'Just for tonight' she had said. But then the next night she asked again. And the third night she had to nod, too embarrassed to talk, when Blake anticipated the question and asked if she should stay. But after that, there was no more need for words. Blake would just stay there until sleep took her, and she would be there when she woke up, often reading a book, but sometimes just staring into nothingness. But never sleeping. Weiss was starting wonder if the faunus slept at all.

Meanwhile, the reluctant alliance between bodyguard and huntress had blossomed into an odd friendship of sorts, the cornerstone of which appeared to be their mutual agreement to keep Weiss out of the loop of their investigation on the latest attempt on her life. How Blake had managed to keep Ruby quiet, Weiss had no idea, but she suspected a sugary bribe might have been a part of it, and was already planning on a counteroffer.

Ruby didn't spend much time in the manor, she was too busy with work. Which was strange, because when Weiss had tried to go over her head to find out what she was up to, she was told the huntress was taking some vacation days. It wasn't uncommon for Weiss to wake up and find Ruby having breakfast, even if she hadn't been there the night before. Once she had even woken up to find Ruby and Blake talking in whispers in her room. Whatever Ruby had found out during that particular 'vacation day' was apparently too urgent to wait, but Blake had refused to leave the room.

And while Ruby came and went on her mystery trips, life happened. Weiss worked. That meant paperwork, and spreadsheets, and more paperwork. It meant video conferences, and even occasionally receiving business partners for a meeting, always at home, and always in the presence of Blake. But even with all the work she had to do, the fact that she was on complete lockdown until 'the situation improved' (Blake's words) meant that she had more free time than usual. Free time for Blake to get better at chess, for example. She still wasn't good enough to beat her, but the games were now actually fun. She had even started fencing again. It had been a long time. She would practice for stress release every now and then, yes, but it probably had been over a year since the last time, and much longer since she had actually had an opponent. But now she had Blake. The faunus had been reluctant at first, yes, but Weiss had insisted. And when that hadn't worked, she had ordered her to comply. Blake had not liked that, but she obeyed.

While sparring with Blake, she learned a few things. First, no matter how state-of-the-art her multi-action Dust rapier was, it did not make up for her rusty skills. She was out of shape. Second, Blake was way better than she had expected her to be in a fight. Weiss was well aware that the other woman was holding back, and she would still beat her every single time. The fact that she had taken to saying 'checkmate' when she did was not helping Weiss' frustration, but if the faunus wanted her revenge for having to endure all those defeats at chess, she figured she could have it. But like Blake, she learned fast, and her skills were coming back to her. The third thing she learned was that she was good. Maybe not as good as Blake yet, but she was better than she remembered. And Blake knew this too, Weiss had had the pleasure of seeing the surprise in her face some times. Finally, she learned that Blake smelled nice. Even when sweating. She wasn't sure this was a good thing to know.

Blake woke up. It had now been forty-three days since the last time she had worn the Grimm mask of the White Fang. Except for the press conference, she had spent all of that time locked up in the Schnee Manor. At first she had thought she would have no option but to leave at times, but that was before Ruby. Now anything she wanted done outside those walls could be done remotely, whether that meant yelling on her Scroll, sending angry e-mails or sending Ruby on yet another hunt for information. It was paying off. She knew it was. They were getting closer and closer to identifying the real threat within the SDC, and she was confident she would find out the moment the White Fang even thought to make a move. But still, she just couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to get out there. And not just because of how useless she felt every time Ruby came back, but also just because of the selfish reason that she was bored. So bored. Bored of the paperwork, bored of the empty hallways, bored of just about everything in that place.

So when the time finally came to make a move against the traitor in the SDC and Ruby asked her to join her on the mission, she panicked. She didn't answer, and Ruby kept talking. The huntress explained her plan, and it was flawless. Except it needed two people. Two very skilled people. Blake knew she couldn't trust this on anyone else. She knew it was the logical option, the only option. But she also knew she wanted to go out there, and that made her doubt herself. Was it really the best course of action, or was she just convincing herself? And what if something happened to Weiss while she was gone? What if Ruby was just trying to lure her out…?

No. Not that. Ruby was a friend. They had had time to get to know each other, and Blake had learned a lot about the huntress. They were very different, yes, but Ruby had earned her respect and admiration on the job, and sympathy and friendship out of it. She could be annoying, yes, and she wasn't exactly a paragon of professionalism. But she was a great huntress, and a better person.

Two weeks before, Ruby had arrived at the manor covered in blood, most of it hers. It had not been pretty. They had hidden just how bad it had been from Weiss and most of the staff, but Blake had feared for Ruby's life, and had been astonished at how quickly she had been back on her feet and ready for her next mission. Blake knew Ruby cared for Weiss, and she trusted the huntress with her life…but there were more important things than her life, and she still wasn't even sure if was capable of trusting anyone with them.

The next morning, once she was confident Weiss was awake enough, they broke the news. The girl didn't answer immediately, but gave some thought to the matter.

"When?" She didn't seem very happy with the development.

"Now. As soon as possible" A small frown tried to make its way to Weiss' face, but it was quickly concealed. Blake saw it anyway. She was angry. Angry that they brought this to her at the last minute. Angry that they weren't telling her everything, even if it was for her own good. Angry that Blake couldn't come up with a solution that didn't include leaving her alone. Well, not exactly alone but alone enough.

"So soon? Is that wise?"

"It's time sensitive."

"I see." Weiss sounded cold now, distant. It reminded Blake of the tone she would sometimes take when working. It was a tone many people feared, not a calm before the storm but a calm that was the storm.

"I'll make sure everything is perfect here before we leave."

"As expected." Blake could swear the room was getting colder. Ruby was suddenly nowhere to be seen.

"And I'll let you know the moment we are done."

"Of course." This was bad. Really bad. Blake made a mental note to try not to enjoy herself too much the next time she got to see some poor bastard on this side of Weiss' death glare.

"I…I'll try not to take too long." She only stuttered once, and she considered that a victory.

"Nonsense. Do it right or don't doing at all."

"I…um. Ok. I'll get going then."

"Good luck."

"…thanks." Blake started to turn around but stopped when Weiss jumped at wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling her into a tight hug. Weiss was small, but Blake was surprised when she suddenly felt the whole weight of the girl, whose feet were now dangling on the air. After the shock passed, she returned the hug.

"Just…come back, ok?" Weiss let go and after an awkward second Blake did too, letting her down.

"Of course Miss Schnee." This brought a small smile to Weiss' face.

"Idiot." She whispered as Blake turned around to leave. That's when she saw Ruby watching them from the door, a ridiculous smile on her face. When she reached the door she just kept going, and Ruby joined her. At first she was glad the huntress wasn't saying anything but she could just feel her about burst. She sighed.

"Just get it out of your system before we need to actually stay quiet"

"Dude! You are so in!"

"I am not a 'dude'. And I don't know what you're talking about"

"Ugh come on! The two of you should get a room! Oh wait! You already have one! You just need to put it to good use!"

"Pervert."

"Hey, I'm not the one trying to get in my boss' pants!"

"Shut up."

"Weiss and Blake, sitting on a tree…"

"I hate you."

"You love me." Blake rolled her eyes at that.

"Yeah. But that doesn't mean that I don't hate you."

"And the guy says, the guys says…wait, Blake you say it. She totally nailed the accent before."

"I'm not saying it Ruby."

"Pleaaaaaase?"

"Ugh. Fine. He said 'Well well well…look what the cat dragged in.'" Ruby burst out laughing. Weiss bit her lip. Ruby's laughter was contagious.

"And he was so pleased with himself! He thought it was so clever! It was kind of adorable really."

"Except for the part where he had a machine gun aimed at us."

"It was also an axe!"

"How could I forget?"

"Well…seems like you two had fun." Weiss tried to sound annoyed, but it was difficult. She was so relieved. The mission, whatever it was, had been a success. A major blow to the faction inside the SDC trying to get her out of the way. When Blake had called to let her know they were done, she had been trying to practice her fencing, too anxious to even think about standing still, let alone sleep. She had tried not to sound too pleased over the phone, but had failed miserably. Then when they arrived she couldn't even wait for them get inside the manor: she had gone outside to meet them. Blake had stopped her and told her to get back inside immediately, anger in her voice. As she did, her embarrassment over her impulsive outburst was lessened by the comedic mixture of Blake's furious screams at the security guards that had let her through with Ruby's childish laughter.

After Blake had calmed down, they had come back to the dining room, where the three of them were having tea (well, Blake and her were having tea, Ruby was having hot chocolate) and she was hearing a severely edited mission report. Apparently 'plausible deniability' was still important.

It didn't take much longer for the adrenaline to wear off. With a loud, Ruby-ish yawn, Ruby called it a night and went to bed, leaving the other two women alone with their empty cups of tea. Wordlessly, they got up and started walking, Blake always a few steps behind. It had been a very long, intense day. They were both exhausted, but they were both there, where they wanted to be, ending the day like they ended all days, if a little later than usual. Everything was ok.

Blake woke up, her weapon already in her hand. There was movement. It was the middle on the night and someone was moving in Weiss' room. With her night vision it didn't take long to see who it was.

"Weiss?"

"Blake!" Weiss gasped.

"What are you doing?" She lowered her weapon as Weiss approached her.

"I…was looking for you. I didn't see you. Thought maybe you had gone back to your bed."

"Oh." Blake started to stand up but Weiss crouched in front of her. Caught off guard by this, Blake almost stumbled as she stopped herself. She ended up sitting down.

"What are you doing down here?"

"I…sleep here?" This was awkward. Blake had been trying to avoid this since she first arrived to the manor.

"Why?"

"I…never really got used to beds. Tried them a few times, but they're not my thing, I guess." Maybe Weiss had forgotten about her night vision, because she was being a lot more expressive than usual. She gave her a sad smile.

"Oh. I see."

"Yeah. Why were you looking for me?"

"Nevermind, it was stupid."

"Come on, you know you can tell me." Weiss blushed

"I had a nightmare, ok? About you. I guess I'm still a bit scared because of tonight. I just…wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Oh. Well, I am." She smiled, even though she knew Weiss probably couldn't see her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Not really. It…it wasn't nice. So, did you spend all your nights here sleeping on the floor?"

"Not all of them."

"Where else did you sleep?"

"Nowhere. I mean, sometimes I slept on the floor, sometimes I didn't sleep at all."

"Why not?" Blake shrugged.

"It's always been that way, I guess."

"Oh" There it was again. That sad, sad smile. Weiss reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Weiss? What are you doing?" Weiss started pulling her down.

"Shhh. Just…just lay down ok?" Blake did, too confused to protest. The moment her head met the floor, her hand instinctively tightened around her weapon. Then she felt Weiss laying down next to her.

"Weiss?" She asked as she felt the weight of the other girl against her, the head on her shoulder and the arm around her waist.

"Please? I don't think I'll be able to sleep otherwise. My mind still thinks you're out there risking your life."

"…ok. Just for tonight."

"Just for tonight."

A.N: I'm starting to think maybe I went a bit overboard with the ten years. This characters feel younger than that. But the harm is already done, right? What do you think?

Also, I'm writing a White Rose thing. Check it out maybe? It's got less plot and more fluff than this. I think I'll try to alternate updates between both things. But I'll probably end up doing whatever I want.

Now I'm off to write the first scene of the next chapter of this, because I have no self control.

EDIT: WOW. I just caught a really dumb continuity error here. So dumb. Hopefully no one noticed