Author's Notes
Hey, in case anyone is interested, they did an audio reading of Origin Story and the alt endings on YouTube...translated to Spanish! It's on the channel Yon Link. I recall giving someone the green light when they asked but never hearing back, so I guess they did it successfully. Congrats!
There's also a tier list vote page of my fics on tiermaker. Many a thanks to 'L.C.' for making it, whoever they may be.
I...I may or may not google search my username every now and again. Just to keep appraised of developments.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!
Chapter 43 – Fowl Play
In which Weiss Schnee must make the toughest choice she was never meant to have.
Weiss turned around when she faced the wall and began to pace in the other direction.
Stupid Yang. Stupid puns, stupid jokes, always causing me a headache.
The other wall was now before her, and so she turned around and started to walk back in the direction of the first.
Why does she have to do that? What if someone overheard? What if…what if Ghira overheard? She knew he was in the stadium.
Weiss placed her hands on her temples and pressed.
The scandal would ruin everyone. Even the implication of a scandal. Just an accusation. Kali wasn't around when I was born, and she would have been pregnant with Blake around that time, but it's not like the people who are determined to hate Schnees care about the facts. Most wouldn't even remember.
Yang's bunk was along Weiss' path from one wall to another, so she gave it a stern kick.
I opened up to her. I shared my family's history with her. I let it slide that she nearly put me in a hospital twice, and then she just keeps pushing and pushing.
Kicking her stupid teammate's stupid bed made Weiss feel a lot better. Well, it didn't make her feel any better because Weiss still felt like shit, but it did have a nice satisfying thump to it, and if she imagined Yang's face in its place, it certainly did wonders for her temper.
Calling me a bastard in front of everyone…how could she? Weiss felt tears begin to well at the corners of her eyes and immediately began to rub them out. She would not cry over this.
I thought she was my friend, and she goes and…and…
"I am a Schnee," Weiss said aloud.
She had no idea if she were reminding herself of the fact that being a Schnee meant being even-tempered, or if she was trying to convince herself that it was true.
Oh my gods, what if it's true?
Weiss nearly collapsed, saving herself only by catching the frame of Ruby's bunk bed.
What if it's true? No other half-Faunus have ever existed in Remnant history, despite our bullshit PR pushes to make it a thing. I'm literally the only one, I'm literally the only Faunus born of human parents, I'm a freak, I never actually saw the test, I just heard about it, what if it's a lie what if I'm a lie I'm a lie I'm a fraud I'm not a Schnee I'm a bastard I'm not Father's daughter I'm not Weiss I'm fake who am I
So much for not crying – Weiss' cheeks were soaking wet. Her throat was so choked-up that she couldn't actually make any noises, which was probably for the best. It wouldn't do for Weiss to make a racket and attract unwanted attention. Better that she just suffer in privacy like she had requested.
RIIIING! RIIIING! RIIIING! RIIIING!
Great. Now Yang was calling to apologize.
O-Or maybe it's Ruby asking me to forgive her before she has even apologized. Such a great team I have, such a loyal team. Crazy, stupid Weiss just needs to get over herself and her stupid seagull problems and stop dragging down the rest.
Weiss knew she was being unfair. But she was in pain, and she deserved some outlet for anger. It was just her thoughts, and she was free to hate Yang and Ruby and Blake as much as she –
It could be Blake.
Weiss rushed to grab out her scroll and checked who it was. If it was Blake, she wanted to hear from her. Blake was her Blake, who would never betray Weiss.
It wasn't Blake. Or Ruby. Or Yang.
Weiss answered the scroll call and immediately choked out the question on her mind within less than a tenth of a second.
"Am I your daughter?"
Father blinked several times. "Pardon.
"I'm your daughter. I need you to tell me."
Jacques' mouth formed a wry smile. "I recall your conception, and I have a birth certificate stating –"
"I need to hear you say it," Weiss begged. "Tell me. Please."
"Is…Is this about Whitley?" Father asked. He was beginning to notice details of the scene like Weiss' red eyes and the fact that she was currently crumpled in a head against her teammate's bad. "Weiss, he –"
"I know," Weiss croaked, wanting this line of conversation to be over, because the more she thought about how he was a false Schnee, the more she could believe she was the same. "I saw. I know about him."
"You…You…saw?"
Weiss had never admitted the truth to another soul before, but she was too broken to resist surrendering the information now. "I did. I know he's not…I know he was only my half-brother. But I need to know. How am I a Faunus? How could I be your daughter?"
The man on the other end of the video stood up, the background sinking down as he held up the scroll to his face. "I don't know. Investigating it was impossible, but there is ample proof that you are my daughter, if that concerns you."
"It does. The DNA test…is it real? I've never seen it, and you could've faked it. Was it ever real?"
Jacques paused. "May I speak plainly, Daughter?"
Weiss nodded. She didn't want lies or half-truths. She needed to know.
"Had you not been my daughter, I would have disowned or discarded you. The test was taken to be my proof to the Schnees, your mother and grandfather, that you were a bastard. I fully intended to wave it in Nicholas' face and force him to rid me of my Faunus burden, except it didn't prove that you were illegitimate. It proved the opposite."
The surety in his eyes was the perfect opposite of the desperation in Weiss'.
"The test is real, Weiss. We can have it redone if this would please you, but there is no need. Had I the proof that the week-old babe was not mine, know that I would have used it to the fullest extent. The fact that I didn't is all the proof you should need, knowing…what I am like."
It shouldn't have been so comforting, knowing that her father had wanted to be rid of her when she was born, but he was right. Weiss did know her father's character and so did he, which was why he could use it as proof. Had he unscrupulous means as an option, he wouldn't have hesitated, and he certainly wouldn't have gone through all the effort of rebranding the SDC into a pro-Faunus organization.
I know it worked out with the benefit of hindsight, but it must have been a gamble at the time. He had no idea if his efforts would pay off…it would have been much easier to expose his wife for an affair, take the hit on pride, and move along.
"So how…" Weiss voice trailed off.
"I don't actually know," Jacques admitted. "Mutation? A latent Faunus gene that science truly can't explain. My mother wasn't actually a swan, but that doesn't mean that Willow or I had some…some…some thing that made us bear and sire a Faunus despite being humans."
"There aren't others like me," Weiss said. "Ever."
Jacques nodded. "And there aren't other hereditary semblances. Ever."
Her father's confidence somehow found its way to Weiss. He'd had seventeen years to ponder this, and he didn't doubt that Weiss was a Schnee, so how could she?
"I…" Weiss wiped her eyes. "I apologize. I heard a joke about someone else and overreacted."
Suddenly, the kindness in Father's face dropped away. "Witnesses?" he demanded.
"None," Weiss said. "I excused myself for other reasons. Only Blake noticed."
And I don't want your hitman paying Yang a visit in the night. I may hate her right now, but I'm not so incensed that I would demand her death.
Gods. Just thinking it made Weiss realize that Father had literally ordered hits on people, because of her. And she'd thanked him for it.
Not that I can truly bring myself to regret it. Torchwick deserved it.
But, there's no denying that he had an assassin on retainer. Who else…
"Very well, then. I called for a reason."
Weiss nodded. "Please, go ahead. I'm ready now."
He studied her for a second, then sat back down in his chair. Like usual, he was in his office.
"Are you alone?"
Weiss nodded.
"Not good enough. You don't know who might be listening. Your room could be bugged."
"I can fly somewhere," Weiss offered sarcastically. "No one can listen when I'm 100 feet above the dormitory."
To her great surprise, Father nodded. "Make it so."
After awkwardly getting herself into the air (while still on the line with Father the whole time), Weiss looked expectantly towards the camera. As long as she just remained where she was, it wasn't too exhausting, so they could now carry out their presumably private conversation without fear of eavesdropping.
To be fair, I'm probably the reason Father has such a deep-seated fear of eavesdropping, given my exploits in the manor. Half of the secrets I know passed through a shut door or closed window before they came my way.
"I'm going to ask you something, but I'm going to need you to allow me to explain the full situation before you give me an answer."
Weiss nodded.
"Daughter. Listen to me very closely. I am not ordering you, nor am I insisting. I am going to ask you to do something. You may agree or decline. However, in order to properly plan my next…to plan our next moves, for the White Fang is involved in this…I need to know your answer, and I need you to stick with it. If you say no, I can accept this, but if you say yes and then change your mind without telling me, the results could be ruinous."
This was starting to sound rather heavy. Weiss again nodded, curious as to what this favor Father needed was.
"If Menagerie were to win the tournament, it would have major ramifications in the political scene…by Dust, in the world at large. It would be, quite literally, a gamechanger."
"I've had similar thoughts myself," Weiss admitted. "Watching Adam fight today was an experience."
Father's head dipped down in a clipped nod of his own.
"Weiss," he began. "If Taurus wins, the Faunus win. The SDC wins, the White Fang wins, we win. Not just you and me. All of us."
"I'll publicly support him as best I can," Weiss said, unsure of what Father was getting at. He wasn't wrong, but what this had to do with Weiss herself was beyond her.
"I'd like to ask more than that," Father said. He immediately looked away. "Again, you may consent or refuse. But I need to know by the time the singles rounds begin."
"Please just be blunt and ask what you want to ask," Weiss requested. Father didn't usually butter her up like this with options, meaning that he was…concerned. Abnormal behavior for the most consistently dreary man on Remnant was concerning to Weiss as well.
"I want you to win until you reach Adam Taurus," said Father. "And then I want you to lose."
"Oh," Weiss said dumbly.
"According to the brackets, he's on the other side, so you wouldn't be reaching him until the finals. That means that, should you accept, you will effectively be handling half of the competition for him. I know we can't control who Adam fights until the finals, but you could ensure no tricky opponents from your half of the roster impede his victory in the last round."
Tricky opponents – names like Pyrrha Nikos and Team PENY crossed Weiss' mind, enemies so powerful that their victories had been all but assured in the full team round. How Father even expected her to triumph over Pyrrha eluded her…except it wasn't going to be her!
"My teammate, Yang Xiao-Long, is expected to be going forward to represent –"
"You are the leader," Father said succinctly. "You control the team, not Ying. If you accept, of course. Should you decide you'd rather keep your hands clean, it will not spell the end of the world for me, but I'd need to know."
"You want me to cheat?" Weiss asked incredulously.
"If you can win against the pre-finalists via legitimate means, you are welcome to do so," Father explained. "If you don't, I trust you not to get caught. All I ask is your assurance that you win against them. And that you lose against Adam – I suppose I am asking you to cheat there, or to temper your performance."
"That's…That's illegal," Weiss said. "It's unethical!"
"A no, then." Father nodded. "Forget I asked."
Weiss nearly threw her scroll back down to Remnant right then and there. "Go to hell."
"You have until the singles rounds begin to let me know if you change your mind," Father said. He added, "I want you to know that this isn't something cartoonish like me having wagered on Taurus. This could go a long way towards getting Menagerie recognized as the fifth kingdom. You yourself came to the same conclusion."
Weiss pressed the 'Hang Up' button with so much force that the screen nearly cracked.
Weiss stayed up in the air for a little bit longer. Father may have been the most inconsiderate prick of all time to ask that of his own daughter, but he was right that she didn't know who was listening.
She had another call to make, and she wasn't ready for it to be leaked to the nightly news.
The scroll rang five times before Kali picked up.
"Weiss," said the smiling cat Faunus. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I…"
"Did you see Ghira?" she asked congenially. "He's visiting, is he not?"
Weiss didn't answer. Couldn't.
"Weiss? Is everything okay?" Kali leaned forward, examining the background. "Are…Are you flying? Weiss, are you safe?!"
"I'm fine," Weiss replied, but that was a lie. She wasn't fine.
"Weiss, what's wrong?"
"F-Father called."
Kali straightened up slightly. "About Adam, I presume."
"Y-You knew?" It came out as a frightened whisper, that all her horrible fears had come true. Father said it was us, and the only us he tended to know was his closest partners…Ghira and Kali Belladonna.
"I did, and I think it was wrong of him to ask that of you. I tried to talk him out of it, but he said it was your choice to make." She frowned. "He was lying. He was the one choosing to foist that burden upon you."
Okay, so it wasn't as bad as she thought. Kali had been opposed to this; she hadn't been conspiring behind Weiss' back to rig a sporting event for personal gain. Weiss didn't know what she would do if her surrogate parents had done that to her in addition to her biological one.
"He's out of line," Kali reassured. "You should never have been put in that position."
"Th-Thank you, Kali," Weiss said, releasing a bit of the tension on her shoulders. There had just been too much going on. "I just wanted to be sure. I've got to get back to the team, but thank you."
"Anytime, chicken wings. Give my husband my love, and give Blake your own." Kali winked.
Weiss ended the call, the world finally making that much more sense.
The skies were no place for a teenaged girl, so Weiss slowly glided back down to the roof of the building.
Then, something about that conversation flipped a switch in her brain, and she looked down at her powered down scroll again.
She…She said…
Does she…
It was getting tiring for her wings, but Weiss decided that she'd put the last little bit of effort and keep this private for one last call. Flapping up, she rose back into the sky and called Kali again.
This time, it didn't take nearly as long for it to answer. Kali probably still had her own scroll out.
"Weiss?"
"Do…Do you think I should do it?"
"Weiss, I –"
"Because to me, it's an obvious no. I'm being asked to cheat, and it's wrong, so I told Father no. But you said I shouldn't have been burdened with the choice. Kali, there is no choice. There is no choice."
Kali was silent for a second. "Then you have your answer."
"Kali," Weiss said, in a tone of anger she didn't know she had within herself.
"He was wrong to come to you as a parent and try to use that to manipulate you into doing something that you don't want to do."
"But you think I should do it."
"It should never have been asked."
"You don't think a child should have to make that choice, but you think there is a choice."
"No, Weiss, I don't."
"Don't lie to…" Weiss couldn't even say the rest. "Please. Just tell me. You're more of a moral compass to me than Father."
"No one should have the power to make choices for you, Weiss, even if you want to give them that power. You think it's wrong, and that's the end of it. I won't be like your father and try to use my relationship with you for political gain."
"You think I should."
Kali stopped talking for a second. After a moment to compose herself and her thoughts, she spoke.
"I think…I think that…no. No, I won't manipulate you. Jacques was wrong to ever bring it up, and I won't play along with this. You told me there is no choice, so I support you fully. Tell the pasty white bastard to stick it up his ass, Weiss."
She'd hesitated, and Weiss could tell what that meant. Parents always knew when children were hiding something, but it was due to years of close contact and interaction that they got this magic power, and they often didn't understand that it worked in reverse.
If Kali agreed, she would have clearly and definitively told Weiss from the start, without any of the evasion. She wouldn't have described it as a choice Weiss needed to make, and she would have been more outraged at Father for having ever suggested it than for having tried to make his daughter the instrument of his victory.
The Menagerian athletes displaying superiority in spite of the rest of the kingdoms claiming to have the fundamentally superior academies would prove that it was just as much a capable producer of huntsmen and huntresses as the rest of them. In this hunter-obsessed world where the Grimm were the dominant driving force for most political decisions, that could lead to prestige, political capital, and even the final support they needed to declare legally Menagerie a fifth kingdom and build an academy.
And it would also mean that the SDC would sell tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of Dust to support the modernization efforts.
Kali may think it was the right thing to do, but Weiss knew that she would be more disappointed if Weiss were to break her own moral code than do something that didn't align with Kali's. The two of them could and often did have disagreements, but Weiss willingly impugning her own honor was a betrayal of the highest order to the woman who'd taught her to do what she believed was fair and just no matter what the world told her.
I won't do it. I won't change my mind.
Not unless I'm absolutely sure this is the right thing to do.
The rest of Weiss' team was back at the dorm when Weiss got back.
Blake coughed awkwardly. "I tried to stop them and give you some alone time, but –"
"I fucked up," said Yang. "And I'm sorry."
Oh, right. The whole thing with Yang. Even thought it had seemed like the most important thing in the world at the time, a brief phone call with her father had turned that world upside down, and now Yang's crude jokes hardly even bothered Weiss.
"Apology accepted," Weiss said, setting down the scroll that had caused her so much grief down onto her desk.
"Really?" Yang asked.
"Really?" asked Blake, equally incredulous.
"Really," Weiss said. "No need to drag it out. You're sorry, I forgive you, problem solved."
"I…I didn't tell her anything," Blake said to Weiss.
Weiss looked up at her girlfriend. "Huh?"
"Weiss, I didn't explain anything. I don't think Yang even knows what she's sorry for."
"It doesn't matter," Weiss said. "She won't do it again."
"Weiss –"
"I don't care!" Weiss said, snapping a little bit. "I have bigger things to worry about!"
Great, Weiss. Now you've gone from not giving it any thought to worrying about it. Pretty soon you'll be doing Father's dirty work, dressed up in a jet black suit and assassinating people in their own beds all to get Daddy Dearest's approval –
"Uh, Weiss?"
"WHAT?!" Weiss nearly screamed.
Blake's ears cowered behind her head. "I…I was gonna point out that you were glaring at Ruby like you wanted to cut out her spleen and roast it on the open fire, but I think it's obvious to everyone that you weren't kidding about being poor company and needing that time alone."
Weiss just shook her head with a snarl. "Apologies, then. It's not Ruby I'm mad at; it's…it's something else."
It's yourself, Weiss, because you know you're just waiting to talk yourself into doing this. My Gods, how the mighty have fallen – you used to be a shining example of integrity, and now all it takes to buy your honor is a call from Father and Kali. Maybe you should call Ghira just so you can pull a trifecta for parental figures in your life.
"You're doing it again! Leave my sister's spleen alone, Weiss!" Yang said. "Seriously, is this about the jokes? Because I'm sorry!"
Calm the fuck down, Weiss. You're getting too worked up about this.
"I…I'm sorry. I just…I got a call from my father."
Are you going to tell them, Weiss? Because the only reason you'd tell them is if you're seriously considering this.
"There's something I need to tell you."
Wow. That didn't take long.
Blake was equally shaken about it. "Mom…wants us to cheat?"
"I think so," Weiss said. "She seemed offended that Father was using us as vessels for his machinations, but I don't think she's as opposed to cheating for the greater good as I want her to be."
"Did she say it?" Blake asked, leaning forward. "Did she tell you she wanted you to?"
"No," Weiss said. "She said that since I didn't want to, she would support me."
Blake fell back slightly. "Yeah, that kinda does make it sound like she's into this plan." She wiped her brow. "I always knew they were good influences on making your dad a more balanced person, but I guess some of him has rubbed off onto you too."
"Y-You said you didn't want to," Ruby pointed out.
"I didn't, before my call with Kali," Weiss explained.
"Wait, she told you not to cheat and that made you want to cheat?" Ruby asked incredulously.
"No, she told me that she wished I didn't have to make this choice. Implying she thinks it's a choice and not an easy one."
"We can't cheat!" Ruby nearly screamed.
"Voices down," Blake tried to say, but Ruby ignored her.
"I'll scream if I want to! How can you even consider this?"
Weiss was leaning against the wall in her bed, but it felt too casual for this heavy conversation, so she sat up.
"It wouldn't even be cheating. I refuse to win by illicit means against the semifinalists. All we'd be doing is putting in extra effort to get to the finals, and then let Adam win in the last round. Honestly, we'd probably lose to him anyways."
"You've already decided, then," Yang said, eying Weiss from their bottom bunks.
"I've already told Father no," Weiss said. "So if I changed my mind, I'd have to make an express effort to countermand my choice. And I'm not going to be making the choice. We need to put something like this to a vote."
"I vote no!" Ruby screamed, her arm flying into the sky. "So that's one!"
"One is all it takes," Weiss said, shaking her head. "It would have to be unanimous for us to do it."
Ruby violently shook her head up and down. "Great. So my one vote wins, and we don't cheat."
"Ruby…"
"Don't you Ruby me, Weiss!" said the younger girl, pointing an angry finger in Weiss' direction. "You cannot seriously be arguing in favor of cheating. H-How? I thought the world of you. How could you do this?"
"Because Faunus in Menagerie have ten times the number of deaths by Grimm attacks per capita," Weiss answered. "Because Faunus lifespan is five years lower on average than human. Because the wage gap is nearly fifty percent. Because Vale Life Magazine listed the top five-hundred highest paid CEOs, and only three of them were Faunus. And that stuff is probably more important than who wins or loses a tournament."
That shut Ruby up, and Weiss immediately felt like an asshole for being her father. He'd manipulated her into this, and she was now manipulating her team into it using strongarming and tactics of fearmongering. None of that was Ruby's fault, and to place the burden of it all on her was truly a betrayal. Of her little teammate, of Kali who'd gone out of her way to avoid doing the same to Weiss, of Weiss' own values…it was disloyalty of the highest order.
"O-Oh. Is it really that –"
"Yes," Blake said. "We've made a lot of progress in a very short time, but it was progress from the starting point of a war and, before that, slavery."
"Never mind." Weiss shook her head and got up from her bed. "Ruby's said no. So we're done."
"I…I…I think…" Ruby's voice was softer than a mouse. "…I think I might want to, uh…ch-change, uh, my…"
"You don't have to," Weiss said.
Ruby looked away. Weiss could do nothing but nod in understanding.
"Yang?"
"It's me that has to do it," Yang pointed out. "I'd be the one that has to win and lose these fights."
"Not necessarily," Weiss said. "Until the doubles round ends, we can still substitute who goes through to the singles."
"Great," Yang said. "So you go on ahead and I stay behind. Real fun."
"I go on ahead to sell my soul to my father's wishes," Weiss pointed out. "And you can still say no. None of us would blame you."
"Nah," Yang said, brushing her hand. "I don't wanna be the person who keeps the Faunus oppressed because I can't handle this. I just wish we got to be kids and enjoy the fun and games a little bit longer."
"I'm sorry," Weiss said. "I never should have –"
"We wouldn't have all voted yes if we didn't believe you, Weiss," said Blake. "And I do vote yes."
This didn't feel right. This didn't feel like a triumphant victory for civil rights and Faunus enfranchisement that Weiss had always dreamed of winning for her people.
But she supposed that, in the real world, spectacular displays of triumph didn't exist. Every win had to be earned, and it was earned through deals and negotiations and sacrifices. She'd hoped she would be able to sacrifice something meaningless like years of her life or blood spilt, but it wouldn't be a real sacrifice if it wasn't a loss of something she valued.
"Would this really fix it?" Yang asked. "The whole Menagerie thing?"
Weiss nodded. "A sport can't always decide someone's political views, but that's what a lot of endorsements basically are when you boil them down. You know how I feel about Adam, but he's the symbol of the Menagerian underdog, and he's going to take up a government post one day. Atlas let him fight because they thought he would lose and be forgotten, but if he wins, people will have to acknowledge that Menagerie beat out the best trained hunters-in-training in the world."
"Except he wouldn't have," Ruby groaned. "I hate lying. Please don't ever put me in front of a reporter or something, because I'd fold. I can't lie worth a darn."
"You wouldn't ever have to. Just never bring this up, and it's like it never happened." Weiss put her hands on her hips. "You all know how I feel about Adam. But I think that the reason I'm doing this is because it's become about something bigger than me. Bigger than us. Bigger than Adam."
Ruby started clapping, but it was a halfhearted attempt, and she gave up after no one else joined in.
"So," Weiss said. "How did the rest of the rounds go? Who will we be up against?"
"You know about Pyrrha and Adam," Yang said, eager for the change in subject. "Team PENY won because of their leader, some orange-haired girl. That girl from prom night that was with Adam, Cinder, she's also going ahead. We didn't really watch the rest because I wanted to apologize and got antsy."
That was fine. Weiss could just check the results, which would be posted in every newspaper in the city. If she was going to think about seriously winning, she was probably going to have to seriously start ramping up her training and conceiving of strategies specific to the opponents she would be facing. It had sounded like too much effort before over a silly little tournament she'd rather have let skill decide the outcome of, but now that there were real stakes, this took precedence.
"Oh, that reminds me," Weiss said, turning to Yang. "There's something else."
Yang quailed at Weiss' words, and she rushed to reassure her it wasn't as bad.
"I just…if I'm being honest with you about that dirty little secret, I think that you probably ought to know a little bit more about me and why what you said upset me."
"O-Oh. Okay." Yang hadn't been expecting that, and it showed.
"Ruby, you listen up as well. It's time you heard the truth as well."
"You're sure?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.
Weiss nodded. She was sure. These girls had been with her through the fires of their team's formation, alongside Weiss in Mountain Glenn, and they stood with her now at Weiss' lowest point. If there was anyone she could trust with the truth of her once suspected bastardy, it was them.
"The first thing you need to know about me is that I, Weiss Schnee, am a seagull."
Next Chapter: Sense of Self
In which Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao-Long progress to the second round of the tournament they plan to rig.
Author's Notes
What's one more plot line to juggle? Though, as you may have guessed, this is one of the big ones...
At least she's gotten over the minor spat she had with the team real fast, and she's finally decided to be true to herself. Jacques comforting her by admitting he would have killed her if she weren't useful to him was oddly wholesome (at least by the standards of Weiss' usual dynamic with her father both in and out of this fic).
Happy rats, and don't do crime (unless you're Weiss)!