Author's Notes

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Could it be? Is it so? It...It is! The new story alarm is going off! Say hello to 'Can I Make it to Summer?'

When Raven Branwen's (now ex-) husband runs off, leaving her alone with a blonde bundle of joy named Yang, she has no idea how a former bandit with no child-raising skills like her is supposed to last on her lonesome. Winter's icy embrace is on the horizon, and without any money or a job, tragedy might follow. With no other option, Raven calls Summer Rose, the leader of the team she quit nearly a year ago, for help in sorting out her troubled life and very troubled family. But she soon finds that there's a lot more she needs to learn from Summer than how to fold blankets or change diapers if she doesn't want her little household to come apart before the year's end.

Together once more, the women of Team Stark must work through their own guilt from the break-up of their team, mutual uncertainty towards who has the rights of motherhood over Yang, and the developing emotions they feel towards one another, all while nurturing a child so young she hasn't even seen her own first birthday.

A fic for the normies, now posting! Be sure to check it out, Rat's Nest.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!

Chapter 38 – The Huntsman Store

Team Job's going to need more than blood, sweat, and tears to complete their latest mission, and there's only one place they can get it.

"I shouldn't have jumped to the assumption that you were planning to betray us," Blake said, about a second after Jaune had left. "I should have at least given you the benefit of the doubt and heard out an explanation. Even if you were leaving, I owed it to you to hear you out."

"It's my fault, too," Velvet said back. "You got angry at me, and instead of even trying to clarify what I meant, I just assumed that you were hating on Beacon unfairly and got angry right back. It was me who shouldn't have assumed that you'd just go aggro on me without there being a serious cause. I mean, we were on a mission with our friends from Beacon, so it should have been obvious to me that you weren't prejudiced."

"How about we just oblige Jaune and agree to put this one behind us?" Blake offered, putting out her hand.

Velvet shook it and grinned. "Are we also gonna make out like he suggested, or…?"

Blake backed off a little bit, but Velvet just chuckled.

"Kidding. He said make up, not make out." Velvet scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Though he did say kiss…"

"In the future, let's promise one another to never jump to conclusions without at least trying first. It's impossible for us to not have some problems, between you, me, or Jaune, but we're practically adults, and we ought to behave like them."

"Well, practically might not be right in my case. You know, nineteen and pregnant and all."

It still didn't sit well with Blake how close they came to destruction merely on a few misinterpreted words. She would have to make sure to do something nice to thank Jaune for his oblivious intervention preventing them from utter ruin.

For the time being, though, her brainpower was probably better spent if devoted to focusing on the weirdo who'd hired them. Jaune would appreciate a job well done more than a thank you cake (or, given Blake's culinary expertise, more likely a thank you cupcake).

"So, what exactly do we know about our Mr. Callows?" Blake asked, smoothly changing the subject with the grace of an angelic being. "Jaune mentioned he was a scorpion Faunus, that he carried a blade, and that he has aura, but we know next to nothing else."

"Not nothing," Velvet said. "Apparently, he's a bit kooky. That's something we might be able to use to our advantage. Half of a hunt is knowing one's enemy."

They had a week to learn more about him, so that should be enough time. Blake didn't expect to be taking down a pro-huntsman on the first try, but hopefully she'd be able to get a good enough read on him then to at least devise a strategy to stop him.

Jaune had his last known coordinates on his scroll, but if Tyrian truly wanted a challenge, he'd be in motion already.

I doubt that I won't be able to track him once we've got a trail, and I'm sure I can pick up a trail once we start actually chasing this man. If Jaune makes contact and flushes him out, I could keep eyes on him while the others prepare a trap. Then, I just push him into it.

When they stepped outside, Jaune was there waiting for them just around the corner.

"I thought you were…"

"…getting pufferfish venom?" Jaune finished for her. "Yeah, I don't exactly think it's for sale in this city." He paused for a moment, then faltered. "Or, like, is it? Is this a huntsman thing, where you can go to the huntsman store and buy it?"

"Ah yes, the huntsman store." Blake shook her head. "I find myself preferring the huntress store, because everything sold there is in pink, but both suffice when I'm in a pinch."

"Hardee har har." Jaune pulled out his scroll. "But, no, I wasn't actually just sitting around. Mr. Callows sent us a latitude and longitude set of coordinates, so I converted those into an actual street address. According to his message, his last known location, which is our starting point, is a seemingly random house in a downtown housing complex."

"Seemingly?" asked Velvet.

"I dug into it a bit…apparently, a lot of the houses are on sale for really cheap after there was a child trafficking ring caught operating out of the neighborhood." The scroll went back into Jaune's pocket. "Sounds like the perfect place to get a disposable home you don't care much for without investing in too much cash."

Blake had to hand it to him, Jaune was being clever today. If Tyrian wanted to booby-trap the location, it would stall them when they visited it to search for clues. He could have even theoretically rigged it to explode if he purchased a house with no nearby neighbors.

"Before we barge in, let's hit up the huntsman store," Velvet said, holding up her hands. "I know, I know, it's not actually called that, but there are equipment stores with specialized material for people in our line of work. It's the same place they sell durable scrolls. Our one advantage is time, so we should make full use of it. I'm thinking portable trackers, high focus binoculars, tranquilizers if we can get it, handcuffs, that sort of thing. Our two goals are finding this Tyrian and then subduing him nonlethally, so we should stock up on the kind of stuff for that. It'll be a business expense, but there's no way it's more expensive than the reward for a successful mission, and we can reuse it on future missions."

Velvet led the two of them to her favorite gear place, which was a neat little store called 'High-End Materiel" nestled in between a smoke shop with so much neon that it would probably light up brighter than the city of Atlas and one of the last remaining brick and mortar videogame retail location in the entire world. Honestly, given its location, Blake half suspected that the place may cater to hunters but not exclusively.

It reminded her much of a mom-and-pop Dust shop, but the items lining the walls looked more like they belonged in an outdoor goods shop, only aided by the dark, e̶a̶r̶t̶h̶e̶n Remnanthen tones of dark green, brown, and black that made up the walls and ceiling. Not all of it was offensive tools; much of the interior of the store was just conventional camping goods. Tents, ready-to-go meals, wilderness survival kits, first aid packs – all of the things that a huntress might need out in the field in a dire situation could be found here.

True to her word, Velvet pointed out that they did have what Team Job was looking for. Further in the back, more obscured from the front windows, included a section labelled Capture. Given the nature of the implements for sale, the fact that this store didn't require a hunter's license to buy from or even peruse alarmed Blake a little bit, though it was also her salvation since she wouldn't have been let in if it had.

The clerk at the register, a young human with a purple-tipped orange mohawk, greeted them as they walked by, but his eyes lit up when he noticed Velvet. "Hehehey! If it isn't my favorite bunnygirl, in the flesh. Though, I do gotta say, the rest of Team Coffee doesn't look too right."

"This's my new team, Bronte." Velvet patted both Blake and Jaune on the shoulder and gently jostled them. "My bosses, Blake and Jaune."

The man raised an eyebrow at her with what appeared to be genuine concern. "New team?"

"Beacon didn't exactly work out, so I'm now part of a new team." Velvet shrugged. "You know how it goes.

"Switching teams…never heard that one before. That said, if you switched teams, Vel, I'd consider it a sad day for the male race but a joyous occasion for the female one."

His eyes slipped down to her midsection, but he made no suggestion of shock at seeing her pregnancy.

Velvet patted her baby bump and smiled. "Yup. It was bound to happen eventually. Nothing I can't handle, though."

"It ain't mine, is it?" he asked, leaning over the register to get a better look.

"Good one, Bron," Velvet laughed. "Nah, this little bundle of joy is from five months ago, and you had that girlfriend back then, what-was-her-name – started with a 'mee' sound. Mimi? Mindy? Can't quite remember."

"Mina," said the clerk. "I guess this means your tied down?"

"Nope. I am still on the market."

Blake was starting to get very self-conscious about the way this conversation was heading and the way that Velvet was looking at this guy. She wasn't going to judge Velvet for her interest in men, but that didn't mean she had to be an active witness to it.

"I'm gonna go and browse the gear in the back," Blake announced, grabbing hold of Jaune's arm and taking him with her. "You two keep catching up…we'll just be, uh, over there."

The two founders of Team Job departed just as Velvet offered for the shop attendant to feel her stomach. At least, Blake hoped it was her stomach that she was offering to be felt up.

"What's our budget?" Jaune asked, picking up random items off the shelf and looking at them one by one.

Blake took one of the radio communicators out of his hands before he could break the antenna by twanging it. "Well, we have over 90,000 lien in our bank account, but for the sake of not overextending, I think it'd be better if we don't go over 25,000."

Gear for huntsmen and huntresses tended to be expensive, hence their high pay, but it was also reusable, especially the stuff in this back aisle. Breaking even or actually making something on this mission would be nice, but it was also important that they succeed here and not let down Mr. Callows, and that would require them to bring the right tools. Better to spent half or even three-quarters of the profits on a guaranteed victory and walk out with the gear, if the alternative was failing and coming home empty handed.

To some extent, this was something they should have done long before today. As pretend hunters, it was only a matter of time before someone asked them to do something like track down a missing person, bring in a bounty, or something else requiring the ability to locate and capture a human or Faunus target. They were supposed to be security guards, and it was even possible some mall or something would hire them to actually be security guards around the holidays. The fact that they didn't even own a pair of handcuffs was slightly problematic.

Had we stopped an assassin trying to kill Mr. Alizarin back when we thought they were actually real, we would have had no means to transport them. And on Velvet's second mission, the one where we stopped that band of bandits, we struggled to capture them without using overwhelming force.

Blake had brought a small, fold-up duffel bag with which to carry the purchases they planned on making. Taking care to leave the top open just in case the owner mistook them for stealing, she handed it to Jaune for him to hold and started to place some of the c̶h̶e̶a̶p̶e̶r̶ more affordable items inside.

Handcuffs, certainly, as they would need a means to transport Tyrian or any other captive they caught into custody. Since they were only 100 lien a pair, she got four pairs for each member of the team, just so that there was no risk of them running out. Going any higher seemed wasteful, as it wasn't like Blake could reasonably expect one person to transport more than four people at a time. Even four was pushing it, but Blake would rather be down a few hundred lien than down a handcuff in a time of need.

Something to stun the targets and give them a chance to apply the cuffs came next. They had bargain stunning taser guns, but Blake decided that it would be better to splurge on these than cheap out. If the handcuffs failed, someone would be left with sore wrists or maybe a sprained hand at worst. If the tasers broke, it could conceivably stop a non-aura-user's heart. Team Job had no intention of killing someone with a weapon that was intended for nonlethal use, and without the protection of hunter's licenses they would be liable for any injuries they inflicted on criminals. The tasers ended up costing a total of 4,500 lien, at 1,500 lien per unit.

The tracker was where the prices got steeper. The lowest cost Blake could find was 15,000 lien, and that was for something that looked like it was made of cheap plastic that would dissolve in the rain. Plus, the app that was required to be downloaded to actually use the tracker was from some website that Blake was almost sure would give her malware and sent her private data to a call center in Vacuo. For an upcharge of only 2,000 lien, they could get a much nicer one with its own console, so Blake got that one instead.

That was basically everything they needed from the Capture section of the store, so Blake moved on with Jaune in tow. There was no particular need to buy a tent, but they were on sale for only 400 lien and could easily fit the three members of Team Job with room to spare, so she grabbed one to make long term missions slightly more bearable. The ration kits were also a bargain, but Blake felt it would be better to grab those on an as needed basis.

"How much are we at so far?" Blake asked Jaune, knowing he was counting it up in his head from the way his eyes rolled back a little every time she read a price aloud.

"23,100 lien," he answered back. "Basically most of our reward for this mission. Technically 1,900 left to spend, but you refilled on Dust, and that was 2,700. We're actually overdue."

Well, that wasn't what Blake had been intending, but they had the money in their bank accounts, and it was no different than the airship. Investing in the company was how a company stayed afloat.

Velvet had mentioned binoculars, and they were only 75 lien for a high end pair, so Blake also threw three into the bag - one for each of them.

That's it. No more. I'm not going to tempt fate and start going on spending extravaganzas that'll lead us to financial ruin.

"We're going to check out now," Blake said to Jaune firmly, partly as a way to lock herself in, because everything on the shelves just looked so darn useful. Perhaps spending frivolously would be a mistake later on, but it was just as likely that not having the right gear could be the mistake.

I never got to buy whatever supplies I needed in the White Fang, and we actually lost people on some missions because of low ammunition. I guess I'm making up for some of that now.

Velvet was still rizzing up the cashier when they returned from Blake's cathartic shopping spree, but she was still fully clothed and so was he, so Blake considered it a win.

"Find everything you need?" he asked.

More than what we need, Blake wanted to say.

Seeing Velvet and Jaune's reaction receipt was a little bit painful, but Blake wasn't the one who'd asked to come here, nor was she the one who…who…who held the bag. Yes, that was Jaune's contribution to this avaricious endeavor.

"That's probably the biggest order I've seen in a while," said the clerk, apparently feeling the need to rub it in for some reason. "Bronte's gonna be eatin' steak tonight! Thank you kindly for your business, folks."

Oh, come on. I bought us tasers and stuff, not frivolous purchases.

Jaune zipped up the duffel bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. "All set?"

"Yep," Blake said. All three of them made for the exit door.

"If you're still interested, call me in seven days," Velvet said, waggling her fingers as she waved goodbye.

Blake waited until they were out of the door and a considerable distance away from the store before bringing up the question that was on her mind.

"Why seven days?" she asked of Velvet. "Why not, I dunno, tomorrow or the next day?"

"Because we're might be on the job for up to seven days, and I don't leave people hanging," was Velvet's only reply.

Team Job may have owned an airship, but they didn't yet own a car, so that meant it was walking from place to place for the three. It was 4:30pm by the time they'd stopped at their office and dropped off the nonessentials, meaning that Mr. Callows' trail would almost certainly be cold by this point.

"Our primary goal should be finding whatever breadcrumbs this guy left us," Jaune explained.

He wasn't their best tracker by any means, having literally zero experience compared to Blake or Velvet, but it wasn't like the city was going to leave a whole lot of clues behind like broken twigs or muddy footprints that could give away Tyrian's location.

"How do you know he left behind a trail intentionally?"

"Because he wants a confrontation. That was what he paid us to do, what he wants. The texting us of his location and making us jump around like monkeys in chase is just his elaborate way of throwing down the gauntlet. Mark my words, there'll be a clear indicator of where he's going."

Blake thought he was making this whole thing sound like a scavenger hunt, but Jaune was the only person who'd actually met their client, so he may have known best. Blake knew better than to assume herself an expert on someone she'd never even seen, let alone encountered.

"Oh, that reminds me – if we do see him, how can we recognize him?" Blake asked. "I mean, Scorpion Faunus, obviously, but he'll probably hide that. Could you describe him to us?"

Jaune scratched at his chin as he thought. "He was wearing a suit, but I doubt it'll still be on when we see him. The tail's big, and I mean big. Whatever clothes he does wear will have to be either baggy enough to fit it or a color brown-ish black color it blends into. As for the man himself, it's chestnut brown hair, same color as Velvet's, and it goes down completely flat. His eye color was similar to Blake's, but not identical; it's hard to explain color. His aura was a royal purple. I'd describe him as a gaunt man, and his face was kind of long, like it might've been rounder as a kid but got stretched out. I looked down at him, so he's shorter than me, but not by much – nowhere near Ruby's height. Probably closer to Ozpin, if I had to guess. He wasn't really muscular, but I'll bet that he's strong enough; no one would spend 25 grand to test their strength if they weren't."

"Did you see any weapons?" Velvet asked.

"Just a standard knife to show his aura. And a briefcase, but I don't think it was some zany huntsman briefcase that mechshifts into a T-shirt gun or something; he literally opened it up to get the bread out of, and it was otherwise empty."

"I wonder if he's friends with Coco," Velvet mused. "Her minigun folds into a briefcase."

Given how late it was when they arrived at the vicinity of the coordinates, Blake informed her teammates that they would only be scouting today.

"We don't know this guy, and it'll be dark by the time we find enough clues, assuming we even do find any. Darkness and unknown enemies don't mix, so we'll stick to observations for now. Tomorrow is when we'll actually follow the trail he might have left."

Jaune shook his head. "Oh, he'll have left a trail. I'm sure of it."

They'd brought with them the trackers and binoculars, but there was no need to lug around handcuffs or any of the other stuff, so they'd left it at the office. There was no reason to weight themselves down when their weapons were already that heavy, not when they would need to keep their strength for tomorrow.

The neighborhood in which Tyrian's house was located was a fine-looking one. It wasn't particularly ostentatious, but the houses were nice enough, in a cookie-cutter sort of way. Each one was basically the same as the next one over, aside from minor exterior cosmetic differences, so they'd needed to use Jaune's exact coordinates to locate their target.

"Stay at a distance," Blake ordered, taking out her binoculars. "We'll break and form a triangle. Jaune, you stay in the front. Velvet, keep eyes on the backdoor. Watch it for a few minutes for signs of activity – if this guy is as bonkers as you make him sound, I wouldn't put it past him to send us on a wild goose Faunus chase into some else's house and call it a test of wits or something."

If they couldn't visibly see any signs of an ambush or trickery, Blake would approached from the front door, but she would drop a shadow clone and fall back every few steps. That would hopefully trigger any traps. Once she'd swept it for obvious hazards, the others would come in, and they would go through each room with a fine-toothed comb for clues.

I doubt this man would leave anything lethal like explosives rigged to blow inside a residential neighborhood, but he hired us because he thinks we're the best of the best. Anything could be possible, as there's no telling what he could believe.

Either way, Blake would keep her aura raised when she approached. There would be no chances taken with this one.

"Heya Blake," Jaune said, looking down his binoculars. "You know how you asked what he would look like if you saw him?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, have a gander," he said breathily.

Jaune removed the binoculars from his eyes and held them in front of Blake's.

Blake looked through the lenses at whatever Arc wanted her to see. "Jaune, I'm staring at a bush."

"Oh. Uhhh…"

The binoculars shifted upwards and to the right, passing right by a window, and inside that window was a figure…a humanoid figure.

Jaune had already passed him by, so Blake snatched the binoculars out of his hands and held them up for her own viewing. "Is that…?"

"Yup."

Tyrian Callows was standing in the window of the house, staring right at Blake and the others. And, with a broad smile on his face, he was waving his hand at them all to come on in.

Coming Soon: A Date with the Callows

Dinner with a madman turns out to be a surprisingly tame affair, until it doesn't.

Author's Notes

That material assets list has been looking a little sparse. How about we suddenly bloat it to the maximum in one go?

Happy rats, and don't do crime!