A few things. Yes, Ember did not make an appearance the last chapter, as a few of you pointed out. Honestly, writing a character with multiple personalities is hard. In the past, i've re-written entire scenes to include Ember when i noticed she had no lines. It's also tough making room for a mute character when she's surrounded by speaking characters, and i think that's why I think i didn't notice i missed Ember until i was uploading. She does have plenty to do in this Act, don't worry. Her work is cut out for her.

Also, i forgot to mention last time, if you're liking this story, check out reaper ember schnee's (with periods instead of spaces) story 'White Reaper'. It's a BRAU AU of their own making, a fanfic to my fanfic. If you like my story, go give them some support too!

And now to the craziness.

The group didn't call attention to their tail immediately. They instead continued wandering, acting as though they had no clue, even stopping inside a convenience store at one point. The man didn't enter, but he was waiting for them when they got back out. They continued walking down the street for some time. Weiss heard a crumpling noise, and looked over to see Reaper with a candy bar. "Wait… where did you get that?"

"From the convenience store." Reaper told her.

"I didn't see you buy anything…" Weiss noted.

"No, you didn't." Reaper answered vaguely.

"Damn it, Reaper…" Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What? Do you know what this for tagged for? A buck fifty! For a candy bar! Two seconds of cheap chocolate and wafer! They're the real thieves!" Reaper defended. "Not like I'm selfish… I got one for Neo too."

Weiss looked to Neo, who waved happily with a half-eaten bar in her other hand. "You two are too much…"

The group turned down an alley, hopefully appearing absent minded about it. The tail turned to corner and took a few steps down the alley, except no one was there. He began to panic, knowing Reaper's reputation. He turned and tried to leave hastily. Suddenly he was laying on top of a dumpster, with no memory of how he ended up in that position. "What the…" He saw the black hood.

"Hello, kind sir." Reaper greeted. Her hand shot to his throat. He could still breath, but her knew this girl could snap his neck without a second thought.

"Reaper!" Weiss warned. She was getting a little too scary, a little too close to wickedness.

Reaper relented, but kept the dark stare. "You're following us." Reaper told him. "And now you'll tell us why."

"You know why… I heard your questions." The man answered.

"Torchwick. So what's your role?" Reaper pressed on.

"To tail you, to see what you find out. And to deliver a message." He told them.

"A message?" Weiss asked.

"A meet. Noon. The mall near Residential." He told them.

"Seriously?" Weiss asked. "That's reckless…"

"He's not reckless." Reaper countered. "He won't even show unless we're alone. If he already has agents that can tail us, he'll have people watching the mall for police. He'll have a plan… Lie, cheat, steal… and survive."

"Let's get back to the station." Blake told them. "We can take the canary with us."

"Wait, what? He said you would let me go?" The man told them.

And you believed him? Neo rolled her eyes as the group took the man into custody.

Ten minutes later he was behind bars, and Black was looking over the files they got from the Club. "I don't see what these can do… The stolen items don't seem related at all."

"But there's something there." Reaper assured him. "I do believe this is Torchwick. The man would cover his tracks."

"I'll get this over to someone in Atlas. Maybe they can pose a few theories." Black told them. "What about the meet?"

Weiss looked hesitant to answer. As much as she believed in the police and doing what's right, she trusted Reaper's judgement in this situation as well. "Team WBRN goes alone. Otherwise, he won't show."

Black sighed. "Very well. At the very least, we may get to know what he wants. Fine, I'll clear it. You girls should get some sleep. Beacon's comped hotel rooms not too far from here."

Weiss nodded, and the group took off for the night.

"So Reaper and I are in 201, and Blake and Neo are in 202." Weiss counted off.

"I get them wanting us to be watched, but you trust us, right, Weiss?" Reaper asked.

"I do. Mostly. Why?" The heiress was pretty sure she already knew.

"Well, you and Blake would want to be together, wouldn't you?" Reaper suggested.

"And you and Neo would get to be together as well." Weiss smirked.

"So what do you think?" The scythe master carried on, ignoring her leader's comment.

Soon enough the girls were settled in to their rooms. The dark lovers in 201, and the checkmate pair in 202. "I'm kind of surprised you let that happen." Blake told her girlfriend.

"I was thinking about it anyways." Weiss confessed. "They get to be glued together all break long, and I haven't seen you in nearly a month."

"So you miss me?" Blake smiled.

"More than you know…" The two shared and embrace and a kiss.

They settled in to bed, and Blake could tell there was something bothering Weiss. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah…" The heiress began. "Blake, you were going to say something today? At the landing pads?"

Blake was surprised. She didn't expect Weiss to be thinking about that. "Um… yeah, what of it?"

"What was it?" Weiss asked.

"Nothing important." The faunus dodged.

"Bull." The heiress frowned.

"What?"

"I think I might already know what you want to say." Weiss admitted slowly. "And I want you to get it off your chest."

Blake looked over her girlfriend and sighed. "Weiss, I love you. Nothing changes that. I don't love your status. I don't love your money. I love you. And, to be honest…" Blake grew more nervous as she approached her point. "I appreciate when you get stuff for me, because I know it comes from the heart. But your fortune was built on faunus labor abuse. It's just, sometimes…" Blake looked to her own leg, sleek black metal reflecting her sad face. "Sometimes I wish you were broke… rather than inheriting a fortune built on blood money."

Weiss also seemed to grow sad. "But what can I do? I can't change who I was born to… I want to redeem the Schnee family honor. You know that."

"But do you have to play your father's game to do so? Do you really have to inherit his company?" Blake pointed out.

"But what else is there?" Weiss countered. "You think I haven't thought of this? The SDC is powerful for a reason. They hold the most, and the largest, Dust mines. Father doesn't let any competition become a real threat. He always finds a way. Remember Flint?"

"Weiss…" Blake could barely believe what she was about to reveal. "What if I told you… there was a Dust mine out there? One your father knows nothing of, that rivals even his in size? You could set yourself up as a competitor… Maybe even find some of his board that are sympathetic to you and the faunus, and bring them over?"

"Blake, if something like that existed, my father would… wait…" Weiss looked to her girlfriend, realization setting in. "Are you telling me you know for a fact there is a mine that large, that my father doesn't know about?"

"My parents found it." Blake told her. "It's a most closely guarded secret. A trump card, to use when the time is right. My father never even told the White Fang, he knew there were one or two extremists, though he didn't expect them to take over… I think the time is right, Weiss. All we need is someone with profile. A powerful name to back us."

Weiss was in deep thought. "This isn't a quick decision… it's life changing." Weiss told her girlfriend. "Give me some time."

Blake smiled, her hopes high. "So… about this room?"

"What about it?" Weiss asked.

"You said you missed me… but we spent all day together, right?" Blake suggested.

"We spent all day working." Weiss countered.

"So, now it's play time, right?" Blake teased.

Weiss turned red, figuring out what she was talking about. "You're incorrigible."

"Yes." Blake agreed. "But you liked it."

Weiss looked over her faunus girlfriend, and found a small smile. "Maybe I did."

Reaper and Neo heard things that night that they would tease the couple about for a long time.

In Atlas, a message appeared at the desk of a tall white-dressed figure. Atlas tech in Vale investigation, please advise? The figure opened the page and looked over the contents, before sending them to their scientists for the requested analysis. The figure's interest was piqued. How could stolen Atlas tech go under their radar? A few emails were sent out to various 'friends' in Vale. The question, what case is detective Black of the VPD currently working on?

The girls arrived at the mall about twenty minutes before noon. They noticed the multitude of people and noise present.

"This seems unusual, even for a mall… I can barely think in here." Weiss noted.

"There must be some special event bringing the crowd. Torchwick would have considered it in his plan." Reaper told her leader.

"Great…"

The girls wandered around for a few minutes, looking for wherever they were supposed to meet Torchwick. The crowd was proving difficult to navigate as they got close to the special event, a concert of some kind. Reaper started to pull ahead, her determination blinding her to the fact that Weiss and Blake were falling behind the criminal pair. Then someone bumped into Weiss, hard, turning her around. "Excuse you!" She shouted at the person walking away. She turned back to try and find Reaper and got bumped again, nearly falling to the floor as she got pushed back. "Hey!"

Blake was experiencing something similar, and she quickly noticed the same three faces hitting her. She couldn't track their scents in the crowd, but she knew what was going on. The checkmate pair were being herded. Soon enough, she was with Weiss again, and the heiress had caught on by then. "Where are Reaper and Neo?" She asked desperately.

"I don't know… I don't even see these guys comi-"

That moment, a new, larger individual shoved the two through a nearby door and barred it from the other side. The heiress banged on the door, but the crowd couldn't hear, or didn't care. "Damn it! Damn it, Damn it!"

"Weiss, do you hear that?" Blake asked, her attention turned down the hallway they were in.

Weiss stopped making noise and listened. A low growl of a sorts could be heard. It almost sounded familiar. "You think… Grimm? Could Roman have gotten Grimm in here?"

Reaper and Neo noticed they were alone. Neo tugged Reaper's cloak and pointed her attention to a man watching them intently. Reaper looked around one last time for Weiss and Blake. When she didn't see them, she decided to face this alone rather than lose this opportunity. She nodded at the man and followed him a ways away from the crowd and the noise, until…

"Hello, Reaper."

The dark woman spun around, facing the same orange hair and smug grin she remembered, though he was now wearing a black peacoat and a fedora. Her eyes turned red instantly.

"Ah, Ember. My mistake."

"That doesn't look like you." Ember pointed out his outfit.

"You think this is the first time I've had to 're-invent' myself? You know something about all that, 'Ruby'." Roman countered.

"Point taken." Ember nodded, reaching for her back.

"And I wouldn't pull out that oversized gardening tool of yours, either." He warned.

Ember hesitated. "Why?"

"Y'know, huntsmen and huntresses are irritating people to deal with." Torchwick began a complex and convoluted answer. "You can't just shoot them and move on. That pesky aura gets in the way. That's why I like regular people so much!" He gestured to the crowd behind them. "Send one bullet to their head, and it's the end of them."

Neo immediately started scanning for snipers while Ember stared down her opponent. "You're bluffing."

"Can you really afford to take that chance, huntress?" Roman spoke coldly.

"If you attack us," the dark woman countered, "we'll fight back anyways, and we have a whole lot of that 'pesky aura'. You know that. So what's the point of this?"

"Just to talk…"

Detective Black received a report from Atlas. He opened the email, and wasn't surprised to see that the parts stolen couldn't be connected. However, the components of the parts could be re-arranged, and there were several theories attached. One in particular caught Black's eye, and he went for his scroll immediately.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hello, you've reached the Valen Asylum, Doctor Luna speaking."

"What could we possibly have to talk about?" Ember asked.

"Old times." Roman nodded. "You really hung me out to dry, Reaper. And for what? A past you don't deserve?"

"A future we could reclaim."

"And you betray me in the process…" Roman shook his head. "'Reaper' seems to betray everybody she claims loyalty to. How could anyone trust you?"

"You're mind games won't work here, Torchwick." Ember announced smugly. "We've already been through all of that."

"Reaper, Ember… Give me a chance, here. We were doing great! We could again."

Ember blinked. "No. Even if I wanted that, I don't trust that."

"Smart girl… It seems you haven't forgotten my lessons after all. Very well, I suppose I'll be seeing you around." Torchwick waved.

"What keeps me from following you?" Ember asked.

"Insurance." Was all Roman said in reply. "Come on Neo."

Neo was taken aback. Did Roman really think she would follow? By the way he stalled and turn back confused, it seemed he did.

"Neo. We don't have all day." The multi-colored girl shook her head. "Neo… what are you doing?"

The girl stepped behind Reaper and stood her ground, staring at Torchwick. The declaration was clear. I'm staying here.

"Really…" Roman shook his head, genuinely disappointed. "You can't trust anyone these days..."

"So it seems." Ember called out. "Because there doesn't seem to be a single sniper here."

"Lie, cheat, steal, and survive, remember?" Torchwick teased. "Maybe that's not my plan. But I do have one. You know I wouldn't come here without." He brought his scroll to his ear. "Let it loose."

Blake followed the soft, ominous noises down the dark hallway. At the end, she turned a corner…

"What are you doing here…" She spoke softly, her voice full of fear. Weiss caught up, and wished she was far away from this place. They stared at the figure, tall, foreboding, dressed in a large orange jumpsuit, with shiny new cybernetics on its arm and face that were clearly shambled together from the stolen Atlas pieces. They backed away slowly, seeing the monstrosity was held in place by heavy chains and locks onto some kind of pallet.

Just then, the room came to life. Hologram screens appeared, all showing pictures of Reaper. Aggravated roars started, slowly getting louder. The locks started deactivating and fell away. The figure was coming alive, and that was the last thing the checkmate pair wanted.

The ex-criminal pair heard the next roar from where they were. Ember didn't want to believe it, while Roman only smirked and walked the away. The roar sounded inhuman, but it was also all too familiar.

No…

"Of all the fucking bad luck…"