I'll be taking a week off starting Saturday 15th April. I'll be back to writing the next Saturday 22nd April. Just forewarning here.

I think I'm beginning to see why I need it because I've had stress headaches for two days now. Doctor says it's not the "quantity of work" that is causing it, but the fact that it's too consistent. Basically, I work 7 days a week between my normal work and my writing, and he thinks that while my writing is by no means "adding to the stress" and might even be helping to relieve it a little, it's not relieving it as fast as actual rest would.

My head this morning feels like it's about to split down the middle.

I wrote 2,000 words in one hour and then took another 4 hours to write the rest. Headache just hit right then and grounded me.

Cover Art: Kirire

Chapter 48

The massage parlour had looked surprised to see Blake back so soon, especially looking so tense and so utterly broken. They'd accepted her money all the same however, and she was soon laid face down on a bed as several girls took to massaging her back and shoulders, her legs, her feet and even each hand. Paying for so many at once would have been ridiculous for most people, but she needed the tension beating out of her, and ARC Corp paid well.

The idle chatter helped too.

"Last night was so crazy!" said one of the masseurs. "First the grand theatre goes up and then I heard one of the biggest hotels in the city is being evacuated."

"It was a false alarm though, wasn't it?"

"You can't blame them for taking it seriously when you can see the fire across the city. Plus, there were police cordons around it this morning. Something went down there, just that it wasn't a fire. There are all sorts of rumours. I heard someone jumped off the building."

"A suicide? But there was no reported body."

"Maybe it was one of those base jumpers. You know how they like jumping off tall places they're not supposed to. They probably had a parachute and sailed to safety."

"I can't imagine doing that for fun."

"Yeah, but some people fight Grimm for fun too. It's a crazy world we live in."

Blake groaned softly in agreement. They didn't know just how crazy this world was, but at least the stories were moving away from the truth. Coda had removed all video footage as promised, so the only information online was hearsay. The police had "misplaced" her and Jaune's weapons, both picked up from the scene of the crime, and they'd apparently be delivered back to them soon as per the council's orders. Unfortunately, that meant they had to cover Winter's ass as well, because accusing her would have meant she could accuse them in turn.

"Crazier still is how you're this tense when you only came here a week ago!" said the girl by Blake's shoulder, using her elbow to work oil between Blake's shoulder blades. "We get all kinds of high-flying execs with stressful jobs but they don't feel half as worked up as you. Damn, girl. Your muscles have muscles and they're all knotted."

"It's been a stressful week…"

"We can tell!" they all chorused.

"Seriously, what's got you this worked up? Last you were here it was your crushing on your boss. Is that still a thing?"

"I was not crushing on him!" Blake yelped. They all made noises that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than highly doubtful. "And it's complicated, okay?"

"Because of his family-"

"And the fact he's your boss-"

"And that he's hot!"

Oh, he was hot all right. Red hot. Burning hot. Hotter than fire. Literally. Jaune was burning up worse and worse, and Winter's little gambit almost sent him over the edge. Blake still didn't know how his family was going to react to that, but she had a feeling it would be poorly.

"You're all much too thirsty," said Blake.

"Most of us are taken. We're just enjoying the sappy drama through you. So, have you kissed him yet?"

It was obviously meant as a random tease, but Blake's entire body tensed up and her face and shoulders flushed bright red. The girl massaging her fingers noticed and squealed, pointing at her face. Blake desperately shook her head but the girl yelled out: "She's did! She did!"

"Oh my!"

"You go, girl!"

"Score!"

"Damn it all," groaned Blake. "It's not what it sounds like. It was a stressful moment, he was freaking out-"

"And you thought that pinning him down and pushing your tongue into his mouth would calm him down, right?" teased one girl. Blake's silence was damning. "Wait, really!? I mean that as a joke! You seriously did that!?"

"It… It was… There wasn't much time to think. Okay?"

The masseurs giggled and tittered away, their hands continuing to work the tension out of her – which was the only reason Blake hadn't fled in embarrassment already. Her body was too boneless to run right now. They had her captured. Trapped. And like the jackals they were, they descended on her helpless body.

"How was it?"

"Did he kiss back?"

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Did you go further?"

"On his desk? Over it? Under it?"

"Yeah, she's the only one of us that's single. You can tell."

"Let me live vicariously, damn you!"

"We didn't do anything beyond that." The physical question of how they would popped into Blake's mind against her wishes, her brain quickly working out which poses would and wouldn't lead to third-degree burns. Over a desk with him behind would be fine as long as he used gloves and-

No! Bad brain! Bad!

"She's bluuuushing~"

"I paid for a massage!" growled Blake. "Not a grilling."

"It's a free extra. So, are you and him an item now?"

"No. We're not."

"But you kissed-"

"A kiss isn't a contract."

"But it's a fairly obvious sign you want there to be one. Don't tell me he's just ignoring the fact."

"Scum…" said another girl.

"He's not ignoring it. He's…"

Writing it off? Accepting it was just to snap him out his transformation? Blake wasn't sure. There was a part of her that thought he was just so resigned to the idea of never being able to experience intimacy that he had a mental block. Or he could absolutely have an idea and just be trying to tell her to back off by refusing to return any interest.

Not that she had any interest or anything…

Damn it. Even she wasn't convinced by her own bullshit.

"I have a bad record with guys…" said Blake. The girls sensing a serious moment, stopped giggling and kept massaging.

"Want to talk about it?" asked one.

Yes.

No.

She wasn't sure.

"I guess you can say I have a type. And that type hasn't exactly been a good choice in the past. I keep getting drawn to strong personalities, and strong people, and my last boyfriend was… uh… let's say he was on the wrong side of the law."

"A crook?"

"You could… definitely say that. He had a bad record and was wanted and… well… I don't know why I feel for him. He was charismatic, he was passionate, he had drive and a goal and he'd do anything to reach it. I think I liked that about him. He was larger than life. Bigger than other people. Everyone else was just meandering along being unhappy about their lives, but he refused to. He was going to burn the world down and make it better." Blake sighed. "I guess I got caught up in that."

"I mean, that sounds kinda hot."

"Rachel!"

"No. No. I mean that it does sound impressive so I don't think it's totally unreasonable to have been drawn in by him." There were a few murmurs of agreement. "And it's not like he was killing and eating babies or anything, right?"

"He wasn't that bad."

"Then sure. It's reasonable. I mean, you liked his passion – not his crimes."

That was probably the nicest way anyone had ever talked about her relationship with Adam. Her parents had been against it, and rightly so in hindsight, but she remembered at the time being so angry that her mom and dad thought they could tell her who to like and who not to like. It was her life, her choice, and she'd been in love with him. Ugh. Just looking back, she wanted to catch her younger self in a headlock and choke her out.

"I'm just worried this is more of the same," she said. "Jaune is a much better guy, and he's definitely more legal with his work." Sort of. Technically, it was legal, but technically they also broke a lot of laws that applied to most people. "And he's nothing like my ex, but he is strong and he is passionate and he feels larger than life sometimes, and I'm worried it's just me being swept up in all that again."

"He has money too," chirped a girl.

"And that," admitted Blake. Money had never been and still wasn't a big deal for her, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't like being able to buy whatever she wanted, whenever. And have massage sessions like this. "But I'm earning that money with or without romantic feelings. Trust me, with the shit I've been through lately I've more than earned this."

"We can tell. A trophy employee wouldn't have a body as utterly wrecked as yours."

"On the guy though," said another. "Is it such a big problem if you are crushing for whatever reason? So, you have a type. That's only a problem if you're still picking out super dangerous and questionable partners. Is he a good guy?"

"Yes."

"Is he handsome?"

"I mean, yeah…"

"Does he treat you right?"

"He works me to the bone and drags me out on the stupidest jobs. And we've nearly died ten times already." Blake sighed. "But I guess that's the job. He treats me like any other employee, but that's not bad. It just means he's fair."

"Girl, you're already making excuses for him before anyone even says anything bad. Face it. You're into him. And why not? We've seen his picture. He's decent looking, filthy rich, humble, young, physically fit-"

"Well-dressed," chimed in one girl. "That suit!"

The rest hummed their approval. "Face it, there's nothing bad about him. I don't know what's holding you back other than your own hang-ups."

"It's his baggage," said Blake.

"How bad can it really be? You said it was family-related but you can avoid family. Trust me, no one likes their in-laws. Mine called me a slut for touching topless men. Like, what? Are you going to say a surgeon is a slut for touching men when she cuts them open?"

Avoiding Jaune's family was a hell of a lot more complicated. Not to mention his physical deformities – which she really couldn't bring up because he didn't have any to look at, so they'd want to know more and then his burns would get out. Even leaving aside their anomalous nature, she thought it would be cruel to tell people what Jaune obviously wanted to keep hidden. There was a reason he went everywhere in long sleeves.

It didn't bother her that much, though. Yes, they'd been horrific to look at for a while and she'd found them repulsive. Blake felt bad about that, but a physical reaction like that wasn't unreasonable. There were evolutionary reasons behind why she'd recoiled. But over time, she'd gotten used to them and now just saw them as another part of him. The same as she had for Adam's brand across his face. It became just another feature, just another part of a person she lov-

"Fuck," groaned Blake.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just keep massaging please. And leave this conversation alone."

"Uh-huh. Sure. We'll give you a break this time – but when you come crawling back in a few days with your muscles as hard as diamonds, you better believe we want updates."

The worst part was that she was sure she would be back. The fallout of Winter wanting to commercialise anomalies like that was bound to be a stressful affair. Blake would be surprised if it didn't prompt a similar level of force as Mountain Glenn had.

/-/

Blake stretched her arms high above her head as she left the spa feeling relaxed, loose and a little more "real" than she entered. A girl could get used to that, she thought, conveniently ignoring the part where she was already hooked. Jaune had been right to tell her to actively spend her money. ARC Corp paid well for a reason, and that reason wasn't so you could watch arbitrary numbers in your balance scale up and up.

Jaune had been kind enough to give her the morning off, guessing that the city would be relatively quiet after all the drama. He'd been right. The anomalies were keeping their noses down, and the Schnee had pulled out. It was the average folk now who busied about picking up their lives and acting like nothing had happened.

It was tempting to go back to her apartment, switch on a movie and just laze the day away, but she'd been meaning to catch up with her parents for a while now. She'd promised to stay in touch now she had a stable (legal) job, and she really had meant to. It was just that things kept getting in the way, and every job they took was just so important that she couldn't find the time.

"Well, no time better than now. I'll probably be on another job soon picking up after the SDC. Ugh."

It shouldn't be possible for them to cause her more trouble than they had as a faunus in the White Fang. Back then they'd always been the enemy, but she, and probably a lot of other faunus, had deep inside known it was more the system, and Jacques, and exploitative business practices. The plight of the faunus was more than just one family. That wasn't the case now. The Schnee were well and truly her greatest enemy, and it was hard to point the finger at anyone other than them.

On her way to the closest CCT Call Centre she stopped in a newsagents to pick up a newspaper and a bottle of mineral water. The man behind the counter noted her ears, but then noted her crisp suit and wisely remained silent, ringing up her purchase without complaint. Walking outside, Blake turned the newspaper over in her hands and checked out the front page story.

"DOG PLAYS PIANO FOR CHARITY" it read.

"Seriously?" asked Blake, rolling her eyes. She flipped a few pages in to find the story about the arson at the theatre. "People really need to get their priorities sorted out. Hmm. Let's have a look. Unexpected arson – when is it expected? – suspected teenage hooligans. Calling for more measures against anti-social behaviour in youths. Man, they really went with that angle? I guess I should be happy they didn't blame the faunus."

It was almost certainly someone at the council who pushed it because Jaune hadn't had the time to write anything himself. She supposed it did the job, even if it felt unfair to blame it on other people. The story at the hotel was still unfolding, but right now it was a footnote mention of a "prank" setting off the fire alarm, and some idiots tossing things from the roof. There was a lot of talk about reckless individuals and stunts and influencers wanting to make the next viral video, but there was more space in the newspaper dedicated to a review of a new sports car then there was their attempted assassination of Winter Schnee.

It was almost disappointing.

Almost.

I guess it works in our favour. I mean, with Coda able to access any systems she could change the whole city's news if she wanted. Come to think of it, she could expose ARC Corp in a second if she could take over every TV set on Remnant.

It was no wonder Jaune had freaked out and tried to shut her down, and it was a relief they'd managed to come to even this unsteady peace. Maybe she could step in and make things better – offer a more sympathetic ear to the anomaly and smooth things over. Blake paused, wondering when she'd become so invested, then shrugged it off. This was her job now, her office, and she felt strangely proud of its methods, especially compared to the Fist or Blades Offices. If Jaune's methods could be rolled out across Remnant then ARC Corp could become an agency dedicated to helping anomalies stay hidden and imprisoning those that did not, which had to be better than eradicating all of them.

Rolling up the newspaper and sliding it into a recycling bin, she opened her water and took a drink, then slid into the call centre. The overworked receptionist signed her in and took her money for rental of a private room, then offered her a key card to get inside. "Room 101. You have thirty minutes," she droned. "Please leave the room as you found it."

Rolling her eyes, she quickly walked past the rows of people loudly talking over one another at booths and unlocked the private room, slipping inside and locking it before taking a seat at the fancy desk and activating the screen. She slid her scroll into the socket and pressed her mother's name, leant back and took another drink, rather excited to be catching up again.

It was good to know she could call whenever she wanted and not have to fear her parents' reactions like she had before. It was good to know that was all behind them and they were a family once more. Blake smiled as the call was answered and her mother's surprised face appeared. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Hi mom." Blake waved at the camera. "It's me. Surprise."

Kali's face registered confusion at the international call, then immediate joy when she saw whose picture appeared on the other side. "Blake!" she crowed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Oh, if we'd known you'd be calling I wouldn't have let your father go out shopping. It's been weeks. How are you? How have you been?"

Weeks. Blake felt bad for that even if it probably meant little compared to the years she'd avoided her parents. They would be thrilled just to know she didn't hate them, and satisfied with one call a year if she let them be.

"I'm sorry I didn't call sooner, mom. It's just been a hectic few weeks."

"That's no problem, darling. I must say you look awfully relaxed right now."

"I just had a massage and spa treatment over here. I kind of needed it after everything that's gone on. How are things in Menagerie? There haven't been any unusual occurrences, have there?"

"Unusual-? Oh, you mean like the disappearances from before. No. Nothing like that. Sienna made a big show about the traitor in her ranks who led those poor children astray. She's been working with your father of late to prevent anything like that from happening again."

"Sienna and dad? I thought they hated one another."

"They disagree on many things but not on the security of children. Besides, I think this is a good thing. Sienna and I have our own disagreements but I don't think any of us should come to blows. How has work been? Stressful?"

"I guess so. It's better they get on than not." She hadn't thought she'd ever see the day since dad hated Sienna for taking the White Fang away and corrupting them. "And things have been a bit tough lately. We've had some crazy jobs."

"More disaster recovery?"

"Kinda. We had a missing person to locate in an old resort and then some extreme civil unrest with an… I suppose you could call them an underground gang. It's been crazy."

"Did you find the missing person at least?"

"Yes. We returned him to his wife and children so it was a happy ending. It just took us several days and a lot of awkwardness." The stupid party-anomaly had trapped them in their hallucinations and made them drink themselves stupid.

And make out, thought Blake, flushing. The clerk said we were all over one another, but the anomaly didn't actually make people horny, did it? It only made them super happy and super drunk. The fact we were all over one another was because that was our natural reaction to being in that state.

Blake whined unhappily and sank into her chair. Why was she only realising that now? Oh, bloody hell, had Jaune realised it already? He had to know the anomaly hadn't done all that, which meant her drunk ass had been the one pawing all over him. It was no wonder he hadn't said anything; he didn't want to embarrass her.

"And how is Jaune doing?"

"Oh my god," groaned Blake, pinching her face. "Can we stop talking about Jaune for one second! Give me a break!"

Kali was silent.

Contemplative.

Eventually, she said, "This is the first time I mentioned him."

Blake cringed.

"And I was only doing so to be polite."

"Um."

"But that's quite the interesting reaction there, dear. I take it you've been having a few talks about Jaune lately. Quite troublesome conversations by the sound of it."

"That's… well…"

"Is he mistreating you?"

"No! He'd never!"

"I didn't think he would." Kali's smile was dangerous now. Haunting. There was a satisfied, smug quality to it that had Blake's ears drooping. "Which leads me to believe your rather explosive reaction is for an altogether different reason, hmmmm?"

"Mom, please. Don't."

"Hmm. If you're that embarrassed. I'll just say I approve of him much more than I ever did Adam."

"Mom! Stop!"

"I won't tell your father either."

Blake groaned into her hands. If there was one person she hadn't wanted to knot about this then it was Kali. Damn those gossips back at the spa. "Just leave it be, mom. This is way more complicated than you know. And way more complicated than Adam."

"I'll trust you on that one. Just remember that being honest with your feelings helps."

Not here they didn't.

"But let's talk on other things if that's too hot of a topic right now. How are you settling into Vale? Have you made any friends outside of work? Picked up any hobbies?"

Relieved at the safer topics, Blake settled down and started to chat.

/-/

Jaune, thankfully, was much too busy with the Schnee business to put anything together or even comment at all. He'd have missed it even if she stripped naked. Well, probably not, but he was heavily distracted at any rate.

"It's going to be another meeting with my family," said Jaune. "On the bright side, not in Vale. We're headed to Argus. Should only take a day this time. There's no anomaly to clean up. Remember to deny everything. We definitely didn't work with anomalies, we're not aware of any anomalies, and we got the call from Winter's scroll by employing a human hacker who was able to break into it."

"You don't have to tell me. There were definitely no anomalies involved in this other than what Winter brought." Blake leaned on the back of his chair as he typed away on the laptop. "I don't suppose Coral is going to be having a look at the cure, is she?"

"We'll be bringing it along for that purpose."

"What did Winter's call sound like? Anything useful?"

"Nothing we couldn't guess at. She was talking to someone and confirmed the experiment had begun, and that they'd see what my reaction was. By now I'm sure they know I didn't go mad and go on a rampage, which they're probably taking as a good sign." He sighed. "Though I don't see why anyone would want this."

Ignorance and laziness, Blake thought. It was easy to look at the upsides of Jaune's power and convince yourself the downsides weren't so bad, and that he was just being dramatic or that you were stronger and could deal with it. As for the power itself, control over fire might not be the main interest, but any wealthy and squishy person might long for enhanced durability or immortality, and they had the funds to pursue it. They could have accrued the same with intense training, aura, and a healthy lifestyle, but that would be too much work. Why bother with all that when the Schnee were offering a quicker alternative, so long as you had the money for it.

"One thing's for sure, we're not going to let this stand," said Jaune. "I'm not even sure what Winter is thinking; saying all that out loud to us – making sure we heard. She had to know that if we did survive, we'd be calling this in."

"Which means she'll expect a response."

"Yeah." He frowned. "But just because she expects this to happen doesn't mean we shouldn't make it. If we double guess our every action then nothing will get done. We'll just have to be careful not to walk into any traps."

"They'll be targeting us if anything. Or you, Jaune. You're the one they're using as a test subject." Blake hesitated to speak her mind because she knew he'd hate it. Ultimately, she pushed on. "Maybe it'd be best if you say this out."

Predictably, he wasn't happy. "What? No! This is too big for me to not be involved in."

"Another way of looking at it is that it might be too big for you to be involved in. The Schnee want to see if you lose control. Now they're taunting ARC Corp to come at them. You can't think they won't be trying to prod you the rest of the way." Blake grimaced. "And now Winter knows that I'm a good way to make that happen. Maybe we should both sit this one out."

"And what if that's what she wants us to do? What if she wants us away from the rest of ARC Corp so they can target us?"

"Wasn't it you who said we can't second-guess because of what Winter may or may not want?"

Jaune grumbled and closed his eyes. "Arguing about this is pointless. It'll be my father who decides what does and doesn't happen, and we might not even be able to do anything about the SDC at all. We shouldn't waste time fighting."

Blake nodded, agreeing easily. She hadn't meant to start a fight at all but her worry was justified. He'd just been through hell, and he was still showing the signs of it. A single night's sleep was not enough to get over the kind of exhaustion he must have been feeling. If needs be, I'll tell his father myself. Jaune can't throw himself into more action and lose control. He might hate her for that, but she was tired of sitting by and not doing the right thing.

They made it to the airport in quick time, Ruby promising to check in on Timothy for them, and a private jet was made available for them. Crocea Mors and Gambol Shroud had already been delivered to the cargo. Blake was surprised Winter hadn't stolen his sword seeing as how he'd left it on the roof and she wouldn't have been hurt by it. Yet again, another conscious decision on Winter's part that didn't make sense. It continued to bother her.

"It'll be four hours to Argus," said Jaune. "If you don't mind, I'm going to try and sleep through it all. You should do the same."

This chapter… got weird on me. I'm genuinely a little worried now as I was writing the end of this, looked back, and realised I'd written the last 1,500 words in second person present tense.

That's never happened to me before. Second-person is the "weird uncle" of writing and I never write it. Ever. Maybe once or twice when I wrote forged destiny in first person I would slip and write third because I'm used to that, but it'd be one or two words. I wrote whole paragraphs in a tense and person I've never written in before.

Maybe I'm just a little sick or under the weather. I hope so. It sounds stupid and maybe dramatic, but this sort of scared me lol. Makes me think there's something wrong with my head. It was so weird. Here's a snippet:

"You whine and sink into the chair, unsure why such thoughts are entering your head. Had Jaune realised this already? Did he know what you'd done and what you'd been thinking at the time? You're not sure, and that uncertainty bothers you."

Like, what? What…? I've never written like that.

Next Chapter: 10th April

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