Author's Notes:

The next chapter is the one I got to before I started posting again. So this chapter was written over 4 months ago but you're only now seeing it. Funny how that works.

Also, my apologies for the late upload. Meant to upload it yesterday but was giving me some issues.

"Text"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters.

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 44: The Days are Just Packed

Another day, another boring eight hours of patrolling and camera work. Six leaned back in his chair and let out another yawn. It was starting to get to that time in the week when he'd need to sleep again.

Ever since he'd managed to get Cardin more under control there was maybe one minor issue a week that he'd have to go and investigate. The rest of the time he'd sit or stand idly by until something happened. It was mind-numbing and was against everything Six enjoyed and stood for. He was a wanderer, restless, and already wanted to move on from Vale let alone the damn office.

House's eyes darted over to the left-most monitor of the security room. On it was displayed the small arena Glynda used for her combat class. And currently fighting were two very interesting people, Pyrrha Nikos and Mercury Black.

The teen in grey reminded him of another criminal he had recently chewed out. Well, chewed out was a bit misleading. More like sent Roman a long-winded suggestion that was really a thinly veiled threat. Six made it abundantly clear to the conman that should he recklessly endanger people like he had during the White Fang recruitment rally again he'd personally put him under.

It had gone about as well as expected. Roman had brushed him off and thrown his own thinly veiled threats for insubordination. In the end, Six agreed to not step out of line again and Roman would do his best to minimize casualties. That way they could both maintain a professional working relationship. And not be burnt to death by Cinder.

The Courier's eyes refocused on the screen as Mercury backflipped multiple times to gain distance from his opponent. Six was kind of expecting that. Mercury was a tough kid but Pyrrha was close to some of the later-year students in combat skill and experience. Especially when it came to duels.

Why had Mercury challenged Pyrrha to a fight? What did he hope to gain from it? He obviously wasn't going to win.

The two opponents eyed each other as they tried to predict the other's next move. But it was Pyrrha who moved first and charged forward.

The tournament fighter held her shield in a ready position even as she took a swing at her sparring partner, never letting her guard drop.

The grey-themed teen raised one leg and chambered it back before sending it flying forward and deflecting Nikos' first blow. He sent several more kicks with the same leg at her in a flurry of blows, never wavering in his form.

But every blow sent at her was blocked and then pushed back by her bronze-colored shield. Six didn't actually know if the shield was made of bronze or not. By his third kick, she shoved him back and Mercury was forced to chamber his kick in and place both feet on the ground.

The red-head then pressed her attack and rammed her shield into the teen's midsection. This push forced Mercury back and he skidded along the ground a few feet before coming to a stop.

Another lull ensued as they began strategizing their next moves. With Mercury giving a slight nod of approval at the girl's skill level. Was that it, was this just a test of her skill?

After nodding his head, the Haven Academy student jumped up and twisted his body around in the air before bringing his leg down. It looked similar to a whirlwind kick but he got far more air than any fighter in his world could get.

It still didn't help him as Pyrrha raised her shield and let the blow slide off it and to the side. Instead of stopping, her opponent pressed the attack and when landing crouched down. He then sent out a low leg sweep forcing her to back up.

Just as quickly as he had shot down, Mercury lunged back up into another whirlwind kick. This time Pyrrha didn't have her weight as evenly distributed and she was forced to block the blow head on. Her shield did manage to stop the attack but Six imagined that her arm was feeling the shock from her opponent's blow.

Not letting up, Mercury landed only to once again jump into another high aerial whirlwind kick. This forced Pyrrha to go on the defensive and made her turn and dive away from her opponent. As her opponent landed, Pyrrha rolled out of her dive and back to her feet.

Deciding not to give her any time to breathe, the grey-themed teen charged forward at Pyrrha. The tournament fighter sized him up and placed both arms behind her shield in preparation.

Her patience was rewarded with Mercury once more jumping into the air and sending a series of quick bicycle kicks. The exchange lasted for half a second but the Haven student was able to get out at least three kicks before landing.

Six narrowed his eyes as he watched Mercury continue to press his assault, sending out a right side kick, then a left, and yet another right side kick. Each time his body shifted and he landed on his opposite foot. Pyrrha could have countered multiple times with how aggressive he was being. Why hadn't she?

On his fourth side kick, the red-haired combatant let go of her weapon. Well, it was more like Pyrrha had tossed her weapon slightly into the air, letting her opponent's kick send it even further into the air as she blocked the kick with her forearm. Catching her blade once more in the same hand she used to block.

A smirk formed on Six's face as he realized what she was doing. Pyrrha figured out that Mercury's legs were either covered in metal or were metal. Since she had just touched those legs, she could use her Semblance of Polarity on them.

There was a momentary pause for the briefest of moments as Mercury stopped his attacks. To most, it would have looked like confusion. But the Courier could see what had really happened. Mercury had just taken note that Pyrrha went out of her way to touch his leg when she could have just blocked it with her shield.

After that momentary pause, Mercury chambered his left leg back before spinning on his right and twisting around in a circle to build up momentum. He then hopped off the ground with the same leg.

When Pyrrha brought her short sword up to stop his momentum, Mercury shot his left leg out and batted it to the side. With her sword lowered, Pyrrha raised her shield and blocked the next straight kick from his right leg while the Haven student twisted his body.

That foot rested on her shield and Mercury used it as a pivot to twist his body one final time. The twist itself knocked her shield down and Pyrrha was forced to bring her sword up once more. It was only at the end of his final twist did Mercury shoot one last leg out and kick at her sword.

The kick connected and knocked the blade from the tournament fighter's grasp and sent it skidding across the ground. An impressive feat, but Six would have personally gotten rid of her shield first.

There was yet another lull in the combat as Mercury landed and shot the girl a smug smirk. Fucks sake, if they stopped fucking around, this fight would've ended twenty seconds ago.

In what was apparently Mercury's favorite move, the boy did another spin on his foot before sending a heel kick at Pyrrha's face.

Then something unexpected happened. The camera feed didn't show it in perfect detail but Pyrrha raised a hand next to Mercury's foot and the boy's kick seemed to almost change directions. He couldn't quite tell but it looked like a subtle use of her Semblance as she wouldn't have been able to deflect that kick with her hand alone so easily. To the uninitiated, it would have looked like she merely deflected the attack with her hand.

It also threw Mercury off who stumbled back and tried to regain his footing only to fall to one knee facing away from her. Then he just sat there, back to Pyrrha. He even let her get her weapon again and start charging. Why the Hell?

The red-head charged in with her shield first and closed the distance quickly. But when she was close enough, Mercury turned around, jumped up, and pressed both feet against her. He then fired his ankle-mounted weapons and backflipped away from her, gaining good distance.

Still, the tournament fighter didn't let up as she charged forward and-

"I forfeit," Mercury announced as he turned to Glynda who was sitting on the sidelines.

This gave Pyrrha pause as she had to run to the side of Mercury just to keep from ramming into him.

"Interesting," Six muttered to himself as he crossed his arms. He was beginning to put the pieces together.

Cinder may have access to audio and some of the files in Beacon. But she didn't have complete access like he did. This had to be some kind of test. And given how Mercury ended the fight only after Pyrrha had used her Semblance, the Courier guessed that he wanted to know Pyrrha's Semblance.

It was a bit insulting. Cinder could have just asked Six. But then again, maybe this was something she wanted to keep from him too? Either way, it appeared that Pyrrha was probably important to whatever plan she had.

"You aren't even going to try?" Pyrrha questioned as she turned to him, ready to continue fighting.

The teen shrugged and raised his hands in a defeated manner before responding, "what's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart."

Glynda went on to announce the victor but even Pyrrha could clearly tell that was a lie. Mercury simply hadn't given it his all. She even looked like she was enjoying herself in that fight. A pity she couldn't get what she wanted and that Six didn't get to see Mercury's ass kicked. But at least he gained an important bit of information.

Everything after the fight was incredibly boring. No bullies, no incidents, no interesting fights, nothing. Not a single interesting thing happened after that. The mundane office life was slowly draining Six of the will to live.

It was around lunch and he would take anything to get out of this monotony.

Glancing at one of the monitors, Six watched as Blake and Weiss walked out of the lunchroom together. Both had a certain stride as they walked out, like they were on a mission. It left him more worried when Ruby and Yang, seated at their table eating, looked curious as well.

Switching to one of the hallway cameras, he followed along their path. Down a hall, passed by a few of the classrooms, hooked a left, and they were heading for the security office. The one he was currently in.

Shit.

The Courier took a quick glance around the security room and went about organizing it. Normally, Six would keep his work area tidy but he wasn't the only one who used this room. Several reports, a couple newspapers, and more than one coffee stain littered the desk area.

With the way the room was set up, you'd walk in the door and on the far side of the room was a countertop attached to the wall. Below the countertop were a couple of "scroll" computers and above were several monitors. There was also one small mini-fridge against a wall of the room. Finally, two chairs littered the room, one of which was currently filled by Six.

A knock at his door jostled Six from his cleaning.

"One moment," he called out before setting the now stacked papers down and heading for the door. He walked over, having already checked the cameras for who it was, and opened the door.

"Something I can do for you?" He questioned as he stared down the two students on the other side.

Weiss seemed a bit nervous which was a fair reaction. She thought he might be the Mimic and was likely not meeting him for pleasantries. Blake…

Bags under her eyes, a glare that could scare Cardin, slouched, and arms crossed. All signs that she was very tired. Six knew why.

The girl had been non-stop chasing after him and the White Fang. She constantly searched online for any hint of either. If she wasn't doing that, she was spending nightly outings in an ill-conceived attempt to catch one of them. Or she'd get her team wrapped up in some sort of scheme. And of course, bothering and stalking him. All the while seldom resting.

Too bad she didn't know the real issue was far beyond the White Fang or himself. In fact, Ruby probably had a better grasp that Cinder was the main issue than Blake did. Blake had narrowed her focus too small to catch the bigger picture.

"Can we talk to you?" Weiss finally asked as she did her best to give a friendly smile. It came off as disingenuous.

Six shrugged before glancing past them. He wasn't really supposed to but he could let them in for a few minutes. "Come on in."

He took a step back and allowed them to walk in before closing the door behind them.

"Want a drink?" He asked while heading over towards the minifridge and opening it. He perused for a few moments as he continued, "and don't mind the mess. Some of my coworkers are… Less prudent than I."

"No thank you," Weiss responded. In contrast, Blake remained eerily silent. If he was lucky, she'd fall asleep from her exhaustion.

Six took a green fizzy-looking drink from the fridge before turning to them. Both had taken seats leaving him to stand. Shrugging his shoulders, Six moved over to the countertop before leaning against it.

"So, what can I do for you?" He questioned as he opened the green can and the hissing of carbonated soda filled the room.

"Well…" The pale Huntress-in-training began as she poked her forefingers together. What? What did that mean? Was she nervous and just fidgeting? Who puts their fingers together like that? Six was glad he was wearing his uniform helmet because he couldn't help but scrunch his face up in confusion.

"We were wondering a bit more about Carmine," Blake spoke up. Blunt and straight to the point. He could appreciate that. If she wasn't trying to deceive him.

There was only one reason they would want to know about her. And that was if they could pry information out of him and incriminate him as the Mimic. What a stupidly simple strategy.

Six shrugged in response. "What about her?"

"Where does she live?" Again, it was Blake that questioned him. She wasn't being subtle at all. And judging by Weiss's glare she shot towards the Faunus, Weiss knew that as well.

"In a small town south of the capital called Rhyt. In Wildland territory."

There was no point in lying to them. They already knew that information and trying to mislead them now would be suspicious.

Blake seemed satisfied with the discussion so far as she relaxed in her chair a bit. How bad had she expected this conversation to go?

This time Weiss was the one who spoke up. "How did you meet her? She seemed like a lovely young lady."

A smirk threatened to play at Six's lips as he heard that. It was flattery to butter him up but it always felt good when people complimented Carmine.

He shrugged again as he replied, "met her near Rhyt while traveling. She was being attacked by Grimm so I stepped in." All technically true. "Wouldn't be the last time I did that either."

"What do you mean?" Weiss pressed as he lifted his helmet and took a sip from his drink. The fizzy liquid was incredibly sour. He checked the logo, "Dusty's Dust: Green Dust Edition". Good stuff, he hoped it wasn't actually made of Dust. Though the naming could be better or at least less redundant.

Six set the drink aside on the counter. "The town was attacked by Grimm twice while I was there. Not a pretty situation but I helped out. Kept her safe from Grimm during that too."

"Now, a question for you," Six said, cutting off the further questions he knew they had. "What're you really trying to get?"

Weiss's cheeks flushed from being caught while Blake merely narrowed her eyes.

"Because I know," he continued while placing his hand on the counter. "That no one just visits me. They come if they want something."

"Well…" Weiss trailed off as her Faunus teammate scooted closer to him. Did Blake think she was being subtle in getting closer?

The former Heiress grabbed the hem of her dress before continuing, "you see there's a lot of students that don't really know a whole lot about you. And some were more curious than others so now there's kind of a contest going on to see who can figure out the most about you."

A truth and a lie, interesting. Six knew full well they were actually trying to weasel information out of him for more malicious reasons. But it was true that a little bet was going on to see who could figure out what he looked like. The students here always forgot he was in earshot of them at all times with the cameras.

Blake was continuing to inch towards him. She was maybe an arms-length away from him and it was starting to weird him out. Luckily, she stopped at about that distance but he couldn't help but keep an eye on her.

"They could just ask. I mean, I've already told a couple stories." Six's response seemed to surprise Weiss who raised a brow.

Weiss's grip on the hem of her dress tightened as she responded, "I don't mean to be rude… But most students are intimidated by you."

The Courier shrugged as he watched Blake place her hand on the counter. It was more than a bit strange the way she was acting but as long as she kept that distance he was fine.

"That's their problem, not mine." Even as Six responded, Blake wasted no time in inching her hand forward. It was slowly moving towards his wrist or more importantly the Pip-Boy attached to it. This was the single most obvious attempt at getting his shit that he'd ever seen.

"Alright, first off," Six began as he picked up his hand before folding his arms over his chest. "Stop trying to touch me or my stuff."

Weiss at least had the decency to look ashamed at being caught as she gave him an apologetic "sorry." All Blake did was slam her forehead into the counter. Boy she was tired. He glanced between the two of them before letting out an irritated sigh.

The Courier pointed his finger at both of them before continuing, "neither of you are even close to being sneaky enough to pull that off. And you both should drop this White Fang business while you're ahead."

The two girls tensed up at his last statement with Blake finally raising her head to look at him. "How do you know about that?"

The Courier grabbed his drink once more as he replied, "well Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee. Or should I say a Faunus who used to be part of the White Fang and a family member of one of the most prominent families that violated Faunus rights for years? Who, by the way, both sneak out at night and have been stalking me?"

Six took one long sip from his drink as he let what he said settle in. Repressing a small burp, Six set the drink down again as he said, "my job is to monitor students doing shit they're not supposed to. Now, I agree with what you've been doing so I haven't been reporting it. What's the point of being a Huntress if you don't do your job right?"

Pausing, Six took in their expressions. Worry and irritation between the two of them. They had been caught long before they entered that room and they knew it now.

"I can even ignore you stalking me," he said before holding up a finger at Blake. "But I cannot ignore someone actively harassing me at work. Do we have an understanding?"

Both teenagers gave him a nod.

"Good, now onto one more thing before I send the two of you on your way." As he spoke, Six directed his attention solely to Blake. "Get some rest. I get it, the White Fang can only be brought to justice by some student with no sleep." His tone had descended into sarcastic territories but still he continued. "But I think you'll find obsessing over it won't help you. So talk to your teammates, get some rest, and come at it with a reasonable plan."

That was all a bit rich coming from him but he could go a week without sleeping unlike her. Blake obviously didn't know that with the glare she was sending his way. Why did he even need sleep if he didn't have a-

"Why does everyone keep saying that!" Blake raised her voice while jumping from her seat. "The White Fang is up to something terrible, no one is bothering to stop the Mimic, but somehow I'm the idiot for caring?"

"Blake," Weiss whispered in a hushed tone, trying to get her friend to calm down.

Six shrugged before replying, "it's not so much you're an idiot for trying. There are just better ways to go about it."

"Like what?!" The Faunus was shouting at him now as she threw up her arms. She was getting just a little intense.

"Blake, this isn't what we came here for." Weiss's words finally seemed to snap Blake out of it. The Faunus rubbed her eyes before sighing.

Again, Six shrugged. "I mean… I assume you went to Ozpin and he said he wasn't going to send a bunch of students to play detective and hunt down the White Fang. So you're probably doing it on your own…"

A thought popped into his head while speaking. An idea that could possibly resolve a lot of his problems.

"But maybe you don't need to. Now, I'm not personally affiliated with them, but I've heard through the grapevine that there's a merc group that's been having run-ins with the White Fang recently, the Voidwalkers or Voidwalker Corp. Why not pay them for information or better yet hire them to look into it for you? It makes Ozpin happy, you get your info, and you can stop bothering me."

That seemed to get both the teens thinking which gave Six enough time to take a sip from his drink.

"You don't have to even tell me if you do," Six continued after lowering his soda. Setting his drink aside, he tapped his Pip-Boy a few times before sending over a certain Faunus's number. "If you decide to, this is Gratius Vermont, he's a mercenary for them. He's currently working as security here and can get you in contact with who you need."

And of course, that would end up coming right back to him.

"What's through the grapevine even… No, I don't care. Thank you for your time." Rather rudely, Blake walked out of the security office rather flustered. Oh well, maybe she'd finally get off his case.

Six's attention turned back to Weiss who smiled sheepishly at him.

"I'm really sorry for taking your time like this," she apologized for herself and Blake while giving a small bow of her head.

Deciding to send her off, Six replied, "you know you never told me why she's stalking me."

"Haha! Yeah! I need to get going, bye Instructor House!" Weiss replied in a hurried tone as she darted out the door. Well, at least that was one annoyance hopefully resolved. Probably not.

After a few moments of silence, Six finally allowed himself to relax. The Courier let out a sigh as he walked over to the door to close it before he heard a feminine voice call out to him.

"Instructor House."

Her voice was dripping with condescension and had a flare that was impossible to mistake. Outside his door, dressed in the Shade Academy uniform, was Cinder Fall.

"May I come in?" Cinder asked while taking a step inside.

The Courier rolled his eyes but stepped aside and shut the door behind her. His boring day was quickly turning into a problematic one.

Moving back over to his drink, Six lifted the soda to his lips before downing the rest of it. "Something I can help you with?" He questioned while setting his now empty drink down.

While he thought her coming to him completely violated her "do not be suspicious" rule, he wasn't going to correct her. At least, not in front of her. Besides, from what Six remembered, there weren't any cameras watching the door to the security room. An oversight in his opinion.

Cinder wandered over to the monitors and analyzed them. Her eyes tracked several different students that were coming and going.

"What do you think of Beacon, of its students?" The amber-eyed woman's question gave him pause. That wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

Turning his gaze to the monitors, Six mulled over his experiences at Beacon. Of Jaune, Ruby, Cardin, and Ozpin; of the many other students he had encountered. If he was being honest…

"They're annoying," Six responded as he folded his arms. "A bunch of kids playing at soldier with teachers that barely keep them in check. It's supposed to be one of if not the most prestigious academy in the world but it lacks discipline."

Those were the negatives. The Courier shrugged as he continued, "but they're also teenagers. Not necessarily bad people… Just, childish. For an academy that is raising future Huntsman it feels childish."

Beacon was inefficient in its education. Six could agree with sparring classes, history, medicine, and the other material often covered by the academy. But Beacon was far too lax and inefficient. It would teach the unimportant parts of history or theoretical aspects of fighting humans and Grimm with no practicality. All the theory and pedigree but none of the experience. Mix that with a typical teenage attitude and no discipline and it was wasted time and energy.

That didn't mean Beacon was doing a completely shitty job. Hell, Six would bet that there were plenty of other non-academy trained Huntsman that were far worse.

But it did feel like for every above-average Huntsman churned out, another ten mediocre were released into the world. Either to get killed or get someone else killed.

"Children… That's a good term for them."

Cinder's cadence was slow and methodical as she spoke. Like someone who deliberated on every word spoken to convey an exact message when heard.

She raised an arm towards the monitors before continuing, "I see children undeserving of the power they didn't earn. I see the world being handed to them from a broken system."

The woman lowered her arm and placed a hand on the counter. After turning to look at him, she began tapping her finger.

"And when these children reach positions of power they do not deserve, given through power they did not earn, they will perpetuate this corrupt system further. These children will do more harm than good later on in their lives."

Was that envy he was hearing? Or maybe it was a mix of envy and pride. She thought them undeserving of what they had yet considered herself above them from the way she spoke. Wasn't she born with the ability to unlock a Semblance and an Aura just like them too? Six didn't really understand why she was villain monologuing to him though. Wasn't there a speech similar to hers in Grognak the Barbarian?

"Is there something I can help you with?" He reiterated, wanting to end their little one-on-one.

Cinder finally turned her full attention and body towards the Courier. "Team RWBY and JNPR, I want their more detailed files."

Six shrugged in response. "Easy," he said as he began tapping on his scroll. "You could have just asked that from the start. You didn't have to wait this long to get Pyrrha's file." He of course left that little detail in there on purpose. The Courier wanted her to know, to understand that she was only in control by a slim margin. That the "boss" wasn't as clever as she thought.

"Shouldn't you be careful anyways, doesn't Ozpin know you're here?" The Courier was laying it on a bit thick but if Cinder wanted to strongarm their relationship he needed to show he could do the same.

Cinder waved a hand at him while saying, "he may have suspicions of what I'm after. But unlike you he has no proof to arrest me nor will I give him any."

"Unless you're threatening me right now…" As she trailed off, Cinder met his helmet's visor as her eyes glowed an unnatural red. "And that would be a mistake."

"Just reminding you that taking personal trips to my workplace is suspicious," Six countered as he sent the files to her. "And that should be it. Anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that will be all." Cinder replied as she headed for the door. "Don't play coy with me again," she warned in a low tone before stepping out.

And as she stepped out, Cinder was greeted by a wide smile and green eyes. Looking past the woman, Six could see a much smaller menace standing in front of her. Neo waved at him and Six couldn't help but internally wince.

"Remember what I said, nothing obvious," Cinder warned as she stared the mute down. The menace turned to give a pout and Six used this opportunity to close the door to the room. There was no way he was going to step into that conversation or let Neo in.

Before relaxing, Six made sure to lock the door. He took it back, another few hours of boring work seemed absolutely fine with him now.

Letting out another sigh, the Courier tossed his empty soda into the trash before going back to his perfectly mundane job.

"Alright, what was that?"

Weiss' question caused Blake to turn around. She could feel her eyes droop as she did so. So tantalizingly near to being closed. That would be amazing. But she couldn't yet, now when there were problems like the White Fang and the Mimic.

"What was what?" Blake bit back and immediately regretted her aggressive tone. If she could just make any sort of headway, she could get some rest and feel normal again. Just knowing what their enemies were up to and that they weren't all in imminent danger would put the Faunus' mind at ease.

The former Heiress shot an arm towards the door they just came from. "That! You were being… Being a dolt!" Blake couldn't help but roll her eyes at the terminology. "You were anything but subtle when we walked in there and then tried to… I don't even know, touch his wrist Scroll? What would that have even done?"

Some small part of Blake knew what she was saying. But any rational part of the Faunus was too angry and sleep-deprived to listen. The raven-haired teen turned her eyes towards Weiss and did her best to give a pointed stare. It didn't work very well given that she could feel her eyes drooping.

Turning away, Blake took a few tentative steps back towards their room before she felt someone tug her arm.

"No, you're not walking away from this. What's wrong?" Her teammate's physical contact and pushy questioning finally did. Blake felt her anger bubble to the surface.

The Faunus twisted and snapped her arm away from Weiss' grip. "What's wrong? What's wrong?! Everything!" As she spoke, Blake threw her arms into the air.

"The White Fang is working with criminals and hurting people. They're stealing Dust and planning something big! From what Ruby has told us there are other people behind the scenes pulling the strings too."

It didn't matter they were in a hall where everyone could hear them. It was obvious no one at Beacon cared anyway so what did it matter if she shouted it?

Turning away, Blake gazed out a nearby window before continuing, "the people I once called friends and comrades are hurting innocent people and I can't do anything to stop them…"

A fit of hot anger burned its way into the Faunus' fist and she couldn't help but slam that fist into a wall. "How many people were killed while we were chasing Roman? People that I killed because I was running away from Adam!"

"That's not how it happened… You didn't kill anyone." Weiss' tone was softer now but it didn't calm Blake down.

"Oh, I just got them killed because that's so much better!" Blake spat back. "And the worst part? No one cared."

Blake blinked away hot tears that were forming in her eyes. When had she started crying?

"I didn't get punished for getting them killed. No one at Beacon is up in arms at people dying. The Headmaster doesn't seem to care that House might be Six. No one cared that I screwed up."

At this point, Weiss had stopped talking. Blake appreciated that.

The Faunus brought a hand to her face and began wiping away tears as her voice cracked. "I… Faunus have been getting hurt for a long time and no one cared. No humans cared. And I fell into that exact same trap."

"I left the White Fang because I didn't want to see innocent people get hurt." A light chuckle escaped Blake as she threw up her arms in defeat. "But here I am, getting innocent people hurt. Unable to stop Six or Adam or Roman. I can't do one thing right and… And no one cares!"

Blake turned and slumped her back against a wall before sliding down it. Once her butt hit the ground, the teenager placed her forehead against her knees and curled in on herself.

"Weiss… Do you understand why I don't like Penny?" Blake didn't care if what she said confused Weiss. Her mind was wandering, getting everything out here and now. "Did you ever go look at the aftermath of what Ruby's friend did?"

Slowly turning her head, the teen could see her pale friend shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. A look of confusion was clearly etched on her face.

"Those Faunus, the White Fang soldiers? They're dead. Penny practically eviscerated them with sheer strength." Turning her teary and bleary eyes towards Weiss, Blake continued, "many were my friends. They suffered what I suffered. And now they're just…" The teen raised her hands in a desperate motion before muttering, "gone."

"I can't help anyone."

With a final sigh, the Faunus let her arms fall to her sides and let her head rest against the wall.

The two of them remained like that for a time. Blake resisted the urge to sleep and Weiss stood there awkwardly; unsure of what to say. It was a nice change of pace from Ruby if Blake was being honest.

Eventually, the former Heiress moved to her side and sat down beside her. Tired eyes looked over at her. Weiss was giving her a concerned expression but really Blake just needed a little sleep is all.

"You helped me…"

Three simple words. Yet they were just enough to put a small smile on Blake's face.

"I guess I did," Blake replied before she blinked just a little too long and fell asleep.

Author's Notes:

For anyone curious, yes, the title is a reference to Calvin and Hobbes.

And after much deliberation and decisiveness on my part, I have decided the possessive I will use for Weiss is Weiss' from now on.