Chapter 11: Infiltration

AN: In the first scene there is some mild BDSM. Nothing extreme, just some fuzzy handcuffs and some edging. No violence, and everything is safe, sane and consensual. Skip to the end of that scene if you don't want any BeeDSM, and you won't miss any plot.

Blake fell back against the mattress, breathing heavily. She kept one hand on Yang's head, fingers lazily stroking through luxurious golden hair. Her legs still dangled over the edge of the bed, either side of where Yang knelt. Blake thought about inching up to lie fully on the bed, but didn't want to move. Not yet. She closed her eyes, a blissful smile curving her lips, letting herself enjoy the aftermath.

Her fingers slid through Yang's hair as her fian—wife moved. She heard Yang chuckle, and felt hands glide up her thighs, the contrast between flesh and metal so familiar, and so very welcome. Blake found the perfect motivation to pull her legs up and wriggle up the bed, ready for snuggling with Yang. She reached down, beckoning to Yang.

Blake's smile widened as Yang kissed her way up Blake's body, to her lips. Yang pressed against her, Blake especially aware of Yang's breasts and belly. Blake's moan was muffled by Yang's searing kiss. She could taste herself, almost purring in satisfaction at the reminder of what Yang had just done for her.

"Happy one week anniversary," Yang murmured against her lips.

"Right back at you. Give me a few minutes and I'll make you happy too."

Yang kissed her again. "You already did. I love doing that for you."

Blake nuzzled their noses together. "Roll over, let's snuggle for a bit."

Yang nipped her lower lip. "Nope, I'm not done with you yet, Mrs Xiao Long."

"Will you ever be?"

Yang laughed. "No. But I might have mercy on you today…" She closed the small gap between their lips and claimed a deep kiss. Her hands closed around Blake's wrists, gently lifting her arms up. The kiss distracted Blake all too thoroughly, and she only realised what Yang was doing after soft fabric with a solid core clicked into place, locking Blake's arms to the bed frame.

Yang grinned down at her. "Eventually."

Blake blinked. She gave her a confused look. "Eventually what?"

Yang tapped the tip of Blake's nose, a predatory look in her eyes. "Release. If you beg for it very nicely."

It dawned on Blake that Yang hadn't forgotten; after a week with no consequences she was about to give Blake her comeuppance for the way she'd teased Yang with the strap-on. Clearly revenge was a dish served cold. Or hot, rather, Blake thought, watching as Yang put on the strap-on. So very hot.

Yang adjusted the straps and made sure the dildo was secure. "Now, we both know you could get out of those cuffs very easily if you really wanted to, but you'll be a good girl for me. Won't you?"

"I'll be good," Blake breathed.

Yang knelt on the bed between Blake's legs, hands sliding up her thighs. "Speaking of good… You green?"

She always did this, checking in with Blake, reminding them both about their traffic light themed code words for playing like this. Yang refused to do otherwise, and Blake had to admit it did make her feel cared for. Even more so than usual.

"So fucking green." Blake bit her lower lip in anticipation.

Yang lined up the strap-on and thrust right in. Blake's breath caught. Not because of any discomfort, far from it. She was more than ready after Yang's earlier tender loving care. It just felt so fucking good. Why had Yang made her wait for this? Oh right, because she loved to torment Blake in the best way.

Blake arched against her wife as she bottomed out, bump pressing against her. At almost six months pregnant Yang wouldn't be able to do it like this much longer. They'd have to rethink their positions when Yang's belly inevitably swelled even big—

"Ahh!" Blake gasped. She forgot about everything except the strap-on driving her closer and closer to the edge, until—

Yang stopped thrusting, hands holding Blake still so she couldn't try to satisfy herself. She struggled against the cuffs, wishing she could touch herself. Blake refused to beg for her release. She wasn't that desperate. Not yet. Even if the edge receding, completion slipping away was oh so frustrating. Deliciously so.

Blake stifled a whine when Yang started moving again, bringing her climax closer and closer and—

Yang held still again, until she finally fucking moved, pushing her higher and higher up the plateau, closer to the precipice. Lilac eyes darkened with desire watched her intently, no doubt for any sign that she might be about to—

Yang stopped moving. Again. Just for long enough for Blake to be edged again. The dull throb deep inside made Blake ache with frustration.

"Yang…"

"Yes?" Yang stroked her clit. Once. Teasing, fuck. Blake writhed, or would have if Yang let her move.

Blake whined.

Yang smirked. "Use your words, love."

"Fuck you," Blake groaned.

Yang chuckled. "Okay." She started fucking Blake again, just as she'd inadvertently asked. Maybe that - oh fuck that felt good - meant that she only needed to ask?

"Don't stop," Blake breathed, nearly there—

Yang stopped.

Blake growled. "Fuck me, damn it! And don't stop!"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Are you a good girl who deserves that?"

"Yes!" Blake tried and failed to fuck herself on the strap-on, Yang's grip gentle but firm.

"A good girl asks nicely. I'll give you exactly what you deserve."

And she did it all over again. Thrusting anew, halting when Blake was right on the cusp of sweet satisfaction.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Closer and closer, higher and higher. But never letting her fall over the edge.

Again and again.

And—

"Please," Blake choked out between clenched teeth.

Yang stroked her cheek. "Please what?"

Blake turned her head to kiss Yang's hand. "Please let me come…"

"Hmm. Colour?" Yang gently caught Blake's chin and turned her head until their eyes met.

"Green," Blake groaned, cat ears pinned back. She knew what was coming. Or rather who wasn't coming, at least not yet.

"Then no."

"Yang," Blake whined. "I didn't tease you this much!"

"True," Yang admitted. "But I can't have you getting any ideas. You need to know what the consequences of your actions are."

"What… what if it makes me do this to you next time?"

Yang laughed darkly. "You really wouldn't like the consequences of that, sweetheart. This is nothing compared to what that would be."

"Yang…"

"My name does sound good on your lips, but you know what I want." Yang had the cheek to boop her on the nose.

Blake nipped at Yang's fingers. "I said please!"

"I want more."

Blake bit back a screech that so did she, damn it! But she knew it wouldn't get her what she wanted. Her head briefly flopped back against her pillow. She raised it to look Yang in the eyes with her best version of puppy eyes. Ugh. The indignity of mimicking a dog's pleading gaze…

"Please. I beg you. Let me come."

"That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"You're not the one being tormented with—" Blake's mouth dropped open with a strangled 'oh!' as Yang finally had mercy on her.

Again and again.

After spending most of the morning in bed, they showered together. Yang had her first appointment with her midwife to get to, which Blake had planned to accompany her to. Her parents called the night before, asking her to represent the White Fang at an important meeting. Unfortunately it clashed with Yang's appointment, much to Blake's annoyance. Her parents were very apologetic about it, but the White Fang leadership was stretched thin. Apparently Ilia was on leave, and Kali and Ghira didn't want to rob her of a well deserved break.

"It's fine," Yang said, not for the first time. "This is only the first meeting with my midwife. Doc said there will be plenty of others. By the sounds of it she'll be taking over the prenatal care unless there's something only Doc can handle."

"I know, it's just… I wanted to be there with you." Blake sighed. "But I don't want Ilia's time off interrupted any more than my parents do. I know how hard she works."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that." Yang's voice sounded a little flat.

Blake frowned. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

Yang waved a dismissive hand. "Eh, don't worry about it. Just hormones making me bitchy. I did want you with me too."

Blake held her close, resting their foreheads together. She pulled away a little to look Yang in the eyes. "I'll keep this meeting as short as I can. At least it's not that far away."

"Probably why your parents asked you to go to it."

"That and I'm a Belladonna." Her family name carried far too much weight amongst the faunus, really. Being a Belladonna didn't make her better than anyone else with faunus traits.

"Too bad your legally being a Xiao Long now doesn't get you out of inconvenient meetings." Yang sighed. "I know it's important. I just…"

"I know. And when I can publically use your name, I'll make it every bit as meaningful to the White Fang's cause," Blake promised.

"Does that mean you've decided to take your parents up on their offer of a career with the White Fang? With the local branch so we don't have to move."

"Yes. At least until I can go back to being a huntress, but I'm not doing anything other than these emergency meetings for my parents until after our maternity leave is over."

"I wish I knew what to do," Yang grumbled.

"You could join me," Blake suggested, keeping her tone light. For now there was no rush. Yang could take her time to figure out what she wanted to do after she'd given birth, and beyond maternity leave.

Yang looked bemused. "In the White Fang? Um, I'm pretty sure I'm human."

"I think I'd have noticed a faunus trait by now if you had one," Blake said. "But there's nothing to say humans can't join the White Fang. At least not the Fang as it is now."

Yang rubbed at the back of her head. "Is it really my place though?"

"If anything, your voice will be more persuasive than any faunus can hope to be. At least when it comes to convincing other humans that faunus rights are just as important as their own."

Yang winced. "I'm not terribly diplomatic. If the Fang needs anyone intimidated, sure, I could do that, but it might not be the best look for it."

"The current White Fang is something between what my father founded and what it became under Sienna Khan. Intimidation has its place."

"Yeah, but from a human?"

Blake shook her head. "It's not bad optics if you're intimidating other humans. It'd only be bad if it was against faunus, and you wouldn't do that."

"I'll think about it. You know it's a cause that matters to me, I'm just…" Yang sighed. "Being a huntress is what I always wanted to do."

Blake kissed her wife's cheek. "We'll get back to doing that. This is just until the Bumblebaby is old enough."

"Yeah." Yang turned her head and captured Blake's lips. They shared a moment of bliss, interrupted by a scroll buzzing.

Yang groaned and dug out her scroll. "My taxi's here."

"That means it's time for me to head out too. See you soon, love."

They stole a quick kiss before parting.

Blake didn't begrudge Ilia taking some time off. She just resented the fact that it meant time apart from Yang. Damn it, Ilia. Talk about 'perfect' timing… Then again, maybe Ilia was actually making an excuse to Blake's parents, and really investigating whatever happened to Yang. If so, Blake felt bad about her resentment. Especially because Ilia really did deserve to enjoy a break.

Raven was late. Ilia scowled down at her scroll, the skin of her hands flickering red before she got a grip on her irritation. They'd agreed to meet at noon. It was getting closer to one o'clock, and they needed to get in and out during the lunch break. Ilia could all but disappear visually, but it was still entirely possible for someone to walk into her or brush against her. And then where would she be? The White Fang could do without one of their leaders getting caught trespassing in a fertility clinic. She could try to escape in the event it went wrong, but even Ilia might fail.

Having Raven there would help distract any staff not on their lunch break, and it wouldn't matter if Raven got caught instead of Ilia. Not for the White Fang, anyway. And good luck to anyone trying to arrest the Spring Maiden. Besides, Raven could escape whenever she wanted to even without using magic, after what Ilia had heard about her Semblance. It was kind of creepy how Raven could come and go as she pleased, no matter what someone was doing at her destination.

Not that Ilia was really one to talk about offputting powers. She suspected people found her equally creepy, because they never knew when she might be lurking around.

The power to fade into the background was supposedly down to her faunus trait. Ilia wasn't so sure about that. Her emotions staining the colour of her skin and hair was definitely down to that, but the camouflage? Ilia was starting to wonder if it was actually her Semblance. Either that or she'd got more traits than most faunus did. She'd never tried to fade from view after her Aura had broken, but the annoying telltale to whatever emotion gripped her stuck around no matter what.

But if it wasn't her Semblance, what was? After all this time she'd never consciously unlocked it… unless it was her chameleon camouflage. It'd explain why anything Ilia wore faded away with her. Faunus traits didn't do that, at least not as far as she knew. She felt pretty dense for not wondering about it until now, but then she'd been afraid her lack of a Semblance made her inadequate. Ilia had avoided thinking about it for a long time. Not that it really mattered. She was skilled at infiltration, spying, sabotage and counter-sabotage, and who cared what power source gave her an edge?

Speaking of an edge needed for this mission, where in the world of Remnant was Raven? Ilia clicked her tongue, eyeing the time on her scroll again. No message notifications, no missed calls. Nothing. Raven had flaked. Considering this was to help her own daughter… Ugh. No wonder Blake hated Raven. This was the last day Ilia could be away from the Fang for a while too! It couldn't wait. Raven knew that. Bitch.

It might be for the best that Raven hadn't come, actually, because Ilia felt a little nervous about meeting her. She wasn't sure how much Yang told her, and was also unsure how protective Raven was when it came to Yang.

Ilia heaved a sigh. It hissed through her clenched teeth. She'd just have to take the risk of getting caught. She owed it to Yang. Not that Yang even knew this was happening. Oh, Yang might make an educated guess from the questions Raven had asked on Ilia's behalf, but unless Raven had told her, this was a mission no one else knew about. It apparently wasn't something Yang had bothered to investigate herself, something about believing the company in question would have informed her of anything. Just like a human to trust like that. No faunus could.

Yang's frozen eggs should be somewhere in the building Ilia had scouted out over the last few days. Raven had helped with that at least, providing the floor plan. Ilia had no idea how she'd managed that, as she hadn't seen her yet, only communicating over scroll messages. Ilia had been busy, discovering when staff took breaks, and various other things an infiltrator needed to know.

Not that Yang's eggs were the target. Ilia was pretty fucking grateful for that, because chances were Yang wouldn't want Ilia anywhere near them. That and Ilia felt a bit weirded out about the concept of a person's eggs. She had eggs for breakfast, and couldn't get away from the mental imagery of Yang laying an egg like a chicken. Ilia wasn't stupid; she was well aware human and faunus eggs were much smaller than bird eggs, and didn't work in quite the same way.

Ilia mentally slapped herself. Focus! She was here for information, not eggs. The mission objective was data espionage. If one of Yang's frozen eggs had been used to get her pregnant, then there should be some sort of paper trail. Or rather a digital one, and Ilia had come prepared for hacking.

A bird croaked from the branches of a nearby tree. Ilia looked up at it, admiring the black feathers gleaming in the sunlight. She'd often seen it around while doing her scouting. It must have a nest nearby. Now if only Raven had been there as often as the bird… What was it? A crow? Something like that.

Ilia put her scroll away. The glow of the screen would only be a giveaway, she couldn't count on that fading away from view with the rest of her. She'd also have to keep a tight grip on her emotions. No flickers of annoyance or anything else; her camouflage broke if her faunus trait turned her skin and hair bright colours.

Now for the trickiest part of this infiltration: waiting for people to go through the doors in her path to her objective. It was why she was doing this when staff were working, and not when security cameras would catch doors opening for no apparent reason. Ilia had her doubts that it'd be written off as just the wind or a glitch with automatic doors, not when Semblances existed that could render an intruder invisible. That there were still some people not on their lunch break actually helped. What made her job difficult was slipping through before the doors closed without touching anyone. If only she had the power to be as insubstantial as a ghost…

Ilia concentrated, fading away into the background. She held up her arm to be sure. Good. It blended in perfectly. She loitered outside the front door, waiting as patiently as she could, trying not to move too much. Anyone watching might detect motion even if they couldn't understand what they were seeing. The door opened a couple of minutes later, a woman too busy lighting a cigarette to have any chance of noticing Ilia dart behind her and through the door. People taking smoking breaks would make this mission so much easier, and she'd observed a few smokers slipping out.

She headed across the reception for the next door, moving slowly, wary eyes on the receptionist tapping away on his computer. Ilia's route wasn't too convoluted and easily memorised, but she did have a few doors to go through, including the lift. She'd probably have less chance of walking into someone if she took the stairs, but the chances of an employee bothering to take them during the workday when the lift was faster and easier… without someone going through the stairwell doors, it might be noticed if they seemingly opened by themselves. And then Ilia's camouflage could be spotted on closer inspection, especially under bright light. She blended in better with shadows.

She'd just have to hope she timed it right with the lift and that it wouldn't be packed full like a tin of sardines. Everyone on their lunch break should be in the canteen by now. The lift door opened. Ilia froze in horror.

What had to be the maximum capacity started to bustle out, chattering. She had to move! They'd walk into her - she'd positioned herself to be out of the way of maybe three people, not a whole fucking lift full! Fuck… If she moved too fast someone might spot the blur of her motion, but if she didn't get out the way right now, someone would bump into her. Why hadn't she sidled along the wall to begin with? Ugh, she was so rusty.

A croak rang out behind her, and the assembled staff pointed, gawking. Ilia glanced back to see a crow soaring around the room. It must've flown in through the front door, still open from the proximity of the smoker outside. She took the chance to dart to the side, everyone's eyes on the bird. The lift occupants rushed out, the receptionist joining them as they tried to shoo the crow back outside. It croaked again, almost like it was cackling at their futile attempts.

Ilia slipped inside the lift, heart racing, barely able to keep herself blended in to her surroundings. She took a risk and pressed the button of the floor she needed. Hopefully if someone noticed it they'd just think a member of staff on another floor was summoning it. She slumped against the wall of the lift, breathing a sigh of relief. Ilia closed her eyes, concentrating. She couldn't let her emotions get strong enough to colour her skin. That didn't mean all feeling was forbidden; she allowed herself a breathless laugh and a smile.

It felt good to be doing something. Her current work for the White Fang was important, yes, but… This was far more like missions back when they were actually fun. Far too much of her work now was by necessity tangled up with bureaucracy and meetings, and even when she got to do something practical her bodyguards vetoed most of her participation in direct action with the campaign for faunus rights. Too dangerous, they couldn't risk her getting arrested, she needed plausible deniability, blah blah blah… They'd doubtless veto this too, if they knew about it. Which they didn't, Ilia had slipped away from them, just like she had with visiting Yang. Her home was considered safe enough to be without them. Here, though?

Ilia's exhilaration faded. She couldn't forget that if she got caught and identified it'd mean trouble for the Fang. Still, the risk made it fun. And it wasn't like Ilia would be caught. Right? Even if she had been reliant on a random crow for a distraction. If not for that… Seriously, fuck Raven.

The lift stopped moving and the doors slid open. Ilia waited for a moment to be sure no one was trying to enter the seemingly empty lift, then slipped out. She crept down the corridor, keeping a wary eye on the doors opposite the floor length windows. Ilia had to keep her distance from the windows; she was at her most visible when against daylight. But if a door opened and someone came out—

'Fuck.'

As if prompted by the realisation, the next door opened. A man bustled out, eyes on his scroll, but if Ilia didn't move right now he'd walk into her. But chances were he'd see her move, eyes were sensitive to movement, and peripheral vision most of all. Fuck, fuck, fuck…

WHAM!

Ilia barely kept herself from reacting as something slammed into the window. The employee dropped his scroll in his shock, head turning to look at whatever it was. Ilia took the chance to get around him. He'd serendipitously come from where she needed to go, and the door hadn't closed yet.

"Aw, poor birdie—" The man's voice cut off when the door closed behind Ilia.

Either it was the same crow from earlier, or there were other birds around, of similar size and stupidity. Then again that wasn't entirely fair; some faunus with bird traits struggled to see glass, so chances were actual birds did too. She hoped the bird was okay, especially after it had probably distracted all of the employees who might've caught Ilia. Presuming it was the same one. She might owe a debt to an entire flock of birds at this rate…

Ilia looked around the room, spotting the computer on a desk. She took a quick photo of the position of the chair, then moved it out of the way. Best not sit on it or the employee might notice it was warmer than it should be if he came back too soon.

She stepped close enough to reach the keyboard, laced her fingers together and stretched. Then she plugged in her trusty hacking gadget, something she'd spent hundreds of hours preparing, although not specifically for this mission. Ilia could try to guess the password, but she didn't have time for that and might trigger a security alert with too many failures, so best rely on tech. It cracked open the system embarrassingly fast; this business really needed better security. Hopefully it had decent quality physical security when it came to its cryo storage, maybe Ilia should check that out. She owed Yang, and ensuring her frozen eggs were secure could go some way to making it up to her. It'd have to be another day though; Ilia also had responsibilities to the White Fang she was currently shirking. Even if it was just a boring meeting.

Ilia found the customer files easily enough, but hit a snag. She felt her stomach drop, and quickly double-checked her scroll. Fuck. She didn't know Yang's surname, and her scroll contact details didn't have it. The customer files here were listed under surnames, with initials for forenames. For all her planning, she hadn't thought of this. So simple, so obvious, and like some absolute—

She stifled a groan. Ilia felt her cheeks burning, and knew her mortified blush must be visible. She took a few deep breaths. Maybe a search with just 'Yang' would turn up some hits within the files themselves? It wasn't exactly a common name.

Ilia tapped away at the keyboard. She cursed under her breath. The security wasn't quite as shoddy as she'd thought; the files themselves were encrypted, and the search function couldn't find anything in them. Either she'd need to copy everything and take her time elsewhere to decrypt as many files as it took to find Yang's, or…

She got out her scroll again and sent a quick message to Kali, as the most likely person to respond as soon as she got the message. If Blake was doing anything with Yang, any response was likely to be delayed. Ilia was resigned to the fact that she wasn't Blake's highest priority. She never had been. Not that she was Kali's either, but Ilia had a suspicion Kali's Semblance was something to do with an ability to reply to messages almost instantly. She'd certainly never had to wait longer than a few minutes for Kali to get back to her. Sure enough, her scroll vibrated a few moments later.

Kali: Xiao Long.

Kali: But why?

Ilia stared down at her scroll, feeling her cheeks burn anew. Just her luck, stumbling from one problem straight into the next. She needed to tell Kali something, but what? While she thought about a plausible excuse, she scrolled through the database and found 'Xiao Long, Y.' That done, she copied it over to her hacking module. She'd have to wait until she was somewhere safe to take the time to decrypt it. Ilia ejected the module and logged out of the computer, leaving it as she found it. She compared the chair to the photo she'd taken to make sure the position matched.

Her scroll vibrated again. Ilia checked it, and found another message.

Kali: She'll be Belladonna soon enough, they're exchanging surnames.

Presumably after they married. Hm… marriage, wedding, maybe she could give Kali the excuse that it was something she'd needed to know for a wedding present? Except the wedding was delayed until further notice, and not something Ilia needed to worry about for whoever knew how long. Because of the baby. Wait. That was it!

Ilia: Good to know, thanks. It's for baby shower stuff. I want to give them something custom, so not a word to Blake please.

Kali: My lips are sealed!

Ilia's triumphant grin faded. She'd doubtless be invited to the baby shower as Blake's best friend, but the thought of seeing Yang filled her with dread. As did the thought of seeing Blake, really. She owed it to Yang to come clean with Blake about what she'd done. And after that, would she really be able to claim to be Blake's best friend? Or even just a friend?

She had to push away the dread, and the fear. Ilia needed to remain as invisible as possible to get out of here, undetected. Or she'd probably die from sheer embarrassment.

Ilia retraced her steps out of the building without incident, all staff keeping out of her way. She found her way to a cafe, ordered a tea, and took a seat in a quiet corner. She deemed it safe enough to plug her hacking module into her scroll, decrypted the file, and took a look. Her frown deepened as she realised what it revealed. Yang needed to know this, and to find a better company to trust with her eggs, but Ilia found herself reluctant to just send the info to her. It—

Someone dropped into the seat across from her. Without asking. Rude! Ilia reined in her anger, not wanting it to colour her skin and reveal her as a faunus. Not that there was anything wrong with being a faunus, but she was trying to lay low here. She restricted herself to giving her uninvited company an icy glare. Her eyes widened, skin flickering in her surprise.

Red eyes met hers, shadowed by long dark hair. Raven had finally shown her face, and must have followed Ilia here to have found her. Like a stalker.

Ilia looked her up and down. She couldn't help herself. Not when she looked so much like Yang, or rather vice versa considering Raven was Yang's mother. It was uncanny, seeing such similar facial structure, but Raven's colouring was like Yang in a dark mirror. Ilia could sort of see where Yang's temporary red eyes came from, but Raven's were darker. Nowhere near as vibrant as Emerald's either, and Emerald never looked at her like Raven did. It felt like Raven was looking down at her, and not just because Ilia was shorter. She didn't get that vibe with Yang, no matter how angry Blake's fiancée was with her. And justifiably so. But Raven? Fuck that, she had no right to look so fucking superior.

Ilia pushed away the helpless realisation of 'oh no she's hot' and focused on her annoyance instead. Yes, she found Raven attractive, despite the creepy vibes. Emerald would probably agree with her. That didn't mean either of them would actually try to seduce her. They both knew better than that when it came to the likes of Raven.

"What did you find?" Raven demanded, gesturing at Ilia's scroll.

Ilia rolled up her scroll and pocketed it. "Why should I tell you when you didn't help?"

Raven's eyebrow raised higher. "Didn't I?"

In hindsight Ilia was lucky she didn't splutter her tea over Raven. In the blink of an eye a crow sat where Raven had been, beak and beady eyes peering over the edge of the table. No one else in the cafe seemed to notice, the barista busy making drinks, and the customers lost in their own worlds.

Ilia pinched herself. A croak escaped the bird, as if to say 'no, you're not dreaming.'

"You were the crow?!"

Raven transformed back into a woman, a mocking smirk on her face. "Raven."

Ilia gave her a very confused look.

"A raven, not a crow."

"Crow, raven, same thing." Ilia waved dismissively. "But... How?! How did you even know where I was in there? You couldn't have been watching me after I faded from view, but you knew when and where I needed help!"

"Magic," Raven drawled. "And you're not invisible to birds. Everything on you that's in the ultraviolet spectrum stays there, no matter what colour you turn."

"Huh… so a bird faunus might be able to spot me. Good to know," Ilia muttered. She shook her head and glowered at Raven. "You could've told me! I thought you weren't coming."

Raven shrugged. "I came, and it was more fun for me to leave you guessing."

Ilia scowled. She opened and closed her mouth, not even sure what to say. Ugh! She hated being left speechless.

"Anyway, no reason to hang around." Raven held out a hand. "Just give me the info, and I'll pass it on. Unless you insist on telling Yang yourself?"

"And let you take the credit? I don't—" Ilia cut herself off with a wince. "Actually, you should tell her, she doesn't need to know I was involved." Yang might not trust it coming from Ilia after all…

Raven rolled her eyes. "You got my scroll number from Yang. She knows why."

"True, but it's still best it comes from you."

Raven gave Ilia a sidelong look, but didn't question her. Odd. Maybe Yang hadn't told Raven about what Ilia had accused her of. Or maybe Raven didn't care. Regardless, Ilia wasn't about to bring it up if Raven didn't.

Ilia dug her scroll out. "Let me get it sent to you… Done."

Raven checked her own scroll. She nodded. "I'll look it over for myself. Your part in this matter is over, unless Yang says otherwise." She put her scroll away and stood.

Ilia swallowed hard. Her eyes were drawn against her will into admiring the full length of Raven's shapely body. Fuck, Raven was just as tall and curvaceous as her daughter. Ilia wanted to climb her like a tree.

'No! Bad! Don't go there, Amitola. Just be sure to go see Emerald again after this.'

Raven turned away, gesturing with one arm. A swirling oval of paradoxically glowing red shadows appeared with a distinctive ripping sound. Raven ignored the stares of those present in the cafe as she sauntered through it, swallowed up by the floating shadowy pool. It vanished with another tearing noise.

The wide eyes of the onlookers shifted to Ilia, linking her by proximity to the anomaly that was Raven's Semblance. Ilia cringed, uncomfortable with so many eyes on her. She wished she could fade into the background, but there was far too much attention on her for that to be an option.

Ilia gave her best disarming grin and shrugged. "Sorry, my… friend… has a Semblance perfect for dramatic exits." She almost winced at referring to Raven as a friend. It felt so wrong. She barely kept her skin from showing her discomfort.

Ilia finished her tea, left a generous tip in the hopes that it'd help the barista overlook the incident, and headed out. She needed to be somewhere else, somewhere she could relax and let her skin shift with her emotions.

Her mission had been successful, but only up to a point. It didn't conveniently name a culprit or anything. Ilia doubted Yang would consider it settling matters between them. It certainly didn't satisfy Ilia. But what more could she do without Blake's parents knowing everything?

Ilia sighed heavily. Time to find Emerald. She could forget her troubles for a while in rather more pleasant company than she'd had so far today.

The midwife swept Yang into her office right on time, a nice change considering how delayed healthcare appointments could get. Yang sank into the patient's chair when invited to sit, trying not to stare. Surely it couldn't be?

"Good afternoon, Huntress Xiao Long. I—"

"Belladonna," Yang said. It didn't matter if her midwife knew she was married. It was only a secret from their friends, and from anyone who might spread the word. If she couldn't trust her midwife, who could be?

"Excuse me?" The midwife gave her a stern look over the top of her spectacles. Yang felt like she was right back in a certain classroom at Beacon.

"I took my wife's name, it might not be in my patient details yet."

"My apologies, I'll make sure that's changed." The midwife typed briefly on her tablet sized scroll. "Now, if I may continue?"

"Sure. Sorry about interrupting."

The midwife's exasperated look faded with Yang's apology. "Firstly, I am your midwife, unless you wish to be reassigned. You only need let me know at any time. I will not take offence."

Yang shrugged. "No complaints. And I will if I need to."

"Then let us begin. My name is Larena Upland. As your midwife, my concern is your health and that of your unborn child. As such, you may call me whatever you wish."

Yang tried to resist. She really did. It was none of her business. But it'd nag at her if she didn't. "Any relation to Glynda Goodwitch?"

Midwife Upland gave her a small smile. It made her look a little less severe, although not by much. "My daughter."

"Wait, what, but you don't look that much older than her—" Yang cut herself off, blushing. She'd only just met her midwife and she'd already blundered by bringing up her age.

Upland's small smile widened. "My family have good genes. I thank you for the compliment of assuming I'm younger than I am, but we really must move on to the matter at hand. I have other appointments, and it's unacceptable to run late." A stern mask replaced the smile.

Yang nodded. She felt like something was missing, and realised Goodwitch would probably have slapped her riding crop against her own palm in emphasis of her words. But this wasn't Goodwitch, even if they were closely related. She couldn't expect the same mannerisms, especially when the midwife lacked any weapons at all. It didn't help her confused expectations that from what she'd seen so far, Upland had a very similar attitude to Goodwitch.

"The most important thing is that you feel you can come to me if you have any questions or concerns. I remain on call outside working hours, and you must not discount anything as unimportant. I am the expert, and would rather a false alarm than miss an emergency." Upland's stern gaze intensified. "Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes, Professor." Yang slapped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide, cheeks burning.

Upland sighed. "Midwife."

Yang peeled her hand away and gave Upland a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You are not the first student of my daughter to call me by her title. Now, what I want you to start thinking about is your birth plan."

"Uh. Isn't that over three months away?"

"Ideally, yes, but it's never too soon to put a birth plan into place once you're this far along. Bear in mind that premature birth still happens, no matter the advancements in pregnancy care."

Yang flinched away from the thought, but she had to ask: "Isn't it too soon to be viable yet?"

A solemn look was the only answer for her actual question. "It is good practice to have a plan in place before you might need it."

"I guess. What is there to plan?" Yang looked away. The thought of birth wasn't exactly fun.

"Your birth plan covers what you would like to happen during labour, birth, and immediately after the birth. The most important decision for you as a huntress regards your Aura."

"Right, because my Aura will try to heal me. And that would be bad when the baby's trying to come out." Yang rested a hand on her belly.

Upland nodded. "Precisely, and it will make labour take longer. It's advisable to suppress your Aura, but your having to focus on that doesn't mix well with painkillers."

Yang frowned. She really didn't like the sound of that. "Why?"

"Some painkillers leave you unable to focus on holding back your Aura. Other methods leave you temporarily unable to feel part of your body, and you won't be able to hold back your Aura from what you can't even feel."

"Fuck!" Yang massaged her temples. "Run that by me again, my choices are…"

"Aura suppression with no painkillers and a theoretically shorter labour, or leave your Aura active but have painkillers, with a longer labour and more risk of complications as a result."

Yang groaned. "I can't risk that."

Upland gave her a sympathetic look. "They might happen anyway, there's no guarantees in childbirth."

"I don't suppose there's an Aura suppressant drug or gadget."

"There are ongoing experiments, but for now at least it depends on your own Aura control. In my own experience it's more difficult when you're in pain."

It was perhaps just as well Blake wasn't with her. She wouldn't like Yang's next question: "What about breaking my Aura?"

Upland gave her a look over the top of her glasses that left Yang feeling like she was back at Beacon, earning Goodwitch's ire. "Huntress Xiao Long—"

"Belladonna," Yang said.

"Huntress Belladonna," the midwife corrected herself. "You should know more than most why breaking your Aura is only to be done in event of emergency, even with childbirth."

"I should? I don't know much about pregnancy or childbirth, you're the expert—"

"The education of a huntress focuses very much on Aura, or so Glynda told me!" Upland frowned. "But then… the fall of Beacon. You did complete your education elsewhere, didn't you?"

Yang winced. "Well… Ironwood decided we'd had more practical training with everything we'd been through than we would have if Beacon hadn't fallen."

"Ah. Now I remember Glynda complaining about his focus on practical skills at the expense of theory. Soft skills, he'd sneer." Upland rolled her eyes. "I suppose he thought the huntsmen and huntresses he turned into soldiers only needed to follow orders without understanding the reasons for them."

Yang folded her arms over her bump. "No offence, but I don't really want to talk about Ironwood. I know I brought him up, but… Bad memories."

Upland nodded. "Fair enough. I understand that you've been through a lot."

"Why the big deal about breaking Aura? It's not like I've ever chosen to break it before…" The moment Yang said it, memories flashed through her mind. Like taking that hit from Neo for Ruby. Okay, so maybe she'd lied. But she only did it intentionally when someone's life was in danger.

"Glynda told me that part of a huntress's education should involve the reason why Aura break is to be avoided, and also why formal combat between huntsmen and huntresses should be to when projected Aura is critically low, not to break it."

"And this reason is…?" Yang's prosthetic whirred softly as she rotated her wrist, moving her hand in a rolling circle.

"Aura is not like Hard-Light Dust shields. You feel tired and weakened once it is broken, and the experience of Aura break itself is painful. There's a good reason for that. It's a protective projection of your soul."

"I know that," Yang kept her tone relatively soft, battling against the urge to scoff. "I learned that much before even getting to Beacon."

"Which is why Beacon did not teach you more before it fell." Upland tutted. "Clearly the syllabus should have focused more on the important things earlier, instead of leaving them to the last year. I understand why; it's because what you learn last is freshest in your memory."

Yang massaged her temples. "Please get to the point. I don't find it easy to focus at the moment, something to do with the pregnancy hormones." She barely managed to keep herself from snapping at the midwife.

"Huntresses - and huntsmen - should be discouraged from taking unnecessary risks that would lead to Aura break, because it can weaken future Aura projection. The pain you feel from Aura break is very real, and that reflects the damage Aura break can do."

Yang stared at her. "That can't be right. My Aura's ended up shattered many times, and been no weaker for it."

"Regardless, it is not good for you, and I will not support a care plan that would result in multiple Aura breaks. Labour can take many hours, and your Aura might well recover more than once over that time if broken so you could have painkillers." The midwife waggled an admonitory finger. "And in the event you want a different professional, no midwife or doctor would support such a plan that relied on Aura break outside of emergency."

"Noted," Yang said. She hoped she didn't look as sulky as she felt. The thought had crossed her mind to try someone else, but there was no point. Upland was right, like it or not.

"You don't have to decide on your birth plan right now," Upland said. "Think about it. Talk it over with your wife. And congratulations. I'd like to give you time to decide, and to meet your wife next appointment too. She should be an important part of your care, and should be involved with your birth plan. Unless you don't want her present. Next week, same time."

Yang found herself swept out of Upland's office just as quickly as she'd been invited in. She had to take a moment to steady herself. Ugh. Childbirth was going to suck.

Her scroll buzzed. Yang almost dropped it in her rush to get it out, hoping for a message from Blake. But no. It was too soon to be her wife. Yang frowned. Raven, requesting a meeting. At least she hadn't just portalled to Yang without asking first…

Yang: I'll let you know when I'm home. Just met my midwife.

Raven: See you soon.

Yang took the time to eat her lunch before giving Raven the go ahead to come. Not because she felt like keeping Raven waiting - or at least not just because Raven deserved a bit of petty revenge - but Yang figured whatever Raven had to tell her might put her off eating for a while.

Raven emerged from her portal, letting it close after her and sheathing her sword. She looked around, frowning.

"Blake's not here," Yang stated.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Didn't she stop going on missions?"

"She did. Her parents needed her help with a White Fang meeting."

"Figures," Raven muttered. "Doesn't matter. You're the one I came to talk to, not her."

Yang didn't much care for Raven's tone when mentioning Blake, but she wasn't being too bad, all things considered. "What is it?"

"It can wait a little longer. We can try to talk like family do, can't we?"

Yang crossed her arms. She scowled, and switched to having her arms akimbo. It didn't feel right to prop her arms up on her bump when trying to express annoyance. "Can we?"

"We can try." Raven eyed her with something between hope and wariness. "It's good practice for my efforts to be a decent grandmother."

"If you say so." Yang switched to a more relaxed stance. "Go on. Give it a try, Grandma."

Raven barely flinched, progress for her. "You said you saw your midwife. How'd it go?"

Yang felt her eyes burn, and knew they'd flickered red. "You could've warned me that Aura needs suppressing during childbirth."

Raven blinked. "I thought you knew. It's like with field surgery. If you still have Aura but need something extracted with no anaesthetic possible, Aura has to be held back or it'll make things worse."

The burn faded from Yang's eyes along with her anger. "Beacon fell before my training got that far."

Raven cocked her head. "How did you get a huntress licence?"

"Ironwood needed more huntsmen and huntresses."

"You mean cannon fodder," Raven scoffed. "Hardly the first blunder he made. One of these days we'd better make sure the inevitable gaps in your training are filled."

"I think I've done just fine despite those gaps." Yang managed not to snap, but couldn't keep the chill out of her voice.

"Did I say you hadn't? It's still a good idea to learn whatever you missed through no fault of your own."

"I guess you have a point," Yang reluctantly admitted. "But all of my team and our friends from Beacon need it too."

"I don't know that I'm willing to give it to more than just you and maybe your team. You could always pass on what you learn, or get Qrow to do some teaching too. He fucked up not thinking to do it himself years ago, but what's new? Tai—"

"Raven," Yang growled, feeling her eyes burn again. "Enough. I appreciate your offer, but there's no need to insult my uncle and my dad."

Raven frowned. "Isn't there?"

"Raven. I said enough! Just tell me what you came to say."

"Sorry," Raven muttered. "I've been looking into how you ended up pregnant. I haven't found anything, except…"

"What?" Yang went rigid. She felt the baby move, and laid a hand over it.

"Some of your frozen eggs are unaccounted for."

AN: Cliffie? What cliffie? Coming up next: Raven fills Yang in on the details about what she and Ilia found out.

Comments appreciated. Did you enjoy this? Please let me know, I'd love to know what in particular if so.

This chapter took longer to write than I intended, no thanks to covid flattening me. I get the feeling this fic will be as long in the writing as a pregnancy.

On the name of Yang's midwife: Larena Upland is apparently the mother of Glinda in the Wicked novel. It seemed a fitting name for a relative of Glynda Goodwitch. I haven't read Wicked, so apologies for any errors there.