It was late, but Blake was still in her office. Her eyelids were starting to droop now and then and she'd caught herself nodding of more than once. She should've gone home by now, she knew that, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.
She'd spent the afternoon talking to Violet, trying to find a way to sort out the girl's problems in class. It hadn't been easy, but they'd managed to devise a possible solution to it all. Some classes had been swapped around, for both Violet and a few of her Faunus friends, and Blake had sent a warning message to all the faculty, telling them to be on guard if the bullies from Violet's old class were seen around her or her friends.
It was a simple idea, but Violet had seemed much more at ease when she'd left—which made it worthwhile in the end. Hopefully the girl would get some peace now, and be able to focus on her studies without being afraid.
As soon as the girl had left, Blake had begun searching through reports and manifests on the city's Dust stores. She'd searched through Vale's import and export documentation, trying to find any discrepancies between them and the actual Dust stock within in the city.
She'd come up with nothing.
It had taken her hours to read through all the lists of shipments, deliveries and storages and compare them all, and she'd found absolutely nothing. Everything seemed normal. They had been having a small deficiency in Dust over the last few months—something to do with the surrounding mines not being able to fill quotas—but they still had enough to get by, and every grain of Dust that came in or went out was accounted for.
Blake found herself beginning to doubt Raud's story. Not the authenticity of the man himself—he'd seemed very sincere in his warnings and offers of help—but she was beginning to doubt that anything was actually happening in Vale. The man that had attacked Ruby still concerned her, but there was no evidence to suggest a government conspiracy or any thefts of Dust.
The exhausted Faunus sat back in her chair, gazing at the screen in front of her, with a finger tapping idly on her lips. She was scanning over the manifests for the second time, making sure she hadn't missed anything, but, try as she might, she couldn't find anything.
The only thing that kept her suspicious was the possibility that the unknown enemy had been able to hide their tracks flawlessly, which seemed unlikely. No matter who was trying to cover it up, with something this big, there would be something. She knew it was probably a bad idea to start being suspicious of everyone and everything based on a lack of evidence, but if something like this was going on in both Vacuo and Mistral, then Blake had to be careful—she had to be sure.
Blake hung her head back with a groan. She could sit here all night, thinking herself in circles, and probably wouldn't find anything else—she knew that. She was getting too tired and had caught herself skipping lines in the manifests more than once.
There was a creak near the door to her office, and Blake glanced towards it. A door across the hall opened and closed, and then all was silent once more. Kelly must have gone out for coffee. The woman was always stubborn about staying in the office until Blake left, in case Blake ever needed anything. No matter how many times Blake told her to go home, Kelly would always be at the door, waiting, when she left.
Blake considered asking Kelly to get her a coffee as well, but decided against it. It was getting late, and Yang would be back soon; it was about time for Blake to head home. She hadn't seen Yang for almost two weeks, and was eager to be in her arms again. No doubt Yang would be disappointed if she got home and Blake was still at the office this late.
Blake sighed and pushed her chair back. She grabbed her jacket that hung on a coat rack in the corner and slipped her arms in the sleeves, then grabbed Gambol Shroud from its mount next to the coat rack. There was another creak near the door as Blake crossed the room, no doubt Kelly getting back to her office. Blake opened the door and opened her mouth to tell Kelly to go home.
Then Jaune punched her in the forehead.
Blake stumbled back into her office, raising a hand to her face, and Jaune looked at her in horror. He stood at the door, frozen in place, with his fist held up as if about to knock on her door. Pyrrha peeked over his shoulder, obviously trying to stifle a laugh.
"Uh…" Jaune stammered, his face turning red. "Anyone home?"
Blake looked up at the blonde-haired moron and raised an eyebrow. "And I thought Weiss' jokes were bad."
Jaune laughed nervously and lowered his hand. "Sorry about that. Bad timing."
Blake rolled her eyes and Pyrrha burst into laughter.
"The looks on your faces," Pyrrha choked out in between laughs. "Gods, that was funny."
Blake—now sporting a red mark on her forehead—aimed her cocked eyebrow at Pyrrha for a moment, then sighed in resignation as Pyrrha only laughed harder.
"What're you two doing here?" Blake asked.
Pyrrha gasped for breath, trying to regain her composure, leaving Jaune to answer.
"We just got back," he replied, glancing at Pyrrha in concern. The tall, red-haired woman seemed to be having trouble breathing. "And saw your office light on through the window. We figured we'd stop by and say hello, see what you were up to."
Blake sighed. "Well come in. I was about to leave, but I can hang around for a little longer."
"Are you sure?" Jaune asked. "If you want to go home, you can go."
The Faunus shook her head as she took off her jacket. "It's fine, it'll be nice to catch up. I haven't seen you two in a while."
Jaune smiled and stepped into the office; Pyrrha staggered in behind him. They both sat on the lounge, and Blake took the seat in front of the desk—the one visitors sat in when she was behind her desk—hung her coat over the back of it, and placed Gambol Shroud on the floor. As she looked up, Pyrrha finally seemed to regain a measure of composure and wiped tears from her eyes.
"Feeling better?" Blake asked her.
"Much, thanks," Pyrrha said with a smirk. "That was pretty funny though."
Blake broke into a smile and chuckled to herself. There was flash of movement near the door, and Blake turned towards it. Kelly was peeking her head in the door, a questioning look on her face.
Blake shot her a smile. "Ah, Kelly, could you go and get us three coffees, please?"
Kelly smiled in greeting to Jaune and Pyrrha and nodded. "Of course, Miss Belladonna."
The door clicked shut as Blake turned back to her guests. "So, how was the mission?"
"As good as any," Pyrrha replied with a smile. Jaune nodded in agreement. "It had its ups and downs, but we made do. It was good to get away for a while, even if it was only for work."
Blake forced herself to smile as she nodded. They all knew what Pyrrha meant by 'good to get away' was 'good to get away from Ruby'.
"That's great," Blake said. "I've been thinking of going for a vacation soon; a break sounds amazing."
"The kids pushing you hard?" Jaune asked with a nostalgic smile. Blake smiled back, remembering all the mischief they got up to and the trouble they'd put their teachers through. She really had it easy compared to that.
"No, the kids are fine," she elaborated. "Well, as 'fine' as teenagers can be. I've just been wanting to go away with Yang for a week or so; spend some time alone."
"Is she still away?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah." Blake sighed. "She should be back soon though. I wouldn't be surprised if she's at home, waiting."
"Oh, sorry," Jaune said, half-getting out of his seat. "We didn't mean to keep you away from her."
Blake waved at him to sit back down. "It's fine," she said. "I haven't seen her for two weeks, it can wait another half hour or so. I haven't seen you two in ages either."
Jaune opened his mouth to protest again, but then the door opened and Kelly walked in with a tray of coffee mugs, cream and sugar cubes. Blake thanked her and took the tray, setting it down on her desk.
"I'm all finished for the night, Kelly, you can go home. We'll just chat here for a little while, then I can lock up."
Kelly frowned, and her lock of green hair fell over one of her eyes. "Are you sure, Ma'am?"
The Faunus sighed. "Yes, Kelly, I can lock my office without you watching over my shoulder. Go home." She finished with a smile.
The young woman smiled in return. "Of course, Miss Belladonna. Thank you."
"No need, Kelly. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."
Kelly nodded and backed out of the room with a smile. Blake turned back to her friends, who were each nursing a steaming mug of coffee. She picked up the last mug, lathered it with cream and dropped in a couple of sugar cubes.
"So did anything exciting happen while we were away?" Pyrrha asked as Blake sat down.
The black-haired woman shrugged. "Not a whole lot. Ruby's still being her… herself. Nora shipped out a few days ago to help Yang. Yang visited Weiss. Ren went out on a mission with Ruby today… Oh yeah!" She glanced at the door before continuing in a lowered voice. "And there might a government conspiracy poised to take over Vacuo, Mistral, possibly Vale, and, at a guess, probably Atlas as well."
The married couple blinked twice in unison before crying out in shock. "Yang visited Weiss!"
This time it was Blake's turn to laugh. Of course that would be what they'd focus on; they probably hadn't heard anything after she'd said after that.
"Yes. Weiss told me about it earlier today," she said with a grin.
"Hold on…" Jaune said, holding up a hand. "Yang… visited Weiss… and Weiss is alive?"
"So it would seem."
He slumped back into the lounge and looked at Pyrrha as if his entire world had just flipped on its head; she looked just as surprised.
"What happened?" Pyrrha asked.
"From what I can tell," Blake replied, "they talked about Ruby. And Weiss must have said the right thing, because she was fine when I talked to her. I'll ask Yang about it when she gets back, but I guess everything went… unexpectedly well."
"Wow…" Pyrrha whispered.
"Anyway," Blake moved on. "How about you? Anything important happen to you while you were away?"
Jaune didn't seem to hear her, but Pyrrha's smile faded slightly.
"We…" the red-haired woman hesitated.
Blake's brow furrowed. "What is it?"
"We caught a member of the Black Talon."
Pyrrha's words slammed into Blake like a freight train.
The Black Talon…
They were a new and dangerous threat that had cropped up almost two years, and, to everyone else, they were just that: a dangerous threat. To Blake, the Black Talon had become a lingering reminder of her past, and everything she had fought to change in the world.
A few weeks after their first attack, Blake had gone to talk a few of her old friends—ex-White Fang members. None of them had known anything about the Talon. All she'd learnt was that a section of the Fang had splintered off nearly five years ago, and pretty much dropped off the face of Remnant. No one heard anything about the men and women who had left until they attacked a Dust refinery near Atlas under the banner of the Black Talon three years later.
With the Talon having broken off from the White Fang so long before the latter organisation was disbanded, Blake gave up on any hope of finding the members through her past contacts. Then, despite all their efforts to do so, no one had been able to capture any of them alive. Blake had started to give up hope that they'd be able to bring the Talon down, but here Pyrrha was, presenting an opportunity to do just that—if they could get any information out of the prisoner.
"That… That's great news," Blake said. "Have you managed to…?"
Pyrrha shook her head. "He's still unconscious. Jaune swears he didn't hit him that hard, but when we gave him to the doctors here; they said it looked like he might have aura shock."
Blake frowned. It had been a long time since she'd heard of a case of aura shock. Not since… Myrka. Her frown deepened. Now that she remembered the name, her brain was pouring other memories to the forefront.
He had escaped custody, freed by the White Fang, almost five years ago; right around the time the members of the Black Talon had left the White Fang. That couldn't be a coincidence… Someone in control of the Fang had freed him, possibly repaired his aura, and given him a portion of their troops to form his own terrorist organisation? Blake's instincts told her no, that no Faunus that was enough of an activist to join the White Fang, let alone the Talon, would work for a human. But they had worked for Torchwick and Cinder…
"Damn," she whispered. It was possible.
"I know," Pyrrha said. "But he'll wake up eventually."
Blake looked up and blinked in confusion. What was Pyrrha talking about? Once Pyrrha saw Blake's confused look, she matched it with her own.
"What?" the red-haired Huntress asked. "What's wrong?"
Blake blinked as she remembered the prisoner. "Nothing! Nothing," she reassured Pyrrha. "Just… thinking…"
"About what?"
Blake shook her head. "I'm not sure yet. I'll need some time to think it over a bit more before I share."
Pyrrha hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Blake smiled her appreciation; she didn't want to start throwing around crazy theories with no evidence or proper reasoning to back it up, no matter how well the pieces might fit at first glance. Besides, knowing who was in charge of the Talon wasn't going to help them. That wouldn't tell them where they were hiding, or what they were after; there were more important mysteries to solve.
"Anyway," Jaune cut in, apparently recovered from his shock at Weiss' survival. "Once he wakes up, we'll question him. We'll get any information out of him we can, then we'll see what we can do about bringing down the Talon with what we get."
He seemed eager, and excited. Maybe too excited. Blake knew that it wouldn't be that easy. They'd never caught a member alive before because they'd always managed to commit suicide before being captured. If they were willing to kill themselves to prevent their capture, Blake couldn't see them cracking under interrogation.
"So what's this about a conspiracy?" Pyrrha asked, snapping Blake out of her thoughts.
The Faunus laughed. "So you did hear that, did you?"
Pyrrha grinned. "It took a little while to register, but I got there."
Blake shook her head as she chuckled. "I won't go into too many details tonight," she began. "I'm going to call everyone back here tomorrow, and explain it to all of you, and I really don't want to do it twice." Pyrrha and Jaune both nodded. "Basically, Weiss told me today that there is Dust going into Mistral that's unaccounted for on any of her shipping logs, and she's trying to work out why. I met someone today, whom you'll meet tomorrow, who told me that Dust is being smuggled out of Vacuo. He came to warn us that something similar might be going on here, and I figure it's worth us all looking into—just in case."
Pyrrha and Jaune both frowned. "That is… odd," Pyrrha said. "But are we sure it's a government conspiracy?"
Blake raised a hand. "Can we leave it until tomorrow? I'll give you all the details, and then you can decide. If you're still sceptical, we can talk it through then."
Pyrrha nodded and downed the last of her coffee with one swig. Then she got to her feet and gestured for Jaune to get up as well.
"We should probably call it a night then," she said. "Sounds like we'll have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."
Blake nodded and rose from her chair. "Sounds good. I am getting a bit tired."
As if on cue, Jaune let out a massive yawn. Pyrrha grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close.
"Looks like someone else is getting tired as well," she said affectionately. He grinned and kissed her quickly on the cheek.
The sight of their affection made Blake want to leave even more; she wanted to see Yang again. She grabbed her jacket and Gambol Shroud, and swung them both on. Jaune held the door open for them as they left, then Blake locked the door behind them, jiggling the handle to make sure it was locked.
Blake turned to her right, towards Jaune, Pyrrha, and the exit, but then she heard the squeak of floorboards to her left. She turned back, gazing down the corridor, but saw nothing.
"Everything okay?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah…" Blake muttered. "Thought I heard something."
"What?"
"Nothing. It's fine. Beacon's an old building; old buildings make noise. It was probably just the wood creaking in the cold."
She led the way down the corridor and pulled out her scroll as they reached the door that led out to the grounds. A green light flicked on above the door as Blake held her scroll in front of the scanner next to it, and the door slid open. The grounds were illuminated by lights scattered across the campus, and any patches of ground that evaded their light were cast in a pale glow by the half-moon.
"Have you got your scroll?" Pyrrha asked Jaune as they stepped outside, into the moonlight.
Jaune rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. I've got it."
"Are you sure? You remember what happened the last time you left it inside? You couldn't get into the school for the whole day, until I went and found it for you."
"I've got it!" Jaune groaned. "No need to remind me every damn time."
Pyrrha laughed at his annoyance and wrapped both of her arms around one of his affectionately as they began to cross the grounds. Blake smiled to herself and shook her head. She'd never expected Pyrrha to have such a playful side, but it had sprung out of nowhere once she and Jaune and started dating in their third year.
It was nice to see though; nothing ever got her down for long. If she was near Jaune, she was happy. And he was just the same. Whenever one of them saw the other, anyone around could see their eyes light up with joy. It was touching to see; they had all of their affection for one another written so plainly on their faces, and everyone who saw it knew, immediately, that the two were made for each other.
Blake and the love-struck couple walked back into Vale. As they stepped through the gate that marked the border of Beacon's grounds, and onto the street, they said their goodbyes and parted ways. Pyrrha and Jaune lived in an apartment in the north side of Vale; Blake and Yang lived just a block away from Beacon.
The school had offered Blake an apartment on campus, in the faculty dorm, but she'd refused. She and Yang had wanted their own place, away from the hustle and bustle of Beacon. Somewhere where they could forget their responsibilities for a few hours and be Blake and Yang, the married couple, rather than Blake and Yang, the Huntresses. So they'd bought their own apartment, but kept it close to the school—Blake hadn't wanted to have to commute through the city for hours to get to work every morning.
Her heart thumped as she caught sight of the six-storey-tall apartment building. The front door of the building was brightly lit; a warm inviting light, made more so by the fact that Yang could be waiting inside. Blake glanced at the upper floors, where their apartment was. The façade of the building was glowing a pale white in the moonlight, and all the windows were dark.
Blake pushed aside the shard of disappointment that lanced through her heart. That didn't mean anything. Yang often left the lights off whenever she got back from a mission while Blake was out. She hid somewhere in the apartment and tried to scare Blake. The Faunus smiled. Yang had never really grown up; she was just as fun-loving and excitable as she had been when they'd first met.
The doors opened as Blake approached and she stepped inside, forcing herself not to run. The elevator's call button turned green as she pressed it, and the screen above the door lit up, telling her the elevator was on the third floor. She tapped an irregular beat on her thighs as she waited.
After a century, the elevator doors opened and Blake stepped in. She hit the button for the fifth floor and leant back against the rear wall. Her heart rose in her throat as the elevator rose through building.
After a millennia, the doors opened again. Blake hurried out. The hallway leading to the apartment seemed to stretch out before her feet, growing longer and longer with each step she took.
Then she was at the door. She fumbled her scroll as she tried to hold it to the scanner, and it thudded to the carpeted floor. Her knee popped loudly as she darted down to grab it, like a cracked knuckle.
Stars could have formed and died in the amount of time it took for the apartment door to finally open. Blake almost sprinted inside and closed the door behind with a click.
The entire apartment was dark, almost pitch black. Even with her Faunus eyes, Blake could barely see two feet to either side of her. Her ear twitched as she focussed, trying to hear any noises inside. The apartment was utterly silent, eerily so. If Yang was hiding, she was hiding well.
There were quite a few places to hide as well. There was a bedroom immediately to Blake's right, and a hallway in front of her, leading to the kitchen, living room, and the main bedroom. She mentally ran through a list of where Yang had hidden before, and decided to check the spare bedroom anyway.
Making sure to step close to the wall to avoid any loose, squeaking floorboards, Blake stepped into the small room. It was rarely used, though they occasionally had friends stay in it after a dinner party if they'd had a bit too much to drink—Nora was the most regular tenant.
A quick inspection of the room provided nothing in the way of hidden spouses, so Blake headed back to the entryway. There was a small ensuite bathroom attached to the room, though it provided nowhere to hide. Blake gave it a brief search anyway, just in case, but found nothing. She closed the bedroom door behind her as quietly as she could before heading down the hallway.
She touched a hand lightly against the wall with each step, making sure she stayed right next to it, and moved slowly, always on the balls of her feet. With every step, Blake cursed how well tinted the windows were; not a hint of moonlight made it in. She could just turn on a light, but that would be giving up. Yang had won this game last; Blake wasn't going to let her win again.
Something creaked in the apartment. Blake froze. It hadn't been her. Yang must have moved. It sounded like it had come from the living, not a helpful clue. She was heading that way already.
She came out of the hallway and crouched at the corner. The hallway came out in the corner of the main living area, which stretched out in front of Blake and to her right. There was a window on the far wall, with curtains drawn over it.
The area at the far end of the room, under the window, was the lounge area, with two large lounges and a TV mounted on the left wall. Directly in front of Blake was the dining area, a large, rectangular, eight person table, with chairs all around it. Further to the right was the kitchen, with the kitchen bench acting as a divider between the two areas. Directly to Blake's right, there was a wall, with a door leading into the main bedroom.
Straining her eyes as much as she could, Blake peered into the darkness. It didn't help. She knew the table was there—she'd bought the thing—but she could barely see the chair sitting at the nearest end.
Frowning in thought, Blake decided to check the bedroom first. Best to start at one end and sweep across. She crept through the door and, as quietly as Faunusly possible, tore the room apart. She checked under the bed, in a corner partially hidden by a chest of drawers, in their ensuite, everywhere anyone could potentially hide, but found nothing. She even checked in the closet, where Yang had hidden before, but found nothing—as she'd pretty much expected.
Blake had just stepped out of the bedroom and into the dining area when she felt a chill. It wasn't cold, but she shivered. She tensed her muscles and started to spin back to the bedroom just a pair of hands clamped down on her shoulders. She shrieked and jerked away, but the hands held her firmly.
"I win," Yang's voice whispered in her ear, dripping with amusement.
Blake swore under her breath and tried to pull away, but the hands spun her around and pulled her close. Soft lips pressed against hers, and Blake inhaled through her nose. Yang's scent threatened to overwhelm her, and she gave into the kiss. Her head spun as she pushed into Yang, pressing their lips together passionately.
Even if the lights were on, Blake wouldn't have been able to see anything at this point. All sensations faded away as she lost herself in the sensation of Yang's lips. Yang wrapped her arms around Blake's waist and pulled the black-haired woman tight against her body. Blake forgot which way was up, what her own name was, and the meaning of the word 'alone'.
Yang lifted Blake up and stepped back into the bedroom before tipping back onto the bed. They landed on their sides, lips still locked—only parting momentarily for desperate gasps for breath—with their legs hanging off the bottom of the bed. Blake broke away from Yang and pushed herself towards the bed head—she hated having her feet dangling in the air while she and Yang…—and kicked off her boots. She heard two thuds as Yang kicked off her own boots and then gasped in surprise as Yang lunged at her.
They kissed for a fleeting moment before Blake pushed Yang to the side—onto her back. The Faunus swung a leg over Yang's waist and straddled her, sitting back. She shrugged off her jacket and Gambol Shroud and tossed them to the floor with her boots before returning to the matter at hand. It was still pitch black and impossible to see, but from where she was now, Blake swore she could make out her wife's every detail.
She ran her hands up Yang's stomach, under her shirt, feeling the decadent smoothness of her skin. Yang let out a shuddering breath and Blake grinned. She pushed her hands up higher, tracing the small bumps of Yang's ribs, until the tips of her fingers brushed against the bottom of Yang's bra—then she stopped. Yang sucked in a breath, the kind of breath one takes in between bouts of torture.
Blake grinned wickedly and pulled her hands away. Yang let out a sigh that sounded full of disappointment, then gasped for breath again as Blake's hands nestled gently on the curve of her hips. The suddenly masochistic Faunus ran her hands lightly up her blonde victim's sides, brushing against the side of her breasts, and slid them along the smooth skin of Yang's arms until she reached the wrists. Then Blake pulled Yang's arms up and forced them back against the pillows, above Yang's head.
Now that her wife was effectively immobilized, Blake leant down, ever so slowly, taking in every sensation that arose as she did so. She shivered as the bare skin of her stomach touched Yang's, still exposed from when Blake had lifted her shirt; sucked in a ragged breath as her breasts pressed against Yang's; and questioned her sanity as she touched her lips, lighter than the touch of a feather, to Yang's.
Yang pushed her head forward, trying to force a more passionate kiss, but her tormentor pulled away with a smirk. The blonde woman's next breath was almost a groan. Blake leant in again, slower this time, until she was close enough to Yang's lips to breath lightly on them. Yang tensed underneath her, and Blake moved on. She pressed her cheek against Yang's, with her mouth right next to Yang's ear.
"Don't. move."
Yang shivered at the feeling of Blake's breath running over her ear. Blake smiled and flicked her tongue out, teasingly flicking it against Yang's earlobe. This time Yang bucked, but Blake managed to hold her down.
Once Yang settled back down, Blake moved back to Yang's mouth, pressing her lips against Yang's just as lightly as she had before. She waited for a moment, and then, when Yang didn't move, she began to trace her feather-light kisses along Yang's lips, moving along the bottom lip first, then back across the top one, until she was back where she started.
Yang finally tore her hands out of the weaker, black-haired woman's grip, wrapped her arms around Blake's waist, and flipped over. Blake let out a laugh and wrapped her legs around Yang's waist as the blonde woman pushed her back into the soft mattress. Her laugh cut short as Yang's lips pressed against hers with all the force of a tsunami. And, like a tsunami, the sensation of Yang crashed over Blake as she gave in and gave herself over to the love of her life.
Hands ran up Blake's stomach, under her shirt, but didn't stop at the bottom of her bra. In fact, they didn't stop until Blake's shirt was pulled over her head and tossed onto the floor. Blake's head spun as the hands returned and Yang nibbled at her neck. That wasn't fair. Yang knew that was her weak point. At this point, Blake lost all self-control, and began to tear at Yang's clothes just as rabidly as Yang had removed hers.
The two lovers lost themselves in each other. Blake always made a game of trying to find the silver lining to every cloud, and if she had to pick a silver lining for the cloud of Yang leaving her alone for two weeks, this was it.