Blake's coffee went cold long ago, yet she still took a sip and wrinkled her nose. Hopefully, it jolted her sleep-deprived brain into some measure of functionality. So far, it had only made her shaky and vaguely nauseous as she stared out the window. A thick, gray fog had blanketed Vale overnight, casting an eerie gloom that seemed downright cheerful compared to her grim mood.
Everything hurt. Every thought renewed her heartbreak like a bottomless fountain of pain. For someone who built a life around making plans, she was lost. Bereft of direction. Floating in infinite space with few possibilities.
She betrayed Adam - he would kill her if he found out.
She broke Yang's heart - Yang would never forgive her.
She revealed Shroud's identity to the police - she would likely go to prison once this was over.
Life the way she knew it had ended. She was under police control now. They would tell her what to do and when. They would determine her fate.
The only thing she had any control over was possibly the most important: bringing down the White Fang. Adam, Cinder, Yuma…their warped views of justice could join her in prison and the rest of the world could forget that they ever existed.
Two quick knocks drew her gaze to the door before she scrambled out of her seat to answer it. As soon as she peered into the hall, however, her heart dropped.
"Ruby?" she asked after opening it.
"Hey. Yang asked me to keep watch."
The lackluster response needed no further explanation. Blake bit her lip and motioned Ruby in, then closed the door and went to the kitchen while Ruby surveyed the living room.
"Want something to drink?" Blake offered.
"No, thanks."
Blake nodded but, desperate for something to ease the awkward silence, made herself another cup of coffee. Ruby sat on the sofa sometime before the hot water finished and was using her phone by the time Blake carried her fresh coffee to the desk. She should say something, but she had no idea what, and Ruby obviously didn't want to talk.
"Are you just…going to hang out all day?" Blake eventually asked.
"Pretty much. Want me to wait outside?"
"No, it's fine. I was just…wondering."
When Ruby nodded and returned to her phone, Blake flipped open a partially read novel. The words hardly registered as her thoughts flew from one question to the next and scattered whenever Ruby made so much as a sound.
Ruby was friendly, gregarious, and joyful, but one wouldn't know it from the way she regarded her phone with casual indifference and pretended as if Blake wasn't even there. In any other situation, Blake might be annoyed at being ignored in her own home, but she tried to read rather than dwell on how different this version of Ruby was compared to the one she had considered a budding friend. That Ruby was gone, just like Yang, who had decided to stay in the hall all night rather than share the same space.
A sigh slipped through her lips as she turned another page. More probably followed, but she stopped counting before long. She also didn't remember much of the book, but she remembered exactly where she stopped when Ruby's ringtone broke the heavy silence.
"Hey," Ruby said before listening for a second. "Yeah, I'm here." Her gaze flitted to Blake. "I'm not doing that." Another pause followed by a weary sigh. "I know, and I'm sure she knows. Can you just focus on Yang? See if she wants to get breakfast or something."
Blake winced at Yang's name, but Ruby listened for another moment before sighing again - this one relieved. "You're perfect. Thank you."
Ruby ended the call and glanced over, catching Blake eavesdropping.
"Weiss says hi?" she guessed.
"Something like that…" Ruby muttered while putting her phone away. Without the distraction, she folded her hands in front of her and rested her chin on them. She had never struck Blake as the 'silent, brooding' type, but that was exactly what she did. Considering there could only be one topic worth that expression from a proverbial ray of sunshine, who just days ago had shared one of the happiest days of her life with Blake, Blake shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Sorry for ruining your wedding," she blurted out, drawing Ruby's sharp silver gaze.
"You think I care about that?" Ruby scoffed and clenched her fingers into fists. "You ripped my sister's heart out in front of her friends and family and then told everyone at work that you've been playing her this whole time. You didn't ruin my wedding - you destroyed my sister in every way you possibly could and are lucky I don't want to go to jail. You're extra lucky that Weiss doesn't know where you live."
The response struck Blake's heart like a railroad spike, but she looked down rather than be burned by Ruby's fiery gaze.
"Why don't you just tell her where I live…" she mumbled to the floor. "Let her put me out of my misery."
"You might be a shitty person, but I'm not letting Weiss put that on her conscience."
Blake bobbed her head but didn't bother defending herself. Maybe she was a shitty person. Only a shitty person would use Yang like she did. Only a shitty person would take advantage of Yang's openness and willingness to trust. Only a shitty person could hurt Yang so badly that they earned Ruby's anger.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to her hands before meeting Ruby's anger head-on. "But I love her, Ruby. I really do."
Ruby stared at Blake for several seconds before shaking her head and mumbling, "I wish I believed that." Her phone then returned to her hand and her indifference to the rest of the apartment returned - their conversation was over.
Blake deserved the mistrust, but that didn't make it any less painful. She didn't bother pointing out that she turned herself in under her own volition. Nothing would prove her feelings for Yang, but helping the police catch Adam and the rest of the White Fang would at least show that she intended to put that life behind her.
Her phone buzzed against the desk, sending her heart off to the races and Ruby's attention snapping her way. Her first hope - that Yang had reached out - was replaced by dread when she saw who sent the message. Somehow, she knew what it was and wanted to ignore it entirely. Pretend she never received it. Unfortunately, with Ruby already waiting, she read the message and then closed her eyes.
"What is it?" Ruby asked while Blake's heart dropped further through her stomach. Words lodged in her throat, so she held up the phone and let Ruby take it from her.
"'Vale Boulevard…'" Ruby muttered to herself. "Isn't that Vale Financial Trust?"
"It is…" Blake sighed, squeezing her eyes shut as if that might spare her from this nightmare. Ruby said nothing for several moments before setting her lips in a thin line, returning Blake's phone, and pulling out her radio. Blake stared at the screen, unmoving even as follow-up messages arrived, while Ruby paced away from her.
"All units, initiate Stage 2 protocols on Operation Nightfall. We're looking at the crown jewel. Begin staging and wait for further instructions. Over."
"What time?" Blake didn't realize Ruby was speaking to her until Ruby waved a hand and said, "Blake - what time?"
"Oh." Stirring to life, Blake skimmed Adam's subsequent messages and said, "Four today."
"Four? The bank won't even be closed."
"Yeah, I guess - I don't know. It's Cinder's plan."
When Blake frowned, wondering what the hell Cinder was thinking, Ruby shook her head and switched radio channels.
"Pyrrha, you there? It's Ruby."
Ruby lowered her radio and waited.
"Hey Ruby. What do you need?"
"I need all the stuff we talked about at my location ASAP. And an extra vest. Plain clothes though."
"You got it."
With that settled, Ruby put her radio away and motioned with both hands.
"So what do you do - just show up at four?"
"Usually, we ride over together, but Cinder's in charge this time, so…I don't know. I guess so."
Faced with Ruby's dubious expression, Blake bit her lip and looked down. Every question that she failed to answer highlighted how little control she had, and that lack of control unsettled her very being. She made the plans. She knew the details inside and out. But today, on the day that mattered more than every other job before this, she was utterly blind.
Ruby's restless pacing suggested that Blake wasn't the only one bothered by the lack of information. Usually, she would spend the last precious minutes reviewing every step of her strategy, but she could only sit like a statue and try to take calm, even breaths. Ruby's quick pace didn't help much, as her heart wanted to match the footsteps racing back and forth across her living room.
Ruby's phone buzzed before long. Ruby hardly checked it before turning her rapid pace to the door and issuing a firm, "Stay here," before jogging out. While she was gone, Blake went to her bedroom and changed into black pants with a black shirt and black jacket. She had just returned to the living room when Ruby lugged a large duffel bag into the apartment.
"Come here." Ruby dropped the bag on the floor and rustled through its contents, then sat up and pushed a heavy, black vest into Blake's hands. "Put this on."
Blake turned the vest over in her hands, the material coarse under her fingertips, and shook her head.
"It'll slow me down."
"And it could save your life." When Blake scrunched her nose, Ruby crossed her arms over her chest. "Either you wear it or we call the whole thing off. I'm not letting you out there without it."
Ruby's uncompromising tone convinced Blake to nod and remove her jacket. After pulling the vest over her shirt, Ruby tugged the strap tight across her stomach. Her jacket went over it and she twisted from side to side, testing the flexibility and weight. It cut into her range of motion but, fortunately, seemed relatively unnoticeable beneath her jacket.
"Now this." Ruby held up a tiny black microphone and motioned to Blake's collar. She clipped it into place and then handed Blake a black transmitter the size of several credit cards stacked on top of one another. "Put it in your pocket or something," she suggested, so Blake slipped it into one of her jacket pockets. She made the mistake of checking the time and sucked in a breath.
"Hey." Ruby stood in front of her and motioned for her attention. "You're going to meet them on your own, alright? We don't want to spook them but don't try to run. That will turn out very bad for you."
"I won't run…" Blake insisted, but it again fell on deaf ears.
"If all goes as planned, my team will be the first ones in. But if things don't feel right, you're going to use the word 'egregious,' ok? You say 'egregious' and we're coming in. We'll lead with flashbangs, so stay away from doors or windows if you can. Smartest thing is to get down on the ground - we don't want you getting hurt on accident."
When a small huff slipped through Blake's lips, Ruby frowned.
"Hey. It's my job to protect you, and I take my job seriously. What you did to Yang doesn't matter right now. We're going to catch these bastards and then figure everything else out."
The comment was, somehow, relieving. Blake nodded to show that she understood then turned when she heard footsteps moving down the hall. Yang strode into the room seconds later, scattering Blake's thoughts and grabbing her heart in the same instant. Yang's gaze remained hard though, her expression unyielding.
"Vale Financial Trust?" she asked and, once Blake nodded, clicked her tongue. "We just rebuilt their security from the ground up." Before Blake offered an opinion on that news, Yang crossed her arms over her chest.
"Ok, here's the deal -" she began, directing her gaze and words somewhere over Blake's right shoulder. "The Chief wants to catch them in the act, so you need to get in and crack the vault. Once you do, you're going to give us the signal." Before Blake asked what that was, Yang pointed to the microphone. "You say 'bingo' when you're in. Got it?"
Blake swallowed and nodded.
"Got it?" Yang repeated more forcefully.
"I got it," Blake said, so Yang nodded and checked the time.
"Is she ready?" Yang asked Ruby, who nodded. "Good. Let's get this over with."
While Ruby knelt to retrieve the bag, Yang strode over to Blake.
"Listen to me." Yang grabbed the top of Blake's jacket and dragged her closer, making Blake's heart protest as firm lilac eyes burned into hers. "If things don't feel right, get out of there. Don't try to be a hero."
"I could say the same to you two," Blake replied, her concern increasing when she noticed the gun holstered at Yang's hip.
"This is our job."
"And this is mine."
The comment was meant to be reassuring, but sadness filled Yang's eyes.
"No, I was the job," she whispered before releasing Blake with a little shove and turning away. Ruby took one look at her sister, the walking image of a broken heart, and scowled at Blake. Blake looked at both of them - Yang hurt and Ruby angry - before nodding.
"I won't let you down," she whispered before rushing out of the apartment alone.
The solitude ended the second she set foot outside as an unmarked police car idled across the street. She pointed at them so that they recognized that they were too close and too conspicuous, then stuck her hands in her pockets, kept her head down, and made her way to the train station.
A plainclothes officer joined her on the train, but she hoped that he only stuck out like a sore thumb because she just saw him at Ruby's wedding and not because he broadcast 'cop' to everyone in the vicinity. She gave him a pointed look all the same, and he thankfully backed off as she left the train and walked the last few blocks to Vale Financial Trust.
To the outside observer, this was any other weekday afternoon. Parents were running errands with their children. Workers were heading home early or ducking back into the office after a day of meetings. Tourists and visitors wandered out of the museums, looking tired and weary or enthusiastic about whatever came next.
Blake shared that anticipation, but an overwhelming sense of unease accompanied it. Everything about this job felt wrong, from not knowing the target to not knowing the plan or her role in it. Her direct path to the bank was also wrong, but with the police already tailing her there was little point in ducking cameras to protect her identity.
Cinder must have chosen to act during the day because she hadn't figured out how to deal with the Vanguard's time lock. Outside of the time lock hours, any attempt to open the vault before the next morning would fail without heavy machinery and ample time. They had never attempted a daytime job because the risk was too great and the likelihood of video recordings put their identities at stake. But that, unfortunately, was only Blake's first concern.
Her second concern was the two white delivery vans, each with a generic floral company's name plastered across the side, parked in the loading zone in front of Vale Financial Trust. They'd never needed more than one van before. One was just enough to accommodate a small team that could get in and out quickly. More people meant more points of failure. More opportunities for mistakes.
Despite her growing unease, she took a deep breath and approached the rear van. Her adrenaline kicked into high gear when the door suddenly slid open and Adam dragged her inside. The door slammed shut behind her, trapping her into cramped quarters with Adam, Cinder, Yuma, and someone she thought she'd never see ever again.
"Mercury? What're you doing here?"
"Got released. Figured I'd join the fun."
The silver-haired boy smirked while she gawked at him. Before she came up with an appropriate response - 'glad to see you' seemed disingenuous - Adam shoved a bag into her hands and pushed her toward the other side of the van.
"Get ready," he ordered, earning her withering gaze before she opened the bag holding her mask and tools.
"What's the plan?" she asked Cinder.
"Just follow us and open the vault when we get there."
Blake clenched her jaw at the opaque answer and the way Cinder's gaze slid to Adam. However, the dubious glance took a backseat in her mind when the vehicle started moving. Her attention flew up front, where Emerald kept her eyes trained forward as they drove away from Vale Financial Trust.
"Wait - where are we going?" she asked, looking between Adam and Cinder.
"You'll see when we get there," was the only answer Adam provided. Alarm bells rang in her mind, but she forced a passive expression and slipped on her mask. This wasn't going according to plan, but she was helpless to do anything now. She sat on her hands and watched in stomach-churning horror as Mercury and Yuma geared up instead.
They strapped on body armor that looked stolen right out of a SWAT truck then checked the magazines on high-powered rifles and slung the straps over their shoulders. Extra magazines were notched into compartments on their belts and handguns were slipped into holsters at their sides.
"Adam -?" she began, only for him to shove a piece of paper into her hands. She quickly recognized it as bank schematics. Which bank eluded her, but that mattered less when she realized exactly what she was looking at and, more importantly, where Adam got it.
"She's meticulous," he said, his sneer lodging like a knife in her chest.
In painstaking detail, the page listed every security feature the bank owned as well as its precise location and its weaknesses or vulnerabilities. There were also shift times, manager names, and the tenure of the employees. It was a bank robber's dream, but it made Blake sick to her stomach. Yang's unwitting involvement in this was the ultimate betrayal of everything that had once been pure between them, and Blake let it happen. She made it happen.
"We're almost there," Emerald called back to them, drawing Blake's gaze to the front window. After several seconds of desperately searching for landmarks and surroundings, Blake's heart dropped straight through her stomach.
"Sapphire Bank…" she whispered. The prosperous bank appeared moments later, looming over its street corner like a dragon protecting its treasure.
"Get ready."
Cinder sounded calm, but the air in the van tensed like a rope ready to snap. Yuma's fingers tapped the side of the weapon in his hands. Mercury leaned so far forward that he looked ready to bolt. And Adam…Adam stared at Blake with dark, soulless eyes.
The van suddenly screeched to a halt and Cinder threw the door open. Late-afternoon sunlight flooded in while Yuma and Mercury jumped out. Cinder followed, and Adam grabbed Blake's arm to shove her outside. She nearly fell but managed to catch her balance as Adam ushered her through the front door. Tires squealed on pavement as the vans tore off, but they were already in the bank, where memories hit her like a tidal wave.
This was where she and Yang met. Where Yang pretended to drop something in order to get Blake's attention. It all started here.
Those memories were shattered when Yumi fired two shots into the ceiling and people started screaming.
"Everyone on the ground!" he shouted, forcing everyone to their hands and knees, cowering where they had been waiting in line.
Blake couldn't breathe as she watched Corsac and Fennec rush over to the teller line, break through the security door, and force the tellers away from their stations. Cinder strode through the wreckage like a queen judging her subjects, but Blake only moved when Adam shoved her shoulder. Her gaze fell on a mother holding her young daughter close, shielding the crying girl as best she could, and an elderly man whose eyes were squeezed shut as he clasped his hands in front of him and quietly prayed.
The noise-masking technology threw off the sounds of fear, but she could see the terror etched into everyone's faces. They looked at her as if she was a monster. As if she might end their lives while they trembled in front of her.
The living nightmare only got worse when they made it to the thick door leading to the vault. Mercury dragged one of the employees over - a young man bleeding from a gash on the cheek - and shoved his head down until his face nearly slammed into the door's keypad.
"The code," Mercury ordered. Frantic eyes flitted from Mercury to Yuma, who smirked and pointed his gun to the keypad.
"I-it's, uh, it's - five, sixteen - uh, five, sixteen, t-thirty - thirty-two."
Adam punched in the code and nodded when the door unlocked. Yuma wrenched the young man's arms behind his back, causing a pained yelp, and Cinder plucked a set of keys from his pocket before strolling ahead. Foreboding pooled in Blake's stomach as Adam forced her to follow.
The police weren't set up for Sapphire Bank. Could they get here in time? She could stall, but with potential hostages involved…what would happen if Ruby's team showed up and rushed in while they were still in the bank?
With her thoughts racing so fast, she could hardly do more than move on autopilot. Cinder reached the vault door, ran her fingers over the smooth metal surface, and smiled.
"Here we go," she purred before standing aside and jerking her head for Mercury to lug the poor bank employee forward. Suddenly, Blake understood what Cinder meant by knowing someone who could 'take care of the biometrics.' Mercury forced the man's hand onto the fingerprint reader before shoving his face at the retinal scanner, both of which accepted the inputs and turned green.
"Do you know the combination?" Adam growled at the young man while Cinder shoved the key into the lock.
"N-no. It's - I have to call corporate t-to open it."
Adam nodded - they had always suspected that to be the case - and all eyes landed on Blake. Every cell in her body screamed that this was wrong, but she had to keep moving forward. The police must be on their way.
Clinging to that hope, she took a deep breath, pulled out her tools, and went to work just like she had practiced. Slow, steady breathing. Heightened attention to every soft sound and vibration. She had four minutes - she needed to use all four of them. She had to keep the White Fang here for as long as possible.
"Fifty-seven," she called out when she found the first digits. Cinder wrote it down - Adam shuffled his feet. With each number, he grew antsier and her adrenaline pumped faster. As soon as she found the tenth digit, Cinder shoved the final combination in front of her face and she spun it in as if her life depended on it.
She turned the wheel to disengage the lock and dragged the door open, revealing a large room filled with sparkling gold safety deposits and, at the other end, a far simpler safe. Her feet led her to the safe on autopilot, repeating the process from the door while everyone else took crowbars to the deposit boxes.
Everyone except for Adam. Adam hovered over her shoulder, making her palms sweat as she made quick work of the secondary lock. As soon as the safe door swung open, revealing stacks upon stacks of cash, she sat back on her heels and stared.
"Bingo," she whispered as someone whooped and she was elbowed aside. Cinder and Mercury dove in, grabbing armfuls of money and shoving it into black duffel bags while Corsac and Fennec arrived to help.
The entire scene felt like watching something out of a horror movie. And, the more seconds that ticked past without anyone coming to stop them, the larger the foreboding pit in her stomach grew.
How did this happen? Why were they here?
What had she become?
"Get to the van," Adam ordered once duffel bags were stuffed and zipped shut. Blake reached for one as everyone else rushed out of the vault, but Adam snatched it from her hand. Before she could even ask why, he pulled a handgun from his waistband, aimed it at her chest, and fired twice.
The force of the bullets knocked her flat on her back, no air in her lungs and ears ringing as she stared up at the ceiling. He loomed in her vision before long, his eyes burning with rage. She tried to move away as he leaned closer, but her entire left side felt paralyzed.
"You think you're so smart…" he whispered in her ear. "Yet you never saw this coming."
He tore her mask off and disappeared, leaving her lying on the floor gasping for air. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't understand what just happened or why. She didn't even know how much time passed before footsteps rushed toward the vault and figures spilled into the room. Ruby was suddenly there, in full tactical gear, kneeling by her side.
" - that way -" Blake wheezed, pointing in the direction Adam went. Ruby checked Blake's jacket before sprinting out of the room, calling her teammates after her. How much time had passed? Were the White Fang still there or had they already gotten away?
"Blake!" Yang slid to Blake's side, hands raised as if she wanted to help but didn't know how, panic in her eyes while searching for Blake's injury. "Blake. Shit - shit - are you ok? Where'd you get hit?"
"I'm - ok -" Blake wheezed as Yang found the bullet holes. Deft fingers removed her jacket before loosening the vest, providing a bit of leeway that made Blake gasp in a deeper, sorely needed breath.
"That probably hurt like hell." Yang helped Blake into a seated position before sitting back on her heels and watching Blake suck in air. "You good?"
"Yeah…think so…" Blake paused and looked at their hands - or, more accurately, at her clinging to Yang's arm for dear life. When she looked up and met Yang's gaze, tears sprang into her eyes. "Yang…"
Yang stiffened at the plea in Blake's tone and quickly stood up. "Pyrrha." She motioned over one of the officers and gestured to Blake. "Get her out of here."
Pyrrha hardly nodded before Yang rushed out of the vault, leaving Blake sitting on the floor with a massive hole where her heart should be. After glancing after Yang, Pyrrha gently helped Blake to her feet.
"Easy there," she said when Blake's balance wobbled. "Come on. Let's get you back to the station."
With Pyrrha offering subtle support, Blake gingerly picked her way out of the vault. She looked back before turning the corner, cementing the image - safe door open, stray cash littering the floor, and random safety deposit boxes pried open - in her memory.
As bad as that was, the lobby was even more scarring. Police officers and paramedics swarmed the building. The bank manager sat still as a statue, eyes glazed over, as a medic tended to the gash on his cheek. The other employees hugged each other, some of them sobbing. The bank patrons were also crying, some inconsolably as officers tried to reassure them.
Ducking her head, Blake followed Pyrrha outside without a word. Officers had set up a perimeter keeping curious bystanders at a safe distance. More police cars arrived and more officers hurried into the building. Pyrrha, meanwhile, opened the door on one of the squad cars and motioned Blake in. "Watch your head," she cautioned as Blake slipped into the backseat.
Then they were on their way. Adrenaline wearing off, Blake stared out the window feeling both numb and frayed as a live wire. Noticing the glances Pyrrha kept sending her in the rearview mirror, she touched her throbbing chest and hoped that the officer wouldn't say anything.
"Did you enjoy Ruby's wedding?"
The friendly question sliced Blake's heart to ribbons.
"It was really beautiful," she mumbled.
"It was, wasn't it?"
Fortunately, Pyrrha said nothing else for the rest of the ride to the station. Once they arrived, she only offered several helpful directions before leaving Blake in an interrogation room just like the one she sat in days earlier. There, she stared at the table and waited, Adam's parting words looming large in her mind.
He was right. He blindsided her. She was so busy worrying about Yang that she missed everything else. The new recruits. Being kept in the dark. Mercury's return. The last-second bank change. They hadn't just planned for Sapphire Bank; they had planned for her. They needed her to crack the safe, but everything else…they planned around her.
Adam won when it mattered, when Blake had everything to lose. Now…she had no idea what life had in store. Her life with the White Fang was over. Part of her felt a tremendous sense of loss, but a much larger part of her was disgusted with what she just took part in.
The White Fang hadn't just crossed the line - they destroyed it. The people in the bank were everyday citizens going about their day. They didn't deserve to go through what they just went through. They were the people who Blake wanted to help, not subject to such violence and terror.
Nothing that just happened represented her or what she wanted - Adam knew that. He knew that and forced her to participate anyway. He used her, then he shot her and left her to her fate.
Her chest felt like it had been crushed where the bullets hit, but that only amplified her heartbreak. Being angry right now felt like a bridge too far. How could she be angry when she used Yang just like Adam used her? She wasn't the victim here. The only victims were those poor people at the bank, and Yang. They did nothing wrong, yet Blake dragged them into this disaster.
This wasn't her though. It wasn't what she wanted. She was a good person. At least, she thought so, but recent events suggested otherwise. Maybe she wasn't. Maybe she was just a bad person who sometimes did good things. Or, in Ruby's terms, a shitty person who sometimes did good things.
Still grappling with that quandary, her gaze shot up when Yang walked into the room and sank into the chair across from her, defeated.
"They got away."
The words were no more than a whisper, but Blake's heart stopped.
"The entire department's looking for them," Yang continued in a strained voice. "But until we find them…" She clenched her fists and finally met Blake's gaze. "He tried to kill you."
"He did."
"He must've figured out you turned on him."
"Or he just wanted to get rid of me," Blake whispered. "I…I don't think I fit his new vision."
Adam's betrayal hurt, but it was nothing compared to the gulf between her and Yang.
"So…what now?" she asked softly. Yang sighed and lowered her gaze to the table.
"You'll be put in witness protection. They'll create a new identity for you. New name, new job, new apartment -"
"No, Yang…what now?"
Blake motioned between them, but Yang frowned at her hands before meeting Blake's gaze. Blake used to find everything in Yang's eyes - joy, mirth, humor, love - but now a tired, tortured gaze tore right through her.
"You'll get a fresh start, Blake. I think…I think that's best for everyone."
Yang's gaze returned to the table as tears sprang into Blake's eyes. She didn't want to go into witness protection, she didn't want a new life or identity, but Yang's demeanor didn't offer hope of any other choice.
"What about you?" she whispered.
"I've been suspended, and they scheduled a hearing next week to decide whether or not to fire me."
"Yang…I'm so sorry. I swear, I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted - I never thought -"
Explanations and apologies died at the tip of Blake's tongue, none of them remotely good enough to erase the harm she caused. That became all the more apparent when Yang looked up, her eyes shimmering with tears.
"You know the dumbest part? I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
Blake opened her mouth to say something - anything - but Yang shook her head, pushed herself to her feet, and walked out. Tears welled in Blake's eyes as the door shut, and she covered her mouth as a sob slipped through her lips. It was no use. Soon, she sobbed into her hands, her chest spiking with pain as her shoulders shook under the weight of her broken heart.
She cried until her chest ached and then sat there, softly weeping, until another officer retrieved her. They led her to another squad car, drove her to a nearby building, then marched her through a maze of hallways to an office occupied by a woman with a tight blonde bun and wire spectacles. The nameplate read 'Glynda Goodwitch,' and there the officer left her, facing an uncertain future in the hands of a stranger.
"Miss Belladonna," Glynda read off of a manilla folder before trapping Blake in a firm gaze. "That's the last time I'll ever refer to you by that name, and the last time you'll ever introduce yourself by that name. From this point on, you'll assume another identity - new name, new career, new history. Do you understand?"
Blake swallowed and nodded.
"Good." Glynda flipped open the file and offered a thin smile. "Welcome to witness protection."