The thing that woke Weiss up was slight jostling feeling of Blake sliding into the space beside her without so much as a word. It was enough to make her pick her head up and crack her eyes open to stare at Blake bleary-eyed and exhausted. "Blake?" Weiss asked as she looked back at Blake over her shoulder. SHe didn't want to move, but let herself shift onto her other side so she could look at Blake directly. "What time is it?"
"It's-" Blake started and Weiss watched as she turned her head and picked up her phone, the blue glow of light shining on Blake's face for a moment. "...Early. Go back to sleep. We can talk later."
"Right." Weiss mumbled, settling back down onto the bed and pulling the blankets further up on her body. It was comforting, and Weiss didn't want to lose the feeling for so much as a second. Blake's bed was surprisingly comfortable.
She felt Blake press in close behind her, an arm wrapping around her waist which Weiss leaned into happily. She let her eyes slip back shut, then Blake was pressing a kiss to Weiss' temple.
Moments later, Weiss was back to sleep.
She woke up again hours later to the sun shining through the windows of Blake's bedroom. Weiss picked her head up and saw that Blake was there in the bed still beside her, sleeping comfortably. Weiss sighed and moved, doing her best to extract herself from Blake's arms before slipping out of the bedroom and heading off to the bathroom. She grabbed her phone on the way out, just in case.
Weiss did her business, and when she finished she made herself comfortable on the couch since she didn't want to wake Blake up. She stared down at her phone for a moment, her grip a little too tight on it before she finally went ahead and dialed a number.
She held it to her ear and listened.
"Miss Schnee?" Klein asked, voice coming in from the other side. He'd surely already been up for some time and Weiss felt like she really needed to be able to talk to him about some of the things that were going on. If had been a while since she had seen him last, with her avoiding the mansion and all. "Is everything alright? Where have you been?"
"I've been with Blake." Weiss said, making sure to keep her voice down, even as she checked whether or not there was any sign of Blake moving in her bedroom. "I know that I should have let you know where I was before I left."
"I trust you, Weiss." Klein responded, and Weiss heard the sound of him moving something. It sounded like two pieces of metal clanging together, like he was in the process of putting away pots or pans of some sort. "But I can't say that I'm not glad that you've decided to call."
"Thank you." Weiss sighed, blinking and letting herself relax a little bit more. She was cold, but that was the least of her concerns for the morning. "I wanted to talk to you about... some of the things that are happening."
Klein let out a quiet laugh on the other side of the line, and Weiss couldn't help the smile that stretched across her own face as a response. "Am I correct to guess that this will have to do with the fundraiser your brother's working on, Miss Schnee?"
"Among other things." Weiss replied, blinking and leaning forward, letting her free hand sit in her lap. "It's going to be in three nights, right?"
"It is." Klein responded, his voice sounding like he was just operating strictly with matter of fact information. "I expect that you will be there?"
"As of right now, I'm planning on it. After all it would look bad if I didn't." Weiss thought back to the mansion, to her family, to her father in a hospital room. She was going to need to be able to go to the fundraiser, blend in, and play along like there was nothing wrong with her family. Her brother would soak up the spotlight, and while she knew that she was going to have to do something herself there, Weiss didn't know exactly what her night was going to look like. "Has there been any news about a perceived threat?"
"There has only been what yourself and Miss Belladonna know." Klein said, his voice dropping in volume significantly. The sound of water and metal was gone, and Weiss had the feeling that Klein had stepped away to somewhere private so that the two of them could talk more. Weiss wondered for a moment whether or not she should be having this sort of conversation in Blake and Yang's living room, but then decided that she had nothing to be afraid of there.
If anyone was going to overhear her, it was going to be either Blake, who would want to know this information for herself, or it was going to be Yang, who Weiss expected would leave the situation all but completely unconcerned. She seemed like she was trustworthy at the very least.
"And you promise that you will keep us up to date?" Weiss asked. "I don't know if it would be possible for us to get any more than what we do without... putting people in a situation that nobody wants to be in." She feels a stab of guilt for even thinking to suggest it. Blake wouldn't go towards Adam for the sake of information if it was going to risk her getting hurt again, that was something that Weiss felt fairly secure in thinking.
It didn't stop her stomach from flipping at the thought.
If she did, then Weiss didn't expect that Blake would be able to get out of the situation cleanly. Adam seemed like he would just ask questions, if what Blake had told Weiss was true.
"If anything arises, I will be sure to call." Klein responded, his voice still hushed. "Although I suppose that it would be beneficial for me to let you know that your brother and mother have no idea about the problem. I had a feeling that it was best treated as a discrete matter."
Weiss smiled softly. "Thank you." She whispered. "I know that if either of them knew, it would be trouble. My mother is less of a problem, but Whitley-"
"Whitley will be extraordinarily busy the night of the benefit and you know it." Klein said calmly. "I suspect that you might even be able to survive the night without even having to speak to him."
"I'm certainly hoping for as much." Weiss said, still smiling. Her expression sank though, as her mind wandered to the other topic that she and Klein were going to need to talk about that night. "But... there is something that I need to tell you about... everything."
Klein seemed to hesitate, his voice followed by a quiet sigh. "I suppose that you are going to start by telling me where you have been?"
"I spent the night at... Blake's." Weiss couldn't help but wince a little bit over the revelation. A part of her was already expecting that she would end up being teased for it. But if that was the case, then Klein was definitely holding back on her.
Weiss appreciated it.
So she decided to allow herself to move forward in her explanation.
"I spent part of last night doing an interview with her." Weiss said, letting her volume drop for fear of being overheard, though she wasn't worried about what would happen on her end. "And I... decided that I wanted for her to be able to publish what I said. With my named attached."
Klein was silent, presumably struck by what Weiss had just said. After all, he knew the value of their anonymity more than most people did, and he wouldn't want to see it compromised. Which meant that there was probably a part of Klein that was absolutely fuming over Weiss' decision.
But Weiss was going to stand by her words. That was something that she had already decided. She was at a point where she felt like she didn't have anything to lose.
"I see." Klein replied, his voice stilted and stiff. "I may not agree that this is a good course of action, but-" He sighed. "Are you sure that this is what you want to do, Weiss?"
"I am."
The silence that bloomed between the two of them seemed to stretch on forever, and Weiss couldn't help but to fidget with her hands in her lap. "If you want, I could try and have Blake send along what she has written." The offer wasn't much, but Weiss was going to try it anyhow because it might have been her best chance at making sure that she and Klein stayed on even ground.
"That's quite all right." Klein replied, sounding a little bit unsure of himself. "I trust yourself and Miss Belladonna's judgement. Thank you for calling along to let me know what was happening."
"I figured that you would have to deal with the worst of it." Weiss replied, unable to stop herself from shrugging. "So it was the least I could do."
"Of course." Klein murmured. "Now, if I may, I believe that I will have to make myself available quite soon. Should something change, I will call."
"Right." Weiss whispered. "I'll do the same if something comes up." She paused, letting her eyes close. She let out a soft breath and felt her grip on her phone tighten, just a little bit. "I love you Klein."
"I love you too, Weiss. Do take care."
WIth those words, Klein hanged up the phone, and Weiss was left feeling alone and unsure of herself. She let herself sit there on the couch for a little while longer before there was a noise.
Poking out from Yang's door was Ruby, who had decided to stay the night just the same as Weiss had. Weiss hadn't been surprised at all to find out that Yang had a futon in her room.
"Hey." Ruby said, her voice quiet. "Is… everything okay?"
Weiss nodded and allowed herself to scoot over on the couch and make more room. Without much ceremony, Ruby dropped down into the space beside her. Weiss let herself glance over at the girl out of the corner of her eye before allowing herself to speak.
"It's fine." Weiss said, keeping her voice down. If Ruby was up, then Weiss was willing to bet that either Yang or Blake were also up. "I'm sorry if I woke you-"
"What?" Ruby asked, waving the concern away almost physically. "Nah." She swung her legs a little bit. "I just get up early most of the time. I like it, you know?"
"I suppose." Weiss sighed, looking back down at her hands in her lap. Her phone was resting there as well, thankfully dormant. "So... was there something that you needed?"
"Nope." Ruby replied, a soft smile on her face. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Who were you on the phone with? It sounded pretty serious."
"My..." Weiss faltered. Because she absolutely could have gone ahead and told the truth about Klein being her family's butler, but if she did then Weiss didn't know how that would go. She didn't have a single doubt that the others in that apartment had never had such a thing in their lives. She glanced away. "A friend of mine."
"So not a friend?" Ruby asked, cocking her head to the side and sitting there with her eyes wide. She looked as though she was actually confused by the situation, and Weiss couldn't really imagine that. "Or..."
"You promise that you won't judge me if I tell you?" Weiss asked, hardening her voice because she needed to know that Ruby would listen.
"Of course not." Ruby replied, blinking and raising an eyebrow a little. "Are you going to tell me?"
Weiss just sighed before plunging into the deep end and beginning to tell the story. "I was speaking to my family's butler." She began, making sure to double check for any change on Ruby's expression before allowing herself to charge forward. "It isn't what it sounds like."
Ruby looked a little bit surprised by the revelation, however. She looked down at her own feet, which were still swinging just slightly as she sat there. Like she was doing her best to figure out what she wanted to say to Weiss, and Weiss appreciated it. For just a little while, she felt like the wealth that she had been raised around didn't matter that much to the people that she was around.
It was nice.
"Why were you talking to your family butler?"
"Because..." Weiss wanted to start and tell the complete story. Explain that there was a problem in her life that she wasn't going to be able to get rid of easily at all. Instead, she went for another angle. One which was in many ways more truthful than the alternative. "Klein more or less raised me and my siblings." She explained. "My parents were too busy, so it was up to him to do the job for him. I needed to talk to someone, and he's always been there."
Ruby nodded, and she smiled softly. "Well, if you're going to be around…" She started, looking away from Weiss for a moment, though Weiss couldn't help but think that it was a calculated move. Like Ruby was hoping to give her a little bit more room for them both. "You know that we'll be here for you too."
Weiss took a breath, unsure of what to think because the offer felt… forward in ways that she hadn't been prepared for. There hadn't been anything about whether or not she actually belonged there. All that Weiss knew was that she had a definite in with Blake, and the night before talking to Yang had been fine, the problem was just...
Weiss wasn't sure.
She took a deep breath. "Thank you." She sighed, allowing herself to relax a little bit for the first time that morning. "For everything."
Ruby shrugged. "It's really nothing."
Weiss smiled, and when Blake and Yang got up the four of them shared a breakfast of leftover pizza, and she'd never been happier.
Almost as soon as she'd finished her story, Blake had almost immediately slipped onto her bike that evening. It meant that Weiss was going to be left alone at the apartment with Yang for a while, but that was fine. For the time being, she needed to be able to go out and get some things done for herself.
She didn't like a single thing about what she was planning to do that day, but Blake also knew she needed to do them.
In the end she'd ended up driving across the city of Atlas, and she placed herself in a coffee shop where she had originally planned to meet Ilia to pass on the story in person. But there was something about the plans in particular that felt dangerous, because while Blake's endgame was getting her work into her editor's hands, there was something else going on.
Mostly, she was going to the same shop where Adam had tracked her down before. She didn't know whether or not she was going to end up having an encounter with Adam again or not, but when she found out, Blake was willing to work with things as they came.
A part of her was actually considering on going on that job with Adam. She'd overheard Weiss' conversation that morning when she'd been talking on the phone with Klein, and Blake saw potential.
Even if going and working with Adam on something was going to be dangerous and horribly risky, it had the potential to make things easier on them moving forward. She needed to know what was going to happen at the Schnee Benefit, and whatever it was that Adam was trying to plan.
For Weiss' sake, she needed to know. And through Adam, she potentially had an in.
Although, with the article already written that was going to give a great deal away about the inner workings of the Schnee Family and Weiss willing to give her name with it, Blake wasn't sure that there was really much to be won if she intervened. Weiss didn't seem particularly fond of her brother or her father, but her family's name was still at stake to some degree.
That made it worth it, Blake thought as she sipped her tea, keeping her eyes glued onto the door to the cafe.
Soon either Ilia was going to come in, or someone else was. If it was Ilia, she would do business as normal. If it was Adam, Blake was prepared to do what she needed to ensure her own access to information.
If things came together with her working with Adam, then Blake was prepared to hide what was going on from Weiss for the good of everyone involved. Weiss didn't need to know that Blake was going to go with Adam.
Nobody needed to know that she was going to do these things with Adam if the possibility arrived for her to use to her advantage.
The door opened, and Blake watched as a stranger came in, followed closely by Ilia who surprisingly had Adam in tow. It was something that left Blake with a lot of questions in her mind and not even the slightest idea as to how she was supposed to ask them. Even if she found out, she didn't know that it was going to be possible to do so without placing herself into some sort of danger.
Blake placed her hand on top of the manila envelope that was sitting on the table beside her, thinking of the information inside. She needed to have a way to ensure that it stayed sealed until Ilia was alone to read it herself. Just another way to protect Weiss was necessary.
"Hey, Blake." Ilia greeted her before sinking down into the seat beside Blake. Adam hanged back, and Blake just sighed and looked to Ilia.
"Can we speak alone first?" She asked, hoping that Ilia would humor the request.
Ilia seemed to hesitate but she nodded. Blake watched as she turned to face Adam and overheard the mumbling that the two of them were exchanging. Adam nodded and slipped away for the time being, and Blake was thankful for it. She could take the time with Ilia to steel herself and breathe before she made what was probably going to be a huge mistake.
Once Adam was outside of the shop, Blake took in a deep breath and locked her eyes with Ilia before beginning to explain. She slid the folder over towards her editor.
"My story." Blake said, as though that was the only explanation that she was going to need moving forward that day. "I need your word that this will stay closed until after the Schnee Fundraiser that Adam is planning to raid."
Ilia's eyebrows shot up her forehead and towards her hairline, her clearly unsure of what she was supposed to say to it. Blake wasn't all that surprised by it, since the request was quite a bit unlike anything that she'd done with Ilia in the past.
But a moment later, Ilia was schooling her expression and sliding the folder down into her bag. "You have my word." She said, relaxing and watching Blake from her side of the table. "But I would like to know why, if that's possible."
Blake hesitated, because she hadn't had any indication from Weiss that she wanted the story to be held back instead. "The information in it could be called... sensitive." Blake sighed, deciding that if she was going to explain this it was going to be as gently as possible. "I need to know that it will be held until the appropriate time for my source's sake."
"So you're asking me to-"
"I just want you to do the edits and get it back to me." Blake explained calmly. "This is the only copy that's been printed, and it can't be seen by anyone else."
"So that's why you wanted Adam gone?"
"It is." Blake confirmed, sitting up, straight-backed but still feeling like her heart was beating too hard against her chest. "Seeing as parts of the release window are going to be related to what he's planning."
Ilia gave Blake an unsure look, like she was seeking something that wasn't all that obvious, even to Blake. She leaned in, bracing her hands on the table at her side and dropping her volume almost entirely.
"Then what are you planning?" Ilia asked, and Blake sighed before leaning in the same way, although she was sure that she looked much more relaxed in her position. "Because it's starting to sound like you're planning something, Blake."
Blake sighed and glanced towards the door to the shop, double checking that Adam wasn't watching them. It looked like he was standing on the sidewalk and smoking something. Once she was sure that it was safe, Blake allowed herself to give her response.
"My source-" Blake let the words hang in the air, since Ilia would be able to figure out what it meant. "Wants to let some things out in the open for her own sake." Blake hesitated for a moment, taking a breath as she looked for the exact correct words for her to use in this discussion. "Things which will probably have fairly major consequences for her. I want to be sure to keep the story out of the public eye and away from the people that she is concerned with until after the fundraiser."
Ilia sighed and nodded, looking a little bit annoyed by the way that the two of them were having to keep things a secret. "You know that your... personal relationship to this source may be a problem."
"I'm aware." Blake replied. "And that is part of the reason that I'm giving you the draft. I tried to write it as impartially as I could and present the story that she wanted to tell, not mine. If there are any additional problems, I'd be glad to hear them but-" Blake sighed. "I need to know that you'll hold back the things that need to stay out of the public eye until you have the go ahead."
"You have my word." Ilia replied. She turned her head slightly, and Blake figured that she was checking whether or not Adam was there herself. "I'll keep this to myself and get it back to you in person as soon as I've finished reading and suggesting edits."
"Thank you." Blake said, glancing to the door herself. "Can I ask you something, though?"
"It's about..." Ilia gestured vaguely towards the door with a small nod. "Isn't it?"
"It is." Blake sighed. "I wanted to get a chance to talk to him myself, but I wanted to know why you decided to bring him with you to a meeting here..."
"In truth?" Ilia asked, sighing. "My car broke down, and I asked him to get me here. I'm sorry. I should have given you a heads up."
Blake hesitated, because she wasn't sure what the truth was in that moment. She didn't even know that she was going to be able to figure out what was actually going on for a little bit.
Regardless of whether she liked it or not, Blake knew that what Ilia had just said mattered. She knew that if Ilia was lying (and Blake was becoming less and less sure of that almost daily it felt like) then it was because Adam probably had something over her. Not that Blake would actually know what that thing was.
She hesitated before answering and glanced to the door again. Adam was still there on the street, enjoying a smoke. But he picked his head up, his gaze falling squarely on Blake. It left a shiver running down her spine because this was something that she really didn't want.
"It's… fine." Blake said, reminding herself that she did in fact have plans for this. She just needed to be able to set them in motion without losing her nerve in the process. That was something that was just much easier said than done. "Just… keep me up to date with things." Blake asked, locking her eyes with Ilia's cool grey ones. "I've given you everything that I needed to pass on."
Ilia looked at her and sighed, and Blake couldn't help but to wince internally at it. It made it feel like there was something particular that Ilia had been hoping for, and Blake really didn't want to know.
"Right." Ilia said, getting up to her feet. "Just… call me when you need me."
"I will." Blake answered.
Ilia got up, with a certain sort of heaviness to actions that Blake wasn't able to easily ignore. She watched as her friend went to the front of the shop and watched as she and Adam exchanged a few words. Adam looked back to the store, and once again Blake felt like she was under a microscope because that was the way that he was choosing to look at her.
He took a moment, snuffing out his cigarette before coming inside, leaving Ilia behind just outside.
Blake didn't allow for herself to move so much as a muscle as she sat there at the table. Adam sauntered up to her and dropped himself into the seat across from her, right where Ilia had been moments ago.
They were both silent for a too long moment before either of them bothered to speak up.
"Adam." Blake greeted him, holding herself still with her head up high. He just nodded his acknowledgement, which was an action that was more than enough to leave Blake feeling frustrated by the way that things were going.
"Blake." He decided to answer her. "You know I'm starting to get sick of you never calling."
Blake bit back her response and closed her eyes before allowing herself to move on. "Are you still doing the raid on the Schnee's fundraiser for the hospital?" Blake started there, fishing for any sort of information that she would be able to find. She wasn't exactly expecting to learn anything from it, but it was worth a try.
"I am." Adam responded, grinning just slightly. "Why, are you interested now?"
"I don't know." Blake responded, her eyes flicking down to her hands. She felt too nervous, sitting there with Adam. She couldn't just act like he was didn't do anything to put her on high alert at all. "I was just curious."
Adam nodded slowly, still smirking. "What was so important that you couldn't talk to Ilia about it with me around?"
"Nothing." Blake responded, harshening her voice. Blake knew things about Adam- he knew that she'd dated Ilia just after him, and he was probably at the very least aware of the the fact that the two of them were broken up. "I just needed to talk to her about something."
"Not work related?"
"Work related." Blake responded, cutting Adam off. "Excuse me for wanting a chance to talk to my editor without feeling like someone is breathing down my neck the entire time."
"Right." Adam said, shrugging and leaning back in his seat. Making himself comfortable like there was absolutely nothing wrong in the world. Blake doubted that seeing her sent chills down his spine. "So then you wouldn't mind telling me?"
"You know that I'm not going to." Blake reached out for her mug of tea, partially looking for anything that she could use to calm herself down. At the very least, she could grip the mug as tightly as she needed without setting off any sort of red alerts ot Adam. "You'll know what it is when the story comes out."
"Or I can get Ilia to tell me." Adam said, glancing back to the door, and still smiling. He thought that he had an uppoer hand, and Blake wasn't going to allow for it.
"Or," Blake said. "I help you with something, and in exchange you leave my work alone and you don't bother Ilia."
"Oh?" Adam replied. "And what's bringing on this change of heart?"
"I need you to leave me alone." Blake all but growled. "If I help you, you help me by leaving my work alone."
"And what would be in it for me?" Adam asked, and Blake couldn't help but to hesitated because that was something that she didn't have any sort of good answer to. The only thing that she really had to go on was the fact that Adam had asked her to join her first.
Blake sighed, letting her eyes drift shut as she took the moment to just think it out and come up with a good answer. "You wanted me to come with you first." Blake stated it, straight out and without any strings attached. "A chance at another job like what we used to do."
"I want that." Adam replied, leaning back in his seat and letting himself drape an arm over the back of it. "But I can't help but feel like you're coming to me because you need something. And I don't appreciate the secrecy. Maybe if you were willing to trade something with me, then I would be glad to work with you."
"You are going to need to be more specific about what you want from me, then." Blake said, because no matter what she absolutely refused to give up anything about what was going on in her personal life. That was information that Adam was plainly not privy to. He'd lost that privilege years before when he'd decided to make her life hell for no apparent reason.
Adam nodded, still staring Blake down. She almost wanted to go ahead and suggest to him that he should get a coffee or something because it was looking like they were going to be there for a while. But for her to do that would feel like too much of a courtesy on her part, with too many ways to be misinterpreted.
There was a long quiet. Blake watched Adam reach into his pocket and set his phone down on the table between the two of them.
"First." Adam says, pushing it closer to Blake. "I need to know that if you and I are going to do anything, I need to know that you are going to actually talk to me." Blake looked down at the phone that sat between them, realizing entirely what he was asking for her to do. It was something that she didn't want to do at all.
But...
"What else?" Blake asked, staring at him with narrowed eyes. She couldn't do much to really make herself intimidating against Adam at all. "Because I find it hard to imagine that's all there is."
"I want your story." Adam grumbled. "Not necessarily for myself. But you're keeping secrets from me and I don't like it. You tell me about your story."
"That isn't going to happen." Blake started, because that was the least that she needed to say. "I am keeping it under wraps until the most opportune time to publish."
"And?" Adam asked. "Is that all?"
"I can't afford to have this story leak." Blake said, doing her best to keep her voice even. "In any form. I've been given access to an extremely reliable source, and that is something that I refuse to allow to be compromised."
Adam nodded along. "Then I suppose that there is nothing to talk about."
Blake let her eyes flick down to the phone, her mind already racing back to the conversations that she'd overheard that morning from her bedroom. Weiss was worried about what was happening, and Blake felt the same way. She just needed to know that she could get any sort of outlet for them to get information.
Adam was her best chance, because he was the one that was going to be the most close to the problems that she would face. It was all that she could do at that point.
If she was going to help Weiss, then it was too likely that she was going to need to be able to sell herself out to Adam.
She picked her eyes up and let the two of them lock eyes for a moment. She hated Adam's eyes, Blake thought. Once she had loved them.
"I can't give you that story." Blake said, keeping her voice and her tone as even as was physically possible. She reached out for the phone though, setting her hand just beside it and giving him the sign that he would be there. "But I think that I might be able to give you something else."
"What could you possibly give me?" Adam asked, his voice harsh and cold as ever. "Because I don't think that you have anything other than information."
"I can give you some sort of access." Blake said calmly. "I will have to make some calls though."
Adam smiles, and the look he gives her makes Blake want to crawl back inside of her own skin and hide herself away from him. He nods, and Blake picks up the phone.
When she goes to his list of contacts, Blake hates every fiber of her own being because she knows exactly what this will mean.
She's going to keep Weiss safe, Blake tells herself that even as she enters her number into Adam's phone the same way that she had months before.
