Chapter 28 – dancing till the breaK of dawn


Author's Notes

Fair warning to all the Weiss-haters out there: this chapter marks the beginning of her redemption arc.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!


"Oh, Adam!"

Cinder's black sequin dress certainly was an impressive piece of fabric. Despite being a single tone, the way it shined seemed to change color depending on the angle which it wrapped around her body. A minimalist pattern that resembled the wings of a bird mid-flight curved from her right shoulder down to her kneecaps, widening as it went down. Her dress, her gloves, her shoes – all of it was a matching shade with her hair, suggesting it had been custom tailored to the woman's exact specifications.

All in all…meh.

Probably makes it tough to fight in.

"Cinder."

"Adam, darling, we must be away. I would hate for us to be late to the dance. That would be simply ruinous. We must depart with haste if we are to make it on time."

"I don't particularly care for dancing."

"True, but that little leader of yours insisted you attend, did she not? The sooner we make our appearance, the sooner we can retire for an evening all to ourselves."

"Assuming you meant to say an evening all by myself, then yes. Let us."

Adam wrapped his arm through Cinder's and led her out the door.

"I must say, your tuxedo is quite…ravishing."

"This is my school uniform."

Cinder's smile fell, but it was quickly back up. The change didn't go unnoticed.

"I see. Quite practical. You know, I've always–"

"Stop."

"Why, you certainly know h–"

"I'm serious. Stop. You don't need to convince me. I'm using you because I need you, and you're using me because you need me. I don't care about your reasons, so save your breath and drop the act."

"Very well." The smile dropped, replaced by the only genuine emotion Cinder had shown this far – distaste. "I want to enter the ballroom on your arm, and I want to be seen dancing with you. Then, I'm going to leave you for twenty minutes or less. After that, we can do whatever you need – greet your leader, make love, take a prom picture, never see each other again, whatever."

An alibi. Weird, but I don't care enough to ask. As long as she gets Ruby off my back, she can go snort cocaine in the bathrooms, fuck her boyfriend, or do whatever.

"Fine. Let's be off. The dance awaits."


Ilia knocked on the door to Team Sword's dormitory.

Weiss Schnee was not a woman she ever pictured herself escorting to a formal reception like this one, but it wasn't the end of the world. Ilia wouldn't have been able to stomach chumming it up with Jacques, but the sight of Weiss didn't physically repulse her like she did. As long as they didn't have to hug or kiss, Ilia could handle this.

No one opened the door, so Ilia knocked again and checked her scroll. She was here at the right time, that was for sure. Had Weiss stood her up or something? Ilia had thought she could handle this, but that would be going too far.

"Weiss?" Ilia called, quashing her bubbling frustration. "You in there?"

What could have been a mix between a cricket's chirp and a cat hiccupping came from the bathroom a few doors down. Ilia walked over to it and gently rapped her knuckles against the door.

"Weiss? Is that you? I'm coming in."

"N-No!" a voice said hurriedly. "I'm…I'm indecent."

"Okay. I'll just wait out here until you're ready."

"Um, it's fine. A-Actually, I'm unwell. Yes, that's it. Y-You should go to the dance. Go have fun. I'm really sorry about this, I just can't…"

"I'm coming in, so if you are naked or something, you might want to cover up." Again, that passes the limits of what I can handle. General Ironwood better give me hazard pay for this shit.

Weiss wasn't immediately visible, but one of the stall doors was closed and locked. Ilia checked to make sure that there wasn't anyone else in the bathroom, then locked the main door behind her. If she was going to pry secrets out of Weiss, now would be the time. Emotional outbursts loosened lips, and based on Weiss' voice, she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Weiss? It's me."

"Don't come any closer!" Weiss shrilly demanded.

Ilia froze.

"I-I-I didn't mean to shout." Weiss sobbed on the other side of the bathroom stall door. "I'm sorry, Ilia, I'm sor–nuhhhhhuuuh."

"It's okay," Ilia said hurriedly. "I'll just stay where I am, and we can talk." Ilia sat down and leaned her back against the door separating the two. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"You…the dance…"

"Forget the dance. I'd rather be here with you."

I only ever wanted to go in the first place for the opportunity to get closer to you.

Oh, Dust, that sounds so mis-interpretable.

"A-Are you sure?" the voice behind the door asked weakly.

"I'm sure. Let's talk, girlfriend. Is it about the Combat Practicals?"

"Uh huh. It is."

Unsurprising. While Team Rabies had come out on top due to the r̶a̶g̶e̶-̶i̶n̶d̶u̶c̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶r̶s̶e̶r̶k̶e̶r̶y̶ impressive solo work of Ruby and Ilia's ability to take down Pyrrha fucking Nikos herself (a fact she was proud of to no small degree), Team Sword had been ranked at the bottom of the entire class. Not only would that be humiliating for an uptight prick like Weiss, but it would mean she got last choice of the upcoming missions.

"I'm sure it looks bad now, but the scores don't really reflect–"

"It's not that. Ilia, I…I tried to kill her." Ilia could hear Weiss thud against the bathroom door and slide to the floor. The two of them now sat back to back with the stall between them, though neither could see the other. "I tried to end a human life today. An actual person."

Just rub it in that Faunus don't matter to you, why don't you…

"Not a Grimm. I turned my sword on little girl, barely old enough to be out of her primary combat school, younger even than Whitley…he's m-my brother. I tried to snuff her out like a candle. And I got away with it."

You did. You don't deserve all of the nice things you have – a happy life, an obedient team, billions of lien.

But…human life as opposed to Grimm, not Faunus. I guess that's not as bad as I thought.

"It's not so…well, we all got emotional in that class. Tensions were high, and she had aura, so you probably–"

"But I didn't! I actually wanted to kill her, over some silly duel I lost weeks ago! I wanted to cut through her…Dust, what is wrong with me?! And her aura was broken…I belong in prison. Maybe it would have been better if that Faunus girl had done the deed and killed me."

"Don't say that, Weiss. You have so much to look forward to in your life."

Too much.

"Really, Ilia? Do I?"

You're not going to make this easy for me, are you, you spoiled bitch?

Ilia nodded, even though Weiss couldn't see it. "Yeah."

"I don't. All I had left was becoming a great huntress like Winter, and now I'm going around using my abilities to…I should just die. I hate myself."

"You've got your friends."

"Ah, my dear old team." Weiss' voice curdled like sour milk. "Cardin and Dove, who didn't hesitate to take my side even when I was wrong. That should make me feel happy, but I can't feel anything but sick. I did something horrible, and they all patted me on the back after class and told me how amazed they were with me. The glorious leader of glorious Team Sword can do no wrong in their eyes. And Russel, who enabled me to get away with literal murder. They're good people, better than me, but I'd rather be…"

"…held accountable?"

"Y-Yeah. There's no one to reign me in. I make mistakes, and it's all okay because I'm Weiss Schnee, singer, team leader…h-human. I got away with murder, and I just know that it's only a matter of time before the guilt fades and I feel good about myself and I try it again the next time that child has her back turned."

Ooooookay. This is getting weird. She is surprisingly self-aware of her faults, and I'm beginning to get worried here.

"The only reason I didn't end it all after the Combat Practicals is because I didn't want you to not have a date for the dance. And here I am, ruining it for you anyways. I'm despicable."

"Don't say that, Weiss. Please, don't say that. You have your whole life ahead of you."

"What life? My family name is a curse in Atlas. Without our influence, my father's shitty deeds have come back to bite him, and me as well. The company's gone, the fortune's gone–"

"Ironwood gave the fortune back. I…I heard. The news said that the manor and all the lien was returned once it was separated from SDC assets."

"I never wanted the money. I know everyone probably sees me as this rich bitch who wants to buy her way through life, but I despised that fortune. It was blood money, earned by the vile actions of Jacques Schnee. Besides, it's all gone now."

"I-It is?"

"Daddy Dearest spent every lien from his prison cell. Burned through it on lawyers trying to get back his power, bribes to crooked councilmembers, failed investments to seize new assets, publicity stunts to sway the popular opinion in his favor…sometimes I think that he just spent it because he felt like he needed to in order to still feel important."

"Well, if you never wanted the money, then it's good you don't have it…I guess?"

The back of Weiss' head tapped against the other side of the door. "I wanted the SDC."

"Your family's company?"

"I'm not stupid. I have two eyes, and I see how the world sees us. I was going to fix it. To me, it was never a company. It was a chance to leave my mark on the world. To prove that the name Schnee could mean something again, something positive. It would have been me, Weiss Schnee, who reconciled a broken corporation with my grandfather's dream of a noble business working in the service of Remnant. I planned everything around it – my entire life! It was a guaranteed future." Weiss let out a pained wheeze. "And now it's gone."

"Weiss, um. I don't want to be rude here, but plenty of people can leave their mark on the world without having a multi-billion lien company as a starting point."

"But they all get something. An inheritance, a legacy, an estate. The rich have their plentiful bequests and the poor come into their meager lots in life. Everyone gets what's supposed to be theirs, even if it's just the five-lien chip that belonged to their parents before they died. Everyone but me. I'm the one person in Remnant who's been specifically deemed unworthy of getting anything out of my birthright, all because of something I didn't even do!"

Not everyone. Some people like me didn't get squat.

"The night that General Ironwood seized the SDC was the worst of my life. It was like learning that Atlas had disappeared overnight. Everything I ever knew, gone in an instant. We didn't even get any warning. I learned about it from the general's speech on TV."

Ilia remembered that night. It was easily one of the happiest in her life.

"So here I am. Weiss Schnee. Heiress to nothing, laughingstock of Solitas. I had to come to Beacon because Atlas Academy would've eaten me alive. I have no future. If I climbed to the top of the CCT and jumped, no one would even notice."

I shouldn't say anything.

I should just leave this Schnee cur to rot.

I should…I should…

That was Winter's kid sister in the stall, talking about killing herself.

I can't just leave this as it is, can I?

"Weiss…" Ilia screwed up her courage. "I would notice."

I'm gonna regret this. I'm so gonna fucking regret this.

"Ilia." A hand touched hers. Ilia looked down to see painted white fingernails brushing against her own from the space beneath the bathroom stall door. "You and Winter are the only people that matter to me. I…I may wallow about in my depression, but I won't actually go through with any of the things I say. Not seriously. I wouldn't do that to you two."

Ilia took Weiss' hand into her own and gripped it tightly. "That means a lot to me. It truly does. But Weiss, there's a whole lot more to you that the world still needs to see. You just need to find that part of you and set it free."

Weiss breathed in deeply, then exhaled. "How?"

"Don't think about what's been lost. I once lost everything. My parents, my home, my girlfriend, my entire life – but the only way I pushed forward was by focusing on the future. On my goal."

"Of becoming a huntress?"

Of ruining your father.

Of ruining you.

"Of…yeah. And I'd made mistakes, too. I dwelled on those for years, but I eventually realized something important. No matter what stupid things I'd done in the past, none of it mattered, because I wasn't that foolish, scared little girl anymore. I'd grown."

Also because Papa Military was kind enough to sweep my numerous crimes under the rug, but that's not what Weiss needs to hear.

"That's what you ought to do Weiss. Set a new goal – not something you've always planned on doing, but something you, the current you, actually wants to do. Something that would make you feel like the kind of person you wish to be when you accomplish it. Let nothing get in your way. I guarantee that by the time you've realized that goal, you'll be a different person. A better person. That's how you crawl out of the hole – not by constantly reminding yourself how deep it is, but by keeping your eyes on the light at the top."

"Ilia, whatever mistakes you made, they can't be as bad as what I tried to do yester–"

"I tried to kill my four best friends, including my own girlfriend."

That shut Weiss up.

"Damn nearly did, too," Ilia said, no pride in her voice. "They'd done something horrible, something so unforgivable that I still don't regret despising them, but they didn't deserve how I lashed out to hurt them. I know that now. Tell me, Weiss – do you think I'm a horrible person?"

"No! No, I–"

"Do you think I didn't deserve a second chance?"

"N–"

"Should I have ended it all, just because I lost myself one time?"

"N-No. I see where you're going with this. If I don't expect that from you, I shouldn't expect it from myself. You're correct, Ilia. Thank you for caring about me, when no one else does."

"No problem, gurlfriend. Us shorties gotta stick together, am I right?"

The door opened up, and Weiss came out of the bathroom. Long, smudgy streaks from tears had ruined her mascara, but the smile on her face said that she didn't care about her messy appearance.

"Here, Weiss." Ilia threw her arm over Weiss' shoulder and fished her scroll out of the holster beneath her dress, careful not to accidentally take out Lightning Lash instead. "Let's take a prom photo. This is our night, eh?"

Weiss beamed.

"Say cheese!"

CLICK!

The photo came out perfect, in spite of fact that there was a Schnee in it.

"Say, do you mind sending the photo to me?" asked Weiss, wiping at her ruined makeup. "I'd like to have a memory of tonight. I-In case I ever feel, you know…if I'm ever in a bad place again and need reminding of how to get out of it."

Ilia tossed her scroll to Weiss. "Knock yourself out."

They were in a bathroom, so Ilia decided to quickly check her own makeup in a mirror after seeing the sorry state of Weiss'. "Got any ideas on what your new goal's gonna be?"

"Hmmm. You said it should be something that's based on what I can do with my life now, right? As opposed to what I used to want to do?"

"Exactly. Doesn't matter if Weiss from one year ago wanted to be the CEO of the SDC. What does Weiss today think she can fix about this broken planet if she puts her mind to it?"

"Thank you." Weiss handed Ilia back her scroll. "And I was thinking…I want to make sure no other kid ever has to go through what I went through."

"You set up an orphanage or something?"

"Better. I'm going to stop the Faunus."

Ilia nearly dropped her scroll into the sink.

"Come again?"

"I lost the SDC because of the vile actions of Faunus terrorists. I know I'm never going to get it back, but I can make sure no other child suffers at the hands of those scum. I'm going to make it my life's work to arrest all the Faunus who bring about such pain."

"The White Fang?" Ilia said, desperately clinging to the hope that she hadn't just accidentally unleashed a scourge upon her people e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶k̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶W̶e̶i̶s̶s̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶p̶o̶n̶d̶. "You mean the White Fang?"

"Precisely," said Weiss, nodding her head in agreement as she fixed up her hair in the mirror. "The Faunus."


Quick Author's Notes

About that Weiss redemption arc...I so fucking lied.


Ruby in high heels, or 'stupid lady stilts' as she called them, was a gorgeous disaster and quite possibly the most entertaining thing Blake had ever gotten the chance to watch. She could barely walk, she couldn't dance at all, and she was still having the time of her life. It may have had something to do with Blake continuously catching her before she fell.

"I've never really gone out on a date, so I'm not used to wearing these kinds of shoes," Ruby explained. "But I am a real dancer, I promise! I've danced with Yang all the time as a kid, and my dad and I–"

"I believe you, Ruby."

"I just don't want you to think that I'm not taking this seriously," said Ruby, looking away in embarrassment as Blake caught her once more.

"You can just take off your heels, if you want."

"But I'm supposed to wear them! This is a ballroom dance – I need to be fancy and all that shizz."

"If you say shizz, I don't think you qualify as fancy."

Ruby's face fell, and her hands grew stiff around Blake's waist.

"Holy – Ruby, it was a joke. I was teasing you."

"Oh. Oh, I get it! Sorry, I thought you were…I dunno, mad at me."

"You really worry a lot, don't you?" Blake asked, leading Ruby into a gentle waltz as the previous song ended and a slower one came on.

"I promise not to be clingy or weird about it. It's just that whenever I think about things going back to how they were before, my brain fizzles and I stop hearing things. The weird part is that this has never happened before or anything."

"Probably because you never had a team like the Rabies before. Now that you've got a taste, you can't…" Blake paused. You can't leave it behind.

"Hey, would you look at that!" exclaimed Ruby, pointing with her tongue since her hands were on Blake. "Jaune and Pyrrha are dancing. I guess he finally got the courage to ask her out."

"Or she asked him," said Blake, remembering her conversation from earlier.

"Yeah, I guess. But isn't it usually the guy who asks?"

"Well, you asked me."

"Oh, I was meaning to ask about that. Are you a guy?"

"I–" Ruby's facial expression was completely serious, and Blake had no idea how to respond. "Uhhh, why're you asking?"

"Oh, something Ilia said to me earlier."

Ilia? That makes sense – she's all into joking around and probably pulled a fast one over Ruby.

"No, Ruby. I'm not a man."

Ruby wiped her brow. "Whew. Okay, good, because I really like you and all but I'm not really into guys like that except my dad and maybe Uncle Qrow and I didn't mean it like that but I think you know what I mean unless you didn't and thought I was being extra super gross or something in which case let me clarify that I don't want to smooch my own da–"

Without even thinking about it, Blake pulled Ruby close to her chest and enveloped the girl in a comforting hug. Unfortunately, Ruby had shifted her head at the last second, so instead of Ruby's cheek resting against Blake's heart, Ruby's nose and chin were shoved smack dab in the middle of Blake's breasts.

"Eep! I like girls but not that fast Blake, please!"

"Sorry." Blake released Ruby, who shifted around and got into a more dance-appropriate pose, one fitting for the next song, a particularly slow one. "Ruby, I want to know. Why did you ask me out on a date?"

"That's easy. I like you."

"Yeah, but what about me?"

Ruby blinked innocently. "You."

"Does it bother you to be seen with a Faunus?"

"Nope! Does it bother you to be seen with a human?"

"Not at all. I just want to make sure."

"Don't worry. My dad's super cool and always said that I can bring home any boy or girl or machine gun as long as they treat me right. I think he's overcompensating for all the childhood trauma stuff because he feels bad about neglecting me."

"Well, I'm glad he did."

"W-What?" asked Ruby, the inklings of a frown showing on her lips. Blake immediately realized how poorly she'd phrased it and raced to correct herself.

"Glad he says you can date! Not about the other stuff."

"Right, of course." Ruby's chipper demeanor returned. "So, what about you? Can I expect any tiger mommas and puma daddies grilling me to see if I'm good enough to be with their little Blakey-Cakey?"

Tiger.

Sienna.

Parents.

Blake pushed away from Ruby.

"Wait, Blake! Come back! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to–"

Blake was already out the door. The hare Faunus called out to her as she pushed past another couple entering, but she needed to get away. Staggering outside, Blake kicked off her shoes and ran.


Adam waited patiently for Cinder to return. He could probably have snuck off and risked Ruby's ire if he tried, but he'd made a commitment and fully intended to follow through with it. Everyone always said that he needed to treat Faunus and humans equally, and he absolutely wouldn't have bailed on Cinder if she possessed antlers or a snout, so he supposed it was only right that he stuck around.

Blake had already left, and Ruby went after her. Ilia was nowhere to be seen, but she hadn't sent out a text for help, so Adam figured she was probably alive enough. He recognized Cardin, Russel, and Dove with their dates, but they weren't the ones who piqued his interest.

Team Yellowjacket-P currently held the dance floor's full undivided attention with their, as Ilia would say, 'tricked-out moves.' Jaune and Pyrrha, both clad in dresses matching their hair, were moving in perfect synchronicity. Every time his hands moved to the rhythm, Pyrrha's would follow instantaneously. Her legs swept across the floor in time with his, and they could have been each other's mirror image if not for the fact that they were standing side by side. Adam would have bet hard lien that they'd practiced this instead of studying. But I thought he only recently asked her out, because he was so caught up on the Schnee? Whatever…

Also, Yang. Try as she may to keep up, every move she did was a second or two behind the others. They twirled around in a circle, she awkwardly repeated with a brief delay. They spread out their hands and snapped, she tried to do so as well, albeit much slower and without half as much grace. Everything she copied was obviously unpracticed, and her eyes were glued to her teammates in a blatant but failed attempt to try and keep up with them in real time. They were flawless, and she was a third wheel. Sky wasn't even dancing, and he was doing a better job than Xiao-Long.

"Adam?"

"Ah, Cinder." Adam took her hand. "You finished?"

"Quite. Now, you wanted to prove to–"

"She's already gone. Let's take a photo. I can show it to her at a later date if she presses the issue."

"She's…gone? This early? Do you know why?"

"No."

Adam held up his scroll and snapped an image.

"You may go."

"I…ok. If you don't mind, I feel–"

"I don't mind. Go."

Cinder scowled at him and walked off.

Pressing the button on his scroll to send the message and the attached photo, he turned his attention back to the party. He didn't truly care to participate, but he did want to deal with one thing before departing.

Russel Thrush was dancing with a Vacuoan woman, garbed in some sort of flimsy dress that looked like it was so threadbare that it would peel off. Perhaps it would, later tonight, but Adam was focused on one thing.

"You. Boy."

The dancing couple separated. The Vacuoan female tried her best to look polite, but it was obvious she was unhappy with the interruption. "One of your friends, Russel?"

"Not exactly, Dew. Adam, was it? Can I help you with something? I'd like to get back to my date."

Adam grabbed Russel by his bowtie and pulled him in close. "If your team ever tries to harm mine again, know that there is no place from here to the burning depths of Vacuo from which you can escape my–"

"You know, I've never thought Faunus were stupid, but you sure do like to give stereotypes that one grain of truth, don't you?"

"Don't you dare–"

"I got all your asses out of trouble. And now my team's giving me the cold shoulder for not backing their story." Russel pried Adam's hand off of his tuxedo. "I've got a date, man. Just leave me alone."


"Blake, wait up!"

In hindsight, trying to outrun Ruby was a tactical blunder. Still, Blake was emotionally compromised right now, so she could forgive herself for not being in peak decision-making form.

Blake stopped running. General Ironwood always said it was pointless to run when capture was inevitable. The only option that remained was to fight or surrender.

Blake didn't feel like fighting.

Ruby caught up to her in a rose-scented breeze. "I'm so sorry! I didn't meant to be a dick! I thought it would be a cute way to describe your parents, not a racist one! Is tiger…uh, 'your' word?"

"It's not that, Ruby. You just…dragged up some unpleasant memories."

"You don't like your family? Oh my gosh, did they abuse you?"

"No. They…They were killed by the Atlesian military. They were murdered."

Blake scrunched up her eyes and held back the tears. Thinking about mother and father, telling that story for all these years, keeping up the ruse even for Ruby – it wasn't easy.

"Blake, I am so–"

"–sorry for my loss," finished Blake for her, then kept going with the usual dialogue that followed. "You didn't know. You never would have said anything if you had. Is there anything you can do? No, Ruby, there isn't."

Getting mad at Ruby wasn't the right thing to do, but it would probably solve the issue. Ruby would get offended and leave Blake to stew about in her misery all by herself, just like she wanted.

Except it didn't work.

"You're right. Apologies don't change anything, and empty platitudes are just as meaningful. But you don't need to push me away. I can just be here with you."

"I think I'd prefer to be alone."

"No one wants to be alone. Trust me – I know."

Blake collapsed into a bench and growled into the night sky. "Why? Why do you have to be so damn hard to be upset with?"

Ruby answered by sitting down next to Blake and resting her head on her shoulder.

"If talking will help, we can talk. Otherwise, I'm content to just sit here."

"It's okay, Ruby. You talk."

Blake couldn't talk about it. How was she supposed to open up to Ruby about what had happened to her parents when the events surrounding their death had directly propelled her into K? She couldn't give her date the whole truth, and Ruby was clever enough to see through any gaps in a fake story if Blake chose to give one.

"It's not the same, but my mom died when I was little. I know what it's like to lose a parent. The confusion about where they went, the guilt over whether it was your fault, the rage you feel towards the world–"

"The rage," Blake whispered. "Not the other stuff, but the rage."

"It must've been a Grimm or something that killed my mom. I always knew I was going to be a huntress, but that set it in stone. I was going to find that Grimm and tear it up into little tiny pieces. I thought it would make the pain go away, but now I'm not so sure. My body count must be in the thousands. Beowolves have started to become a nuisance because they're so easy. But I still have that missing part of myself."

"I can't talk about my parents," Blake said. "I can't. But I can tell you this: getting revenge won't be the thing that fixes you, but I felt pretty damn good when I did."

Ruby shrugged. "Then maybe I should find whatever Grimm I'm after."

"No. You shouldn't. There's too much that you love in this world for you to obsess over vengeance. The Grimm are all indistinguishable. You'd never know for sure if you'd killed it, and it would never bring you peace. Your quest would go on forever. I know exactly what happened to my parents, and the people who did it have been brought to justice. Legally – they're still alive, just in prison."

"I know," Ruby said while nodding. "I know. But hey, you said that all Grimm are indistinguishable. I don't think that's exactly true. For instance, I once saw a Beowolf with a gnarly scar over its right eye. Actually, come to think of it, it kinda reminds me of Weiss."

"I could imagine," said Blake, laughing despite herself. "Where did you see it?"

"Oh, it was when we were on vacation in Mantle! Have you ever been?"

Yes.

"I can't say I have. Why don't you tell me all about it?"

"Okay, so the first thing you gotta know is that Mantle is how cold it is…"

Blake closed her eyes.

This isn't bad. I could get used to this.


James: I've never seen her before. I'll look into it. Any context?

Adam: Just a suspicion. Thank you, sir.

When Cinder had come back from the dance, her right glove had a tear in it. Nothing too troublesome, but it was the kind of thing that would happen if she hit someone. On top of that, she'd smelled like a firearm discharge. James had rotated all sorts of tutors to train Adam on the basics and advanced mechanics of all sorts of different guns, knowing that he would have to be on the receiving end of Atlas' when he infiltrated the White Fang. Cinder reeked of C-260 Lightning Dust multi-assault rounds. That, in tandem with her glove, was enough to warrant investigation.

After all, you could never be too careful.


Ilia entered their dorm room.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late. Things got a bit out of hand with Weiss."

"Thank the Brothers," said Adam. "You're finally back. Can you fix Blake? I think she's broken."

The cat Faunus was lying on her back in bed, knees crossed and propped up. Her face had a goofy, lovesick expression on it, and she was blowing a rose petal into the air. At its peak, she stopped, and the petal fluttered down onto her lips. She blew it again, repeating the whole cycle.

"She's been doing that for the past hour. I'm trying my best to tune it out."

"Date go that well, huh?" said Ilia.

"I think I'm in love."

"Nice."

It did sting Ilia, but the pain was fading. She'd never had a chance with Blake, and that was just a fact. Being with her, on Team Rabies and as a part of K, might just be enough, even if Ilia would rather have been the one for whom Blake pined endlessly while lying in bed. Still, Ilia cared about her crush, so the least she could do was be supportive of Blake and Sun. Who knew? Maybe a not-make-believe boyfriend for Blake would finally be what got Ilia over her unrequited feelings.

"What'd you guys get up to?"

"Well, we danced a bunch, then I sorta ran away, but it all worked out. After that, we just talked. For hours. I know it sounds boring, but I actually had a good time. After that, we danced a bit more, this time on our own. I decided to call it a little early, but the party's still going, so–"

"Wow," said Ilia. "How'd you find time to do all that stuff and go out with Ruby beforehand?"

The petal fell off of Blake's lips. "I was with Ruby."

"Not that monkey boy you were making googly eyes with?" asked Ilia. "Sun?"

"No. Googly eyes? I wasn't making googly eyes at anyone!" Blake said, as though the implication offended her. Ilia wasn't sure of her protestations; she'd clearly been staring when Ruby brough home Sun.

Ilia plugged her scroll in to charge. "So who're you crushing on, then?"

"Ruby."

"What about her?"

Blake looked at Ilia. Ilia looked at Blake.

The realization sank in.


"Y-You and her?"

"Yeah. I mean, we did go out on a date."

"But – but that wasn't supposed to be a real date! I thought it was a mission thing!"

"Ruby's innocent!" said Blake, sitting up. "We all agreed."

"But she's still tied to the – to Ozpin! That's why you–! Not because–!"

Adam angrily pushed past Ilia and slammed the door behind her. "Seriously, you two? Right into the hallway, where who knows who might be out there?" It was bad enough that Ilia chose to shout so loudly; the least she could do was exercise the most basic caution when talking about their mission. She hadn't even said K.

"Ilia, why are you so distraught about this?"

"You don't like girls, Blake! You never did!"

"Well, sure I do."

"But you and Adam! In the White Fang!"

"For Dust's sake, we were a pretend couple. You know that, Ilia."

"But you still – I thought – it seemed so…how? How could you?"

Blake stood up. "How could I what? What is the problem here?"

Adam looked at Ilia's face, her features wracked with sheer and utter horror.

"Ilia," he said. "Do you mean to say that this whole time, you thought Blake wasn't…?"

Ilia looked at him, tears pouring out of her eyes. Her skin flushed blue – chameleon Faunus blue – and she ran out the door.

Fuck. This was bad. This was mission-ruining, K-ending bad. Adam had always figured Ilia was too shy, or too professional, or too anything, but never too stupid to realize what seemed so obvious to him. Now, she was running around, advertising her Faunus heritage to anyone around her.

"What was that all about?" asked Blake.


She could have been mine. She could have returned my feelings, but I never even worked up the courage to ask. Years, wasted!

Ilia had been stuck in her negative feedback loop for hours. The pain made her hate herself, and the self-hatred forced her to dwell on Blake, and that just ended up bringing her more pain. It was probably 0300 or 0400 hours by now.

The hallway she'd hidden herself in was not private in the slightest, but where else was she supposed to go? She couldn't return to their dorm, she was too out of sorts to do any scouting, and she was too volatile to seek out shelter at a friend's room. She had nowhere to turn to, no one to help her. Never had she felt so directionless. After all this time, she was still nothing more than a crying child on a bench outside a Mantlean church.

"–wearing a dress! And the worst part was, it was the same dress as mine!"

"Well, Yang, that may be true, but I think I wore it better."

"He did! Jaune so wore it be–"

Team Yellowjacket-P's conversation halted when Pyrrha stumbled over Ilia's foot. Ilia hadn't tried to trip her, but she hadn't exactly tried to move out of the way either. Pyrrha didn't deserve to be walking around on top of the world, all happy and merry and cheery. No one deserved to be happy.

"What was – cripes! Guys, there's something there!"

A scroll flashlight turned on, illuminating Ilia's scowl. She raised a hand to block the bright light from her eyes.

"AAAAH!" cried Yang, recoiling back.

"Yeah, I know. I hate me too." Ilia brushed away her tears.

"I-Ilia?" asked Jaune. "Is that you?"

"Fuck off."

"Why is your skin so dark black? And what–"

Ilia saw her own hands turn bright red as she lunged toward Jaune, screaming. The blond boy tripped backwards and fell to the floor. Ilia, satisfied with her hateful display, sat back down and curled up in the dark corner she'd been hiding in.

"I said fuck off."

It was a weak, pathetic utterance, but it got the point across.

"Jeeze, I–"

"Jaune, let's go. She wants to be alone."

"But she's our friend! If something's wrong, we can't just–"

Ilia's neck snapped back, and she hit her head against the wall with a resounding crunch. "Just listen to them, you stupid human. Leave."

"I…okay."

Ilia's friends walked off, glancing over their shoulders at the scary, mean, ugly Faunus that no one loved.

No, that's wrong. They're not friends. I don't have friends. I don't have family.

All I have is…

Ilia pulled out her scroll. It rang for a few seconds before picking up.

the mission.

"General."

"Ilia. You know, you can always use Penny to conta–"

"Sir. I have some…intelligence…that I need to report on. Urgently."


Ilia still was nowhere to be found when Blake woke up. She opened her mouth to ask Adam, but he pre-empted her and shook his head.

"I haven't seen her."

"But we're getting missions today! We need her!"

"Blake…"

"The missions might be easy for us, but we still need to do them! It's our cover! We're students!"

"Blake. Ilia is in a very, very, very bad place right now. I think the best thing you can do is give her some space."

"That's stupid," said Blake. She stood up and walked to the door. "She's my friend, and I'm going to help her. K doesn't leave our own behind to face problems by themselves."

"Blake." Adam blocked her path. "Right now, you are the problem."

"What is this?! What did I do that's got everyone in such a tizzy?"

"Nothing. And normally I'd chew out Ilia for blaming you, but she's emotionally fragile right now. Even the smallest–"

There was a knock on their door. Blake shoved past Adam and rushed to open it.

"Ilia, wh–"

It was Ruby. Her silver eyes were wobbling in their sockets, and she looked like she was about to burst.

"Blake! It's horrible!"

"What?" Adam asked, terror creeping into his voice. "What happened to Ilia?"

"Ilia? Nothing! It's Jaune!"

"Arc? What about him?"

"They're saying he faked his transcripts to get into Beacon, and the teachers found out. He's been expelled!"


Author's Notes

Ilia, what did you do? WHAT DID YOUR FEMCEL ASS DO?

By the way, here's a poll on who you think killed Marrow: forms dot gle /3EGGEfhxs1cgYrZE7. Feel free to fill it out and cast your vote. Results will be regularly tallied and presented.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!