There were many reasons why Weiss' insane idea was insane. First, she was four years younger than the youngest person to ever run for a council seat and win. Second, while Vale had had Schnees in pretty much every position of power at some point in its history, those that had been democratically elected had run on a socially conservative and, to put it bluntly, racist platform. Third, like Blake had pointed out to her several times, it meant a lot of public appearances, which in turn meant a lot of opportunities for potential assassins. And fourth, as she was beginning to learn, politicians were full of shit, and she had a very low tolerance for shit.

Weiss had promised Blake she would make no official moves until the White Fang was dealt with, but there was no time to waste, and she had managed to convince the faunus it was possible to begin preparations without word spreading. Once she had Blake's approval, she started making calls.

She had expected resistance, skepticism, maybe even ridicule, but she was surprised to find a lot of interested people. She would have liked to believe it was because she had proved herself to be intelligent, capable and determined, and because they shared her beliefs and approved of her actions. She knew it was because she was rich and marketable.

It was hard. After five years of hiding behind a mask, she had finally shown her true colors, but now she had to wear yet another mask. And it was not a pretty mask. Most of the people she talked to were pragmatic, cynical, and sometimes blatantly corrupt. And they needed to know that she was like them. She needed them to believe that the Weiss from the last two months was the actual mask, a PR stunt, a strategy, and that the real her was a cold blooded, power hungry woman that could make them rich.

Before she knew it, she had successfully conned the con men. There was just one problem: she wasn't ready to launch her campaign. She had everything she needed, and the timing was perfect, but she just couldn't. She had promised.

Ever since their meeting with Weiss, Coco had started visiting Jaune frequently. It was good, but it could be painful at times, Coco was a reminder of both the best and worst days of his life.

She would often drop when he was about to go home, and they would get some coffee together. It had quickly evolved into a routine so precise that Jaune could tell that, right now, they were entering the familiar minute of awkward silence once the nostalgic conversation somehow moved into Weiss territory.

"So…" He said.

"So…" She said.

"Have you heard anything from her? Ever since…that?"

"I got an e-mail. 'Get ready, we're almost there'."

"Yeah, I got the same one. It was…dramatic."

"She is Weiss Schnee. She always enjoyed drama. Remember the elaborate death threats she would come up with back in the day?"

"Like that time when you…"

"No."

"…stole her rapier…"

"Shut up."

"…so you could, and I quote, 'make some holes in the walls to stick the thingies for hanging stuff'."

"I was drunk!"

"You were high."

"I can be drunk and high at the same time, thank you very much."

"You were always the wild one of the bunch, weren't you?"

"And you were never wild enough" Jaune shrugged at that. Maybe Coco was right. That was a frequent thought these days. Maybe it was time to start living a little.

The thought had come out of nowhere, and it had lasted a brief instant of silence between the clashes of their swords. Weiss knew right then that she would not have survived the last two months without Blake, and not because of her skills in combat or her terrifyingly methodical paranoia. Blake was her rock. She was the one thing stable in the madness that had become her life. Whatever happened, whatever the future held, she knew Blake would be there. She made her feel safe, not just physically but emotionally. In Weiss' mind, the world was a dark, scary place. She had intended to bring light into that world, if not for herself then for those who would come after her. But she wouldn't have lasted a second. She would have been consumed by the darkness. But instead, Blake had emerged from its depths, a beacon of light. Blake had saved her, in more ways than one. And for that, she was the most important person in the whole world.

"That…was terrible." Really, really terrible. Blake had never defeated Weiss so easily, not even the very first time they sparred, when Weiss had been rusty and out of shape.

"I'm sorry. My head isn't really in the game right now."

"Where is it?"

"…the campaign." Weiss was lying to her. The worrying thing was that Blake could tell she was lying. Weiss was a very good liar, but now she was like a child that had been caught eating from the cookie jar. She considered calling Weiss out on her lie, pushing her to tell the truth. But then she saw those pleading blue eyes and that adorable lip bite and she realized Weiss really didn't want her to ask. It hurt, knowing that there were things Weiss wouldn't talk to her about. Blake decided she was not in the mood for those thoughts, and decided to move on.

"I have a plan for the White Fang."

"Finally. Is it good?"

"It's terrible. I hate it. I hope you fire me for coming up with it."

"What's so terrible about it?" Blake didn't answer. She tried, but the words just refused to come out. She just couldn't do that to her. Somehow, Weiss understood anyway. "You want to use me as bait."

"Forget it."

"Let's do it."

"What? No, I just said…"

"It's your plan. I trust you."

"You are trusting an ex White Fang member to deliberately put you in a vulnerable position to be attacked by them."

"No. I'm not. I'm trusting Blake Belladonna to keep me safe from danger."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I am. What's the plan?"

"There's an upcoming SDC event. A charity ball. We lower security in the right places, make them think they found a vulnerability."

"And then?"

"And then we take them down. The plan is to get them to send a small team. A single assassin could get away, and a large group would increase the risk of collateral damage."

"You mean you might end up killing the assassin, and the large group has more chances of killing innocent people." Blake knew that tone. There was no arguing with it.

"Yes."

"That's the last time you attempt to sugarcoat this." Blake nodded.

"Our priority will be to capture the attackers, but lethal force will be used if necessary. Once we have them, we'll interrogate them, find out what they know."

"What about the law enforcement?"

"They will not be involved. We will only turn the prisoners over to them once we're done with them."

"And afterwards?"

"The failed attempt in itself should weaken the White Fang. They are desperate. I'm sure there's already talks of breaking into factions, and their popularity is as low as it was when Cinder took over the leadership thanks to you. Depending on what information we get, we might plan some sort of preemptive strike, or just leave it to the police."

"Is that it?"

"Yes."

"Is there anything you're not telling me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because either it's dangerous for you to know them, or it's just too unpleasant and I don't want to upset you." 'Plausible deniability'. She was supposed to say 'plausible deniability'. Whether Weiss bought that or not, she wouldn't have asked anything else. That's what happened every time the subject came up. But this time, she just couldn't say it. She had to listen to herself admit that she was trying to protect Weiss not just from knives and bullets, but from…'unpleasant' things? Really?

"OK then."

"W-what?"

"I said ok. Make it happen."

"Yes Weiss."

"Good."

Blake started walking towards the door. It wasn't until she reached the handle that Weiss found the courage to ask the question she had been dreading.

"Blake." The faunus stopped immediately.

"Yes Weiss?"

"What about you?" Blake turned around to look at her. Weiss took a deep breath and told herself not to take a step back. The golden eyes looking at her told her Blake knew what was coming.

"What about me?"

"I trust you to come up with a plan that will keep me safe. But I need to know it will keep you safe as well."

"The whole point of my job is to-"

"Don't. Don't say it." Weiss started walking towards the faunus.

"You asked me not to sugarcoat it. So I'm not. I will be there, protecting you. I will do whatever is necessary." Weiss was taking slow steps, but she got closer with every word. By the time Blake had finished the sentence, their faces were inches apart.

"Listen to me carefully Blake. My life is not worth more than another life. I want protection, I don't want meat shields."

"Well, tough, because that's what you hired me for." Blake didn't flinch when Weiss' open hand hit her. She didn't even blink. She just stood there, as if waiting for another slap.

"Walk away. Now." Blake looked like she was going to protest, but thought better of it. The moment she turned around Weiss closed her eyes, feeling exhausted at the mere thought of opening them again. But she took a deep breath and did so anyway. It wasn't over. "Blake. Once you're done, you will report to me and explain every single detail of this plan. There's two ways that conversation is going to go: either I approve it and we go through with it, or I don't and I fire you. Take your time. And think about what we talked." Blake didn't answer. She just opened the door and kept walking.

Weiss was alone in her bedroom. She should have been sleeping, but she couldn't. She was sitting in bed, thinking.

That's what you hired me for. Was it true? Had Weiss ever been willing to let Blake die in her stead? The mere thought that she could be such a horrible person was haunting. Blake believed in her. In what she was doing. In any day, that simple fact was uplifting, but today, after all that had been said, it was terrifying. Blake honestly believed that, in taking a bullet for her, she would be making the world a better place. It was wrong. It was so wrong.

Blake was standing guard outside Weiss' room. She had been there for two hours now. It didn't feel right, being on that side of the door, but Weiss clearly didn't want her around, so she would take what she could get. Or, at least, that's what she had told herself at first. Now she was starting to get nervous. She decided Weiss had to be asleep by then, and walked into the room as quietly as possible.

"Blake?" Damn it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. I was awake. You don't have to be here you know."

"You don't want me here"

"That's not what I said. I don't want you to feel like you're forced to be here." What? Could Weiss think she was angry with her? For what? For being the kind of person willing to carry the weight of the world on her shoulder expecting nothing in return? My life is not worth more than another life. Blake disagreed. Heavily. Because Blake knew was not a good person. She had done things that kept her up at night. Weiss was worth a million of her. Blake sat down on the floor opposite to the bed. She was aware that Weiss expected some kind of answer for her, but she didn't have any. At least not any that she could bring herself to say out loud. Feel forced to be here? The thought seemed ridiculous. She was exactly where she wanted to be.

A.N: Hey. So, if by any chance you're considering dropping this because of the horrible, horrible typos and errors in the previous chapter: please don't. You should drop this because you're bored, not because I'm lazy and don't correct before uploading stuff. I'm sorry, I was just sick of that chapter and just needed to be done with it. Hopefully this one was better.

Also, when I found out about Terry Pratchett's death I was about halfway through this chapter, which certainly didn't help my productivity today. Fuck that was depressing. 2015 is not off to a good start, what with all the deaths. Go read some Discworld stuff. The man was a fucking genius.