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"Right…" Weiss sighed, closing her Scroll and leaning back into Akitsu's chest, letting the taller woman run her fingers through her hair comfortingly. It was nice, as ever, to close her eyes and enjoy the woman's nails scraping gently along her scalp. Even so, she said, "The others are out looking but, so far, no sign of Blake has made itself known."

"Given how quickly she vanished…" Akitsu hummed, "I suspect your teammate is rather adept at hiding."

"So it's hopeless?"

"Finding her? Maybe." Akitsu hummed, "Bringing her back…? That is less clear, less certain."

"I suppose you're right…" Weiss sighed, shaking her head wearily and running her thumb along Penny's shoulder, feeling the seam where her shoulder joint connected to her torso, "Today was supposed to be a good day. Complicated and stressful, of course, but… Good, ultimately."

"I'm sorry, Weiss…" Penny mumbled, head in the Schnee's lap while the television played a documentary on penguins - one of Penny's favorite animals. "I-I didn't realise-"

"Shut." She thumped the ginger's head gently, smiling when Penny pouted playfully and rolled over to look up at her. "You merely existed. Whatever this is, it is hardly your fault."

"But-"

"The only 'but' I care about right now is yours, Penny." Akitsu cut in, leaning around Weiss to smile toothily at the other Sekirei while Penny blushed brightly and rolled over, hiding her face in Weiss' stomach. Chuckling, Akitsu sighed, pressed a kiss to the side of Weiss' neck, ignored Weiss' little swat, and went on, "All we can do is wait here, to see if she comes back here, while Weiss' team searches Vale."

"I just hate sitting here, doing nothing to help…"

"Your team was clear." Akitsu hummed, "They didn't want to take you away. And besides, if she does come back she'll need a friendly face. Not a stranger's."

"Presuming that is what she sees, given what Penny told us…" Weiss sighed, swatting Akitsu's hand when it wandered down her arm and to her side. The Sekirei chuckled and Weiss, even as stressed as she was, smiled ever so slightly for it. Even when she'd been her most upset, in the past, the two of them had always known how to prod Weiss' mood up just the tiniest bit. "I suppose all we can do is wait and… Hope all is well."

"I mean honestly..." Penny said, face still buried in Weiss' stomach and voice muted. Turning just enough to look up at Weiss, penny asked, "How bad could it really be…?"

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The dock district was, as it had been in every Kingdom she'd served in, a… Bit of a mixed bag, really.

Some of its streets and alleys were wider, obviously older and more well-planned and clean. Built decades or even generations ago, when city-planning had been at the forefront of every Kingdom's mind. The careful, meticulous kind of city planning, built right around the docks with rows of long, narrow warehouses and work-yards for fish, shipping, boat repairs and construction, and those sorts of things. Newer ones had sprung up between those sections of the dock and warehouse district, where old warehouses had been pulled down - or collapsed - and smaller buildings had cropped up, with smaller yards and winding alleys honeycombing between them. Most of these were for smaller companies, ones that couldn't afford the more massive warehouses that those like the SDC rented from Vale for its work.

But, since these were built for the less successful to use, and packed in where no one cared - by design - it meant they inevitably became run down, neglected places. Places where the desperate worked hard for little, homeless filled the less-used alleys and abandoned warehouse or two with tents and cardboard, and gangs ran everything from drugs to people, as hard as she and hers had fought against the latter.

It also made the perfect place for an outpost…

The warehouse was a low-roofed one, with old and cracked windows, some of which had been replaced by boards. The roof was weathered-red, closer to brown now, and the walls were a dark shade of black, the freshest paint on the building - which meant it had been put on a decade or so ago. The door was old metal, spray-painted gray with a few bullet holes trailing up it and along the wall over it from what she guessed had been a shoot-out years ago. The little patches of rust along the door, barely visible under the paint, told her which side had won.

Blake knocked on the door six times and then kicked it twice - for the sixth day and second week of the month.

The door opened a moment later and a gargantuan figure loomed over her, dressed in heavy cover-alls and a thick, long-sleeved work-shirt. His hair was shaved short, almost militarily, and his face looked younger than she knew he was. He looked past her first, then down at her and rumbled, "What?"

"I'm looking for a bite to eat and a cot to sleep."

"Hmph." Banesaw's dark eyes narrowed over an otherwise blank face and he nodded, stepping back to let her into a small, empty little break area. Quietly, he asked, "That bad?"

"I…" She sighed and sat at one of the tables, holding her head in her hands. "I panicked in front of Wei- The target," she amended with a sigh, "and ran."

"...Why?"

"Her Sekirei had green eyes." Blake explained quietly, "And… A lot of prosthetics."

"I see." He rumbled - he knew the story of their first mission as well as most did, and she didn't hear any judgement in his voice. Quietly, he nodded and said, "I will let our leader know. Do you need anything? Are you hungry?"

"Are you cooking…?"

"I could be." He shrugged, smiling that almost invisible smile of his, where he barely lifted the corner of his lips.

"I'd love some fish…"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks…" She smiled, "I appreciate it."

"Mhm…" He nodded and left her, pushing through one of two card-locked doors at the corner of the room.

Left alone, she could only sigh and drum her fingers on the table. And think about just how badly she'd ruined an operation months in the making. Getting into Beacon had taken so much leg work, on her part and so many others, just for tuition. And she'd blown it before the first semester had even finished, and with precious little information for it…

She heard the door open and flinched, staring at the table until the man dropped into the seat across from her. He sighed and threw his feet up on the table, leaning back and balancing his chair on two legs while he whistled a short, jaunty tune and asked, "So… What happened?"

"I told Banesaw…"

"Yeah." He nodded, "But I wanna hear it myself, Blake."

"...We went to her apartment, like I told you we would. One of her Sekirei is a white-haired one with her sigil on her forehead. The other is… Weiss says she has extensive prosthetics. And when I saw her green eyes, I- I just- I couldn't." She closed her eyes and rubbed at the, trying to keep from crying - or remembering what she'd seen and reacting again. Finally, quietly, she said, "I'm sorry, Sun."

"Shit happens." Sun sighed, dropping his feet off the table and leaning on it, resting his elbows on the table and smiling warmly. "Now, we need to think…"

"About…?"

"How to salvage this." He nodded, "Assuming we can, and you can hold it together."

"I… Don't know that I can." She murmured, "Not seeing those eyes. Not after… After the labs."

"You have to try, Blake." Sun pressed, "The cause we fight for? Way bigger than one person. You need to get yourself under control, if you can."

"Even if I do," Blake argued quietly, "what would I even gain? No chance they haven't looked me up now, and found my parents. Before, it was a coincidence, but now… Weiss will know."

"Ehhhh, probably. At least for the Schnee. Say what you like, but those ass hats know how to do research when push comes to shove. Usually pretty messed up research, but…" Sun shrugged, tapping his fingers against each other slowly while she felt like she could see the gears turning in his head. "Did her Sekirei seem happy?"

"Yes…?"

"Why does that sound unsure?"

"I was there for five minutes, okay?" Blake rambled, "I-I can't be entirely sure, but… They sounded it on the phone, and looked it in her pictures."

"Then do you think she is good to them?" He asked, "Or is she, well… A Schnee?"

"I…" She couldn't be certain of anything, a Sekirei was liable to not mind almost anything done to them. At least, not when it was their Ashikabi doing it. But… Weiss hadn't seemed that sadistic type. Prideful, arrogant, and definitely with a chip on her shoulder, yes. But was she cruel…? "No, she… She doesn't seem the type. To me, at least. I don't know, but-"

"But she's worth a shot…?"

"A shot at…?"

"Turning." Sun smiled, "To our side."

"I…" She blinked, shaking her head, "Are you insane Sun?!"

"Hey now…" He wagged a finger at her playfully, "I still have rank ya know."

"Oh, bite me." She snarked, shaking her head, "You can't be serious about this! It's insane for you to even suggest something like this, even for you!"

"Why do you say it like that?"

"You literally tried to suggest we have Ilia enlist with the military because she can fake being Human!" Blake answered, throwing her hands up in the air, "In spite of the fact she stabbed someone at an Atlas school! And got arrested for it!"

"So…?"

"So she has a record!" Blake sighed, palming her face while he chuckled at her expense. Shaking her head, she said, "Sun… Please, just tell me if this is a serious suggestion right now. Because it's insane, and I don't even know how we'd manage it."

"How you would manage it."

"Sun, no-"

"Sun, yes." He grunted, cutting her off with a wave and tapping the table. "We've been after an inside man- Er, woman. Whatever. We've been after a hook in Schnee Manor for ten years. And now we have a shot-"

"A long shot, maybe."

"-at getting not a waitress, or a cook, or a maid on side," Sun went on, frowning deeply in a way that told Blake joking time was over, and he was being damn serious, "but the Heiress of the SDC. Imagine if we got her on side even unwillingly. Even with blackmail or something. The Lien alone would fund an ungodly amount of Mine raids, lab hunts, and relocation for Faunus and Sekirei. And that's if we don't get her on-side genuinely!"

"And assuming she doesn't attack to protect her Sekirei from the risk…"

"I mean, you're a great escape artist, Blake." Sun shrugged, "And if that is how it goes? Back to the blackmail and threats we go!"

"You're far too chipper about that, Sun…"

"Hey, our job isn't the most glamorous thing on Remnant." He shrugged, gaze going the least bit hazy as he stared off into space, losing himself to the same memory Blake knew he often did. "But if it saves someone getting diced up for parts on a table? I- We gotta do it, right?"

"Right…" She murmured, letting Sun have the moment he needed to come back to himself. Which he did, clearing his throat and shifting awkwardly in his seat. Pushing on for both their sakes, she asked, half-joking, "So… Is this an order then?"

"Does it need to be?"

"You mentioned rank first." She smirked, "Not me."

"Fine." He rolled his eyes, "It's an order. Take a night, catch your breath and rest, and think up your approach."

"My discretion…?"

"Your discretion." He nodded, "Shoot me your other members' pictures again and I'll put eyes on 'em, so you have the info."

"Got it." They weren't targets, of course, and she knew better than to think Sun was suggesting that. But… She was already considering trying to approach Weiss alone - or as alone as she could get with two Sekirei to hand, at least - and knowing when the other two were gone would be useful for that. She smelled fish and turned as the door opened and Banesaw came back, carrying a steaming plate of what were obviously salmon fillets. They were, of course, the inferior tuna, but…

Well, they smelled delicious enough she didn't much care.

"Lemon pepper." He grunted, setting the plate in front of her and flicking Sun a look. "Always improves your mood…"

"Relax, big guy." Sun smiled, standing and patting his arm. "We have a plan, and Blake is totally on board."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration…"

"I am ordering Blake to be totally on board."

"More accurate…"

"Same difference, right?" He smiled, slipping past the man and straightening his own cover-alls. "Now c'mon. We have a lot of empty crates to pretend to ship out in, like, an hour!"

"We're actually shipping those ones…" Banesaw sighed and rumbled, following him, "Back to Menagerie. For food!"

"Ah, right." Sun laughed, "Fair!"

Blake just rolled her eyes and ignored them, tucking into her food before it could get cold. She was already looking forward to a thin, cold cot, after all. She wasn't about to add cold salmon on top of that. The anxiety and mounting dread were already bad enough - she did not need to add cold salmon to the problem, too.

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