Home. After a long time standing there, Schnee looking at the gravestone and Blake looking at Schnee, she had turned around, looked at her with blue eyes that still hinted at tears, and started walking towards the car. When Blake lingered for a second, still unsure what to make of the situation, Schnee had given her trademarked annoyed look and said: "Let's go home"

The rest of the day had been remarkably boring. Once they had made it to the Schnee residence, Blake had broken into it to test the security. She had talked about White Fang methods and protocol, both to Schnee and her men. She had made calls, fired people, hired people, ran background checks on the people in charge of running background checks, and countless other boring things. Finally, Schnee had had enough.

"We're done" The white haired woman said, interrupting Blake's latest lecture on why it was so easy to kill her. Blake thought about complaining but the 'I dare you' look she got from those blue eyes told her that she really, really didn't want to dare. She sighed. It was only then that it occurred to her she had no idea of what she was supposed to do now.

"Huh. It occurs to me I have no idea of what I'm supposed to do now"

"I was wondering when you would get there. You'll be staying here, of course. There is an empty bedroom available right next to mine. It was meant for this kind of thing, but it's been empty for some years now"

"You'll be sleeping alone then?" Blake was proud of her eyebrow rising skills, but at that moment she felt she had finally found proper competition.

"Of course. Did you have other plans?" You will not blush in front of your new boss.

"I meant, is the room secure? Will there be guards? Is it monitored?" Thankfully, she seemed to let it go.

"I'll be fine. The rooms are secure, actually. And despite your insistence to completely humiliate them, the people here do take their jobs seriously. Some of them anyway. And besides" Schnee smirked. Actually smirked. That was new. "The walls are thin. You'd be surprised the things a young girl can learn from unsuspecting bodyguards or maids. It's why the room has been empty for so long. I'm sure if anything happens you'll be the first to know. Relax, I don't think we have anything to worry about for now. Just get ready for Monday"

"Monday. Right. That should be fun" The next day was Saturday. Schnee had managed to keep her weekend free. Smart move. But then came Monday, and with it came the press conference. Blake just couldn't wait for it.

"You're crazy"

"Why? Because I want to change things?"

"No. Because you want to do it with hugs and puppies"

"I like puppies" Velvet said clapping her hands in that adorably annoying way of hers "Hey, maybe-"

"You're not getting a puppy"

"Aw. So, you still haven't told me. What are we celebrating?"

"One year ago today, we had a statistics test. You aced it"

"Weirdest. Anniversary. Ever. Why would we celebrate that?"

"Because it was the day I started on the path to not being an ignorant racist idiot" She stopped for a second trying to fight the blush down. When she failed, she decided since she was doing this, she might as well do it right "the day you started me on that path"

"You're exaggerating Weiss. You would have gotten there eventually" Weiss shrugged. That might have been true, or at least that's what she would have liked to believe, but it wasn't the point.

"Blake?! What the hell?!"

"You…you were screaming!"

"I was not!"

"Please tell me I did not just kick a door down because you had a nightmare" When the only answer was a furious blush on the woman's usually snow white face, Blake let out a long sigh "do you want to talk about it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your nightmare. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Hardly fits the job description" Blake shrugged

"I'm already here"

"It will not be necessary, thank you." Blake gave the room one last look to make sure everything was ok. Then she turned to the door connecting their rooms. The previously locked door. It was not in good shape. "There is a key to that door in your nightstand you know. The whole point of it being there is that you can make you can burst into the room without breaking anything" Of course.

"Ah. But that wouldn't have been nearly dramatic enough. Only the best for you miss Schnee" She was pleased to see a hint of a smile accompanying the eye roll. She started to leave, but Schnee stopped her.

"Blake" She turned around and saw small hands grabbing the sheets a little too tightly "You might want to get used to the nightmares. They get frequent this time of the year" The obvious question lingered in her mind for a second, but nothing good would come out of it

"Yes Miss Schnee. Goodnight."

"Good night Blake" She did her best to close the now broken door. She went to the nightstand next to the untouched bed and found the keys. Out of sight of her new boss, she finally allowed the embarrassment to sink in. She looked at the bed and considered trying it, but the idea was gone in less than a second. She collapsed in the floor instead, weapon still in hand, and finally let sleep take her.

When Weiss got out of her room, she found Blake waiting for her. Still more asleep than awake and in much need of a good unhealthy dose of caffeine, she decided it was too early to even consider addressing the temporary insanity from the previous day. Hoping against all hope that the faunus was nothing but a remnant of her dreams that had lingered into her waking life, she just started walking.

"Good morning miss Schnee" Blake said as she started following her, her steps in perfect sync with hers.

"Coffee now. Words later." But it was too late. Talking meant words. Words meant thinking. And now she was slightly more awake and she knew. She knew this was what she had gotten herself into. This was her life now.

"Sure thing Miss Schnee" Weiss groaned. Blake got a few curious looks as they walked down the halls of the manor. She had never been officially introduced to anyone. Weiss hadn't bothered to explain who she was, or even her name. 'Just listen to her' she had said. And that had been it. Now this stranger had complete access to her life. She was still breathing though, so it was probably a good sign.

"Miss Schnee? There is someone here to see you. A Miss Coco"

"Just Coco?" That earned Blake a dirty look. The butler had made quite clear who his boss was and who wasn't. Blake was not his boss. In fact, if it hadn't been for Schnee's raised eyebrow, she suspected the question would have been ignored"

"That is as much as I got from her. At least as much as it would be appropriate to repeat." Schnee sighed

"Let her in"

"Are you sure?" That earned another dirty look. She could tell this guy was going to be fun.

"Yes I'm sure. I was expecting something like this actually. Was she angry?"

"Livid. But she seemed amused too. It was…unsettling"

"That's Coco for you"

It didn't take long for a tall woman who looked like she had leaped straight out of a fashion magazine to show up.

"Schnee! You prissy little bitch! How are you?" Say what you will about the butler, he had been right about one thing: the perfect mixture of anger and amusement in this woman's voice was unsettling.

"Coco, always a pleasure"

"Looking good! Still rocking the white I see!" She gave Blake an appreciative look "Nice. Not everyone pulls off suits like that you know"

"So I've been told" Coco chuckled

"One of Jaune's?"

"Are you really here to talk about clothes?" Blake could swear the temperature of the room had dropped.

"You got some explaining to do princess"

"I told you-"

"Sorry, heiress"

"Not anymore, actually"

"I don't give a fuck! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Well, I was enjoying some coffee, and I was hoping to catch up on the news. I've been really busy lately"

"I mean, what the fuck were you doing yesterday at the cemetery?" That got a reaction. "Yeah, that's right, I saw you"

"I was paying my respects"

"Never saw you there before"

"What do you want Coco?"

"I want to know why you're doing…this! All of this! I know you! I've known you for a long time! We might not be BFFs but I sure as hell know this is not who you were a month ago!"

"BFF" The two women looked at Blake. I said that out loud. "It's already plural" she explained weakly. That got a small laugh from Coco. Schnee ignored her.

"I was not in a position to be this one month ago" Coco's eyes lingered on Blake for a second. Then she looked back at her...friend? Enemy? Something.

"You hate them" That got another reaction. Blake thought Schnee was going to yell. Instead, she sighed.

"Never"

"You told me"

"I lied"

"Well you sure were committed to the lie"

"It was worth it, wasn't it?" Coco's punch never met Schnee's face. Instead, it found Blake's hand. The faunus didn't let go immediately.

"You will refrain from initiating physical contact with Miss Schnee at all times" She let go.

"You're no fun" Coco said, rubbing her hand. She lowered her sunglasses and looked at Blake "She's said some pretty ugly things about-"

"I know what she's said. You will refrain from-"

"Ok, ok. I get it. Where did you find this one Schnee?"

"She found me, actually"

"That so?"

"Are you doing anything on Monday Coco?"

"Actually, there's this press conference I planned to crash"

"I thought so. And what side will you and your band of revolutionary wannabes be taking, if I may ask?" there was a few seconds of awkward silence, broken by laughter. It was genuine, musical laughter. There might have even been tears. Blake liked it. "You don't know! I'm handing you your dreams in a silver platter and you still want to complain about it!"

"It's a matter of principle! You're still…you! The SDC is still the SDC! There's a history! Besides, one could argue-"

"I know what one could argue. I've heard it before. And you don't buy it. Some of your… rapscallion friends might, but you don't. Not really anyway."

"We might not pick a side. Yet."

"You are protesters Coco. You protest. You have to protest about something"

"Well, maybe not this time. Maybe we'll just be there. A symbol of peace and unity and all that. I think…I think she would have liked that." Weiss gasped. She looked down at her skirt and saw the coffee stain. She stayed like that. Coco's expression softened "I also think she would be proud of you. She could be dumb like that" Weiss laughed again. It was a sad, broken laugh. Blake didn't like it.

"Yes. She could. Thank you Coco. For being there all those years. I…I actually felt better, seeing the lot of you complaining about every little thing I did. I know it wasn't exactly what you were going for, but it felt like moral support. Made me think of the old times"

Coco had been gone for some time. Weiss didn't know how long. She had stayed there, staring at her coffee. Suddenly, she felt warmth against her hands, and only then did she realized they had been shaking. Blake was holding her hands. No, she was just grabbing the coffee and placing it on the table.

"You should get changed" Weiss didn't understand. Then she looked down at the coffee stain.

"Later. Do you play chess?" Blake frowned

"…not really"

"Well you do now. I need a good game of chess"

She was kneeling in the middle of a collapsed building. Pain. So much pain. Her hands were covered in blood but she didn't really feel it. Her left eye, on the other hand, was killing her. But not her hands. They couldn't afford to feel pain. They had to keep digging. Then she found her, and the pain was gone and something much, much worse took its place.

"Velvet" So much blood

"Weiss?" She was alive

"You're alive. You're alive. It's ok, you're gonna be ok"

"Weiss, listen"

"Shhh, it's ok" She was alive

"Weiss. Forgive them"

"What?" Anger. Blinding anger "They did this! They…you…"

"They don't know what they're doing Weiss. Don't hate them. Never hate them" She was dead.

Blake was lying on the floor. She was awake, her hands idly running through her weapon. Gambol Shroud. She had taken lives with it. Not many, some could say. For someone who had been part of a terrorist organization for so long, she had not taken many lives. But one was too many. Her cat ears flicked at the hint of noise. She held her breath and listened. She was having nightmares again. The walls really were thin.

Without even realizing she was doing it, she grabbed the keys and headed for the door separating the rooms. It had been fixed. That was fast. She hesitated for a second, but risked a look into the room. Weiss had never made it inside the bed.

Blake sat on the floor, back against the doorframe, and looked at her. It looked like she had put on her nightgown and just collapsed there. Her hair was still tied. She was crying in her sleep. Blake started crying too. She cried for herself, and for the friends and loved ones she had lost to a senseless war. She cried because, for the first time since she was a child, she could see the end of that war. She cried because she didn't believe she would see that end, not really. She cried because she believed someone would, someday. She cried because the woman who had made her believe was crying, and there was nothing she could do about it.

A.N: A certain red hooded huntress will show up next chapter to lighten up the mood a little. Because jesus christ I'm depressing. I swear, I do not just write this to make Weiss cry and Blake look good on suits. And speaking of JC, I figured Velvet was already kind of a hippie and a martyr here, so why not go all the way with the christic stuff. Jesus sells, right? Oh, and imaginary points to whoever spots the reference (cough, rip off, cough) to Bryan Q Miller's awesome Batgirl run.