"Okay, these guys were cute at first, but this is really starting to get old…" Yang grumbled as she sat up in her bunk and attempted to disentangle a kitten from her flowing locks, "I mean, I know my hair's perfect, but the little guy can't have it,"

Ruby snorted in the attempt to stifle her giggles, "I dunno sis, Ludwig almost seems more attached to it than you are!"

"Pfft!" The blonde scoffed, tugging a little harder on the stubborn little fur-ball, "As…. If… Dammit! Blake1 Help me!"

"Should I be offended that you just assume I'm good with cats?" Blake smirked, but she nonetheless stood up on the edge of her bunk to help her partner, "They actually don't like me very much… I think they see me as competition…" Blake sighed as she stroked little Ludwig behind the ears, causing his grip to slacken as he began to purr, "But there's no cat alive that doesn't love the be scratched behind the ears…"

"Mmmm… Indeed….," Mina spoke in a sultry whisper as she came up from behind, wrapping one arm about Blake's waist and scratching Blake's cat ears with e other.

"M-Mina!" Blake blushed, nearly dropping Ludwig when she jumped with a start – the poor cat sprang from her hands, onto the top of her head, then to Mina's shoulder, before jumping into Ruby's arms – whilst Blake fell from her perch on her bedside.

Mina caught her though, placing a quick little kiss on her forehead, "Although perhaps you don't always land on your feet…"

Blake continued to flush red as Mina helped her back to her feet, "Don't sneak up on me like that! I didn't know you were out of the shower yet…"

"So I am," Mina affirmed, tugging at the towel she was still wearing, "But if you do not believe me… you could always inspect my body for cleanliness…"

"Not with the rest of us in hear you don't," Weiss rejected the concept out of hand as she put on her blazer, "Modesty is at enough of a premium with this living arrangement as it is; you're both my friends and I love you like sisters, but please keep your intimacy… intimate… rather than public…"

Mina chuckled, letting Blake go, "Another time then,"

"Yeah…" Blake agreed, trying to get her blush under control and failing miserably as she felt the dampness from Mina's hair roll down her neck, "Just please… put on some clothes…"

"Selfish kitty doesn't wanna share the view~"

"Yang…" Blake shot the blonde brawler a poisonous look.

The blonde just blinked in surprise, "What…? I was talking about tall, dark, and fluffy over there!" As if to prove her innocence she jabbed a thumb in Mina's direction, and more importantly, to little Wolfgang, who was scrambling to cling to Mina's towel, "See?"

Blake blinked a few times at the sight, before rushing over to hold up the towel with a sigh, "I am so glad Clara is picking them up tomorrow…"

"I'm gonna miss them though…" Ruby pouted, snuggling up to Ludwig, "There still so cute…"

"They are kind of adorable…" Weiss admitted, watching Hector and Johan roll over each other on top of her binder while she tried to pick it up for class, "If also a bit of a nuisance…"

"Just a moment Wolfgang…" Mina assured the distressed kitten dangling from the towel Blake held up for the sake of Mina's modesty as Mina put on her bra, "Cheeky little boy, aren't you?"

"I for one will be happy to be rid of them…" Blake muttered, grabbing Wolfgang by the scruff of the neck once Mina had finished putting on her underwear and started stepping into her skirt, "This one in particular…" She poked the grey little cat's stomach as he tried to reach out and claw her in futility, "This one's a punk…"

"I hear jealousy~" Yang prodded.

"Ladies, we have class in less than a half an hour," Weiss interjected, "Can we possibly squabble over whether a kitten can shoot Mina bedroom eyes in the hall on the way to breakfast?"

"Bah! Who needs breakfast when we can watch Blake get into a slap-fight with a kitten?" Yang challenged, pointing to an incident in progress – at least until Blake blushed and stuck Wolfgang into his cage.

"Shut up…"

"Today would be expedient," Weiss tapped her foot impatiently, "We can't have Ruby going into cookie-withdrawal, now can we?"

"Awww…" Ruby pouted, but eventually did place Ludwig in the cage with his brother, shortly to be followed by Hector and Johan courtesy of Weiss, "But we do need to eat…"

"Why don't you all go ahead," Blake offered, closing the cage despite the mewling protests of the four kittens now trapped inside, "Mina still needs her blood-pack,"

"Well alright then, I suppose we'll see you in a few minutes," Weiss nodded, but before she could continue, Yang cut in.

"Or catch up with us in class; we're not picky~"

Weiss, Ruby, and Blake facepalmed, and Mina merely chuckled, "I do like to savor it…"

Still blushing furiously, Blake ushered her other teammates out of the room and on their way, "We'll see you at breakfast-,"

"Don't get too kinky while where-," And Blake slammed the door shut.

Blake sighed, shooting Mina a frustrated look, "You know, I'd appreciate it if you didn't encourage her like that…"

"Oh? But it is just so much fun…" Mina turned to face her as she put her hair up, yet to put her shit on – though that wasn't odd, as she usually waited to put on the white uniform shirt until she finished with her blood-pack. She sidled over as she finished with her hair, "Can I make it up to you?"

Blake frowned, but nonetheless allowed Mina to drape her arms over her shoulders and lean in for a kiss, "I suppose…"

Mina smiled, and kissed her again, "I'll tell you what; Clara should be by to pick up the kittens tomorrow, but after that..." She kissed Blake yet again, this time pushing her tongue past Blake's pursed lips, "Consider this a down payment, yes?"

Blake mulled it over for a moment, but eventually traced a hand up from Mina's hip and slipped it under Mina's bra, "…What did you have in mind?"

"Well…" Mina pretended to ponder, slipping her own hands down Blake's back as she leaned in to playfully nibble Blake's neck, "There is that one place on campus if you prefer to keep it simple… but if you are so inclined…"

Mina was momentarily silenced as Blake locked lips again before whispering, "Out with it…"

Mina gave a surprised little squeak shortly followed by a sly smile when Blake squeezed her breast before she spoke, "…On second thought, I really would rather surprise you…"

Blake pushed Mina down onto the nearest bunk – which happened to actually be Weiss's – not that she was paying particular attention as she straddled Mina and leaned down to whisper tantalizingly into Mina's ear, "I really don't like surprises…"

"I think you'll like this one…" Mina countered with a smirk, sliding her fingers down the front of Blake's skirt as she pulled her down into a long, slow kiss with the other, "Trust me…"

"Alright…" Blake allowed, before abruptly getting off of a slightly disappointed Mina, "But for now, get the rest of your uniform together while I get your blood-pack…"

Mina pouted as she sat up, "Oh but that's no fun…"

"It's like Weiss said," Blake replied as she bent down and opened the mini-fridge to pick out a pack, "We have class in… twenty minutes now…"

"Oh fine…" Mina took the pack and punched a fang through it to start drinking, "But where tomorrow is concerned…?"

"You've got a deal,"" Blake smiled hugging Mina from behind as she drank, "Assuming that nothing blows up in our faces of course…" She added with her own little smirk.

Mina lolled her head back to rest on Blake's shoulder, "Like what?"

"Well your White Fang stalker could turn up… What did you say her name was?"

"Nadia Undine," Mina answered without much enthusiasm, "But I've already promised to tell you if she bothered me again; can we not discuss her now?"

Blake rested her chin on Mina's shoulder and appreciated the view – not that that was why she'd done it, "I know, but I worry; you know that,"

"And I appreciate your concern…" Mina sighed as she finished of the unit of blood, "But you needn't worry quite so much,"

"I'll stop worrying when whatever's going on in Vale blows over," Blake stepped away, passing Mina her shirt from their dresser, "Now come on, get dressed,"

"Do I have to?" Mina teased.

Well… Blake shook her head, dismissing the tempting thought, Me and my first-world problems… "Yes, Mina; I shudder to think about all the mileage Yang would have gotten out of the past five minutes…"

"Miss Xiao Long doesn't need to know…"

"Mina…"

"Oh fine…"

Fifteen frost Dust crystals. Thirty Burn. Powdered burn Dust, for liters. Fifty yards of primer cord, and more improvised remote detonators than she cared to count again. Nadia couldn't fight Carfax one on one, hand to hand, but that was fine; an angler fish didn't hunt anyway, they lure. Of course, all the Dust and explosives weren't going to amount to much without a place to set the trap. Fortunately, she'd managed to find the perfect places. If she couldn't outfight Carfax, she'd have to outthink her instead. Pulling that off was easier said than done though.

Nadia cringed at the memory of how Mina Carfax had her pinned to the wall in a dark alley on their first meeting. She'd intended to follow the traitor – to memorize her path between the airship station and that revolting café, but Nadia was at a loss for how Carfax had figured out that she was being followed – much less how Carfax had gotten the drop on her. She'd gotten sloppy, that much Nadia knew, and it wasn't a mistake she meant to make again, but the question remained: how to turn the tables on one of the White Fang's former best? Nadia had never herself been a field operative like Carfax or Belladonna – no, Nadia had spent her days maintaining weapons and prepping explosives for people like them. Well that and running. White Fang 'safe houses' and facilities were raided fairly often, and as a consequence they were moved fairly often, but every so often an active instillation would be hit, and everybody would scatter. You learned to run – or swim – or you got caught. Nadia was not used to getting caught, not when running away, anyway.

Nadia clenched a fist and struck the cargo container she'd just finished rigging up, "I screwed up that first time… Not again…"

Thus far, she'd rigged up eight buoys, a dozen cargo containers, and more posts, beams, and pilings than she cared to count. Dust was powerful stuff, that much she knew, and she also knew how to use it – at least in a rudimentary sense – all she needed was her scroll to activate the remote detonators, a few matches to light fuses for the charges she hadn't been able to get her hands on remote detonators for, and then to pray that she could outrun a former personal hero.

"Maybe…" She muttered, moving on to the next place she had in mind to rig up, "Not for long, but maybe… It'll have to be enough…" Of course, all this was pointless if she couldn't get Carfax here, "Bait…I need bait…" She snorted, "I bet Belladonna would do the trick… use a traitor to catch one-,"

Nadia set down the improvised Dust charge and leaned up against the nearest piling, folding her arms over her chest. Carfax was going to be hard enough – taking on Blake Belladonna at the same time would be too much by leagues – but if she could pull it off…

Steeling herself, she glanced over to the bin she'd brought her Dust here in; she had plenty left, "Cocky bitch is always so damned perfect! So damned calm and so damned polite...…" She seethed, "Damned self-righteous traitors, both of them!" she slammed her fist on the bin still partially laden with Dust crystals, "They can't just betray us-," betray me, "like that and get away with it!" Nadia took a moment to compose herself. She was still angry – probably angrier than she'd ever been - but while anger was an excellent motivator, it could also make you sloppy, "No Nadia; calm down… It's just… just time for a slight change of plan… But how to get them both…?" She found herself thinking of that stupid café again, and made to dismiss the offhanded thought, but then caught herself smiling, "Yeah… that could work…"

"Shouldn't Clara have been here by now?" Blake asked somewhat impatiently, though making an effort to maintain her patience; she would never admit it to anyone – Yang especially – but she wanted to see what kind of 'surprise' Mina had in mind.

"Mmmm…" Mina thought allowed, brow furrowed, "She returned from her trip late last night, and she said that she would come by to pick up the kittens after her shift which…" she held up her scroll, "Time,"

"Eight-fifteen,'

"Her shift ended over an hour ago…"

Blake and Mina were waiting for Clara at the airship station on the Beacon campus, the little travel cage full of now sleeping kittens placed on the bench. The two of them had left the RWBY dorm over an hour ago to meet Clara for the pick-up, but she hadn't shown.

"You think she missed the airship?" Blake asked.

"Unlikely," Mina frowned, "Clara is typically quite punctual…'

"You don't think something-," Blake was interrupted when Mina's scroll rang, "Is that her?"

"Identify," Mina instructed to the device.

"Clara Schumann,"

Mina nodded, "I have her number programmed into my scroll for reference,"

"Finally… Go ahead and answer…"

Mina nodded, pressing the button to answer. What came through was not Clara's voice.

"Mina Carfax…"

Mina's eyes widened slightly with recognition, "Why do you have Clara's scroll?"

"Why do you think?" Spat the voice of Nadia Undine, "Now I'm going to give you some very specific instructions, and you are going to obey exactly, or I'm gonna blow your slutty little friend to hell,"

Blake made to speak, to demand that the girl on the other end of the line release their friend, but Mina held up a finger to silence her, her other fist clenching tightly around the device, but she replied calmly, "Miss Undine, We needn't resort to this unpleasantness,"

"Then I suggest you haul your ass out to the shipyard on the southern wharf, Miss Carfax. Alone."

"You will not surprise me with a trap so transparent, Miss Undine," Mina responded with deliberate patience.

"No, I won't" Undine allowed, a note of anger seeping into her voice, "But I don't have to, do I? The maid is one of your 'chosen friends.' You're not going to leave her to die,"

"No, I will not," Mina conceded, "But are you prepared for what I will do?"

"I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?"

"And what assurance do I have that you will not kill her anyway once I arrive?" Mina challenged, "And what is to stop me from killing you and being done with it when I get there?"

"Mina-!" Blake rebuked in whisper but Mina held up her hand to silence her again.

Nadia Undine laughed bitterly on the other end of the line, "Well she's not here for one, and if you don't come, you'll never find her. If you… behave yourself and come to the wharf within the next three hours, you can have her location, and you can pass it along to that other traitor, Belladonna. She can rescue the human slut since she loves the humans so much too,"

"Very well," Mina concluded, noting the airship as it approached , "I will be there within the hour,"

"See that you are," And the connection went dead.

"Mina!" Blake objected, at full volume now, "You can't just walk into a trap like that!"

"What choice do I have?" Mina turned to ask, "Do I leave her?"

"N-no, but-,"

"Then the choice is made," Mina interrupted, though she still spoke calmly, "I will send you the location where Clara is being held when I extract it from Nadia Undine… I will take this airship into the city; please, return the kittens to our dorm – you can follow on the next ship,"

"I'm not letting you go alone!"

"We do not have that choice," Mina shook her head, "She instructed me to come alone; we cannot risk provoking her to anger. I can handle her,"

"Dammit Mina! I don't like being helpless and in the dark like this!"

"I know…" Mina's face fell, "But do we have the choice?"

Blake gritted her teeth, " Fine… But I'll be right behind you. As soon as I have Clara free,"

Mina closed her eyes, "I doubt it will take that long,"

Author's Note: Alright, a little fluff at the beginning and then the storm gathers. Next chapter's going to be a bit more… intense… hopefully you all enjoyed this one, as I hope you look forward to the next one, and any feedback is always appreciated.