Blake's world was falling apart.
Yang had stared at her for…she didn't know how long. She'd never seen a look like that on Yang's face.
She'd seen it in a mirror once.
She'd seen it after Adam.
It was someone completely lost.
"Yang?" She went to her, and Yang's arms came up, reaching for her. She grabbed her, and Yang clung to her like she was afraid Blake would die if she let go.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Yang what? Gods you… you're scaring me. Is someone hurt?" Blakes ears wilted.
"N- Ye... Yes. Yes. Someone... I hurt someone."
"Yang it's okay. Tell me what happened. Who did you hurt?"
Yang pulled her head back, lavender eyes searched. "Everyone," She whispered. She put her hand on Blake's chest. "There. Right there."
Blake blinked, ears tracing emotions, trying to understand.
"I… I have to tell you something. Something that… that hurts. And it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt you too…"
Blakes eyes widened, and her ears pivoted outward. "That's. Okay." She sat down, and pulled Yang down beside her. "I'm ready. I'm here for you."
Yang swallowed. Started to speak. Swallowed again and almost choked. "I- I promised. I promised Hegs, but it's hard dammit."
Blake tensed. "You promised what..."
"I promised. I promised." Yang was sobbing. "I promised him I'd tell you… I love…I love...
"I love you too, Yang."
"No! You don't understand. I was trying! I was trying to work up the nerve. I was trying to find out how to say it." Blake blinked. "And then you left." Unease filtered up from somewhere inside Blake. "You left. And then you… you found…." Yang's eyes were pleading. "You found…"
"Hegs." Blake's ears collapsed. Her shoulders collapsed. Her soul collapsed. "I found Hegs," she whispered. "Oh Yang. Oh Gods. Oh Gods."
Yang dug her fingers into Blake's shoulders. "I'm sorry, I'm so so… I tried. I tried after to just be happy. Just be happy for you!" She sobbed again, just like she had in Hegs' room. "But I'm not strong. It hurts. It hurts so much..."
Blake leaned forward, and took her closest companion, her partner for over two years, into her arms and wept with her.
It was an ugly cry.
Blake didn't yell.
She didn't demand to know why. Why not before. Why now?
She knew. She had been blind, but she knew. She knew Yang. She knew her bravado hid insecurity. She knew how her worry for her little sister ate at her. What losing two moms had done to her sense of trust. She knew what it felt like to curl up next to Yang, feeling protected. She'd even, more than once, thought about how those lavender eyes would have looked, right after a passionate kiss. She felt a pang in her heart, for what might have been had either one of them been a little more confident. A tiny bit more daring.
A moment of weakness, even.
She pulled back, shaking her head. "Yang, what do I do?" She quietly asked her more-than-friend. Her soulmate.
"I don't know." Yang whispered. "I asked Hegs the same question. And he said… he said I had to tell you and let you decide." Blake's eyes darted toward the door. She must have looked angry, because Yang grabbed her arm. "Don't hurt him. Please. He's. He's in a lot of pain already. He... he believes you're going to choose me."
Blake's eyes widened, then narrowed again. "Of course he does. Because he…he pays attention, doesn't he. To every damn word we say. And he gets in your head." She shook hers angrily, then looked back at Yang. "How'd he get into yours?"
"He- he got me angry enough to kill him, and then he just walked up on me like he had a death wish."
Blake laughed sadly, tears dripping from her jaw. "Yeah. Yeah. That's my boy all right." She sniffled.
"I don't want you to lose him." Tear-stained eyes met. "But I want you, Blake. I want you so much it hurts. I want you to love me… the way I see you love him. I want to give you what I saw him give you.
Blake looked at Yang. She felt love and sorrow and want and terror all at once.
Why do I have to always be afraid? What if I just want… intimacy, closeness, without being worried how it's going to play out weeks or months or year from now?
Blake leaned in, and kissed Yang, gently, on each tear-filled eyelid. And then softly she cupped her face and kissed her tear-dampened lips.
"I love you, Yang. I do."
Yang's heart soared and broke at the same time. Then Blake stood up. "What…"
"I…" she looked at Yang, "No, we…. are going to give that man five kinds of hell." She grabbed the blonde's hand, and pulled her off the bed, eyes hard.
Blake Belladonna, Yang in tow, crossed the hall, to find Weiss in Hegs' room, holding his Scroll, looking lost and sad.
"No. No way. He doesn't get out of this like that." Blake's heart was tearing in half, but she….she was a tough girl. That's what he'd said. That's what he'd saw. She looked at terror, and she was terrified, and she damn well pushed through it anyway.
Wiess shook her head.
Blake's eyes narrowed. She grabbed her Scroll and tapped out a quick message, and glared at the thing until it gave her what she wanted.
*ping*
She read the response. "He's in the fucking machining shop."
Hegsih Jorgensen was lost in a world that wasn't his. And about to lose everything.
He'd figure something out.
He'd figured out one thing, and that was exactly how much he had tied himself to Blake. That he'd used her to anchor himself here, to keep the strangeness of this world from reducing him to a pathetic, homesick, terrified waste of oxygen.
He'd figured out that there was no way in hell that he could stay in this house as a fifth wheel.
He'd figured out that even if she chose Yang, which he fully expected, his continued presence would be corrosive. He'd have to talk to Winter, see if he could get lodgings. Maybe he could be housed with the Atlas scientists or something. He could continue to be useful to them. Maybe find a way to live nearby, just not here. Where he'd see them every day.
He'd figure something out, right?
He'd spent a couple hours, figuring things out, while he kept his hands busy piddling with some of the scrap materials Ruby had shown him. Going from machine to machine and not really trying to make anything, just staying busy. At the same time, he kept in mind what Ruby had told him about each one. How dangerous some of them were. How you had to be careful. Which ones had the least margin for carelessness. The fastest to end up in tragedy.
Accidents can happen around machines like this. Tragic accidents.
That's how he'd ended up at the Dust Cutter, watching a thin, red, superheated glow span the horizontal space in front of him. He could feel the heat off it.
A clumsy man could probably take their head clean off before they knew what had happened, with a machine like that.
He tensed when he heard footsteps behind him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He turned haunted eyes around, dreading what he would see.
And seeing it.
Blake and Yang. Holding hands, fingers tightly intertwined. He felt like he was having a heart attack. "Hey babe. I was… I was just messing around in the machine shop."
Blakes ears tilted. Her glare increased. "Fuck you. You promised me."
"I promised what?" he rasped.
"You promised to tell me the truth. You swore."
Hegs closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out in a shudder. "Look I wasn't-"
He suddenly had arms full of faunus. His heart tore some more. "You can't do this to me," she growled. "You can't…"
"I…" he choked. "I don't know what to do." He clutched at her, like a drowning man. "You've already deci-"
"Shut up. Shut the hell up. Don't say it. Please…" Her voice got quieter and quieter as she spoke, turning it into a mantra as she clung to her… lover. "Please shut up. Please shut up."
Why can't I have happiness on my terms? A small voice insider her cried.
A quiet, high voice spoke softly in the room, breaking through the sounds of three people's misery. "What…what if…"
Three sets of eyes turned toward the young girl in a red cape, moving away from the wall. Silver eyes brimming. Cheeks striped with tears.
"Ruby," he choked. "How long have you been here?"
"Ohh…" her voice trembled. "A while… I wanted… I was making sure you didn't hurt yourself."
Hegsih's eyes closed. He sighed. Good job kiddo.
She walked closer to the trio, eyes flicking between them. "Yang. You love Blake. Right?"
Yang's jaw worked, before she spoke. "Yeah, sis. I love Blake."
"And… and she loves you." It wasn't a question. Ruby turned silver eyes to where Blake and Hegsih clung to each other.
"And Hegs, you love Blake, and she loves you too."
She did that thing again, eyes shifting back and forth.
"Couldn't you just… I mean." She looked down at her feet, for a second. "I don't know how all… that… works. Mating and all. But I love Yang, and I love Blake, and I don't have to choose."
Blake Belladonna felt her eyes widen as she stared at the young girl.
That's not how that works, she started to say. That's different. You can't just...
Who says I can't?
Her eyes dragged back to Hegs.
I can be selfish. "You said… you said." She swallowed thickly. "You said you'd take whatever I would give you."
Hegs searched her face. She saw understanding. His haunted expression slowly smoothed into acceptance. She felt a warmth spread in her chest. She turned back to Yang.
Lavender eyes met amber. Yang nodded, took a deep breath. "I'll take it." She stepped forward.
Who says I can't? She thought, as she was enveloped in love and arms from a strange, dark-skinned man, a brash but insecure blonde woman, and a tearful but giddy teenager, who quietly, unobtrusively, turned off the Dust Cutter before joining in.
Well, you can't be too careful around dangerous machines, can you? Ruby thought.
A/N I hope you enjoyed the resolution of this little feels trip! (Though there will be a final wrap-up chapter this weekend, so stay tuned)