Note: She's back. Your most beloved Faunus.

"Sienna fucking Khan."

The name dripped from Blake's lips like venom. She moved with fury, bounding up the steps two at a time to reach Winter's hotel room on the fourth floor. Team RWBY could have taken the elevator. They should have taken the elevator. But Blake was too aggravated to stand still. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang lagged behind her, breathlessly moving up echoing grey steps, trying to catch up before Blake did something stupid. Like punch someone. It really felt like Blake was going to punch someone.

Which was a bit weird. Sienna wasn't their enemy. She was just a meticulous, omnipresent pain in their ass, a sword swinging over their head that could decapitate them at any moment. With a smile. Always a smile.

"You're sure it's Sienna?" Yang grunted at Weiss as they clamored up the empty stairwell.

"Who else could it be?" Weiss asked. "If she's with Winter—"

"Then she's a fucking dead woman," Blake growled. From below, Ruby called up to her.

"Blake, calm down. We don't even know what she wants."

Blake glowered over the railing at her team leader. "What do you think she wants?"

Ruby sighed, unable to hide her thoughts. "Nothing good."

Yang smiled innocently. "Maybe it is though? I mean, she's been nice since we took down the SDC."

Blake continued marching up the step, each impact of her boot accompanied by a grunt. "If she didn't want something, she wouldn't come all this way. We just have to figure out what it is and know how to fight it."

Ruby frowned as she followed Blake to the fourth floor. It was so nice of Blake to once again make decisions on behalf of the group. Seriously. So great. Who needed democracy? Then again, she didn't disagree. Blake may have had the most complicated relationship with Sienna, but the White Fang leader's plans had screwed with all of them. The memory of her prior blackmail was fresh in her mind. If Sienna decided to extract another favor from Team RWBY, she had all the leverage to do so. A plan wouldn't hurt—which made it all the more frustrating when Blake barreled out of the stairwell without another word.

The Scythe and Spear was a beautiful, historic hotel, and its hallways were lined with a carpet that—actually, Blake didn't give a fuck about the carpet. It looked like every other fucking carpet. So did the doors, and the lights, and honestly, if she was getting charged fifteen hundred Lien a night to stay here, she'd probably feel ripped off. But her rage was diverted away from her class. Her eyes scanned the hall, searching for Winter's room number. Her fists swung at her sides. Saliva pooled beneath her tongue.

Where was she?

Where the fuck was she?

Finding Winter's room wasn't actually that hard. It was the only room with two guards standing outside it. Blake saw them before they saw her, bald heads glistening and black suits constricting their torsos. When they saw her coming, one of them held out his palm to hold her in place. She just rolled her eyes.

"Ma'am, this area is—"

"Fuck off, you know who I am." Blake pushed past the guards and furiously pounded on the hotel room door. Given that they didn't stop her, she assumed she was right. "Sienna! Open up!"

Blake waited long enough for the rest of Team RWBY to show up, long enough for the smallest of doubts to set in. Maybe it wasn't Sienna who came to visit them? Winter didn't actually specify. But no, there were no other options. Blake had already steeled herself for another visit by her past. She wasn't going to be disappointed.

When the door opened, Blake wasn't surprised. She saw Sienna's fanged, smiling features, golden eyes lapping up her presence. Blake opened her mouth—but then she saw what Sienna was wearing.

A hoodie.

Her hoodie.

And it looked really damn good on her.

"Hello, Blake," Sienna smiled, the fake name rolling filthily off her tongue. She leaned against the doorway, taking some small pleasure in the Huntress's dumbfounded expression. Her tiger ears flicked up and creased over as if taunting her. "Like the fit? It's sustainably sourced, I hear."

The rest of Team RWBY just stared at her. Sienna always liked to be comfortable, either lounging on a couch or curling up in a ball. Her laid-back demeanor belied the vicious politician beneath the surface. But there was something extra about her, something about the twinkle in her gaze that revealed a woman free of all stress. Team RWBY might have stared at her forever, trapped in their surprise, until they heard a voice calling to them from inside.

"Weiss! Get in here!"

Winter's order was stern, and Weiss was immediately compelled to follow. Sienna stepped out of the way, ushering Team RWBY inside. She smirked at each of them as they walked past. Blake was the only one to look back as Sienna shut the door behind them.

Winter's hotel room was more akin to a penthouse, and in the short time she had been there, she had made it her own. Most of the luxurious furniture in the living room was moved out of the way for training purposes. The kitchen table was covered in monitors and paperwork related to the SDC. Winter wore a white turtleneck as opposed to her usual Huntress guard; her transformation from warrior to manager was nearly complete. Her eyes rolled lazily over a spreadsheet; figures Weiss didn't want to understand scrolling by. A broom and dustpan were leaning on the table next to her. Sienna wasn't actually shedding, but Winter was damn intent on making her know: if she even thought of dirtying her apartment, there would be problems.

Team RWBY sat on one of the couches, bathed in the morning sun. Sienna rested sideways on a nearby armchair, her tail curling around her knees. She picked up an opened can of watermelon soda from the coffee table. Well, from the coaster on top of the coffee table. Winter wasn't going to let her get away with staining the furniture. Sienna's smile was as warm as the sunshine, but Team RWBY remained tense. The shoe would drop soon. They just had to wait for it.

"So, I hear you girls were busy yesterday," Sienna mused. "A meeting with President Pygmalion. You know, he refused to meet with me for years."

Blake snapped. "Cut the bullshit, Sienna. What do you want?"

Sienna just laughed. "Wow, that was both quick and unnecessary."

"We're not interested in any of your games," Blake warned her. "Just tell us why you are here?"

"Games? Why are you assuming there are any games?" Sienna took a careful sip of her soda. Blake refused to be swayed.

"Everything is a game to you."

"Everything is optics, not a game… and that's just a fact of life."

"We can just leave if you aren't going to say anything useful."

"See, this is why you should never parlay into politics. If you aren't going to play along with the basic small talk—"

"So, it is a game," Blake sneered. Sienna took another small sip of her soda. Ruby, trying to ensure the entire conversation wasn't just banter and bickering, cleared her throat.

"What Blake is trying to get at, Sienna," she clarified, "is that you wouldn't have come here if it wasn't important. We have a very busy schedule, and so, we are a bit antsy with our time."

Sienna lovingly sighed. Whenever she spoke, the slight slurring of her speech made it easy to sympathize with her. It was a subtle, yet powerful advantage, one she knew how to play well. "No, no, I do get it. And I get not trusting me either, for the record. The last time I summoned you, I admit I didn't do it on the best terms."

"You could say that," Blake said coldly.

"But I assure you, I'm not here to cause you any trouble. In fact, it's just the opposite. I want to lend a hand."

Team RWBY didn't believe her. Despite her openness, despite the fact they were literally allies at this very moment, they had no faith in Sienna to keep her talons out of their backs. Ruby tried to keep that part of her hidden.

"With no offense, we have heard those kinds of things before," she claimed. "It's become very hard for us to believe them."

"Oh, I'm sure," Sienna nodded. "It happened yesterday, right?"

Ruby couldn't hide her surprise—nor Blake her disgust. "How did you know?"

"Word gets around quickly," Sienna said calmly. "The story goes that Pygmalion offered you a chance to work for him. The details weren't clear, but if I had to guess, it was some kind of Ambassador or security position. Something where you have a minimal amount of influence, but he gets to parade your faces around for the cameras and gets a few positive headlines out of it. And honestly? You turning him down was smart. Pygmalion is senile and scared and cozies up to war to distract from his mind running out. He can't be trusted."

"And you can be?" asked Weiss suspiciously.

Sienna, flattered, placed her hand over her heart. "Girls, I trust you. I asked you to drop a dirty story on Jacques Schnee to influence him, and you—without any prompting—disposed of the biggest owner of Faunus slaves in the world. Your plan to put Winter in charge was brilliant, and thanks to her, we have a chance of removing unpaid Faunus labor in Atlas within the decade."

Winter grunted from the office table. "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"My point is," Senna stated, "you went above and beyond anything I could have hoped for. If you think I would ever try to take advantage of you, you don't know anything about me."

"I know that you would sell us out the second you thought you'd benefit from it," Blake said angrily.

"If the Faunus benefited from it, I'd sell myself," Sienna said with no remorse. "But the Faunus benefit because of you. And I'm not going to play dumb. I know you have your own agendas. You girls are shrewd and cunning and cutthroat. You were more than happy to align yourself with Jacques until I came in. None of us are saints here. But us working together contributes a lot to a greater good, and I want to keep that going." Sienna laced her fingers together as if to emphasize her point. She seemed sincere enough, though her efforts to put on this show indicated to Ruby that she was planning something they'd object to.

"Why don't you tell us what you want, and we will consider it," Ruby said bluntly. Sienna laughed again, surprised. She sat up straight on the couch, tugging down at the hoodie, showing off Blake's emblem proudly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sienna smiled. "I want the White Fang to sponsor Team RWBY for the Vytal Festival."

Now that… that wasn't what any of them were expecting.

"Sponsorship?" Yang said, confused. "Of the entire White Fang?"

"Well, I don't really have the resources to sponsor you myself," Sienna admitted. "And that would be kind of awkward."

"I thought the White Fang didn't get involved with Huntsmen," Blake said, searching for the slightest hint of betrayal.

"They don't. It's our longstanding policy not to publicly endorse Huntsmen events," Sienna claimed, raising her fist excitedly. "But you… you aren't any Huntsmen. You are Team RWBY. You defy convention, you cut into the mainstream, and carve your own space into the culture. Hell, for some people online, you are the culture. Girls… you took down Jacques Schnee. You defeat giant monsters on a regular basis—and yes, I know it was only once, but you get my point! You are not the establishment of Huntsmen. You are a unique phenomenon unto yourselves. I told you this last time we met as well: you're special. And we think that your actions should be supported."

"But we already have a sponsor," Weiss stated. "Winter is sponsoring us through the SDC."

Winter huffed. "That's what I said."

"And what I said was… there's no limit on the number of people in your corner," Sienna suggested. "Think about what you get from this. I can get you access to any resource while taking the burden off your sister's shoulders. You'd get a huge boost in public support from the Faunus, which I'll remind you, is the demographic that you have the most trouble with. It would send a huge message to the Kingdoms about your independence. And…" Sienna smiled to herself. "Hey, I know you don't need any help fighting, but I did take more than a few self-defense classes. I'm always willing to give advice."

Weiss, Blake, and Yang stared at her, trying to figure her out. Yet, Ruby was the most focused, flickering through the possibilities in her mind. "And what do you get out of it? Since you aren't a saint."

Sienna answered with ease. "I get what any sponsor gets: the advertisement of their product. It's not complicated. It would bring our partnership to a level of public confidence, and I would get you to say you support my cause—which, you do. I mean, if you go out and say you support the cause of the White Fang? We'd probably double our donations overnight. Wouldn't you agree?"

Ruby would agree, actually. They had stayed clear of a public endorsement of Sienna so far. The White Fang's name had been dragged through the mud through decades of failed protests, riots, and troubled offshoots. Adam Taurus's acts of terrorism, though denounced by the main organization, left a sour taste in many mouths, his campaign of vengeance under their name nearly poisoning their name for a generation. But Ruby knew Sienna's intentions were pure. An empowered White Fang—a true Whtie Fang—was good for Faunus everywhere. Look at what they accomplished so far. And god, wouldn't it be something if both the White Fang and the SDC were willing to endorse them? Two of the most powerful groups in the world, opposite ends of a spectrum, united behind Team RWBY? The ways in which they could help each other were nearly limitless.

So of course, with such tantalizing possibilities laid at her feet, Blake came along to knock over the table.

"No."

Ruby couldn't hold back her sigh. Sienna noticed her frustration, though Blake pushed through unabated.

"You sure about that?" Sienna asked.

"Yes," said Blake. "You heard Winter. We don't need another sponsor. Sorry to waste all your time coming here."

Sienna opened her mouth to retort, but she didn't have to. Ruby suddenly stood up, her cheeks flushed.

"I'm sorry, we need to have a team meeting about this," she announced. "Is there somewhere privately we can talk?"

Winter pointed to a set of double doors to Ruby's left. "The bedroom. Don't touch any of my things."

"Of course. Come on," Ruby ordered. Sienna, amused, watched the Huntresses gather themselves and pile into the bedroom, leaving her to smugly sip her soda. Blake refused to take her eyes off her prey until the door was shut and they were surrounded by silence. Winter's bedroom was as big and fluffy and extravagant as they expected from a historic suite. They weren't quite sure what things Winter referred to, because the room appeared to be untouched, sheets fitted nicely, suitcases packed away in the closet out of human reach. Blake grunted and sat on the edge of the bed, facing the others. If she was going to be in the hot seat, she might as well be comfortable. She was more comfortable than Weiss and Yang, at least, who feared a classic Team RWBY argument was coming strong.

"Okay, what?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Are you really considering her offer?"

"I'd like to talk about it, at least," Ruby stated. "We are supposed to make these decisions as a team. Yesterday, you just shut down Pygmalion without us even getting in a word."

"Come on, that was a joke offer," Blake groaned. "None of us were really going to consider that."

"But this, we will," Ruby said. "So, I want to hear everyone's opinions. What do we think about Sienna's offer?"

Silence. Dead, awkward silence. Blake looked ready to pounce at the first sign of disagreement, and no one was eager to bite that bullet. However, someone had to. In the end, Yang raised their hand. Who better equipped to temper Blake's wrath?

"We mean… it seems pretty straightforward," Yang admitted. "We don't really need her sponsorship, but more allies are good, right?"

"There's always something more with her, though," Blake argued. "She's shifty. Yeah, she says she wants to be our sponsor, but there has to be more to it than that."

Weiss cleared her throat. "Okay, I'm just going to ask this, because I feel like this is important. Blake… what makes you so certain that Sienna has an ulterior motive?"

Blake reacted as if she had just been slapped in the face. "What? What do you mean? It's Sienna Khan. Have you met Sienna Khan?"

"Yeah. I have," Weiss said matter-of-factly. "And the one time we reached an actual agreement with her, she kept her word."

"You don't know her like I do," Blake warned. "Do you know what kind of person you have to be to do what she did at the debate? Drudging up all that personal shit just to humiliate me? I mean, she wanted to expose us!"

"And she would never do that if she has thrown her public support behind that," said Weiss. "Why would risk her reputation on Team RWBY—the reputation of the entire White Fang—just to damage our credibility? It doesn't make sense."

"She's already proven she's untrustworthy. We shouldn't work with someone who has threatened us before."

"Everyone has threatened us at some point. You stabbed me through my shoulder. Pyrrha shot me through my hand. My own dad cut my eye out, and I still started a charitable fund with him!"

Yang shook their head. "Damn, you've racked up a ton of injuries."

Weiss sneered. "I know."

Ruby sighed. "Weiss does raise a good point. We've made a lot of enemies, and having more people on our side can only be beneficial. Sienna has no reason to turn on us, and I would rather keep her in our good graces than have her think we're a problem."

"But that goes both ways," Blake claimed. "The White Fang has a mixed reputation, and that's putting it lightly. If we tie ourselves to them, they could drag us down."

"More than the SDC?" Weiss asked.

"I mean, that's also a problem."

"But it's not a worse problem."

"Working with Winter was a necessity—and by the way, just to remind you all, we wanted to keep our involvement with her a secret. Right? She exposed our involvement with her without our permission, so like, don't even give me that shit."

Blake's pace increased, and the others could tell she was getting frustrated. The walls of the suite were thin, and Sienna was probably on the other side listening to everything they said with her advanced hearing. Ruby didn't them to fight. Not when they were so close to the Grail. Not with Sienna nipping at their heels. She knelt down to Blake's eye level and tried to speak calmly.

"Look, Blake. I understand. I really understand. Your relationship with Sienna is… complicated. But we have to think about this long-term, and I think your personal feelings about Sienna are influencing your decision-making."

Blake rolled her eyes. Yeah. No shit.

"What do you mean by long-term?" she asked coldly. She would humor Ruby, just this once. Ruby had earned that.

"Let's assume that we win the Vytal Festival," Ruby stated. "We move the Grail to safety, we stop Ozpin… we win. Team RWBY becomes more powerful and popular than ever before, but the world keeps turning. Everything goes back to normal. There are still a lot of Faunus that need help. We would basically be unstoppable in terms of our influence, but we would need people who actually understand Faunus struggles to help improve things. With the White Fang, we could lend a ton of credibility and power to the Faunus' main support system. Sienna wouldn't be able to touch a Vytal winner, but we could work together without needing to be cautious of each other. If we accept her sponsorship now, and everything works out, we are setting up a firm, years-long goal of activism and equity."

Blake narrowed her gaze. "And if we lose Vytal and Sienna sees us as a bunch of failures?"

Ruby was ready. "Then someone else would have won the Grail, and we could all be screwed anyway."

Blake hated when Ruby was correct. Really, it was infuriating. She had this cutesy little voice and the social skills of a fern, but she had learned so much in the past year that arguing with her was like trying to climb a mountain. A mountain that made really good points. Chances were: they were fucked the second Vytal ended, in ways Sienna couldn't even imagine. Stacking the deck in their favor as much as possible was always favorable since they couldn't take on any more risks than the literal end of the world. What, was Sienna going to try to blackmail them again? Bitch, please.

She looked at Yang. She needed to know. "You all support this?"

Yang glanced away, feeling Blake's judgment burn into their flesh. "We… don't really see the downside. If Sienna wants to give us money and approval, why not let her?"

"Sienna is the one taking all of the risk here," Weiss claimed. "It's her endorsement. I don't have a problem with it."

"We would have to take a public stand on the White Fang," Ruby noted. "That could temporarily damage our reputation. Then again, nothing has damaged our reputation so far. So, I don't even think that counts. If we can get the Faunus to trust us… again, thinking long-term… that benefits everyone."

There was no point in trying to convince Blake. The votes were tallied. Three-to-one. No matter how much Blake kicked and screamed, the democratic process had rendered her opinion moot. Yet, they refused to leave the room until they heard her agree with them. They needed her to know that her voice mattered, maybe more than any of theirs.

Blake rested her arms on her knees, slouched, defeated, and tired. There were a million reasons why this was a terrible idea, and yet, for some reason, her brain couldn't summon any of them. It was as if they were mirages of ideas, disappearing just when she thought she could grasp them. Never there at all.

It was just a sponsorship.

A smile and a handshake.

A word of approval.

Nothing more.

Blake muttered under her breath, hoping the others wouldn't hear her. "Fine."

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. A decision was reached. She hoped they wouldn't regret it. "Okay then. Let's give her the good news."

She turned on her heel—but Weiss quickly grabbed her shoulder, a doubt suddenly rushing through her mind.

"Wait," she cried. "What about Team CFVY and JNPR?"

Ruby froze. A thick cloud hovered over her.

Shit.

Sienna's offer wouldn't extend to the others. It couldn't. Her whole reason for supporting Team RWBY was their unique accomplishments. The White Fang would never let her extend that privilege to a Pyrrha Nikos or Velvet Scarlatina, no matter how much Team RWBY begged. It wasn't like they had any leverage either. The fact she put the ball in RWBY's court meant she didn't need the endorsement. Sienna could just say no to all of them and return to her throne, unaffected in the slightest. Only their plans would suffer. If Team RWBY said yes, they would be distancing themselves from their allies. Team NYBF was supposed to be in this together. Their quest for the Grail united them, the friendship bracelets around their wrists forging their bond in copper wire. It was an unwritten rule that whatever RWBY had, they would share with their friends, whether it be the perils of a Vault or the joy of a vacation.

But… so what?

So what if Team RWBY and Team RWBY alone got an endorsement from Sienna Khan? Endorsements didn't mean anything. Winter was endorsing all of them, and that was all the practical advantages they ever needed. Like, she was a multibillionaire! The White Fang's approval would be wasted on them. And they already knew that Team RWBY was unique among them. What was one tiny little bonus? If they really had a problem, Ruby could probably talk them down. And they wouldn't have a problem with it anyway, because again, it meant so little.

It probably should have been the subject of a longer conversation, not the measly three minutes that Team RWBY actually gave to it. In the end, the doubts fell by the wayside. Forgiveness over permission and all that yada-yada, though hell, it never even occurred to them to ask for permission. From Team CFVY, who couldn't even get past basic relationship drama? Please. This was their expertise. When Team RWBY walked out of the bedroom, Sienna stood up, her grin infectious. She had without question heard every word they said, but she would never reveal that openly. Instead, she leaned forward, tail flexing behind her in anticipation.

"So… have you talked it over?" she asked wryly.

"Yes, we have," Ruby stated, "and we would be very honored to accept your sponsorship."

Sienna extended her clawed hand, and Ruby shook it. "I would be honored to give it. I'm very much looking forward to our partnership."

Blake grunted. "Just don't try fucking us over, okay?"

Sienna played off the warning. "Blake, you know how I treat my friends."

"Yeah," Blake sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of."

With the deal made, Winter stood up from the table, stretching out her legs. "Well, it's good that's settled. And I am glad, Sienna, that you felt the need to have this conversation in my hotel room. Since that was so necessary."

Sienna shook her head. "Miss Schnee, your sarcasm is impeccable."

"Quite. Now," Winter pointed toward the door, "may you please leave me so I can do some work before tonight?"

Sienna approached Winter with a casual swagger. "Now, hang on. Aren't you going to show me where our skybox is?"

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Skybox?"

Sienna shrugged innocently. "Well, my understanding was that major team sponsors get their own luxury boxes in Amity. You know, to watch the matches."

"We… do," Winter said suspiciously. Sienna stopped in front of Winter, feeling the need to spell it out.

"Then, if we are both Team RWBY's sponsors," she said. She tapped one of her claws against Winter's chest, her long nail entangling in the white wool. "Looks like we'll be watching all of Vytal together."

The realization hit Winter like a truck. Sienna Khan. The Faunus. In her private space. For a week. Her eyes went wide, and with a snarl, she pushed Sienna's hand away.

"What?"

Sienna just snickered. Dancing in the prejudices of Atlasians was a secret delight of hers, and with nothing else to do over Vytal, she would have plenty of time to practice her footwork. She moved past Winter, and as she sauntered by, her tail playfully swung into Winter's midsection. It traveled up the length of her chest, brushed by her neck, and flicked off her face, brown and black hairs tickling Winter's nose. Winter growled as she wiped away Sienna's lingering presence, her face turning bright pink.

"I guess I'll find it on my own. I'll look for the palest room," Sienna smirked. "See you soon, partner."

Winter felt her heartbeat through her ears as Sienna left the room, pulling her guards away. Her metal hand clenched into a fist by her side. The thought of Sienna Khan on her couch in her skybox, sipping her wine, eating her snacks, cheering on her sister…

Her sister…

Winter slowly turned around toward Team RWBY. Toward Weiss. Toward the young idiots who just accepted a sponsorship they didn't need from someone she didn't want around. They saw the redness of Winter's cheeks, the whites of her gritted teeth, the veins popping out of her forehead, and realized how badly they fucked up.

"This…" Winter said bitterly. "This is all your fault."

Yes. It totally was. But hey, who knew? Maybe Winter and Sienna would learn to get along yet…