Taiyang didn't stick around very long after Ruby had left, deciding that he wasn't going to do any good by waiting around. He said he was going to look up information about the White Fang, try and figure out where they might be keeping Blake. Weiss recognised the attempt to keep busy; she felt it throughout most of the day. Still, it meant that she could have some alone time to sleep.

Or at least try to sleep. Her bed felt unbearably restrictive, and she couldn't keep herself still. Her blankets laid at her feet, long forgotten. A water bottle, stolen from the cafeteria in a delusional attempt to cure her insomnia, sat on the floor, empty and crushed. A textbook was spread out across her bed, having briefly captured her attention, before a picture of a black sword murdered any hope of relaxation. She was using her pillow as some kind of stress ball, nearly crushing it in her arms.

A groan fell from her lips, and she flipped herself onto her stomach. Cool air washed across her back, but it did nothing for the restlessness infusing her every cell. She let out a sigh, blowing strands of long white hair out of her eyes, and frowned. She needed a hair-cut, and soon. Her whole team did, really, especially Ruby. Yang probably should have hers cut, but the odds of anyone convincing the blonde to cut off even part of her hair were so miniscule it wasn't even worth considering. Although Blake was becoming oddly close to her, perhaps she—

Weiss groaned, and pulled her pillow out from under her and over her head. Why could she not stop thinking for five minutes? Long enough for her to get to sleep, at least. Being tired would not help her missing teammate, nor any of her team. Yet her body had not received that message, and was pushing her to get up, do something, save her.

That one, overriding though flew above all others. Blake, her teammate, her friend, wasn't here, instead in the hands of some madman, and therefore, the world was not right. It was an odd feeling for the heiress, one she admitted was alien and completely unexpected, and growing worse every hour. It gripped her heart, pushed its beating up to levels that, in any other case, would earn her a worried check-in at the local hospital. And it terrified her.

The pillow on top of her head grew surprisingly hot and...wet? Weiss raised the white rectangle, surprised to see two dark spots on its surface, roughly where her eyes were. She lowered a hand to her eye, and found her skin to be wet, tears rolling down her cheeks and neck. The pillow dropped to her chest, and she set her head down on the mattress.

These feelings went far, far beyond any concern she had ever felt before, even during Ruby's run at Cinder. Her mind simply refused to be distracted, requiring something as engrossing as combat, or as dangerous as Dust manipulation to allow her even the smallest reprieve.

Some small, teasing part of her that sounded far too much like Ruby, wondered if she had a crush on the faunus. That thought was crushed just as quickly as it came. Even if that was the case, and that was a rather large "if", it still didn't explain the sheer… intensity of her emotions. Crushes make you weak at the knees, and create a desire to know the other person. Not turn your stomach into a shredded mess, threatening to spill out everything within them at the slightest provocation, nor make her realise that the thought of her losing any of her team made her clutch her discarded pillow like it was the only thing holding her together.

Where did that come from? When had Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, "ice queen" according to so many, turn into a little girl, discovering that bad men wanted to hurt her Mommy and Daddy? Only somehow, it was worse. Perhaps that was simply because she knew what that hurt was now, or… perhaps it was the people involved. Three girls who, despite not having any obligations to do so, had become her friends.

Yang who, in spite of her fiery temper, was warm and nurturing, making her feel more at home than she ever had. Blake, the White Fang member turned trusted ally who showed her just how wrong she was. And Ruby… Ruby, the girl who became her friend, even though she acted like a jerk to her. Who showed her what friendship actually meant. Half a year ago, Weiss wouldn't have spared a second for any of them, and now… now she couldn't imagine a world without them.

And that terrified her.

The quiet creak of the door provided a welcome intrusion to her thoughts. Weiss's hands went for Myrtenaster, stored under her bed in a not unjustified bout of paranoia. The chamber spun, stopping with a click at ice. Powerful enough for her to fight, and hopefully contained enough to not blow anything up. Slowly the door swung open. Weiss's grip on her sword turned her knuckles white. Ssomeone's hair peeked through the door frame, dark, brownish-black.

A frown appeared on Weiss's lips. Who did she know that had that hair colour?

Her question was answered a moment later when two silver eyes peered over the wood. Weiss smiled, setting down her weapon on her bed. It was Ruby, no doubt about that, and her presence helped drive away the darkness clutching Weiss's heart. A brief pang of worry shot through her at how… dependent this made her sound, but it was difficult to care.

Ruby, however, did not seem to see her in the darkness. "Weiss," she whispered. "Weiss, are you awake?"

Weiss nodded, before remembering that she couldn't see her. "Yes, Ruby, and no, you didn't wake me."

"Oh, that's good." Ruby's eyes darted to her, presumably following her voice. "Um, can I come in?"

Weiss cocked a brow. "It's your room too."

Ruby sighed. "I mean, are you, you know, dressed?"

Ah, that made more sense. Weiss glanced down at her nightgown. No, she wasn't dressed, but this was Ruby, not her father. Nothing private was visible, and what could be seen certainly wasn't shameful. "I'm decent."

"Okay." Ruby entered, closing the door behind her. Her eyes took in Weiss's form, lingering on her eyes and hair. "Huh," she said, crossing the room and sitting down next to Weiss. "I forgot how nice you look with your hair down."

Weiss snorted, and twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "This doesn't look nice; it looks like a rats nest."

Ruby shrugged. "I like it."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. Ruby was less than an inch away from the heiress, and the red-cloaked girl was acting as a furnace. "Is there a reason you're here, and Yang isn't?"

Her eyes brightened, and a smile formed on her face. "Oh, yeah!" she all but shouted, earning Weiss's hand over her mouth.

"Quiet!" Weiss hissed. "Before you wake up the entire building!"

"Mefe mof a ma fo finn mlake!" Ruby said, muffled by Weiss's hand. Glaring, she slowly lowered it, wiping away the small amount of spit on the bed. Ruby coughed, and tried again. "We've got a way to find Blake!"

The vice encircling Weiss eased off and she felt her lips curving into a real smile. Doubt, however, still snuck within the corners of her mind. "Are you sure?"

Ruby nodded. "Yep! We've got… um… what's her name…"

"Viola?"

"Right! Viola's scroll number! We're going to track it from the CCT!" she said, grinning like she just won the lottery.

Sadly, Weiss had to burst her bubble. "Ruby, do you know how to track a scroll?"

The air pulled out of her sails, Ruby's shoulders slumped, her back liquefying. "No…"

Hand, meet forehead.

"Ruby, just… go, wait for me by the CCT," Weiss said, pushing herself off the bed. She walked over to the dresser and started pulling open drawers, sifting through the mountain of white for a clean combat skirt. Behind her, the bed creaked as Ruby jumped off. "We'll need to talk to, well, probably Ozpin, if we want to actually accomplish anything."

"Oh, okay… I'll go talk to Yang, then?"

"You do that."

Ruby coughed. "I'll… see you there?"

Thump. "Yes. Yes Ruby, that would be what I meant."

"Okay… um, bye!" With a torrent of rose petals, Ruby left. Weiss pulled out a clean skirt and quickly removed her gown. Her annoyance towards her partner replaced by sheer… relief, even as her stomach continued its aerobic routine. The corners of her lips were yanked up by the beating of her heart, and for once, she let it happen.

After all, soon they would find Blake, and everything would go back to normal.

Right?

"No."

"—and so we figured—wait, what?" Yang sputtered, her thoughts derailing off into a messy pile of shock and fear.

Ozpin blinked, and lifted his mug to his lips, the porcelain still garishly white. "Although I thank you for bringing this to my attention, there is already a plan in place to retrieve Miss Belladonna."

Yang suddenly empathized with a deer caught in the headlights, but that expression did not explain her emotional state. No, she was a deer caught in the scope of a railway gun, watching as the tank-sized bullet careened towards her. Weiss and Ruby acted as mirrors, their features twisted into the kind of outraged shock you normally see at horror movies.

Yang was the first to break the silence. "…You have to be kidding me."

Ruby soon followed her, as did Weiss.

"That's not—!"

"You cannot be serious!"

Ozpin lowered himself into his chair, the metal and fabric furniture groaning as he set his weight down. "I understand what this sounds like—"

"If you understood, you would be giving us a ship and some back-up!" Yang yelled, ramming her hands into Ozpin's desk. It shook under her attack, but did not crumple.

Neither did Ozpin's resolve. "This is a delicate situation, one that we must tackle with utmost caution."

"Bullshit."

"Watch your language, Miss—"

"Don't 'Miss,' me Ozpin!" Yang yelled, throwing her arms downward like a boxer removing blood. "Blake's out there, in danger, and you want me to sit here?"

Ruby grabbed her arm, but she might as well have tried to stop a bull with a feather. There was no brakes on Yang's anger now; her eyes matching the blood she wished dearly to spill.

Ozpin regarded her rage with a lightly amused expression, the corner of his lip lifting upwards. He forced it back down, and set down his cup. "I don't expect you to agree with my decision, only that you understand that I am doing what is needed."

Ruby started to tug on her arm again, far more aggressively than before. Yang tried to shake her off, but Ruby's vice-like grip prevented any attempt at dislodging her. Yang gave Ozpin one last glare, attempting to channel every ounce of anger, fear, and hatred burning in her veins through her eyes and towards him, burning him alive.

He sipped his coffee.

Yang let herself be dragged into the elevator by her younger sister, her glare remaining locked on Ozpin until the twin doors slide shut, shielding him from her fiery glare.

She slams her hand against the metal, shaking the entire contraption. "I can't—He just—Augh!" Her head rammed into the door, which bent under the force and nearly gave way. Heat poured from her skin, rushing out into every nook and cranny, turning the elevator into a toaster oven.

Ruby's the first to try and cool Yang down. "He must have a reason."

Yang snorted. "Yeah, sure. He's a tool, that's his reason."

Ruby swallowed, and turns to Weiss, eyes growing to planet size, desperately begging her partner for help. Weiss, however, copied Yang's glare, if not her passion in expressing it. "I must admit, I expected more from him."

Yang turned around, red dimmed by the cooling ice of curiosity. "Are you… insulting a teacher?"

A snort, proud and arrogant, fell from Weiss's lips. "He hasn't earned any respect today, has he?"

"…No, no he hasn't," Yang said, chuckles that sounded disturbingly like police sirens following her words. She eased off the door, and flashed a grin at her two teammates, the kind that start wars and end lives.

"What do you think about breaking some rules?"

AN: To be honest, I'm not real happy with this chapter, for a whole bunch of reasons, but screw it. I've been sitting on this story for nearly two weeks; it's time for it to start moving again.

Hopefully the next chapter is… better.