The four namesake members of Team RWBY sat in chairs outside the office of James Ironwood. The Headmaster had furnished the Atlesian general with a utilitarian accommodations, and Ironwood himself had made no particular effort to render the place more inviting if the waiting room outside was anything to go by. A half-dozen chairs and a bare little corner table all told – well, that and the closed mahogany door. Whatever might be said of the room though, the past half hour spent waiting had been more taxing than Blake could have thought – all she could think of was how Mina was alone in there with Ironwood, and Blake did not know what sort of discussion was taking place beyond that door. Ironwood had invited each of them in their turn without much ceremony, and he'd been polite, but all business. Mina's turn however, had been by far the longest.
Ruby had said that she'd been asked about the details of RWBY's improvised 'mission' a few weeks previously – apparently the General showed particular interest when Ruby had mentioned that Torchwick had 'acquired' an Atlesian Paladin – and after her turn, Yang mentioned that Ironwood wanted to know her take on the same issue. The narrative seemed to diverge when it came time for Weiss to take the good General's questions; the Heiress had reported before sending Blake in for her own turn that Ironwood hadn't asked her about their investigation at all, but rather what she thought about what was going on, and Mina specifically – as a Schnee of course. Disconcerting as that was, Blake's interview took the trend a step further when she'd been asked to give account for her and Mina's activities and positions within the White Fang – and while she was reticent to answer any of these questions, she did owe the man for calling in Dr. Edrych-Gwydr. She'd initially been surprised – and more than a bit worried – to discover that Ironwood knew about that, but he was an associate of Ozpin, so she supposed that such was to be expected.
Similarly, Blake had a fair idea what Ironwood would want from Mina; the question was, to what purpose? He probably wouldn't try to get her to incriminate herself - if he knew that they had been in the White Fang, then presumably he also knew about they're arrangement with Ozpin – but then, what? Fortunately, Blake's fretting was interrupted when the doorknob of Ironwood's office began to turn and the door began to open for Mina to step out.
"Mina! How… how did it go?" Blake hastily asked, "What did he ask you?"
"Easy Dearest…" Mina replied with a slight smile meant to ameliorate Blake's anxiety, "just a few questions – just as with you-,"
"But what did he ask you?" Blake pressed, "He didn't accuse you of anything did he?"
Mina shook her head with a tired smile, "No, Dearest, no…" She sighed, "He was just… very interested in what I knew of the White Fang…"
"Makes sense…" Weiss folded her arms over her chest, "Wasn't that what he wanted from you Blake?"
Blake nodded, but it was Mina who answered, "The General did say as much, but considering that I left nearly a year later than Blake – and more to the point, after this peculiar alliance between Mr. Torchwick and the White Fang had begun – he was much more interested in any facilities which I could identify and any threads to the scheme to which I might have been privy…"
"And you didn't have much to tell him, did you?" Yang offered.
Mina shook her head, "No; I fear that Mr. Ironwood was somewhat disappointed by the fact that I had a tendency not to ask questions in my time there – he seemed a bit relieved by my lack of investment in 'the cause,' but by the same token, I suppose that means that I haven't much to say as regards the scheme…"
"I'm just glad that this is all done with…" Ruby spoke up hesitantly, "Mr. Ironwood seems nice enough and all, but it's kind of uncomfortable being hauled in to be questioned by a general…"
"I hear that…" Blake shook her head, "But Now we have a mission…"
"Right!" Ruby declared, "Time to find Nadia Undine!"
Mina nodded slowly, "Quite so…"
"Where do we start?" Blake inquired, "I'm the only one whose actually seen her – and then only for a few minutes-,"
"She'll be somewhere near water," Mina interrupted, "She described herself as an angler fish Faunus – and she has gills, which I assume is how she survived our last encounter …"
"Mina…"
"Well that's a start," Yang nodded, paying little heed to Blake's concerned tone as she addressed Mina, "Unfortunately Junior didn't know about anybody by the name of Undine, and he 'couldn't remember' when I described her based on what you said Blake – apparently a lot of blondies go in and out of his club…"
"I may be able to pull a few strings with local law enforcement…" Weiss tentatively offered, "Being a Schnee does come with some pull…"
"Well maybe…" Ruby didn't look convinced, "But maybe we could start with something that won't get us thrown in prison if somebody finds out…"
"Nonsense," Weiss huffed, "We could just ask the police to keep an eye out for her – she's a criminal anyway, so it's hardly illegal," She gestured Blake and Minas way, "We even have a legitimate complaint for a police report,"
Blake's mouth set in a line, "No… We know what we're dealing with, but the Police won't…"
"Alright…" Weiss conceded, "But we can hardly comb the entire coast of Vale…"
"I do not imagine that we will need to…" Mina put in, "She has an… obsession with me… She will hide in a part of the city near where I might be found on a regular basis…"
"The harbor then!" Ruby declared triumphantly, before conspicuously mellowing out and blushing, "The one near the… the um…"
Weiss rolled her eyes, "Near the red-light district, yes…"
Blake nodded slowly, but turned to Mina, "Are you okay…? Are you worried about fighting her again?"
Mina shook her head in the negative, albeit with visible hesitation, "No… she is… weak… Any one of us could break her like a twig but…"
"Her Semblance…"
"Yes…" But Mina did not seem wholly sold on what she was saying, "That's it…"
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Precious few other words had crossed the mind of Nadia Undine for the past two weeks – to say nothing of coherent thought. Steal an apple here, dine and dash there – survival was a mechanical instinct by this point, never r once rising to the level of conscious thought at any point, leaving her to spend the waking hours of the last fourteen days in panic. She hadn't meant to do it – she was just so frustrated – and she said something stupid, Now look what you did!
She slumped to the floor, staring out the broken window as the sun dipped below the horizon. Thirteen floors up and it wouldn't do her any good - the building stood right over Vale's deep-water harbor. If she tried that, the fantasy would just end when she hit the water and kept on breathing. Maybe the constant flow of the chilled breeze into the space helped, but something so stupidly petty couldn't possibly even begin to make up for what she did. Mina would probably hate her forever now…
Her fingers tightened around a piece of the broken glass from the window – there wasn't much really; most of it had fallen out of the building after all – but it only took one piece to draw blood… She winced ass the jagged edge bit into her palm. She drew in a sharp breath from the pain, but as she felt the warm trickle of her own blood perplexingly, she relaxed a bit. If only she could just give Mina the blood gathering in a tiny pool beside her hand on the floor – she'd forgive her then, right? That would make everything better…
Idly, she dropped the bloodied piece of glass and lifted her hand to stare dully at the red streaks on her palm. It was amazing how quickly the bleeding was stopping – the witch was right – she really could do fantastic things… Nadia had just wanted Mina to love her, but when the witch gave her the power to make that happen – so she'd promised anyway – it came with so much more; that much was obvious even to her as she watched the cut on her hand seal itself, leaving only the smears of crimson behind it. Such a beautiful color… Without a first thought – let alone a second – she raised her palm to her lips and tasted the blood, warm and metallic as it was.
This is what she needs from me… Nadia shuddered, clenching her fist as she slammed her hand back onto the floor, But you just had to fuck it up! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Stupid! Her eyes squeezed shut and she wrapped her arms about her knees, "I'm sorry…"
But what did she do? The witch said that Nadia could make Mina love her now – but all she'd been able to do was make her angry and upset and… and…
"What do I have to do…?"
Two weeks. Two fucking weeks! Two weeks since she'd watched strong, beautiful Mina Carfax collapse on the sidewalk after she – Nadia undine – had screamed out her frustration and just begged her to forget the stupid Belladonna bitch… What did Belladonna have that she didn't? Nadia was more committed, she wanted Mina more – she was sure of it, and she didn't give a damn about anything else – Mina could do whatever she want – why wouldn't she appreciate that?
Her face contorted into a mask of anger and she shouted incoherently as she turned and punched the wall so hard that her knuckle split open, "Damn it!"
She leaned up against the cold, smooth granite wall and pressed her forehead to the stone, trying and failing to fight back angry and frustrated tears, doubling over and shuddering as she seethed. What the hell did it take to have something in life go her way? She even had power now – yet nothing! She wanted to shout, to scream, rage, but all that didn't matter – it wouldn't make Mina love her, would it? Anger flared up to dominate the dejection though, as the irritating sound of her scroll going off pierced the haze of self-pity. Snarling aloud as she reached violently into the pocket of her windbreaker, Nadia snapped, "What!?"
"Jeez, testy much?"
"Shut up Mercury!" She hissed, "I am not in the mood…"
"You know, I'd expect a little more gratitude, seeing as I'm calling you to pass along a heads-up…"
Nadia's heart stopped, "What is it?"
"Oh, now we're interested? Tch…" Mercury Black smiled sarcastically on the screen, "Maybe if you ask nicely-,"
"Fuck off Mercury! I don't have time-,"
"Damn right you don't," The screen shook jerkily, before Emerald Sustrai's face came into focus instead, "Your botched little pick-up line didn't get the job done, and now they're going to look for you…"
"They're what?" Nadia was just rational enough to panic, "What are you talking about?!"
"Weiss Schnee persuaded General Ironwood to call in some expert from Atlas – and Belladonna didn't even need that much…" Sustrai explained with a role of the eyes, "Now they're going to come looking for you-,"
"Apparently you really pissed 'em off…" Mercury's smirk was as audible as it was infuriating.
"She told me that I could-!"
"And you screwed it up," Emerald interrupted, "We gave you a chance to take care of them and take Carfax to play house with – or whatever it is you had in mind – frankly I don't care to know – but now Belladonna and Carfax remember what you did, and they're going to come after you…"
Nadia's eyes widened – maybe this was her chance to – but then her eyes narrowed again, "I… appreciate the warning, but what do you give a damn if they hunt me down…? I'm a failure…"
"You really don't think, do you?"
Nadia's blood boiled again at Mercury's provocation, "Shut up, you bastard-,"
"You know too much," Emerald stated flatly, "We trusted you because you were motivated and Cinder thought you had some potential – You cannot allow yourself to be captured…"
"So the witch wants me to kill myself?" Nadia suggested absently, "I've thought about it…" More than once…
"It doesn't have to come to that," but Sustrai didn't say 'no,' "Just make sure it sticks next time they find you, and we can all just forget this…"
"Just keep it nice and simple; deal with them however you like – just as long as they're dealt with," Black added, "Easy; just blow em to Hell or screw with their heads – we aren't picky,"
"B-but what about Mina?"
"She's dead," Black shot back with that damned irritating smirk on his face, "Unless you'd rather be…"
"Shut up!" Nadia shouted at the screen before losing control and hurling the device at the wall, smashing it to pieces, "No!"
No… Breathing heavily, Nadia sank to the floor, I don't want…. Not that… Anything else… please- But then it occurred to her, She's going to look for me… she wants to find me… She giggled in a fit of wretchedly misplaced exuberance, One more chance… "I can still win her over… I have to… I f I don't…" She's dead, "I can't let that happen – she's too special…and I… I… I'll show her how much I love her and she'll thank me for saving her and… and…"
And then what?
Nadia shook her head; it didn't matter after that, She'll love me then… she has to…
But what if she doesn't?
"Shut up!" She slammed her fist into the floor, smashing that one bloodied piece of glass that had been reflecting her face, "She will… I know…"
Author's Note: Hello all, first, I would like to apologize for the longer than average wait, and the somewhat shorter length of the chapter besides; alas, the end of the semester is coming up on me fast, so I haven't got much free time at present, so in that regard, I'd ask you to bear with me for the next few weeks; updates will probably be a bit slower, but I'm not setting this aside, rest assured – I simply have to finish term projects and study for finals; three weeks from now though, my semester ends, and I can pick the pace back up a bit, though there should be at least one more chapter between now and then. Thanks in advance for your patience.
On a different note, this chapter also took much longer for me to write than it should have because it took some serious effort to get inside Nadia's head at this point… Mina is one thing – she's got issues yes, but a black-and-white obsession like hers is a lot less difficult to write than Nadia's tragically mangled psyche … It's… not a fun place to be – but the story must go on!
Finally, a big thank-you to ElfCollaborator for featuring this on Weiss Reacts Volume 2! Seriously, give it a look, it's hilarious – especially if you're an anime fan. But anyway, feedback is always appreciated, and until next time, have a good one.