow in her wake as she blazed towards Nora's pink explosions.
She got up and walked to the bar to refill her glass. Then she sat back down and relaxed, wondering again why Yang of all people would be holed up in a retirement community. She knew everyone still worked except Ruby and herself. Though technically she was deceased in eight cities across Mystral alone. It wasn't that much of a stretch that Ruby's retirement wasn't true to it's name.
She knew Weiss would still be working at her family's business since she'd last talked to her six years previous for a job that effectually eliminated any notable resistance to her company from the various groups of anti-faunus renegades, and left the two at odds with each other.
That only left Yang. She'd been a huntress all throughout her career, setting records such as most Grimm killed in a solo hunt and most difficult way to kill a death stalker. Then there was her accolades from her part time boxing such as most damage taken in a tournament fight while still being able to compete and win, most one hit KOs in a single season, and most efficient tournament win after knocking out each opponent with a single punch.
With all that under her belt, it confused the faunus why she'd ask to meet in a retirement home of all places. But maybe that's all it is… a meeting place.
She noticed the fasten seatbelt sign light up and noticed with a glance out the window that she'd zoned out for more than an hour. She'd have her answers in another hour, so she pushed her musing back to the dark corners of her brain. Attention to her surroundings is what had kept her alive for so long, and she wasn't going to let her guard down now.