Argh, today has just been one of those days. My assistant is off sick and the phones have been incessant today, usually with people who have bought my number off a list and are offering me things the business doesn't even need or use.

Chapter 15

Jaune hummed to himself as he ran a cloth over the bar. There was something therapeutic about polishing it until it shone, even if that never lasted once the customers came in force. It was quiet now, however, but that was because the Golden Oyster wasn't normally open during the day. The words `night club` probably made that obvious, but Reg had taken one look at the Vytal Festival preparations and declared that they were going to open during the daytime too as a sort of easy bar and snacks venue. He'd wanted food too, but the kitchens didn't really have the equipment.

When he'd been asked if he wanted to work the daytime for some extra lien, he'd jumped at the opportunity. It wasn't the money, at least not totally – but more the chance to busy himself on what would have otherwise been a day with no lessons to serve as a distraction. Pyrrha, Ren and Nora had been great… especially after he'd finally come down from his grief and let them in. They escorted him to and from lessons, closed ranks around him whenever it looked like someone wanted to approach him, and otherwise were there with smiles and conversation whenever he needed them. Even now, a faint smile spread across his face at the memory.

They deserved a day off from looking after him, though, and Nora had been so keen to attend that carnival that had sprung up. Pyrrha asked him to come as well, of course, but he didn't want to ruin their day with his doldrums. Seeing all those happy kids and families would have just made things awkward.

"Slow day," Rebecca, the other waitress on the day job mumbled. She leaned against the counter, chin propped on one hand and elbow resting on the bar. "Normally I feel like I'm going to break a smile muscle but right now I'm dying of boredom."

"This is the first day we've opened in the lighter hours. It's going to take a while for people to notice. Give it time."

"But it's so boring…"

"You're being paid to be bored."

"I'd rather be paid to work," she sighed. "Time flies when you're busy. Right now it feels like we've been here for eight hours."

"We've been here for two. There's six left."

She slumped onto the bar and groaned. He patted her back with a laugh and then went back to polishing. She was usually a pretty good worker, friendly and pretty with a face that made guys stop, stare and – more importantly – order drinks. For all her looks, however, she was only a waitress and never visited the upper levels of the club. That made it easier on him since she wouldn't even know about Crimson, let alone who he was.

The main doors swung open as a small group of people wandered in. Jaune grinned, even as Rebecca perked up. "Dibs," she claimed.

"Hey Jaune!" Yang called.

"Damn it…"

"Sorry Bec," Jaune laughed and clapped the girl's shoulder as she slumped back down. He turned to Yang and the rest of Team RWBY with a smile. "I'm a little surprised to see you," he said, "I thought you were all going to spend the day in town."

"And this isn't town?" Yang asked with a grin. Behind her, Ruby and the others took a table. It didn't escape his notice that Weiss and Blake glared at one another as they sat down, nor that they took seats as far apart as possible. Yang caught his look. "Ugh… okay, you caught me. Blake and Weiss are… having a bit of a domestic."

"And you thought a bar would help?"

"I though having something to drink would shut them up for a moment," she said. "Honestly, it's the best I could come up with. If we went back to Beacon, we'd all just be stuck in our room dealing with it anyway. I thought a distraction might help. Sorry if it's a bother…" She looked at him curiously but he shook his head.

Perhaps once upon a time he would have been upset with them seeing him like this, especially Ruby, but after the rumours had come out – and even after Winchester repaid his service at Forever Fall by quashing them – people already knew he worked as a waiter. Yang had been quick to tell her team too, since otherwise they might have believed the worse rumour. They seeing him here could only help. "It's fine, Yang," he grinned, "You're paying customers. Well, three of you are."

"I'm paying today too, actually. Charge me up for this one."

"Oh? What's the occasion?"

"Weiss offered to pay for the round."

He laughed and took her order, mixing up a series of non-alcoholic drinks for them. Yang got a Strawberry Sunrise, of course. She looked like she could use it. He disguised it as juice, however, winking at her when he handed it over.

Her returning grin as she leaned down and sipped at it was nothing short of beautiful. "Did I ever mention you're my favourite guy friend ever?"

"Probably not enough times for my ego. Praise me more."

Yang laughed and took the drinks between her hands, carrying them over to her team. She shared them out, chatted for a moment, and then came back to sit at the bar. Jaune blinked. "Done with them already?"

"You don't understand, Jaune… their argument doesn't even make sense."

"What's it about?"

"There's a dust store a little down the road that's been robbed. The guys outside mentioned that it was the White Fang, Weiss insulted them, Blake went crazy… it's not stopped since."

A quick glance told him that yes, they were still glaring at one another across the table. "But… what's it actually about? I mean, that doesn't explain why they're arguing."

Yang's forehead banged onto his nicely polished counter. "Trust me. I know. The whole thing makes no sense. I'm not sure if they're arguing about racism, robbery or whether detectives shouldn't discuss cases in public. Also, Weiss called some random faunus a rapscallion."

"Why?"

"He stowed away on a boat, caused some police officers to fall and basically ran away from them."

"Well… rapscallion's a bit much, but he does sound like a criminal. I mean, at least technically."

Yang's eyes peeked above her arms. "That opinion isn't very popular with Blake at the moment. In the interests of not causing RWBY War One, keep it to yourself."

"I'll do what I can. Another sunrise?"

Yang sighed and propped herself back up, shooting him a smile and a nod as he mixed one up for her. "How have you been doing?" she asked while he worked. "Are you feeling any better?"

Jaune flashed a quick smile and a nod. "I am," he said. "You were right about what you said. Once the immediate pain went away I was able to think a little bit better. My team has been awesome too; they're really helping."

Yang cheered at that and took a long drink. Really, of all the people he'd expected to become close to, he would never have considered Yang at the top. I thought Ruby would be my best, and perhaps, my only friend at Beacon. She still is, but Yang's quickly become something more. He'd realised it the day they'd woken up together, utterly hung over in the common room and wrapped under a small blanket. His immediate thought had been to panic, then to wonder if she would think the worst and hit him. Instead, Yang blinked blearily at him, sat up, looked down at herself and almost instantly came to the correct conclusion – and the most pressing. They needed aspirin.

From there, the whole debacle hadn't been so much as mentioned between them. They'd slept together, but it was fully clothed and nothing had happened, so it seemed like she didn't see anything wrong with it. He didn't, either, but he had expected some level of drama. Drama other than the teasing from Ruby, he meant.

Maybe that was why he found it so easy to be around Yang… in a way, without realising it, she acted as casual and friendly as Nina and Brian did. There was never any sexual or heavy undertones between them… they were just friends.

It was as simple as that.

"I talked to Ozpin once I calmed down as well," he continued. "The headmaster said my family's remains were buried in Ansel, but that Sapphire has a grave here in Vale. I'm going to visit it in a few days… once I've got everything together."

"Do you want me to come?"

The offer was so immediate, so genuine and so… casual. It made him relax and smile back at her. "I'll be fine," he said. "I want to go alone and talk with her. Besides, it looks like you've got your own problems."

"Ugh, don't remind me… are they still glaring at one another?"

He poked his head over her shoulder. "Yep."

"Ruby look lost and alone?"

"Yep."

"God damn it…" Yang sighed and stood up, flicking her blonde locks back over one shoulder. The smile she shot him was honest, if a little exhausted. "Guess it's time for me to go and back her up. I've got a feeling tonight is going to suck."

It looked like it. With a gesture for her to wait, he quickly mixed another drink into a plastic cup and held it out. "One for the road," he said. "You look like you need it."

"Careful, lover boy," she grinned. "Keep doing things like this and I might fall for you."

He rolled his eyes and watched as she went over to rouse her team into action. Yet again, Blake and Weiss simmered as they refused to speak to one another. Ruby looked relieved to have some help. The two sisters both waved to him as they left, and he waved back with a small grin.

"She's nice," a low voice came from his right. Rebecca grinned at him, the smile just a little too wide.

"Don't start…"

"What? I just said she's nice."

"I know what you're thinking." Jaune picked up his cloth and went back to polishing the scuff marks Yang's glasses had made away. "We're not like that."

"You could be. Why don't you ask her out?"

"Because Yang…" he paused to smile. "She's a friend."

An honest to goodness friend… one of the first he'd ever made as Jaune Arc, the huntsman, and not Crimson the dancer. She was a person who appreciated him for his personality, for his words and actions – for his presence beside her, as someone to talk to, as someone to spend time with.

It was… honestly, it was both a humbling and fulfilling feeling; the certain knowledge that someone enjoyed you being around them – the easy way you could share smiles and know what the other was thinking.

He didn't want anything to come between that.

"A friend who is a girl…" she teased.

"For crying out loud… how bored are you?"

"Very…"

To hell with Reg's business plans... he should have known it would suck.

/-/

Yang's hand tightened on her scroll. "Tell me she's there."

"I'm sorry Yang… she hasn't come back. Has she responded to any of your messages?"

Crushing doubt slammed into her as the blonde cursed and kicked at an offending puddle. "Damn it," she hissed. "No. She hasn't even answered my calls. What is Weiss doing?"

"Uh…" Ruby hesitated

It was all Yang needed to know the stupid idiot wasn't doing a damn thing. "Forget it," she snarled. "You stay there and keep trying to call her. She might still come back."

"What will you do?" Ruby asked.

"I'm going to keep looking."

"But it's almost elev-" Ruby's voice was cut off as the call ended. The digits on the screen flickered twenty-two; forty-eight. In the sky, the shattered moon hung low.

Nearly eleven and still no sign of Blake… the last vestiges of hope she'd clung onto seemed to slip away, leaving behind bitter disappointment. How had it come to this? The argument seemed just that, and something they'd surely get over in time, except that now Blake was missing, Weiss refused to acknowledge it, and Yang had no idea if Blake was even safe staying in the city alone through the night.

Her fingers tightened as she dialled the familiar number once more, begging Blake to pick up. She did not. Of course she didn't, and the call marked what had to be the fiftieth she'd made. Something burned within her chest and lilac eyes flashed red, but she took hold of her temper and forced it back down. Getting angry wouldn't help.

To be honest, though, what was going to help?

I've already gone around stores and shops asking if anyone has seen her. Most of those will be closed now and if anything, Blake is probably asleep now. I could try hotels, but they're not going to give information on their guests to a stranger.

Yang clasped her head between her hands, taking deep breaths as she fought for control. Really, none of this even touched the Goliath in the room anyway. If… when she found Blake… what was she supposed to do? Her partner had made the choice to run, which meant that short of tying her down, the girl could just run off again.

Did she care about Blake being a faunus? Hell, no… Velvet was pretty cool and what did it matter if she had cat ears? That just meant the fascination with tuna made sense.

It bothered Weiss, though… or maybe that was the more worrying reveal that Blake was White Fang. Ex-White Fang, she reminded herself. It's different… sort of.

It all depended on just how `ex` she was, since to hear Weiss, it was clear that some pretty shady stuff had happened to her. If Blake had still been a part of it, and a supporter, when those family members Weiss spoke of had been executed? Well… Yang wasn't sure what would happen, but it definitely felt like their team wouldn't come out the same way.

The indecision tore at her. She needed a second opinion. She needed advice, wisdom – an answer to this question, because she sure as hell didn't have one herself. Not her team. They were in the same boat. A person flashed into her head, a friend she could trust, but she shook it away a second later.

Jaune's still dealing with his own problems. I'd be a poor friend to drag him into this.

That left perilously few options on hand.

In fact, it left only one… and despite how she'd disliked it at the time, the advice had been correct. Jaune had taken matters into his own hands and broken free of Cardin. Yang reached into her pocket and pulled out her purse, filled with what little lien she had.

If it helped Blake… it would be worth it.

She second-guessed herself all the way to the club, and once more as she went in the front door. The bouncers no longer questioned her, nor did they give her any surprised looks. She was a familiar face, a regular, and afforded the nods and waves that deserved. "Is Jaune here tonight?" she asked one of them, just to make sure her secret would remain safe. The man shook his head and mentioned something about new rotas. She pretended to listen and nodded distractedly as he wished her a good night.

She hoped to have one too. Maybe it could end with finding Blake and bringing their team back together again.

The VIP section was quiet. The display on the wall revealed no shows tonight, but that was fine by her. She didn't want the distraction. She did, however, see a familiar figure at the bar and strode over to them. "Nina…"

The woman turned about, auburn hair swaying as she held two fingers to her brightly painted lips in a coy smile. "Oh my, if it isn't my little dragon~" Nina crooned. "Have you come to see me at last?"

"Nina, please…"

The beautiful woman's face sobered instantly. She must have sensed the emotion behind her words, or maybe that was clear on her face. Yang wasn't sure which. Either way, the woman pulled a seat out for Yang and bade her sit down. "What's wrong, my dear?"

Yang almost choked at the honest concern in Nina's voice. She caught herself at the last moment. "Is Crimson free?"

"If I may, Yang… I'm not sure that would be a good idea in your current mood."

What did Nina-? Embarrassment surged within her for a second, but she shook her head. "I'm not here for that, Nina. I need advice. I wanted to… Crimson offered good advice last time."

"Did he now?" the woman hummed. "Well, I suppose in the end it is the results that count." She rose from her seat, brushing her long, split-leg skirt to one side and showing a flash of leg. One dainty hand came out to touch Yang's and lift it from the counter. "Come with me, my dear," she whispered, "and I shall take you where you need to go."

Yang accepted it and followed after her, not even paying attention to the jealous – or interested – looks some of the other patrons sent her way. The curtained rooms were a familiar sight, even if she'd only visited them once before. Now, they seemed livelier, noise and muffled sounds of conversation coming from within. The proof of others doing the same as her wasn't nearly as comforting as she thought it would be. It made her feel sleazy, dirty and cheap.

Get your head in the game. You're not here for that.

Nina paused by a curtain and looked to a man stationed outside. He was an employee if the uniform was anything to go by. He shook his head and held up four fingers.

"Crimson is currently with a client," Nina whispered. "He shan't be long, though. Would you like to wait?"

No… in all honesty, no she didn't want outside a stripper's private room while he gave a show to someone. She considered running, even if it would have made her look ridiculous. In the end, it was desperation that kept her there. She needed help, and as stupid as it sounded, he was the only one she could think to come to. A teacher would have been a good alternative if it wasn't for the whole `terrorist` thing. She needed someone who wouldn't – or couldn't – spread on any of this.

The minutes ticked by until the curtain opened. The woman who left was a good five or six years older than her and looked flustered to be seen outside of the room. She fled a moment later, leaving them alone. "I didn't ask, my dear," Nina whispered, "but you do realise the last time was a gift, no?" Yang did and reached out to give over five hundred lien to the woman. She took it easily and pocketed it. "Thank you, my sweet. Now then, I hope you find the answers you're looking for."

So did she. Yang took one look at the leaving woman, another for the bouncer nearby. With a deep swallow, she entered the room and allowed the curtains to close behind her.

Crimson buttoned up his pants, back to her but still topless from the waist up. He glanced back over one shoulder, eyes widening behind his mask. "Oh, it's… Clover." He coughed and turned fully to face her. "Sorry about that, I was a little distracted. It's good to see you, Clover. How are you?"

"Can you… put a shirt on?" She let out a sigh of relief as he turned to do so. She took the chance to settle herself on the pink couch once more, feeling more than a little irritated about how it was still warm. That woman had sat there, likely as she asked him to strip and dance for her.

"I'm decent," he said after a rustle of cloth. "I take it since you wanted me to get dressed that you're not here to have me get out of it?"

"I'm not. I… you were right, the last time."

"I was?" he asked. "Sorry… what exactly was I right about?"

Yang instantly felt silly. Of course he couldn't be expected to remember their last conversation; he did this for a living. While it might have been something unique and memorable to her, to him it was probably commonplace. "We talked about my friend who was being bullied," she said, "You offered advice on what to do about it."

"Ah, John, wasn't it?" he asked. Her cheeks flushed a little. So he did remember. "I seem to recall my advice wasn't very good, though…"

"It worked in the end. Jau-ohn managed to bring things around on his own. I wasn't convinced at first, but you were absolutely right. I should have had more faith in him."

Crimson seemed almost embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head. Somehow, it made him look almost familiar. "I still wouldn't call it the best advice," he said. "I'm glad it worked out, though. No one deserves to lose a friend to something like that."

That struck a little too close to home. "That's why I'm here," she sighed. "I think it might be about to happen again and I need some advice."

He took a seat opposite her. "Tell me about it."

And she did. She told him about Blake, even if she didn't use the name, and she told him about how she was involved in the White Fang, how she had hidden her faunus heritage and how the final member of their team was angry about it.

She kept the names away, kept the word Beacon from the story, but otherwise stuck to it as best she could. "I came here because there's no one else I can think to ask," she said once she'd finished the story. "I would have liked to go to the teachers, my dad or anyone else, but they would have freaked out the second White Fang came out. I can't go to my friends because they're all involved in it."

"What about your friend John?" he asked. "I notice you didn't mention him in the story."

"I don't want to bother him. He has… there are personal problems he's dealing with. It wouldn't be fair for me to drag him into this too."

"I'm sure he would help you, Clover. In fact, I think you should as-"

"No!" The word slipped from her mouth with more force than she'd meant it to. Crimson leaned back and she slapped a hand across her lips a second later. "I mean, look it's… it's not that easy. I just got him back as a friend and he's going through some difficult times. I care about him. I don't want to put any more pressure on him." She sighed and looked up to Crimson. "Is that so wrong?"

"I…" The man blinked and looked away. "It's not wrong," he said, "I suppose that… well, you would know best in that regard. I just thought that he might want to help you."

Jaune helping her? Yang's eyes drifted shut as she laughed. "He would," she said. "He's that kind of person. The other day he even started to talk about how he felt out friendship was unfair because I had to keep doing things for him and he never asked anything in return. It's like he didn't even get that I take away from the friendship too. It's not like I'm his friend because I'm some crazy person who makes friends with everyone she sees. He helps me too, even if he doesn't see how."

He gave her someone to talk to who wouldn't expect more. He was honest; he answered questions based on what he thought and not what he thought she wanted to hear. He would listen to and laugh at her jokes, not because he wanted to impress her but because they amused him. He would smile and bump his shoulder against hers, not because he wanted to get close to her.

But because he was her friend…

"I've already made my mind up," she said. "He's got enough on his plate and I don't want to put more on. He'd put down everything to help me and I don't want that. I feel like I keep dragging him away from his team as much as it is."

"I understand," Crimson sighed. "I can't say I fully agree. If he's your friend, I think you'd find him more than willing to help you… but if you don't want to ask, I won't push."

"Thank you… I just…" she sighed. "I need some advice on what I can do. My friend isn't answering my calls and she won't respond to us."

"What do you want, ideally speaking?" he asked.

"I want her back. I want her back with us where she can be safe and we can work things out."

"And if you found her right now?"

That made her pause. "I'd… I'd talk to her. I'd ask her why she ran and try to convince her to return back with me. I'd try to fix things."

"That's not a bad plan but what about your friends back at the school? You said that one of them was angry, right?" He waited for her to nod glumly. "Then wouldn't that just cause more problems? Even if you brought your faunus friend home, the other would just say something and it would all start again."

Yang's hands tightened into fists atop her knees. He was right. He was right and it hurt, because it meant all the word she'd done so far was for nothing. It was utterly worthless. A hand settled atop hers, and Crimson leaned in as he slowly stopped her from hurting herself.

"Believe it or not, situations like this happen quite often here," he said. "Not quite in the same way, mind you, but we have cases of members of our staff coming here in tears because their family have found out about their jobs and gotten angry. It's not quite the same," he added, "but the results are. Someone runs away from home and can't return because they will be shouted at if they do."

He was right, it wasn't the same. It was, however, just close enough that she could see the similarities. "What do you do?" she asked.

"Normally, we send someone to talk with the family," Crimson said. "It's not easy and I've never done it myself, but the simple answer is that the person can't return home unless the family is willing to listen to them. Both sides need to understand the reasons for the decisions that have been made." He sighed and leaned back, letting go of her. "Sometimes it doesn't matter and things aren't fixed, whereas sometimes things are fixed but they no longer work here. Either way, there has to be understanding and a willingness to actually talk first. Your friends… they're never going to make up and become friends again, unless both of them are willing to listen to the other and hear their reasons."

Their reasons…? Yang's eyes closed as she thought on them. Weiss had obviously been hurt by the White Fang, personally if her tales were anything to go by. She didn't deserve that… she didn't run the SDC.

Blake… she had her own reasons too, right? When she'd fled, she had shouted out about the White Fang not having any choices, or how people didn't listen. They both had reasons for doing what they did.

"You think I should talk to Wei- my friend back at school first, right?"

He nodded. "You're going to have to convince both to open up for anything to happen, but at least you know where she is. It would be a pretty big waste for you to find the faunus, only for her to be frightened off before she gets a chance to explain."

Right… he was right. If she talked to Weiss, convinced her to give Blake a chance, then they could actually get some meaningful dialogue going if – when – they found Blake. She would also be easier to talk to as well, since she'd have Ruby to help and it wasn't like Weiss could run away too. The more she thought about it, the more Yang started to sit up straight. She had a plan, a direction – something she could do to help Blake.

She wanted to get started straight away.

"Thanks Crimson," she giggled, standing up before he could respond. "You were right, you know? Your advice is good. Well worth the money, anyway."

"Oh… uh, thank you, I guess? We still have a good twenty minutes left if yo-"

Yang cut him off by shaking her head, then on an impulse, leaned in to give him a hug. His body felt firm under her arms but she couldn't focus on it. She had to get back and convince Weiss, and then they could save Blake. "It's fine," she said, "Consider the rest of it a tip for helping me. You're the best."

/-/

Jaune blinked as Yang pushed back out of the curtain and ran off. It took him a few seconds to stop staring, and even then it was only when Nina entered that he calmed down entirely. "Well, well," she crooned, "That was quite the conversation."

"You listened in?"

"No need to give me such a fierce glower," she chuckled. "I only caught the end of it… enough to have a general idea of what is going on. So, my dear, what is it you intend to do?"

"Do?" Jaune asked, running a hand through his red hair. "I don't intend to do anything. Yang is going to talk to Weiss and with the three of them looking, I'm sure they'll find Blake if they try hard enough." She hadn't used names, but really, only an idiot couldn't have guessed who the `quiet friend who turned out to be a faunus` was. Unless Ruby had fooled her own family for fifteen years and Weiss Schnee – of all people – was faunus, it didn't leave many options.

"It takes two to tango," Nina pointed out. "The little dragon talking to her friend won't solve the problem, not with the other still running around."

"I know."

"So I'll ask again," Nina repeated, leaning against the wall with arms crossed beneath her breasts. She smirked at him. "What do you intend to do?"

He sighed and pulled off his mark.

"I'm going to go find a missing cat."

When it comes to the Blake Arc, this chapter is intended to be on the day `before` Yang, Weiss and Penny go out. From what I can remember, Blake runs away on one day, but there is a night between that, since the rest of the team is searching in daytime. I imagine this to mean that Blake had to rough at least one night out in Vale.

I could be wrong, but eh, life.

Next Chapter: 7th March

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur