Broken Apart Ch. 13: Close to Home

Distrio walked around the scene. Time flies when you're having fun, and the money wasn't the only thing keeping him in the business. His love of shooting and the thrill of the kill kept him shooting past the point where most people would stop. They might settle for Grimm with the occasional outlaw, but if you give Distrio a contract and time, he will kill without a question. Criminal, hunter, politician, your neighbor he really didn't care.

"Sir," someone said. Distrio brought his gaze up to see BB waiting on him. "The place is clear. Anyone who was here's dead."

"Full report," Distrio requested.

"We lost three," BB continued. "Silvio, Elliot, and James are all gone."

"Acceptable loses," Distrio said. "Especially given what we've accomplished. The police will most likely be here within the hour." He slung his sniper over his shoulder, and grinned cruelly. "And we'd rather not be here when they are. A shootout is not something we want."

Schnee Manor: Guest Room

Blake calmly took a sip of tea that one of the many servants had brought her, and continued to stare out the window. Blake had done nothing but sit and think about what had happened. She had heard what Yang had said, but she saw nothing wrong with it.

There were nothing but positives to Blake's job, as far as she could see. To start with the most unimportant thing, money. It paid well. Then there was the fact that Blake was fighting for what she believed in. Sure it wasn't going along as smoothly as RWBY had, but it was an important job. Right?

Blake sighed, and set her tea aside. She wasn't sure anymore if her thoughts were what she actually thought, or just lies that she fed herself to keep her mind away from the truth.

Blake heard a knock at her door, and looked up.

"Come in," Blake said. The door opened up, and one of the servants had a panicked look on his face.

"Terribly sorry to disturb you," he said. "But not too long ago the police were called to a scene. They wanted to inform you of it, along with everyone else here."

"Distrio, I get it," Blake said.

"Well, Ms. Belladonna, it's more personal then that."

Downstairs

Blake walked into the room, and noticed that the center table was surrounded by everyone. Weiss, Tauran, Sun, Lyria, Ruby and Yang all stood around the table, and Ruby was twirling around her fingers nervously. Yang and her exchanged worried looks, and the looks grew worse when they saw Blake walking over to them.

"What's this about?" Blake asked. "He wouldn't give me anything apart from that this is personal."

"You might want to join up with your partner for this," Yang suggested. Blake unconsciously drifted towards Yang, but changed her course before anyone could notice. Blake wedged herself in between Sun and Lyria, and took a deep breath in.

"Now do we get to know?" Blake asked.

"There was an attack earlier," Ruby started. "Eleven attackers took on an entire camp. They only lost three people, and we've confirmed the identities of the attackers. Silvio and Elliot Auditorie, and James Lion were all killed while fighting. The other eight of them escaped, and due to how quietly most of them were killed. The entirety of the camp was killed, and only those who weren't there survived."

"It was bad," Yang continued. "There was a wide variety of weapons, including one matched back to Distrio. He picked off a lot of them before they even started the actual raid."

"Where?" Weiss finally asked. "Just tell us where they hit already."

"The New Faunus Rights camp," Ruby said. The tension in the room suddenly became thick enough to cut through. Blake, Sun, Lyria, and Tauran all had noticeably stunned looks on their faces. "That's where they hit. Luckily, four teams in total were out and about. Including-."

"Velvet," Lyria said instantly. "Did Velvet make it?" Ruby nodded.

"What about Gerald?" Tauran added in. Ruby shook her head. "Franklin? Xeno?" Two more shakes.

"Fitz?" Sun tried. Another shake.

"Delila?" Blake tried. Another shake. The Faunus' all sat down, and stared blankly into the difference. Almost all of their friends, dead. In the meantime, they had done nothing. They felt sadness, but another feeling soon replaced it for one.

"I could have been there," Tauran growled. "I could have stopped them."

"Only the best fighters had a sniper round in them," Ruby said gently. "Distrio would have shot you before-."

"Not if I got there first," Tauran growled.

"I understand your anger," Yang started. "I'd be pretty pissed too if I learned that had happened to the people I knew. But, you have to understand your job right now."

"What job?" Lyria asked, anger now entering her as well. "Protecting her?"

"This is a vendetta," Blake said angrily. "They're going to try and kill all of us. They started with the simple jobs, and now they're working their way up. Silvio, Elliot, and James died. Good for them, they've weeded out the weak. We keep Weiss safe, then we'll be able to stir up a trap for them."

"Not just me," Weiss said. "You, Ruby, and Yang as well. The four of us are next on their list."

"I don't want to hear this horse shit," Tauran growled. "I'm going hunting." Blake put her arm on Tauran's shoulder, and the bull Faunus turned around to face her. He looked into Blake's eyes, prepared to say something angry to her. But then he saw into her eyes. He saw pain, anger, sadness, and fear. Above all he saw fear.

"I don't like this," Blake said. "I want to meet Torchwick and Cinder again just so that I don't make the same mistake as last time and I'll kill them. But right now, this is our best chance at this. Ruby and Yang'll call in hunters, and we'll get set up so that we can maybe bait them into this. For all of them." Tauran growled, but gave in. He stopped, and looked at Yang and Ruby.

"What now?" He asked. "Rose seems to be the one calling the shots here."

"We stay here," Ruby said. "I've already contacted George Wash and Ozpin to see if they can collectively get forces together for us. Trust me, there are a lot of people who want to see us do this right."

"I'm gonna go outside and hit some things," Tauran said.

"I'm going with him," Lyria continued.

"Where's the bar?" Sun asked.

"I'll show you, sir," one of the servants said. It wasn't the first time that they had lost someone, and everyone had their own coping mechanisms. Tauran and Lyria took out their anger on anything that they could, Sun drank, and Blake read. Though, Blake wasn't as sure this time. She had lost so many people, that it was hard to imagine that she would ever be able to read through this. Her entire camp, her life for a month, gone.

"I'm gonna go and lie down," Blake said. Without another word, she left the area. Yang, Ruby, and Weiss exchanged looks, and Yang set off after Blake.

"Hey Blake, wait up," Yang called out. Ruby watched her sister and Blake run off, and she very calmly sat down. She pulled out a scroll, and began tapping out some things.

"What're you doing?" Weiss asked.

"Planning," Ruby replied. "I know you may not remember this, but I'm good at it." Ruby went silent again, and continued to tap out her plans. She first inspected the outer view of the Schnee Manor, and then began inspecting every place that could be entered in. She zoomed in on the weakest points, and tapped out a few notes.

"At least let me help," Weiss said.

"Nope," Ruby said calmly. "Weiss, I'm 22 years old. I'm pretty sure that I know what I'm doing now, as opposed to six and a half years ago when I met you." Weiss nodded, but sat awkwardly.

"Can I please help?" Weiss tried.

"Better," Ruby said approvingly. "Now, find sniper hides on any kind of a digital map that you have on you." Weiss pulled out her scroll and started to sift through the images. "Just like old times," Ruby said happily.

"Yeah," Weiss said. "Old times." The heiress left the ending at that, but her thoughts began to run much deeper. They began to run towards how old these times would be, especially after the thoughts of an impending attack. But then her mind shifted again. An impending attack on the Schnee Manor meant that two people had to be notified of this attack. And Weiss was not looking forward to their reaction.

Upstairs

"Blake, slow down!" Yang called out. Blake had continued upstairs without a problem, leaving a problem for Yang. She couldn't keep up with the Faunus.

"No!" Blake called back. She opened up the door to her guest room, and slammed it shut behind her. Yang came to a stop just outside of it, and sighed.

"Blake, open up!" Yang yelled. She was greeted with silence, and Yang sighed again. "If you don't open up, I will blow the lock off of this door. One, two, three." Yang reared her fist back, but the door opened up just as she swung. Yang was able to stop her punch just before it hit Blake, and she almost fell forward from her momentum. "Okay, open up with a warning next time," Yang joked.

"I'm only doing this because I knew you were serious," Blake said in a cold tone. "Come in." Yang walked into the room, and Blake slammed it shut behind her. Yang looked over the beds, and slowly walked over to the one that had neither Ruby nor Blake's stuff on it {it was hard to keep track of since the girls had moved into three different rooms at that point}.

Blake sat down in her own, and pulled out a book. She silently began reading, leaving Yang to just sit there.

"What's it about?" Yang tried.

"It's about a conqueror," Blake said dejectedly. "Someone who took what they want, and never cared for the consequences. I read this when someone dies as a reminder of why I do the jobs I do."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yang asked sweetly.

"Talk about what?" Blake asked. "The fact that these people that I know are all gone now? The fact that I'm just sitting on a hit list, waiting for my time to come so I may have a chance at revenge? Is that what you want me to talk about?"

"Yes," Yang said silently.

"Or would it be about the fact that you're right now?" Blake continued. "Now, my job has no point. I might as well go back to you and Ruby, start forming up the old team. Is that it?"

"Blake-," Yang said softly. "I-."

"No, Yang," Blake continued. "All my life, I have watched people die. Friends, family, adopted family, it doesn't matter. Here I am today, fighting for the cause I believe in once again, watching everybody fall around me. Well congratulations Yang, you've got me where you want me."

"Blake!" Yang finally said. "I'm going to say something, you're not going to like it but I'm going to say it anyways. Okay?" Blake nodded, and waited patiently. "I lost my father at a young age, just like you did. I saw people die around me, and this job pretty much assures me that I'll keep doing it. But then, one of the things that I can't live without just decides that she doesn't want to be around anymore, and she leaves. You left and Weiss left, and that left me on my own with Ruby. I've lost people, I've even lost people to their own choices, but I have never once lost someone just because they want to leave. That hurt me, Blake. Now here I am, watching you hurt. This hurts as well, Blake. Please, don't be strong. You don't have to this time, because you have someone who truly cares about you right here."

Blake heard the end of Yang's speech, and she stood up. Blake calmly walked over to Yang. She raised her hand to hit her, but it froze. Blake suddenly fell into Yang, and the blonde caught her. Blake just held that limp position for a while, and felt Yang's strong grasp. That comforting hug that gave Yang a motherly feel, something that comforted Blake as it had comforted Ruby, Weiss, and Blake in the past.

"I missed you," Blake finally said. "I missed all of you."

"We missed you too Blake," Yang said softly. "And I swear, we'll kill them this time. For your friends, for our friends, and for us, okay?" Blake nodded, and felt her body grow even more lax. Yang just held Blake for a while longer, and felt the other girl's emotions pour outwards and into her.

End: Questions, comments, follows, favorites, misinterpretations of lines, and feedback is appreciated.