Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." ~ Nietzsche

The SDC convoy was not a particularly large one; five large trucks escorted by one security jeep up front, with another trailing in the back. Less than a dozen people in total to take hundreds of thousands of lien worth of dust from the processing facility to the nearest railroad station for the trip to Mistral. Rather than spending hard cash on security it seemed that the Schnees preferred the protection of immense arrogance to go along with the threat of reprisals.

Arrogant idiots.

None of the men in the first jeep paid attention to the small ribbon tied around a tree's branch... and none of them saw the slim finger push down on a detonator. The explosion wasn't all that loud, a loud crack that was more startling than anything else, but it seemed like Trifa had known what she was doing when she'd set the charge.

The ancient oak began to fall even before the explosion had stopped echoing. Wood splintered and cracked when it slammed into the road, easily covering the entire width of the dirt path. Groaning metal joined the sound of breaking wood when the first truck, brakes screeching as the driver desperately tried to stop, slammed directly into it.

Ilia Amitola watched as the front wheels bounced up, trapping it half-atop the fallen tree as the vehicle shuddered and its engine began to vent steam. Horns and more screaming brakes came as the trucks behind all began to frantically slow. The drivers began swerving one way and another to avoid ramming the back of the dust-laden vehicle ahead with mixed results. Two managed it without crashing, the others ran off the road and slammed into yet more trees, making the twilight even more chaotic.

Perfect.

"Take them!" The woman's ringing shout was louder than it had any right to be. It easily cut through the noise and confusion, and Ilia found herself charging on pure reflex when she heard Sienna's commanding voice.

Bursting out of the copse of trees she'd been hidden within, she drew Lightning Lash as she moved away from the stopped trucks. They were for the others to handle, she and Trifa had a different assignment. The first security jeep had slammed on its own brakes when the driver had realized what had happened behind them, and four humans in the garb of SDC security were tumbling out when she charged right at them.

"White Fang!" One of them, a man, bellowed as he scrambled to draw a rifle out of the backseat, his eyes seemingly locked on the white mask covering the majority of her face.

Ilia felt her lips pull into a fighting grin as she flicked her right arm forwards, her thumb gently pushing the button to extend her weapon. The whip snapped across the short distance, cracking against the man's face and making him scream when a red line split across his pale skin. Electricity from the dust she'd loaded made his entire body arc in pain, and he jerked backwards, cracking his head against his own car.

Her grin faltered and she almost stumbled as he fell, clutching at his head. They didn't have aura? They were security guards driving through Grimm infested woods! How did they not have fucking aura!?

The hesitation let the other guard on her side of the car get his own weapon out, a rifle that fired a three round burst right into her chest.

She coughed in pained surprise, white light crackling at the impacts and making the guard's eyes widen in panic. "They have a huntress!? How the fuck do-"

Lightning Lash cracked once more as she recovered, this time aiming for the weapon rather than the man. Her weapon wasn't really full-huntsman caliber, she'd made it out of what spare parts the people of Menagerie had been able to donate to the White Fang, so it didn't dramatically slice through the rifle like she'd have preferred.

It did, however, conduct electricity right into the man's body. His finger yanked on the trigger as his muscles clenched, firing a full burst into the dirt near her feet as he fell to his knees with a pained cry.

"I s-surrender!" He gasped when she pulled her weapon back for a second strike, the words making her freeze once again. "I quit! I quit!"

"Throw it away!" She shouted as she slid to a stop, careful not to get within arm's reach, and keeping her weapon up and ready to strike once more. He didn't even hesitate before throwing the rifle into the trees, and she nodded firmly before speaking again. "On the ground, hands out and down!"

The guard was obediently flattening himself when Trifa's voice abruptly cut through the air, "Ilia! Left!"

She whipped her head around just as the first guardsman, his face a mess of blood, came rushing at her with a knife. He was nearly twice her size, and even though his attack was a clumsy thrust at her throat, his sheer mass made her flinch back on reflex. The little retreat gave her enough time to fall back to the instincts she'd learned in the training rings, her left arm coming up as she spun, putting all of her upper body strength into batting his second slash aside.

"Animal!" His shout came as she continued the spin, falling into a crouch as she built up momentum, "You anim-gah!"

Lightning Lash's sword form rammed into his stomach as she completed the motion. She'd put her entire weight into the blow, the hilt of her weapon slamming against his belly. He coughed violently and blood splattered against her mask as his arms slowly fell limp.

"Fucking... ani...mal..."

Ilia stumbled back, her blood coated blade coming free from his body as he staggered to one side, then fell amid a pool of spreading blood.

I just... I...

"Oh gods." The whine made her jump and jerk back around to the other guard, finding him sprawled on the ground and staring in horror at the twitching form of his coworker. His eyes jerked to her, in particular the blood dripping from her weapon, and his voice cracked. "Oh gods... I q-quit! I s-surrender! Please don't kill me!"

"Face in the dirt human!" Trifa snarled as she darted over, a hand falling on Ilia's shoulder while the other pointed a dagger at him. "Now!"

The whimpering and begging didn't stop so much as it became muffled by the soil as he planted his face into it, arms well away from his body.

"I..." She felt her arms tremble, and her nose wrinkled as a horrible smell hit it. Her lungs abruptly burned and her stomach rolled while every instinct in her screamed that something was dead near her, that a person was dead near her, and that she should be away from that dead thing as quickly as possible. Her skin rippled rapidly between colors; blue, green, black, never settling down as she lost control.

Trifa's grip pushed her down to her knees, aiming her away from the prisoner as Ilia heaved.

"Happens to everyone the first time." The older woman murmured, her hand shifting from holding her to gently rubbing at her back. The comfort small but very real. "It's the smell. Go on, get it all out."

She didn't really have a choice. What little she'd managed to eat before the mission came up, as well as whatever was left of her breakfast. After that it was just painful dry heaves that left her shaking.

"There." Trifa gently helped her back up to her feet as she finished, offering her a gentle hug with one arm even as her eyes remained on the prone guard. "Come on, we've got to get this one tied up with mine. Watch my back all right?"

Watch her back... right. Right. "Y-yes..." She coughed, turned her head, and spit a bit of taste out of her mouth as she leaned a little into the older woman's body. "Yes. Yes. I can do that. Thank you Sister Trifa."

Blue eyes looked at her through the slits of Trifa's mask, then the spider-faunus nodded and stepped away.

Ilia took a few seconds to try and compose herself. She'd somehow kept a hold a hold of Lightning Lash, and the feel of the worn grip in her hands was suddenly far more comforting that it had any right to be. It took another few second for her to realize that her skin was a bright blue, and that she probably made for an excellent target in the dusk light.

By the time Trifa had used her own faunus trait to tie up the last guard with silken ropes and drag him over to where she'd left the two she had subdued, Ilia had gotten herself back under control, her skin returned to its natural tan. She didn't really have anything to clean her weapon with, so she fell to a knee and did her best to wipe it off in the dirt and grass.

"How did they not have aura?" She asked quietly when Trifa returned. "I mean, that's just... idiotic."

"The Schnees? Spend money on actual huntsman to guard their dust?" Trifa snorted. "You really thought we'd be holding off four hunters?"

"Well, no, of course not." She shook her head, the motion letting her see the vomit she'd left on the roadside. Wincing under her mask she rose and took a few cautious steps away from it, "But I thought there'd be at least one of them, or that they'd have it unlocked even if they weren't actual hunters."

A new voice cut in before Trifa could reply, "Auric users can become beacons for the Grimm if they aren't careful... or I'm sure that's the excuse that old Jacques Schnee gives his investors to explain why he can't be bothered to hire proper guards."

"High Leader." Ilia spun and quickly started to bring her hands together before realizing she still had her weapon clenched in one hand.

Sienna Khan smiled and waved her awkward half-salute away, "No need for that today, Sister Amitola. You have prisoners?"

"Three." Trifa waved at the trio of guards bound in silk ropes. "The last one tried to knife Ilia while she subdued his partner. She gutted him with a Rising Leaf strike."

Sienna's ears visibly perked up, and she took a step forwards to better see the body, blood, and to Ilia's shame, the pool of vomit nearby. She considered it all for a second and then nodded slowly, "Sister Trifa, get some help and load those idiots up with the other captives into the last truck. Make sure they don't have a scroll or radio on them, we've taken the radio from the truck and we'll leave one driver free to get them to Mistral. They'll be able to spread the word of what we've done here."

"Yes, High Leader."

"Ilia." Sienna lifted a hand, beckoning in a follow-me gesture. Ilia bit her lip but obeyed without question, following the taller woman back towards the rest of the convoy, hitching her weapon onto her belt as they walked.

Men and women were off-loading one of the trucks as quickly as they could, hauling crates of dust up on top of the other trucks and lashing them down as best they could. It would make driving the things even more awkward than it already would be, but they weren't about to leave any of the valuable cargo behind either. Cases of dust moved from one set of arms to another as a small group of humans sat huddled with their hands bound, guards surrounding them while the other faunus worked. One of the guards was Adam, her friend's attention drifting towards them as they returned.

Sienna waved for him to approach, and then led the pair of them to the edge of the trees. "Adam, I believe you had words for Sister Ilia?"

He grinned, a hand clapping her on the shoulder hard enough to make her stagger. "You did great Ilia. This was the perfect spot for the ambush, and your timing couldn't have been better. This dust will keep us stocked for months. I wish we could record how much old Schnee is going to howl about this."

"I.." She cleared her throat. "Thank you."

Adam seemed to notice her hesitation, his frown obvious even with his own mask hiding his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Sienna spoke, "One of the guards was more foolish than the others and attacked her after they surrendered. She killed him."

The tall man processed that, looking up and down her. Clearly taking in the spots of blood still on Lightning Lash, and whatever had gotten onto her uniform. He let out a slow breath before reaching out and gently wrapping his strong fingers around her shoulder. "How?"

Ilia swallowed, her words coming out slowly. "He thrust at my throat. I countered, then used a Rising Leaf spin. I... I took him in the stomach. I must... must have got an artery or something. He died once I pulled the weapon out."

He nodded and spoke again, "You throw up?"

"...everything I had in me."

"It happens to a lot of people." He smiled a little. "You remember me throwing up as soon as we got back to camp after that bandit attack? I still have a hard time eating pork belly."

She couldn't help but smile at the memory. "Blake thought you were dying."

Sienna chuckled, reaching out to place a hand on Ilia's free shoulder, and her other onto one of Adam's. "Remember to laugh like this, the both of you. What we're doing is hard, it can break us if don't remember to laugh. If we don't remember people like Blake. The people we're fighting for. It's hard, but it's also necessary. It's not glorious, but our children will remember us as the heroes who gave them a better world."

Both of them nodded, and Ilia felt the ache in her chest ease and the turmoil in her stomach retreat. "Thank you, High Leader."

That earned her a quick grin, "Don't thank me just yet, I've got another job for the both of you. Brother Vajo swears by the ancient gods that the convoy didn't get a distress call out, and we've got two shiny jeeps with a snowflake on their doors. We also have eight security badges that are still active."

Ilia blinked, not quite understanding, but Adam grinned once more. "You want to hit the mine itself? Tonight?"

Sienna showed her teeth, "Two birds with one stone. According to the driver I questioned, with the convoy out the security there is just two platoons of robots plus a security squad. Civilians are a half-dozen admin types and about fifty workers. Mixed human and faunus, all paid in company script."

Meaning they were all virtual slaves regardless of their species. Ilia nodded once, "What is the plan?"

"Trifa will take command of the convoy and get it back to camp. You two, myself, and five others will pack into the jeeps and use them to get past the automated guns and the outer gate." Sienna turned her gaze solely to her, "Once we're inside, you're lead scout again. Find us the best way to their central control while we shut down the outer defenses."

"What about the trucks?" Adam asked, waving a hand at them, "If we overload a second one we could get more dust out."

There a sharp shake of her head. "No. This is strictly demolition, sending a message that even the SDC can't miss. We get the workers out, we collapse the mine, and we're gone before sunrise. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." They both chorused.

"Good. Adam, you know how to drive, take the back car with Ilia. I'll send you two more and have them grab enough badges. I'll drive the other jeep."

Another round of nods came before Sienna turned and strode purposefully away, shouting names as she picked out more people for the new mission. Ilia watched her go, more than a little envious of how effortlessly her charisma surrounded her. Maybe one day I'll be half the leader she is...

Adam gave her a light jostle with his elbow, his voice teasing, "You can stare worshipfully at our high leader's ass later, we've got work to do."

She felt her cheeks burn as her spots turned pink, her hair whipping around when she spun to glare at him. "I was not checking her out!"

"That's what you always say," He grinned as she stomped along beside him, the pair walking towards their new ride. "But you always turn pink when I taunt you about it."

"At least I'm not pining for a fourteen year old." She hissed in reply.

It was Adam's turn to flush and his own voice lowered. "I don't pine for Blake, and you think she's cute too."

"But I don't encourage her." Ilia retaliated as they reached the jeep, falling silent until they'd gotten inside. It had a nicer interior than she'd have thought, the seat some kind of fake-leather that still proved to be comfortable, though the area in front of Adam was covered in actual dials and gauges rather than holographic displays. "You know that Ghira will threaten you the next time we're on Menagerie. Assuming he doesn't just strangle you on sight for looking at his daughter."

Adam sighed and let his head fall back, "I'm more worried about Kali... and no, I haven't done anything with Blake. I'm a terrorist, not a monster. I'm less worried about her trying to sneak into my bed than I am about her wanting to start coming on combat missions."

Ilia winced, "...I thought you were going to talk to her about that."

"I did. Didn't work." He reached up and pulled his mask off, revealing the vicious brand that had half-blinded him. An idle toss left it to clatter onto the dash, letting him rub tiredly at his face as he spoke. "Maybe you can try, but the girl's as stubborn as her parents. She's fifteen in a month, she's making the finishing touches on her weapon, and she's already unlocked her semblance."

Her hands tightened in her lap, her memory helpfully showing her the man she'd... killed not ten minutes ago. "...gods. I don't... we kill people Adam."

His voice sharpened slightly. "Racists working for a company that enslaves our people. That did this to me."

Her expression twisted in pain as he waved at his face. "I know, and the man I just... The man I just gutted called me an animal with his last breath, but can you picture Blake killing someone?"

Adam tried to keep his anger going, but after a few seconds his shoulders slumped. "...no. She's already worried about me, about how I've killed on missions. What happens when she sees me cut down someone? What happens when she has to be the one throwing up on a road?"

Ilia closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the seat. Her stomach rolled unpleasantly again, despite the fact that there couldn't be anything in it, Sienna's bolstering words unable to stop the memories of the man's legs and arms twitching as he bled out. "...can we... not talk about this right now?"

"...sorry." His voice was quiet. "When we get back to camp? The three of us can have dinner, like the old days. Maybe the two of us can talk sense into her."

"...yeah, that sounds... that sounds good."

They sat in silence, not saying anything until motion in one of the mirrors made Adam glance behind them. He exhaled heavily and picked his mask back up, fixing it into place just as Van and Aryl clambered into the back-seat. The latter passed a pair of plastic cards up front while his brother grimaced and muttered about the seat pinching his tail.

"You sure these will let us past the auto-guns?"

Adam nodded as he glanced at his before tucking it into his coat, "Those are intended for the Grimm. They shouldn't shoot at us anyway, but these will make sure of it. We'll be through the gate before they even think to override them."

The man nodded, looking reassured, then glanced at Ilia and seemed to freeze. What tanned skin was visible beneath his mask paled, and he coughed quietly into a fist. "Uhm... Sister, your mask..."

Ilia blinked, reaching up to take it off. Turning it over in her hands nearly made her lose control of her stomach again as she saw the splatters of red already drying across the white. "...do you have a cloth?"

He didn't, but Van found a towel in the back and tossed it forwards. The blood came away as she furiously scrubbed it down, neither of the wolf faunus in the back-seat saying anything as she worked.

A loud honk came as she was wiping at it for the third time, it still didn't seem clean for some reason, and all of them looked up to see that Sienna had gotten the first jeep around the fallen tree and was slowly heading down the road.

"Let's get this done." Adam said as he started the engine. "For the faunus."

"For the faunus." Ilia murmured as they started rolling forwards, her eyes returning to the splattered cloth in her hands.

Adam pressed a button, lowering her window without speaking, or so much as glancing at her.

The bloody towel fluttered along behind the car when she threw it out.

Chapter Text

The tension mounted inside the jeep as they followed Sienna towards the mining complex, everyone able to see the automated turrets set up against a broad wall as their vehicle cleared the forest. Proving that they weren't entirely incompetent, the SDC had created something close to a hundred meter kill zone, making certain that no Grimm could cross the distance before the turrets could engage them.

Of course, that level of paranoia wouldn't have been necessary if they weren't keeping their workers as abused wage-slaves who generated negative emotions with every breath, so Ilia wasn't inclined to give the company any credit for their forethought.

Crossing the no-man's-land seemed to take hours instead of twenty or thirty seconds. The nervous energy didn't fade into something more focused until they were nearly at the open gate. Sienna gunned her engine ahead of them as soon as a guard stepped out of the open entryway, and Adam floored it a fraction of a second later to keep pace.

The human ahead barely managed to dive back into the gatehouse before Sienna's jeep roared through the space he'd just occupied. Adam followed her lead, keeping the accelerator flattened and making the engine roar as he got them into the courtyard before anyone could think to shut the gate. Ilia felt her seat-belt dig into her chest as they went from speeding to skidding when he abruptly slammed on the breaks, Van and Aryl cursing up a storm behind them as they were likewise thrown against their restraints. Adam had been the only one ready to brace himself, and he was diving out of the car the moment it had stopped moving.

"Giant, arrogant, bastard of a-" She swore as she ripped her seat-belt off and shoved her door open. He'd had the foresight to yank the parking break on his way out, so at least the jeep had stopped. "-where'd you learn to drive!?"

"Less talking, more fighting!" He shouted as he raced towards the wall, Sienna's chain already flashing beneath the spotlights while she attacked the recovering guard. "Find a way inside!"

Resisting the urge to tell him that she knew her job, Ilia let her skin ripple to black and got moving deeper into the complex. The first alarms began to blare from speakers before she'd gone more than a few steps, automated lights flicking on and aiming their beams at the fighting near the gate. She didn't have any problems avoiding them, whoever was directing the lights probably missing the single dark form moving off on its own.

Which gives me time to look around.

By the standards of the SDC, it was a very small mine. Built into the side of a large hill, it's center was a heavy concrete block of a building worked into the earth. It had numerous loading doors, plus another large truck backed up nearby, leading her to guess that it was the entrance to the actual mining tunnels. Next to it, connected by a sky-bridge, was a slightly less ugly three story structure she hoped was the main headquarters and control center. Just beyond that, surrounded by their own fencing, were a pair of bland tenements.

The workers' homes... the people who pulled up the wealth the company relied on were trusted so little that they were kept caged even inside a walled compound.

Getting them out will come later. Stay on mission.

Most of the staff inside the main building must have still been awake because the first AK-130's were marching out of the probable-headquarters when she began her approach. The mech's advance blocked her direct route, and she twisted her lips in frustration before cutting to her left. The move into the deeper darkness served to give her a few seconds to call on her semblance before any of the androids could detect her. Shadows wrapped up around at her once, taking her natural camouflage from merely letting her blind in with the darkness and turning it into something close to true invisibility.

So long as no one snapped a light in her direction, or otherwise screwed with the area near her at least. Her semblance wasn't perfect, but so far as anyone could tell it worked on anything. Grimm, Human, Faunus, Machines... she could potentially avoid them all so long as she stayed in shadows, and so long as no one new to directly focus on where she was.

Time to hope none of them picked me up beforehand...

Ilia blew out a breath and put on more speed. This was her best chance and she knew it; the security door would close once the machines were clear and then it would a real pain to break in. Her legs burned as she sprinted forwards, keeping a wary eye on the Atlesian Knights as she moved past them. None of them seemed to detect her; her semblance and their single-minded focus on the the battle near the gate keeping her clear. She was nearly at the door when someone inside shouted for the mechs to move faster, one last machine walking out before the door began to slide downwards.

She was too close to abort, and too far away to simply run under it. So instead she threw herself forwards, hitting the ground just outside of the doorway, and then rolled frantically in before the steel could clang shut.

Her momentum caused to her to smack right into a pair of legs, a man letting out a startled shriek and falling onto his ass in surprise and fear.

"Fuck!" She swore even as they both kicked at one another, trying to free up their legs.

"They're inside!" He had to be young because his voice cracked while she tried to get to her feet. For his part he didn't even try to stand up, instead just scrambling away from her. "They're inside!"

Getting upright as quickly as she could, she raised her weapon to find a teenager in an ill-fitting manager's uniform, a much better alternative than a guard with a gun. His face was still spotted with red, and his expression made it clear he was a few seconds away from losing control of his bladder.

Apart from that, there was no one. He must have just been the closest one to the door and been sent to release the Atlesian Knights before locking down the entryway.

I got lucky...

"Shut up!" Her voice was already a bit low for a woman, but she went as low and rough as she could to up the intimidation factor. "Stop moving!"

He failed at the former, whimpering and gasping something about this not actually happening, but succeeded in staying put on the floor. That gave her a couple more seconds to take a better look around, revealing a fairly bland entryway. An abandoned security station was just ahead, complete with a weapon's detector and helpful signs saying what was and wasn't allowed inside. A nearby door was open to a darkened room, a glance inside letting her guess it was probably where the mechs had come from.

More important was the small collection of controls in between that door and the main entrance, and she carefully stepped towards them while keeping an eye on her latest prisoner.

"Lever there unlock the security door?" She demanded, waving her free hand towards a bright red lever next to a keypad. "Yes or no!?"

"Y-yes!" He whimpered, "I'm, I'm I-Important! Y-you can't kill me! My f-father will pay you millions for me!"

"If your father was that rich you'd be in Atlas." Ilia replied as she reached out to grab the lever, grunting a little with the effort to force it back up. The bright red lights around the doorway dutifully turned blue, and there was a quiet groan as the door began to rise back into the ceiling.

The teenager surged away the second her attention was diverted, his footwear making squeaking, screeching sounds as he tried to stand and run at the same time. Sighing, she turned and lifted her weapon again, aiming for a short second before lightly caressing the trigger. The mild bolt of electricity took him in the back, and he went down with another shriek.

He was still twitching when half of an Atlesian Knight came flying through the now-open door, Sienna following it with a wicked grin on her lips. She slid to a halt beside her, chain up and ready before she relaxed on realizing no one else was present. "Excellent work Ilia!"

Ilia felt her spots flare to a mild pink at the praise. "We should hurry, I don't know if they can override-"

She hadn't even finished speaking when an alarm blared and the door began to lower on its own accord. Cursing under her breath, she whipped back around to the controls but only found the emergency lever she'd already set, along with a small keypad that lacked a nice 'override' button for her to try. There was a 'lock' button however, and she slammed it down with her thumb... then wished she was surprised when nothing happened.

This time her distraction meant she didn't see Sienna move until the High Leader had grabbed her and hauled her backwards just as Adam sprinted in, ducking just in time to avoid clipping his horns on the descending door. Behind him, Van and Aryl came tumbling in more like she had. The pair rolled the space she'd just occupied, groaning and trying to disentangle themselves while while Adam's head swiveled as he checked for targets, only to come up as empty as Sienna had.

"Nothing in the area, just a self-important idiot." She informed him before glancing at Sienna. "What about the team from your car ma'am?"

"They will guard the vehicles, finish off the mechs, then watch for Grimm." Sienna patted her once on the shoulder before starting to head inwards, tapping Adam on the arm as she did. "Adam, you're up front with me, Van, Aryl, you're rearguard. Ilia, your prisoner?"

Ilia shrugged. "An important teenager who's worth millions, and is also about to wet himself if he hasn't already."

The taller woman snorted and simply stepped over the teenager as she walked past. Adam took the more direct route and stepped on him, making the boy gasp in pain just as he'd begun to recover from the shock she'd given him. Ilia followed Sienna's lead and walked around, but from the sound of it one of the two men behind her gave him a decent kick as they moved past.

Sienna paused at a helpful map just past the security station, nodded once as she apparently memorized it, and led them down dull gray hallways until they reached a stairwell. They went up quickly but cautiously, the two brothers keeping their guns up and watching behind while Adam kept the shotgun portion of his own weapon up and aimed ahead.

After a quick pause to check the doorway on the second floor, Sienna and Adam formed up side by side as they advanced. Ilia gave them a second, then moved out after them, Aryl catching up with her while his brother stayed another meter behind.

"Love the ambiance." The wolf faunus gave her a grin as they carefully advanced down empty halls. "Nothing says corporate arrogance like having your logo plastered on holographic displays in an otherwise empty hallway."

The snort came out before she could stop it, her eyes glancing up at the snowflake and SDC lettering rolling by along both walls. "They should have pictures of the Schnee family instead. Then people could throw darts at moving targets when they got bored."

Aryl snickered, and even Adam barked out a laugh, a sound that cut off when echoing footfalls began to come from every direction. "More androids! Coming from ahead!"

"Covering fire!" Sienna ordered as she loosened the chain around her right arm, accelerating into a charge. "Adam, Ilia, up front with me!"

Cursing her shorter legs, she stretched them as much as she could and had just barely caught up to the others when the first Knights began to emerge from the intersection just ahead. These were already in full close-combat mode, blades extended and moving with more speed than the marching ones she'd slipped past outside.

With only a meter or so of space between them, the Atlesian Knights were on top of their raiding group almost as soon as they became visible. Weapons clashed and metal rang as faunus and android all but ran into one another. Ilia focused on the one closest to her, cutting her weapon at it right arm to block a thrust from a wedge-shaped blade. The android fought in silence, pulling back and then cutting at her head with its left arm... slowly.

So painfully slowly. It was probably fast enough to fight small Grimm, and definitely fast enough to beat down angry civilians, but to a huntress? Even one with her rushed and limited training? The thing was practically glacial in its movements.

She had no problems at all recovering and slashing at its waist before it was even halfway through its own follow-up. The weak joint gave way on impact, the top half falling away with a crack of metal and a few sparks. She turned her head to find a second target, and only barely got her weapon up to block another Knight bringing both of its blades down at her head.

The mechs might fall apart if you hit them in the right spot, but the damned things hit hard. Ilia gasped and almost buckled with the effort of holding the blades away from her scalp.

Sienna took its head off with a kick, then was gone in a blur of stripes and metal as her chain and fists tore through another pair of mechs faster than Ilia had dealt with just one. Adam surged past on her other side, his blade cutting through an android as if it had been made of paper rather than metal, while the brothers behind them combined their gunfire to deal with the last member of the initial wave.

The five of them had just enough time to take a few steps forwards before the next group emerged at the far end of the hall. Ilia sucked in a sharp breath when their arms rotated, configuring themselves into gunnery mode, and began accelerating when Adam and Sienna likewise resumed their charge.

Her whip cracked as she brought it up, swinging it in quick motions to deflect which of the low-velocity shots she thought were coming at her, Adam's sword and Sienna's chain likewise blurring as they did their best to preserve their aura. Sparks flew as shots ricocheted away, or drew more colorful marks when they got through to be turned aside by their aura.

But as many as the rounds as they got, they couldn't get them all, and at least one of the Knights wasn't aiming for them.

"Brother!" The pained cry came from behind, and Ilia jerked her head back to see Van on the ground, clutching at his shoulder while Aryl slid to a stop beside him.

She hesitated, her forward sprint skipping a step, and then took three quick hits to her chest, gasping in pain as her aura stopped her from being instantly killed. Swearing under her breath, she got her eyes forwards where they had to be. Ahead, Adam slid to a halt and stepped right, Wilt whirling in his hands as he kept himself between the wounded regulars and the attacking mechs.

"Take them!" Sienna barked as she moved to join Adam's blocking position, "We'll cover the wounded!"

"Yes ma'am!" Ilia called as she ran past them, Lightning Lash snapping out as quickly as her tiring arms could make it move while she drew closer.

Both of the front-line mechs corrected their aim to focus on her as their programming realized she was the most important target. Her bob and weaving motion didn't help as much as it would have against a group of humans, the robots better able to simple keep their aim directly on her. More shots slipped through her guard, pain flaring with each hit as her aura rapidly began to plummet.

The shout she released when she reached close range was half battle-cry, half scream of pain, neatly summing up everything she was feeling in a single wordless sound. She leaped and began to spin, the first strike of her weapon beheading a Knight before it could take more than a step backwards. Her momentum carried her forwards, letting her complete the spin and take the second target in the waist, Lightning Lash crackling as it cut through the weak point.

Knight number three was in melee mode, and ran itself onto her weapon as she continued her turn and firmly planted her feet. Her finger tightened on the trigger, sending the last bits of dust in the hilt into the machine, shorting out its systems and sending it tipping backwards to crash down.

...letting her see five more of them rushing straight for her.

Her left foot slipped back slightly as she tried to reset, then a black and red form blurred past on her right as Adam took the lead. Wilt flashed in red arcs, the dust blade seemingly cutting the air apart as it effortlessly tore through the androids before they could even make an effort to block or avoid.

A little pool of jealousy welled up in her stomach at the reminder that Adam had a full huntsman's weapon in comparison to her scrapyard creation... a pool that widened when he took the next two down just as effortlessly, not even taking a single hit as he did.

Show off...

"Move on." Sienna stated as she moved past, "Van will make it if we can clear this floor."

Ilia glanced back to see Aryl finish helping his brother sit against a wall, Van's gun in his lap as he weakly waved for him to move on. She bit her lip but obeyed her orders, turning away once again and running after her compatriots. She caught up just as they reached the next intersection, all of them slowing to take the turn. According to the very helpful signs on the walls, the manager's offices and the security center were both right around the corner, meaning they were nearly done.

Sienna and Adam both slid to a stop a second after reaching the opening, something her exhausted muscles managed a few beats too late, leaving her standing in the center of the hall in time to see six living security guards with rifles aiming directly at them. It was all she could do to awkwardly backpedal into cover, wincing a little as the building's alarms finally began to blare; blue lights shifting to red all around them while bursts of gunfire hammered into the walls.

"I can-" Adam's proposed plan was cut off when a grenade bounced between them. Ilia had just enough to time stare at it in horror before it began venting a cloud of foul smelling smoke.

She tried to suck in a quick breath and hold it, but she wasn't quite fast enough. Gas filled her nose and lungs, and for the second time in the same night she found herself retching and hacking as she tried to breath. Some vague part of her heard the sounds of combat, and a man coughing and swearing. Aryl must have caught up just in time to get a lungful of the stuff as well.

Get clear... have to get clear...

Stumbling blindly, she could only tell she was free of it when a half-clean breath of air filled her mouth, her shaking hands pulling her mask away as she tried to breath. Gasping, she managed a couple more steps and then looked up in time to see Sienna and Adam effortlessly beating down the security team... they must have been able to hold their breath, unlike her. That or they'd gotten a much better breath in before the gas had hit them. Or both.

Shame at her failure mixed with envy at their skills and weapons, then both emotions faded as Adam kicked down the last guard.

His posture... changed as he did it, his hand shifting his blade into a downward grip while he stalked towards the downed man. The chiseled tip was aimed at the guard's heart, and her mouth was opening to ask just what he was doing when Sienna beat her to it.

"Adam!" The High Leader's voice was sharp, "Let's move. Ilia, Aryl, get them outside and secured."

Adam hesitated, then seemed to shake himself slightly and nodded. Ilia slowly put her mask back into place as the two ran into the control room, terrified shouts and cries following as they handled the managers.

He was about to... no. I can't think about that now.

"Come on." She said quietly, casting her eyes over the groaning guards. The fight had been pretty well beaten out of them, but whatever Adam had been about to do had left them all nervously glancing at her weapon and Aryl's rifle.

"Let's get this over with."

Ilia leaned against the front of their stolen security jeep, watching as the mine workers cautiously began to assemble in a nervous crowd. Those nerves probably weren't being helped by the sight of the SDC's staff on their knees, hands bound behind them while the masked forms of Aryl and the others from Sienna's car stood guard around them.

"They're lucky we're leaving them alive." Van growled from where he was sitting on the jeep's hood, his left arm bound in a sling they'd found in a small medical station. Her skills with patching someone up weren't anything to write home about, just enough to make sure he wasn't going to die and hopefully stop bleeding, but Sienna had easily picked up that she was the most exhausted out of everyone present.

So it was medical duty for her while everyone else corralled the prisoners, set mining charges against dust deposits, and got the workers to come out of their rooms.

"Killing them wouldn't help the cause." She said quietly, thinking more about Adam and the prone guard than the bound prisoners.

That earned her a disbelieving look, brown eyes narrowing behind his mask. "You're the last person I'd expect to defend those bastards after what happened to your parents."

"I'm not defending them." Ilia snapped, her spots flaring to an angry scarlet. "But the more of them we kill the harder they crack down on other faunus, the ones still trapped in other mines or stuck in other shit jobs."

He glowered at her. "You think they won't crack down anyway?"

She shrugged, "There's a difference between the Schnee's doing more awful shit, and Atlas making it policy. If the SDC keeps making things worse they just prove our point and get us recruits, maybe even make more of the humans take notice and actually do something. Isn't that the point of all this? But if Atlas make things worse we're in another faunus war and the Atlesian Air Fleet is bombarding Kuo Kuana tomorrow morning... which means we lose. We lose everything. If we have to kill people we pick them very carefully."

He winced, straightened a little as if ready to argue... then slumped tiredly. "...dammit. Our grandparents should never have taken that deal. All Menagerie does is give those assholes a hostage to use against us, better to have just started the war for our rights then and there."

"Not their fault three of the kingdoms reneged on their promises, or that the last one is an anarchic mess." Ilia said quietly. "And at least a lot of faunus have a safe place to grow up now."

"...I guess." Van leaned back with a quiet groan, his back resting against the windshield as Sienna hopped onto a crate and waved for the workers to approach. "Think they'll appreciate what we've done for them?"

It was too far for them to really hear whatever speech the High Leader was giving, but she could read the crowd's body language easily enough. Maybe half, all of them faunus, were practically weeping and looked ready to mob Sienna in celebration. The others were somewhere between aghast, horrified, and terrified of what had happened and what it would mean for their lives.

"...not as much as either of us would like. This place was awful, but it was the only job most of them could get." She sighed. "Company script or not, processed and crap food or not, it was probably still better than what they'd get on the streets in Mistral."

"Fucking humans. Fucking Mistral." He shook his head and let it rest backwards. "...think I'll get leave back home for this little hole in my shoulder?"

She shrugged, not minding the change in subject. "I'd guess so. You've probably got a few weeks of recovery unless you want your aura unlocked."

He shuddered a little. "No thanks. The super powers are cool and all but I'd rather not need years of training that still results in me being a walking Grimm-magnet at the end."

That made her smile a little, "Fair enough, I guess. Come on, looks like she's directing the ones who want to leave to that truck. Let's get you in the back and get ready as well."

Soon enough they'd be back at camp... and she'd have to tell Blake about what she'd done.

And talk to Adam about what he'd nearly done.

Chapter Text

Their camp didn't look like much.

Maybe a dozen camouflaged tents were scattered beneath old trees, serving to let them sleep in some degree of comfort. Eating and working was done more in the open, with large tarps spread between branches to provide shade and a bit of protection from the rain. It was nothing like their main headquarters in southern Anima, that facility a full blown base hidden inside of a small mountain, but then this little camp wasn't supposed to be anything like that.

One of the downsides to being considered terrorists meant you had to travel light, and travel often. It had been that way in Ghira's day as well, even when they'd been peaceful activists, before Atlas had declared them an illegal organization and Mistral had quickly followed suit. It was best not to give the humans and their vigilantes an easy target, a place they could focus on. Better to be ready to move fast and quiet when you needed to avoid trouble.

Back then Ilia had wondered every night if what they were doing was actually working. If real change for the Faunus would come, if one day they would be accepted instead of being cast out.

She still wasn't sure... but there had never been a day under Ghira that felt like this one. No day of picketing, no amount of letter writing, no halfhearted interviews with reporters could ever come close to matching the feeling that action could bring. That victory could bring. Even with the weight in her chest from what she'd done, the empty feeling in her stomach, it still felt... it felt so good to see the smiles of those workers.

Everyone else seemed to agree, because the camp was positively bursting with noise and happiness.

Trucks were parked haphazardly where they could fit between the trees and tents, without even a token effort to hide them. Those few who'd even tried to do so had been mobbed almost at once by the thirty or so workers who'd decided that leaving with the White Fang was better than staying. The civilians were nervous but excited, laughing and hugging anyone they could get a hold of. Men and women alike gushed with gratitude, boasted of what their lives could be on Mengarie, slapping their new brothers and sisters on the back as they thanked them.

Sienna had more or less given up on giving orders, instead simply shaking every hand offered and laughing along with everyone else. A few token guards were set in case a Grimm wandered by, but the rest of their company was more than happy to celebrate their unqualified victory with their newly freed brothers and sisters.

"Look at them." Ilia smiled as she leaned against a tree, her spots glowing a dull but contented orange. "Yesterday they were people who didn't get paid enough to even visit Mistral, and tomorrow they'll be seeing the world."

Blake grinned back at her, "And they'll be going to a place that will welcome them."

"Not all of them." Adam said from his place on Blake's other side. He was the only one still wearing his mask, for reasons that both she and Blake fully understood. "I talked with a few of the younger ones, they want to join us. To fight for the others still trapped in other mines, or in worse jobs than that."

"Like we do." Blake said as she looked out at the crowd, missing Ilia and Adam exchanging significant looks behind her back. "Did Sienna say what the plan is before she got dragged into the crowd?"

Ilia coughed, spots dimming as her good mood fell. "Uh, we're leaving at first light, soon as we can get the trucks through the trees again. Half of the dust and all of the workers who aren't joining will drive straight south for the coast with an escort. Everyone else will be headed back to headquarters."

"Good." Her friend nodded before glancing between the two, her gaze lingering longer on Adam than on her. "Um, I made food for you both. If you're hungry. It's just soup but it's fresh and hot."

"That sounds good, we..." Adam paused, then sighed and shook his head, "The three of us needed to talk anyway."

Dark ears flattened as Blake's eyes narrowed. She gave both of them sharp looks, then lifted her nose in the air and strode angrily towards the nearest tent.

Ilia grimaced and felt her freckles flare to a depressed blue as the two of them followed her through the canvas flap. Blake's was one of the larger ones in the camp, with more than enough room for all three of them despite the fact that she wasn't a combat-level huntress yet. Or a ranking member of the White Fang. The Belladonna name might not have meant as much as it once had, not since her parents had left the fight to administer Menagerie, but it definitely still meant something. Blake usually had her pick of supplies and rations ahead of anyone else, although she showed a surprising level of maturity in not taking advantage of it.

...unless they were serving fish for dinner, in which case everyone else had learned to race for the food line before she could eat half of what was available.

Blake sat on her bedroll without a word, waving towards the small pot bubbling atop the equally little portable heater. She'd already set out bowls and spoons, and candles were burning merrily on a small table nearby. For her part Ilia simply sat on the ground beside the limited offerings before serving herself some, glad to see actual meat in the liquid.

Someone must have gotten a deer while we were preparing the ambush. Thank the gods, I was sick of just broth and vegetables.

Adam sat as well, closer to Blake than to her, and after a glance and a nod she poured filled up his bowl with some of the venison stew as well.

Their younger friend kept her mouth shut for about a minute while they slurped broth and wolfed down slightly overcooked meat before she lost her temper, "You're going to try and talk me out of it again, aren't you?"

"Blake..." Adam tried.

"No." Arms crossed high on her chest as golden eyes flicked between them. "I've already made up my mind, and you can't change it no matter what you say!"

Ilia cast her eyes down at her bowl. "...I killed a man today, Blake."

"I just said that it's not going to work! I'm-" The near shouting abruptly shifted into a choking sound. It took the younger woman a few moments to recover, her eyes very wide. "What? Ilia?"

She licked her lips and shook her head once, disguising her inability to speak by taking a long sip from her bowl. Adam sighed and spoke for her, "She wounded a guard, thought he was down and out. He got up and tried to jump her while she took another one prisoner, went for her throat with a knife. She deflected it and countered. He didn't have aura. It was quick."

Blake's mouth worked, opening and closing soundlessly several times. She recovered slowly, took in a few more breaths, then carefully slid around the heating pad. Ilia closed her eyes as her friend hugged her tightly, their temples touching.

Ilia exhaled slowly, an arm carefully wrapping around Blake in turn. "...it was bad, Blake. I didn't like it. I don't want you to have to go through that. Neither does Adam."

There was a slight shudder, then Blake tightened her grip once before gently pulling back, her ears flat. "I... I don't want to kill anyone either. But... Ilia, I can't just sit here, making food and hoping you all come back alive. I've done that for a year with Adam, and now you're back and starting missions and I'm just... I have a semblance. Aura. Training. I have to use it. I have to."

"Blake," She tried, only for a pale hand to cut through the air.

"I have no right to sit here, safe and sound, while you two are risking your lives to save the faunus." Blake said firmly. "I stayed with the White Fang to do good. To fight for our people. I didn't stay to be kept safe as some kind of stupid rallying symbol against my parents!"

Ilia looked helplessly at Adam, then felt her jaw clench when he just shook his head and sipped more soup. We'll both talk to her... yeah, right. Guess it's up to me.

"Even if that means killing someone?" She didn't want to fight with Blake, but she didn't know what else to do besides play hardball. And... it was as though her mouth simply began to move without an input with her brain, words tumbling out as if her body simply had to expel them. "Blake I just... I ended a man's life! I gutted him! You can't imagine... maybe he was a racist, maybe he was just protecting his partner, maybe he was just doing his job, but none of us will ever know because I left him bleeding out in the middle of nowhere!"

Her words made an immediate impression. Blake flinched, her ears flattening even more as she quickly looked away from her. She seemed to stare at a still silent Adam for a moment, then cast her eyes down at the ground instead. "I-"

"I can still smell it." Ilia closed her eyes and shuddered. "The blood. And... worse. And I know I did what I had to, and I know I'm going to have... to have to do it again, but I still want to throw up. I can't stop seeing the blood on my mask. Seeing his body twitching and bleeding while his friend stared at me like I was a Grimm or-"

"Ilia!" Adam cut her off sharply, "That's enough! She got the point!"

Ilia sucked in a breath, realizing she'd gone fully blue somewhere in her miniature rant, her spots a bright and lonely green. It took serious effort to at least get her skin back to a natural tan, but her spots merely shifted to a sullen azure. "...I'm sorry."

Blake had shifted away from her again, her eyes still averted as she breathed heavily. This time it was Adam who moved, swinging himself around so he was settled beside her. She leaned into him at once, tucking herself under his arm and against his side in an almost reflexive way.

It made her give Adam another dark look as a little twinge of anger tried to brush its way past her depression, but his own expression remained stoic as he spoke quietly, carefully. Like he was afraid she was about to bolt. "Forgive her, Blake. The first time is always hard, and she's been our lead scout for the last two months. It's not an easy job."

Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing as he continued, clearly speaking more to Blake than to her. "I don't want you fighting anymore than she does... but you're right. There's more you can do than just making soup, more you were born to do than just be a symbol kept safe in the back ranks. You can scout for us, do recon. No one can catch you, not with your semblance. You'd leave them behind in a second."

A slight shudder came as Blake lifted her head, "...maybe."

Ilia exhaled and finally got her freckles to darken as she spoke up, her voice a little rough but under control, "There's also Grimm duty. We got lucky today, but we might not be next time. Maybe then the workers we save will be traumatized and depressed, and we'll be all that's protecting them from Beowolves or Ursa. You've got a better weapon than I do, and a good combat semblance. I know Yuma would appreciate the help on sentry duty, and watching our backs when we're out there."

Shoulders rose and fell as Blake's breathing slowly steadied. "Maybe. I was... I'm going to talk to Higher Leader about it when we get back. I'll think about it. All of it.'

"That's all we're asking." Adam said, a hand reaching to stroke the edge of a furry ear. "You mind if Ilia and I talked outside for a minute? I can bring us back some bread and water after."

"That... sounds good."

Ilia pursed her lips as she set her half-empty bowl aside, quietly thanking Blake for the food before standing up. Adam took a bit longer, making sure Blake was comfortable on her bedroll and not-so-subtly nudging her book of the week a bit closer with one foot as he rose. The young woman rolled her eyes a little but picked it up all the same, seemingly content to distract herself with some light reading while the two of them slipped outside.

Adam led her away, closer to where his tent was setup at the edges of the camp. Everyone else was apparently still celebrating, getting to know one another, or finally getting back to work preparing the camp to be broken come morning.

"What the fuck was that?" Adam's voice was a hiss as he stopped, casting a quick look around to make sure no one was nearby before he raised his voice. "We were supposed to talk her down! Not traumatize her!"

"I didn't hear much talking from you." Ilia spoke through equally clenched teeth, "I had to say something!"

"Did you? I had it under control, if you'd just waited for my lead we could have talked her down calmly!" His head shook sharply, "You know how Blake gets when she's upset, did you want to spend all night trying to find her in this damned forest?"

She threw up her hands in frustration. "How was I supposed to know to follow your lead when you didn't tell me what your plan was!? It looked like you were just being quiet and letting her argue with me!"

"I had it under control, you don't always have to run your mouth Ilia!" His words came with a step forwards, letting him loom over her. She had no idea if he'd meant to do it, or if he realized just how threatening his height and strength was compared to her... but it still made her step back, unsettled as her skin rippled to black.

"I..."

Adam's anger seemed to slowly deflate at her retreat, at her body camouflaging itself as if he was a threatening predator. He slowly lifted his hands, keeping them spread as he shook his head head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be that harsh. I'm just... worried for Blake."

"I know." She replied, not quite accepting the apology as she let her skin return to normal. "I'm worried for her too. And for you."

His head rose. "What's that supposed to mean? Please don't tell me you're annoyed that she came to me instead of you when she was scared. Not when you were the one doing it to her."

A muscle in her cheek twitched. "I didn't mean Blake, though I am concerned about how touchy you are with her. She's three years-"

"Two and a half, a little less even."

"Whatever!" She saved an impatient hand, fear fading into concerned anger once more. "I'm worried about what you almost did in that base! You were ready to kill that guard, even after he was down."

Adam was a warrior, not a gambler, or a liar. He couldn't bluff to save his life; his back tightened and his jaw clenched at the accusation and even with his mask she knew he wasn't looking at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. He was done." Ilia lowered her voice. "The fight was over. He was a prisoner, not a soldier, and if Sienna hadn't interrupted you-"

"I would have scared him senseless." Adam shook his head sharply. "Not whatever you are thinking I was about to do."

"Adam-"

"I need to get back to Blake." He spun on a heel and stalked away from her, his posture once again radiating his brooding anger. "I'll see you in the morning."

Ilia stared at his back before lifting her hands and furiously rubbing at her face. Adam had always been a bit prickly, from the day she'd first met him, but lately it seemed like it was getting worse. Being around Blake seemed to be the only thing that could keep him mostly calm.

Once she'd been able to keep him calm as well. They'd been friends even before she'd met Blake, before she'd introduced them. But now...

Now it's just Blake, which is both cute and unsettling... and some days... She shook her head. Worries about whether or not she was a third wheel, a friend being pushed aside to make room for blooming romance, all of that could wait. For now, she was still slightly hungry, and it would probably be best to let everyone calm down and enjoy the rest of the night.

She waited for Adam to retrieve the promised bread and water, and only once she'd seen him head back towards Blake's tent did she start walking. She slipped between tiring but still happy workers to grab a half-loaf of bread of her own before vanishing, not wanting to disrupt the still festive evening with her worried mood and tired body.

An exhaustion that only got worse when she got back to her tent to find Trifa sitting on a fallen log just outside of it.

"Hey." The spider faunus gave her a small smile. "Sienna thought someone should check in on you... and from the way you and Taurus were just in each other's faces, I think she was right about that."

Ilia shook her head and found herself sighing yet again. "I'm fine, Trifa. That was just Adam being Adam."

The older woman rose as she walked past, slipping into her tent behind her. "Being a brooding, angry pile of righteousness that makes Blake's panties evaporate?"

"That's not funny." She shot back, setting her bread on the folding table that was her only furniture before fumbling for a candle. Not that she actually needed the light, her night vision was in the top percentile even among faunus, but that didn't mean she always felt like sitting around in the dark. "She's too young for him."

"For a month." Trifa noted as she sat down again, "Then she's fifteen. Old enough to be sent on extermination missions by Huntsman prep schools has to be old enough to make her own choices with her body. You can't protect her forever... and you know she's never going to look at you like she does Adam."

Ilia felt her freckles pinken... then shift to a sad blue once more at the blunt honesty. She lit the candle and set it aside without looking up. "I know she won't, and I'm not trying to break them up or anything like that. It's just... I don't know. It doesn't feel right. Adam isn't right for her that way."

"Spoken like the jealous woman you are."

Growling, she tore off a bit of bread and threw it at her. Trifa caught it effortlessly and popped it into her mouth before speaking again, "I really have no idea how you three are friends. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have Adam at my back in a fight than anyone else, but he's so... Adam."

"He just needs to calm down." She defended him. "He's not always like that."

Trifa didn't look like she believed her. "Yeah, sure. I heard him blaming you for something. What was it?"

Shaking her head, she tore off a bit more bread and then told her everything that had happened since they'd gotten back to the camp. Trifa was a good sounding board; she listened attentively and without interruption, never once looking bored. Though she did start looking a bit concerned when she got to the part where Adam denied everything about what she had seen in the mining complex.

"He hasn't... you know? Done that for real before?" Ilia asked once she'd finished. "I was exhausted, I want to think I was just seeing things. That he was just trying to make the guard piss himself or something."

Trifa pursed her lips in thought. "I've never seen him execute someone, if that's what you're asking. He's killed people in battle, sure, so have I, and so have you now. But not execution. If he had Sienna would have done something. Randomly killing low-level grunts who've surrendered doesn't do much for the freedom-fighter image."

She looked up and bit her own lip. "I'm sensing a but coming."

"But," It was Trifa's turn to sigh. "Like you said, Adam's always had a temper, and it gets pretty roused when he's fighting. Maybe you really saw what you think you saw, maybe you didn't, but I wouldn't put it past him. If Blake can't take the edge off of his anger he's going to lose control of it sooner or later. Maybe his next job will help."

Her head cocked to one side. "Huh?"

There was a definite wince and then her voice lowered, "You didn't hear this from me, but Adam's getting transferred. That old man running the Vale branch stepped down and Sienna wants someone from her inner circle to take over. Whip them back into shape."

Ilia jerked back in surprise. "Wow... Adam? Really? He's too young for that level of position! Especially with... well, everything we're talking about."

"Who else is there?" Trifa asked, "From what I heard she wanted Corsec to take the job, but he refused to leave Menagerie... though I don't think she's going to tell Adam he was her second choice. His ego probably couldn't handle that. But even with his temper... the position has to go to a huntsman, and most of the older ones quit the group with your parents. That or they're pretty iffy about following Sienna's orders."

"Why not one of the Vacuans? Or did none of them want to leave?"

Trifa shrugged, "I think she guessed they weren't about to move and saved them the bother of saying no. If not Corsec then she wanted a hunter from headquarters, someone who knows how she thinks and can be trusted. Right now that's me, you, Gray, Yuma, and Adam. Which means it's Adam. He's stronger than any of us, more experienced, and you can't doubt his zeal. He can be pretty charismatic in the right moments too."

"I... guess I can see that. Still..." She rubbed tiredly at her face. "Who's going with him?"

"Right now? Just Gray." A small smile split her lips, "But I'm guessing Blake will all but demand to go with him, and Sienna won't want to risk her running around complaining for months on end."

"Yeah, Blake definitely would if tonight's anything to go by." Ilia frowned. "What about me?"

Trifa winced and glanced away.

Her heart sank. "Trifa..."

The other woman took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "...Chieftain Belladonna has requested at least one huntsman return to Menagerie to help keep the city safe. He says the militia are getting overworked, and the Albain brothers agreed with his request. They want someone to split time between Grimm patrols, working with the militia, and training new volunteers in aura usage. Sienna agreed, we need more Huntsman level fighters and everyone knows it."

Ilia felt her skin ripple to blue while her spots flared green. "...and they want me to do it? I barely finished my own training!"

"It's not decided yet." Trifa said in a rush, reaching out to gently take one of her hands. "Sienna said it's down to you or Yuma. He's got more experience, and you're her favorite scout, but she doesn't know if his temperament could handle it. And... well, Ghira knows you, treats you like a daughter. That could mean a lot when it comes to supplies and finding recruits. I think she's going to decide on the drive back to base tomorrow."

Fingers wrapped around each other as she squeezed Trifa's hand tightly. "I... I just got back from Menagerie. I don't want to go back yet. Not until I've... accomplished something. Done more."

And now I sound just like Blake... gods. I'm either a hypocrite or this is an awful time for irony... no. No. I knew what this would involve, more than Blake does. I sacrificed my innocence today on that stupid road, I did that so that other people wouldn't have to. If I don't go with, Blake's going to end up in the same spot, and Adam's temper is just going to keep getting worse.

I have to go with, if only so that Blake wouldn't turn out like Adam. Or... or like me.

She exhaled slowly and nodded. "Who's in charge of the order tomorrow?"

Trifa blinked, "Me, why?"

"I need a favor." She let out a shaky breath and gave her fingers another gentle squeeze. "I need to be in Sienna's car. If Blake and Adam are going off to Vale, they aren't going without me."

Chapter Text

Sienna had warned them before they'd left Anima that the Vale branch wasn't doing well. Of the various kingdom-specific parts of the White Fang, the faunus in Vale had been the most committed to the message of peaceful resistance that Ghira had preached. Which made some degree of sense, given that the racism in Vale was far less overt and far less prevalent than in Atlas or Mistral.

Not to say that there wasn't any, but Vale wasn't quite as bad as those other two kingdoms, and the faunus there knew it. The racism was less systematic and more individual, giving most faunus a degree of hope that couldn't be found in those other kingdoms. It had made recruiting for peaceful protest fairly easy during Ghira's age. During his time in power, the Vale branch had been the largest and the best performing. Laws had been passed, tolerance enforced, the one bright spot that Ghira could point at to show that his methods worked even as things had only gotten worse elsewhere.

When Ghira had stepped down, letting Sienna and her targeted-violence approach rise to prominence, the Vale branch had begun to decline. The older, more affluent members had quit as orders to move from pickets and boycotts to vandalism and raids had begun to reach them. They had mortgages and families that they didn't want to put at risk by being caught in a white mask. Since they had made a up a great deal of the group's leadership, many of their followers had lost their direction in the aftermath. More than a few had taken stupid chances as a result, their subsequent arrests paving the way for even more faunus to drop out rather than risk following them to prison.

Now all that were left were the desperate and the homeless. Willing to fight, willing to die for the cause, but few of them had useful contacts, disposable money, or even relevant skills.

When Adam had sent word ahead of their sailing for the eastern coast of the kingdom, asking to meet with the group's leadership at a secure location... he'd gotten a message back that a single representative was all that could be spared, and that he'd meet them in a human-dominated village on the coast. To say that he'd had been left stunned and fuming would be a massive understatement.

Which was why Blake had convinced him to send Ilia instead, in the hope that she'd be more diplomatic.

Probably for the best, She sighed as she strolled down the village's main street, the only faunus in sight even if none of the humans around her knew that. He wouldn't have been able to stay calm. Still... I really hate these assignments.

Memories of her last day in school were never far behind when she went incognito, which forced her to make an almost constant effort to prevent her skin from changing to a more depressed coloration. That effort, plus the painful nature of the memories in question, tended to leave her more than a little irritable. It wasn't exactly the best kind of attitude for a low-key spy to have. But... what choice did she have really? The nature of her faunus traits made her ideal for this kind of work, even if she personally would have rather been doing almost anything else.

At least this is a fast and easy job. Get in, talk to him, get back to where we landed before some fisherman sees everyone parked on the beach.

Ilia slipped into the small cafe and had no problems finding her contact. He was entirely by himself, had two canine ears poking up through his hair, was wearing a beat up old jacket above equally worn jeans, and all of the adjacent tables were empty despite the place being fairly busy.

He looked at her through his glasses when she walked over, frowning as she took the seat across from him. She knew exactly what he was seeing; a teenage human girl wearing clothing only a little better maintained than his own. Jeans, a dark shirt, and a black jacket left open against the summer heat. Not even close to what he was probably expecting to see.

He's not a professional. No other faunus in here means two of us meeting would draw attention that we'd rather avoid. He should have said to meet him outside of town, or at least in a better location.

"Are you lost or something?" He asked politely, his notched left ear twitching once. "I'd be happy to help but I'm waiting for someone."

"I know." She replied, willing her eyes to turn a sullen red, then a sad blue, then red again for several seconds. His own widened in surprise, then he nodded once as she quickly let them return to their natural gray. "Full moon over home."

He brought a ceramic cup to his lips, murmuring the counter-sign as he did. "Broken moon over Atlas. Well met, sister."

"Well met, brother." She leaned back in her chair. "Go ahead and ask, everyone does."

That made him smile a little, "Just the eyes?"

Ilia shook her head, using the motion to check the area around them, making sure no one had approached. "Eyes, spots, skin, hair... everything. Do you have a name I may use?"

"Pear." His smile turned a little self-deprecating. "Not the best alias I know, but it's close enough that I don't screw it up. Yours?"

"Lash." She glanced up and down him. He was nervous and jumpy, though he was doing his best to hide that by sipping his coffee frequently. The kind of person who drew people's attention by so blatantly trying not to draw their attention. Gods but you're not the kind of person they needed to send.

"You're not usually in this kind of role, are you?" She asked.

"Not even close." Pear admitted, reaching up to adjust his glasses in an unconscious manner. "Ah, where are my manners. Welcome to the Kingdom of Vale. It's better than Mistral, and it's a paradise compared to Atlas, but it's not exactly kind to us either. Things have gotten worse this past year, without us pressing them constantly a few of the anti-discrimination laws have been repealed. They say they're 'not necessary' anymore."

"Already?"

He nodded grimly. "It was a hope-killer for sure, showing us how thin all our old victories actually were. Things are a little better out here than in the western parts of the kingdom, but not much."

Ilia shrugged. "I don't think there's enough of us out here for them to be able to blame us for all of their problems."

"Hn, true." He started to say something else, then straightened and gave her a look that was probably meant to be a subtle warning... and was about as blatant as a rampaging Ursa.

She glanced over her shoulder in time to see a blond waitress walk over to their table. She might have been Ilia's age, or a little older, and filled out the blue uniform rather well. And if she noticed Ilia noticing her, she didn't seem to mind.

"Good morning ma'am!" She said, her voice a bit warmer than the usual bored-professional tones you got from a young server. "Would you like some coffee as well? Maybe just a pot for the two of you?"

"Just one cup for me, please." Ilia replied, "Sugar as well, no cream though."

The girl nodded and then turned to her contact, her tones remaining just as cheerful and improving Ilia's opinion of her. "Did you need a refill, sir?"

"I'm good, thank you ma'am." Pear smiled as well, but was careful to keep his eyes on his cup. Ilia glanced around as she walked away, partly to enjoy watching the way the waitress moved, but far more important was a man in a booth who was looking at their table with obvious disapproval in his features.

"He's been watching me since I came in." He murmured around another sip of his drink, which at least proved he had some situational awareness even if he wasn't scout material. "I think he's sweet on the waitress. I'm trying not to provoke him by looking near her more than I have to, but I don't think he likes you sitting with me either."

Her smile faded and it was a fight not to grimace. Men stepping in to 'protect' women from 'lustful faunus' wasn't uncommon. If anything it was probably one of the most common spark that caused beatings, fights, or worse. Usually when the faunus in question didn't do anything beside glance in the woman's direction, if that.

Dammit. the longer we talk in here the more likely someone is to comment on us sitting together, or to come over to defend my honor or some stupid crap like that. Really needed to pick somewhere else.

"Let's get this done before he decides to come over, I'd rather not have my cover blown on our first day."

Pear let out a quiet snort and nodded. He kept his voice as low as possible when he began to lay it out for her. "I think you already guessed that we're not in good shape so I'll skip to the worst parts. We divided into cells like the High Leader ordered last year, but two of our cell leaders left for Vacuo and we lost contact with the groups they were managing."

Her fingers clenched slightly in frustration. "They didn't give their lists to someone else?"

He shook his head, making her swear under her breath, "They both ran groups in the city. Without them we're down to just one cell in Vale itself, one on Patch that only has four people, but we do have three larger groups in the western villages. Main base is in the ruins of Mountain Glenn, maybe three dozen there. Mostly people who are known and who don't have anywhere else to go."

Ilia pursed her lips and nodded. The numbers more or less matched what Sienna had told them to expect, though Adam wouldn't be happy about the relative lack of assets in Vale itself. "What about out here, out east?"

"Nothing." His head lowered a little, then rose as he threw back the last of his coffee and set the cup aside. "A few families near Pharos Academy that we try to help, and they send us what supplies and information they can, but not much more than that."

Dammit. "Is that it?"

"No. There's a kind of paramilitary group that started up last year when some of our people went... too far after the new leader took her position. Officially they're a citizen's watch who look out for criminals and alert police, but aren't vigilantes."

She could guess where this was going. "But they are."

He nodded grimly but said nothing. A second later she heard the heels clicking across the floor, and a cup of coffee was set before her. The waitress, her name-tag read 'Sable', gave them both another polite smile and reminded them that she'd be happy to bring food if they wanted any.

Ila thanked her again but declined to speak further, simply stirring sugar into her drink. The girl didn't take offense and simply departed, heading back to the more crowded section to take an order from a crowded table.

"They mostly operate out west, which is causing us problems since that's where most of our remaining people are. On a good day they just group together and rant about how we're scum and how we steal their jobs." Pear continued, "On the bad ones they get liquored up and go hunting."

Her upper lipped pulled back from her teeth, and it was a fight not to let her skin flare to angry scarlet. "I'm guessing you mean that literally."

Another nod. "So far they haven't actually killed anyone, but there's been close to a dozen beatings and least one reported rape. Does... that happen in other places too?"

"It's not unheard of." She answered, avoiding stating that what he'd just described was positively low-key compared to what some other groups did. There was at least one bandit tribe in eastern mistral that quite literally hunted faunus, and ripped off their ears or tails to take as trophies after. "But we can talk about how to deal with them later. For now we need a route to your... to our headquarters. We managed to get a full truck with supplies over. Dust, weapons, clothing, medicine, everything on your wish list."

"It's easy enough, just follow the roads west towards Vale." He shrugged, the notion of supplies seeming to cheer him slightly. "A lot of the old signs for Mountain Glenn are still up. Follow them to highway two, then turn southwest. Once you're in the ruins head for the subway stations. Be careful, the place is crawling with Grimm even now, but we secured a lot of the underground when we had more people. Our base is smaller these days, but it's still mostly barricaded."

Ilia repeated it back to him to ensure she had it right, "West, highway two, southwest. Base is underground and secured. We'll find it."

Pear smiled at his empty cup again. "Our new high leader... do you think she can help fix things? Is our new leader is right for Vale? I mean, I've heard of him. He's a fighter, a warrior, but... I guess I still don't know if that's what we need. Beacon, Signal, and Pharos all take faunus students. I don't want to risk them changing that even if everything else isn't... exactly great. Seeing faunus hunters saving people is one of the few things that gives us any hope these days."

"I know what you mean. I... worry sometimes too, but we're on the right path." She nodded slowly, paraphrasing the same words Sienna had given her. "It won't be easy. It will be hard work, dirty work at times. Not glorious in the moment, but our children will know that we were the heroes who gave them a better world. We won't jeopardize what you've already won, we only want to make even bigger strides forwards. I promise."

"I want to believe that." His words came as a whisper, his eyes staring at nothing for a few long seconds before he shook himself a little. "Is that everything? We're starting to draw more attention from the other customers."

Ilia gave him a slight nod and tapped a finger on the table, "Leave some lien for the coffee, and then go. I'll stay behind for a minute to make sure no one follows you. If they do, just keep walking and get out of here. I'll deal with them."

"I understand. I'll see you at work, sister." He said as he rose, pulling a few lien from a pocket and placing it next to his cup. His shoulders hunched a little as she walked past the man who'd been watching him, the far larger human following him with his eyes before sneering and returning to his breakfast.

She started to relax and lift her cup to her lips, then froze when two younger men, practically boys really, got up from a booth nearer to the door and followed Pear outside.

"Crap."

Hoping that he'd left enough cash for the drinks, she slid out of her chair and made for the door. She thought she heard the waitress call out as she pushed it open, but that mattered a lot less than making sure her contact got out of here alive. And without talking to any authority figures who didn't need to know why he was here.

It wasn't hard to spot them, the boys were snickering to one another to the left as they followed Pear down the brick covered street. He'd noticed them from the way he hunched in even more, but he wasn't panicking yet. Wasn't running away or turning to confront them. Just ignoring them and hoping his lack of reaction would make them bored.

It wouldn't. It would just inspire them to try harder... but that was also what she'd told him to do if followed. She hadn't exactly meant to say she'd save him from being bullied by a couple of fourteen year old boys, but she could hardly call herself a member of the White Fang if she didn't put a stop to it.

"Hey! Mutt!" One of them called out, "What's wrong? She wasn't into bestiality?"

Her fists clenched as the other one burst out laughing. A few other humans on the street gave the boys dark looks but otherwise did nothing... and few smothered smirks of their own.

...definitely a good thing that Adam isn't here.

Ilia slowed down to a more natural stride a few paces behind them, disguising a check behind her by pretending to let her gaze linger on swimsuit in a shop window as she walked past. No one was following, good. It meant these two idiots were just bored and not part of some larger scheme.

Which meant she'd have more freedom in regards to how she dealt with them.

"Where you going? There a nice warm bone waiting for you at home?"

She limited her reaction to clenching her jaw. Ahead of them, Pear had reached the outskirts of the large village. Several cars were parked in a public lot just off of the road leading into town. On seeing his, the faunus accelerated to a faster clip, clearly ready to get on the road before things got worse.

Worse came when one of the two boys stooped as he walked, grabbing a loose bit of brick that had probably been broken off a nearby building by a storm or collision. From the way he brought his arm all the way back, he was either hoping to seriously hurt Pear, or he wanted to put it into the car's windshield.

Ilia's fingers snapped tightly around his wrist before he could bring his arm forwards, muscles flexing as she easily stopped his effort to throw it. "Excuse me."

"What gives!?" The boy, black hair, clean cut, but otherwise like any other early teenager, gave her his best glare. "Hey! Let go of me!"

"Drop the brick." She stated in reply, not hiding the fact that her left hand was in her pocket. A threat that the two oblivious idiots completed missed.

"Hey, hey!" The other one, brown haired and blue eyed, gave her a smile he probably thought was charming. She mostly noticed how much food he had stuck in his teeth. "We're not hurtin' anyone. Just making sure the mutt knows to leave pretty girls like you alone."

Ilia felt a muscle in her cheek twitch as the one she'd caught again tried to jerk his arm free. "Drop the brick."

The repetition didn't seem to please either of them. Black hair scowled and tugged some more, while brown hair narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to try and loom like most angry men liked to do. Of course he wasn't exactly Adam, or Gray, or... intimidating at all really. He wasn't nearly close enough to use his height against her, and she was pretty sure she had more muscle as he did.

"You're defending that animal?" Brown hair tried to make his voice into a growl and mostly just sounded like he was trying to gargle a drink in his throat. "You spreading your legs for him or something?"

In response she let her eyes shift to show her anger, both of them blinking as they turned an angry red. At the same time she drew a small bar of metal from her coat pocket. A single flick of her finger saw it begin to fold outwards, and within a moment she had a slim saber in her grip. It wasn't Lightning Lash, but her preferred weapon was far too distinctive to use unless her life was actively threatened.

So for today it was the cheap back-up... and the sight of the cold steel made both boys start sweating.

"Drop," She paused dramatically, "The damned. Brick."

It finally tumbled to the ground as the tip of her little sword came into line with his chin. Black hair's voice came out in a rushed babble. "Wh-what the fuck lady! We didn't mean anythin'!"

"Yes, you did, and you were about to do worse." Ilia stated flatly, finally letting go of him. She made a point to make a disgusted face and wipe her hand on her pants, as if she'd just touched something foul. That was enough to make both of them angry once more, brown hair stepping a little closer then flinching back when she turned the blade in his direction. "Get out of here. The both of you."

"Th-this is our town!" Brown hair must have been the brains, or what passed for them, because he again took the lead. "You don't get to tell us what to do!"

"Look at her eyes man." Black hair muttered in agreement, rubbing his wrist. "Maybe she's one of those freaks too."

Ilia flicked said eyes beyond them, her rising anger shifting them to a blazing yellow, and met Pear's eyes through the window of his car. She twitched in her chin in a slight motion that he seemed to catch because he gave her a deeper nod of thanks, then put his beat up old car into motion and pulled out of the lot.

"She's threatening us with a sword." Brown spoke, completely missing the reason she'd fallen silent. "We should call the cops on her. Maybe get a huntsman."

A shift of her hand saw the rapier collapse once more, and she gave them both a dismissive shrug. "Go for it. I could use a sparring partner."

"What?" Brown sneered, his eyes flicking over her shoulder as his grin widened. "That supposed to convince me you're a huntress or somethin'?"

"Did you miss my semblance changing my eye color as I got angry?" She flicked a hand in their direction and turned away... and nearly ran into a man in the dark brown of a Valean Outland Sheriff.

He was an older man, pale of skin but dark of eye, and he obviously took notice of her placing her weapon back into her jacket pocket from the way his own hand was resting on the holstered pistol on his belt. Despite that, his voice was calm and level when she spoke. "Evening ma'am. I don't suppose you had a good reason to be holding these two at sword point?"

"They didn't care for my choice in business associates and were about to throw a brick into his car." Ilia paused, "Assuming they weren't aiming for his head, but I didn't really care enough to ask."

The man let out a low grunt, frowning at her, then at the two boys behind her. "Normally I wouldn't believe a stranger who says she's a huntress, but we've had more than a few calls about these two in the past. You mind showing me some ID before I let you on your way?"

"She threatened to kill us!" Black hair shouted, teenage outrage making his voice crack. "And she's probably one of those fur covered freaks! You gotta arrest her!"

Ilia felt a muscle in her cheek twitch as her cooling eyes once again began to move through a sullen red and back to an angry yellow. "I also didn't care for the racial insults they were giving him."

"It's a free nation." The officer shook his head, "Boys can say what they want... but it takes a special kind of stupid to piss off a huntress by insulting her friend. Guessing your eyes are part of your semblance, and that they wouldn't like what would happen if they kept getting brighter?"

It was almost sad how easy it was to pretend to be human, just by letting their own expectations work against them. "Yes, they are, and no, they wouldn't."

He let out another grunt. "You two are coming with me, maybe this time your parents will actually do something. You staying in town, ma'am?"

She shook her head, "I only met him here as a way-point from Mistral. I have a protection contract down south, then I'm off to Vale."

"Well I suppose I don't have to ask you to call us the next time instead of handling it yourself, but all the same... if you're ever back in Ansel, try to remember." His lips pressed into a thin line, "Huntsman around here prefer to let us handle things. Easier on everyone that way. Consider this your warning, and we'll be keeping an eye on you if you come back to town."

"I'll do my best to remember." Ilia replied dryly, tipping her head to him once before turning away. Both of the teens gave her sullen, angry glares as she walked past them.

No one followed her as she left the little coastal town, back to where the others were waiting for her report.

Chapter Text

Lightning Lash tore into the juvenile Beowulf, black sludge flowing as its howl trailed off into an empty gurgle. The Grimm wavered, pure hatred keeping it upright for a few seconds, then collapsed across the ruined street.

Ilia dodged to her left as another one of the beasts leaped over the corpse of its pack-mate, cracking her weapon in a smooth motion as she did. The thin blade of metal took it in the snout, ripping through the immature creature's thin skin. Its already dissolving body slammed into the space she'd just occupied, leaving her free to scan the decrepit city for another target.

There weren't any, Blake's own weapons had just finished cutting through the last of the pack, the only one old enough to have formed armor. Not that the protection had helped it, the younger woman was unhurt as she backed off from the slowly melting body, placing her back against Ilia's while they both did a final check of the area.

Apart from a supermarket whose front wall was missing, thanks to the now dead Grimm who had been lurking inside, there was nothing in sight beyond ruins.

"Well, this is an awful place for a camp." Ilia said, once she was sure they were clear.

Blake made a low sound in her throat that wasn't quite a laugh. "I don't think this is the right time for jokes."

"I was being entirely serious." She shook her head and relaxed, getting a better look at the area around them.

Mountain Glenn had been a planned city, built just on the far side of the mountain range that protected Vale. It was basically a giant concrete box, elevated on a small plateau, with broken walls giving it the appearance of a castle that had long ago fallen to a siege. While it was hardly the first ruined city that she'd seen, southern Anima was littered with the ruined civilizations that the Mistral Emperors had left in their wake, there was something... haunting about Mountain Glenn. Something that the other ruins had lacked.

It has to be the Grimm. Those other cities were mostly empty. This place... I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that it looks so modern...

"At least we won't have to worry about humans stumbling across us." Blake tried. "No civilians, no huntsmen..."

Ilia sighed, "Blake, please don't try to be optimistic. You're horrible at it."

The young woman's feline ears flattened, "It could be worse. If we can clear the rail lines we'll have easy access into and out of the city. And it's easily defensible underground now that we're here and closing the entrances that don't need to be open."

"Now you're just repeating Adam." She said as she turned away, waving towards the nearest entrance to the city's subway system. "I get it, and I know there's no chance we'll get hit by a random bandit attack or something, but there's... just something about this place."

Blake frowned as she caught up to her, both of them starting down the old stairwell. "What to do you mean? It's just another empty ruin filled with Grimm. Our headquarters in Mistral is built out of one, it's nothing new."

"This one's different." Ilia shook her head, feeling her spots flicker between a few muted colors before settling on a dull gray. "There's something... off. This place just feels wrong, I guess. I can't put my finger on it."

There was a quiet hum before Blake spoke again, "It feels normal to me, or as normal as a place like this can. It's not part of your semblance is it?"

Ilia pursed her lips in consideration. Her semblance was one of the less defined ones that she'd ever heard about, even by the often random nature of semblances. Sienna thought she had some ability to warp the minds of people and beings around her, making her fade out of their thoughts unless something startled them into noticing her. Adam was equally convinced that all it did was amplify her natural faunus trait, letting her truly blend in with a background so long as it was dark. For his part, Ghira had thought of it as being as changeable as her skin and spots. However she needed to vanish, it would do its best to aid her in some kind of combination of effects.

Personally Ilia thought that Ghira was probably the closest, though it definitely had limits that made it seem like both Sienna and Adam also had a pretty good feel for it.

I suppose it's possible. If my semblance has to connect to the area around me in order to hide me...

"Doors open both ways." She muttered under her breath, fighting off a shudder. The idea of being connected to the wasteland around her was a fairly horrifying one. Memo, don't use my semblance here anymore if I can absolutely help it.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Ilia shook her head as they reached the station proper, a half-dozen men and women busy at work repairing an old wall that had obviously once sealed this entire area off from the surface. One of many last-ditch efforts by the people who'd once lived here that had come to nothing in the end.

She raised her voice as several workers glanced their way, "Grimm are dealt with, but with how many packs are wandering around I can't say how long we'll be clear for."

"Thank you sister." The evident leader was a massive man who she'd have thought was a bear faunus if not for the serrated teeth that filled his mouth. "Gods above but you don't know how good it is to have you here."

Blake smiled and gave him a little bow, "It's our pleasure and our duty, brother. How long will you need to fix this?"

"Few more hours." He said, waving a broad hand around at the wreckage, "No shortage of materials, just a matter of getting it nice and secure. Should hold until we get enough concrete to just turn the whole thing into a giant plug, so long as an Elder Grimm doesn't test it."

Her scouting partner nodded and glanced towards her, "Would you mind reporting to Adam? I think one of us should stay here to make sure nothing else shows up."

Ilia frowned. The idea made sense, and she had actually been about to propose that, but she'd entirely expected Blake to want to be the one to report to Adam.

Then again, she'd made it a point to ensure the two of them hadn't had any chances to get 'closer' during the trip from Mistral. Blake had clearly noticed it, giving her somewhat annoyed looks when she'd taken her meals with the both of them whenever possible. She was probably trying to mollify her in the hopes of freeing up time for her and Adam to be alone later.

Which may or may not end up resulting in anything. Adam had been far too busy with his new position to react to either Blake's clear interest in progressing their relationship, or Ilia's efforts to slow that down a bit, even if she was sure he was aware of both. And yes, Trifa had a point that Blake was old enough to fight and die, which meant she was old enough to make her own relationship decisions. And yes, Ilia knew full well that Blake would never look at her like she did at Adam.

But there was just something about the two of them together that struck her as... wrong. Like this damned city.

"That sounds like an excellent idea." The workman grinned, the expression rather ferocious given his teeth. "Never let it be said that the Belladonna family failed to protect their fellow faunus."

Blake blushed and stammered, "I-I'm just doing my job as a huntress of the White Fang."

Ilia snorted, "You really need to learn how to take praise better. Keep your scroll on and send an alert if anything comes this way."

"I know, I know." There was a quick nod as she tried and failed to ignore the chuckles and smiles of the workers. "Tell Adam I'll be back in time for dinner, and that I can make it for him. Wait! I meant-"

The smirks upgraded to full laughter along with a few whistles and cheers that made Blake's face heat up and her ears flatten. Her expression shifted from embarrassment to betrayed when she turned back to Ilia and found her spots bright orange while she strangled down her own laughter.

Her disapproval of the relationship notwithstanding, Blake was far too easy to tease.

Especially when she's the one putting her own foot in her mouth.

"I'll be sure to tell him." Ilia smiled, patting her on the shoulder and pitching her voice so everyone could hear her. "Try not to get lost thinking about dinner."

"Ilia!" The protest was buried under a new avalanche of howling laughter, the work entirely suspended as their brothers and sister cackled and hollered.

Still grinning, she leaned and gave Blake a quick hug, using the gesture to let her speak quietly into her ear. "Let them laugh and tease you. So long as we can do that, we're not monsters."

Blake let out a sound somewhere between a whine and a groan before slumping and hugging her back. "You need a girlfriend so I can get back at you."

"If I ever find one you'll be the last to know." Ilia smirked as they pulled apart, tossing a hand in negligent wave as she turned away. "Don't have too much fun!"

She was fairly sure Blake grumbled and threw some complaints at her back, but she couldn't really hear her over the work leader shouting good naturedly for his men to get back to work. The sounds of rubble being moved and piled together echoed as she walked down the old rail lines, following them towards the heart of the city's underground.

The sunken area beneath Mountain Glenn wasn't in any better shape than the ruins above it. She had no real idea if the place had actually been intended as a long term home, or if it had just been a kind of refugee camp meant to temporarily hold people after the fall of the surface. In the end it didn't really matter. All that remained were bones, crumbling buildings, and the Grimm that had ended Vale's attempt at expansion.

Thankfully the members of the White Fang who'd originally chosen the place as a base had sealed up most of the old tunnels and underground choke-points, ensuring that the only ways the Grimm could get to them were through the old subway and sewer lines... but that still left too many ways to get in.

They'd spent nearly two weeks doing nothing but extermination missions, clearing out as many of the creatures as possible so that the weak-points in their defenses could be closed; those few entrances left open fully fortified. Ilia had nearly lost track of the days until they'd finally gotten ahead of the problem, finally able to do something besides catch quick naps and rushed meals before running out to deal with yet another Grimm pack.

But we're down to the dregs now. Only two ways in, covered by the auto-turrets we brought with, and the last subway entrances are getting closed today. Ilia stretched and groaned as she entered the main cavern, the smell of food making her stomach rumble. Soon we'll be able to actually get to work. Our real work.

With most of the able-bodied members of the White Fang busy working on the last two unwanted entrances, most of the people still present at their main camp were the infirm. A dozen wounded or crippled faunus worked studiously to prepare food and fix up the mostly intact tenement they were using as a living quarters. Some had been wounded by the Grimm, others carried scars caused by human hands. Several smiled on seeing her and waved, and Ilia did the same in return as she headed towards the broad tent that had been setup near a mostly intact train engine.

"Leader Adam," She raised her voice as she approached, "Huntress Amitola reporting."

"Come in!"

Ilia ducked through the cloth entrance, wrapping one hand around a fist in salute. Adam was seated at a small table, his mask off for once, his blue eye focused on a report in front of him. He glanced up and smiled, waving vaguely towards the chair opposite him, "Relax Ilia, we're not in front of anyone else."

"Better to stay in the habit," She replied, stepping forwards and settling herself down. "We cleared fifth street, the team thinks they'll have that station barricaded in a few hours. Blake's staying with them as as a guard against more Grimm."

Adam nodded, pleased. "Good. About time we finished the grunt work."

"Don't think you'll find anyone arguing with you, least of all me." She agreed before smiling a little, "Blake says she'll be back for dinner, that she wants to cook for you, and I'm fairly certain I wasn't invited."

He blinked once, then let out an amused breath and shook his head. "If she's hoping for a romantic dinner from her books she's going to be awfully disappointed. All we have to eat are old instant meals with stale beer to wash them down."

"I think she's hoping for what comes after the dinner in her books."

Adam's pale skin reddened slightly, in embarrassment or anger, she couldn't tell. "...I'd rather not discuss that kind of thing with you."

Ilia spread her hands apart, "I'm just saying. She's decided you're the one for her and nothing I've said has changed her mind."

"And why have you try to change her mind?" He asked, definite anger coloring his voice. "You still convinced I'm going to hurt her?"

"Her age, the fact that you're her mentor, the fact that you're her superior officer," She ticked off the first three points on her fingers, then hit him below the belt, "And the fact that if it does happen, she damn well deserves her first time to be somewhere besides a Grimm infested ruin."

Adam opened his mouth, then closed it with an irritated sound. "I can argue all but the last. Damn you."

Ilia smiled a little and leaned back in her chair. "I know."

"Are you going to tell me that if I hurt her, you'll kill me? Thought you'd finally accepted that she's straight."

"I couldn't kill you even if I wanted to." She shook her head, electing to ignore the second comment. "You hurt her and I'll tell Ghira. He'll rip your arms off and beat you to death with them."

There was a loud snort as he shook his own head, good humor slowly restoring itself. "Fine, fine. I promise I won't give in to Blake's efforts to seduce me while we're living in this ruin if you stop trying to interfere with our personal choices."

"Deal." Ilia flicked her eyes down to the report he'd been reading, "News?"

He nodded slightly, leaning back in his seat and tapping a finger against the paper. What little cheer had been in his voice faded as quickly as it had come. "That vigilante group our contact with the Vale cell mentioned? They went after a faunus family early last month. Farmers who the humans claimed had bought weapons to give to us. They killed the husband, beat the wife and their children before a huntsman intervened. Three of the group were arrested."

Her jaw clenched. "Trial?"

"All three were released on bail, money was raised by an anti-faunus group in the city." His single healthy eye narrowed, "Our cell leader in that village says they also planted some of their own guns in the house they attacked, and the local authorities are going along with it. They got high priced lawyers on top of that, and they're expected to be acquitted of murder. Newspaper has them being slapped with community service for vigilantism as the most likely outcome."

Ilia felt her spots blaze into an angry red, "Bastards. What's the plan?"

"There's more before I get to that." Adam's said flatly, his hand sending the paper fluttering off the table to reveal another beneath it. "This is a report from Vale itself, sent by Pear or Perry or whatever his name is. There's a charity gala being thrown by the investors of the Vale branch of the SDC. None of the Schnees will be present, unfortunately, but Sienna wants us to make statement regardless. Something to make it clear that Vale is not beyond our reach."

"Guessing some of them were the ones behind the lawyers and bail money?" When he nodded, she grimaced and shook her head once. "The cell there can't handle a high security event like that, not if they're anything like Pear. They'd have to launch a direct attack and that would be messy."

"Agreed." He let out an angry breath before continuing, "Worse, we also need to maintain a secure presence here. We just put two weeks of effort into fixing this place's short-comings, I'm not about to see that work wasted. The majority of our team will be remaining here to keep up that effort, which means minimal support for our actions."

Ilia got a sinking feeling in her gut. "You want to split up and hit both of them?"

"Want to? No." Adam tapped the paper once, "If Sienna hadn't ordered it I wouldn't be bothering with Vale itself yet. We'd all be heading west. I'd rather build our strength out here, where we can be mobile... but she did, and so we must obey the High Leader."

She licked her lips once, nodding in agreement. "All right. Who is going where?"

"Gray is staying here. There's no chance he'd get into the city, and there aren't many Grimm who could stand against him. He'll keep the fires warm." Adam fixed her with a steady gaze. "I can't get into the city either, so I'm heading west. You can guess who is going into Vale."

"...dammit." Her jaw clenched. "Dammit. You know I don't like those assignments."

"You volunteered to come with." He countered, "You knew exactly what kind of operations you're best at, and how exactly I'd end up using you. This is tailor-made for your skill-set Ilia, so stop protesting for the sake of protesting."

She exhaled tightly, "Do I get Blake as back-up at least?"

Adam shook his head, as she could have guessed. "I want to get that family out of there, along with any other faunus who might join us thanks to what's happening in that village. She may not be a diplomat but she's earnest, and her name brings power to those who actually know it. I need her even before we get to the details of your assignment, details Blake is not to know about under any circumstances."

Her stomach fell slightly. "...I'm guessing that means you don't want me to vandalize and rob the place."

"I want you to do that," He countered, his expression flat. "Once you've killed Alabaster Winchester."

Oh gods.

"...who is he?" She asked quietly, forcing her spots and skin to remain natural as she played for time.

"Descended from Valean nobility, was just barely old enough to fight in the Faunus Wars." Adam provided. "Owns Winchester Arms, provides weapons to the SDC. Is a noted opponent of faunus rights, has lobbied against all of the anti-discrimination laws, and spends a great deal of his wealth advocating for the forced resettlement of all faunus to Menagerie."

Ilia took a shallow breath and nodded, "Business practices?"

"He refuses to hire faunus to begin with, and he's fought off two lawsuits on the matter." His jaw clenched for a moment, "According to the news articles our people sent me, he's the one who paid for the lawyers who got the vigilantes such light sentences. I only have what's being reported, but he's not a well loved figure among his own kind."

"...the racism?"

"The blatant racism." He corrected her. "Valeans are fine with discriminating and exploiting us, but they don't like it being out in the open. I believed at least one article referred to him as a 'classless relic of a darker time'."

That didn't help as much as it probably should have, and she still needed to focus on her breathing. "Does this come from Sienna? The kill order, I mean."

Adam nodded once. "The SDC reacted to last month's raids by cutting worker pay further in order to pay for better security, or so they claim. Everyone knows it's a crack-down. Sienna is personally leading a team against a board member who lives in Argus, she wants this Winchester removed as well to make it clear that no one related to the Schnee's is safe so long as they exploit us."

Ilia bowed her head and nodded once. ...this is... part of what Ghira would have never done. What Sienna knows has to be done. What I know has to be done. Men like him... how many lives have his weapons ended? How many faunus abusers are free because of his money?

"All right." The words came out as a whisper. "How... how overt?"

"However it has to be done. Get in, remove him, get out." He stated. "If it has to be covert to ensure you can escape, then we'll simply claim credit in the aftermath."

"All right." She repeated quietly.

Adam shook his head, looking almost disappointed in her. "You know it has to be done. He's not some innocent employee working for his paycheck. He's a blatant racist supporting an evil agenda. The kind of human scum that can't be allowed to keep hurting the faunus. If it was politically acceptable he'd be advocating for worse than emigration and you know it."

"I know, I know." One of her hands rose to rub at her forehead. "Just... need a minute. I didn't think..."

"You can do this, Ilia. You're one of our best." He said firmly. "It will be just like our first mission in Mistral, when we hit that councilman's party. Just with one additional objective."

A very, very, very noticeable extra objective.

"Yeah..." She closed her eyes and tried to force her brain to think properly. Think beyond her moral qualms, about the practicality of it. "Still, Adam... even without going after this Winchester, this is different. We knew Mistral but I've never even been to Vale. I don't know the layout of the city, wherever the gala is being held, or anything like that. Do I at least have some time?"

"It's at the Winchester estate, and in four weeks."

That's... barely enough time, maybe. Probably not. Could be worse, I guess. "I'll... I'll have to leave for Vale soonest then."

"Pear will be out to pick you up first thing in the morning. He'll have whatever details the locals can give you beyond what Sienna sent." Adam provided, "You still have your Mistral alias? Good. I'll give you as much of our lien as we can spare so you can stay in a huntsman's hotel, do your best to play the part. Even after the gala I want you to stay in Vale for a few weeks, maybe a few months, and try and get things back on track."

Ilia frowned, too drained to offer more than a token protest. "You want me to try and get the other two cells put back together?"

He waved a hand, "Yes and no. We need recruits but we also need lien. I want you to to go full burglar against everyone and anyone invited to that gala after it's over. Steal everything you can and fence it. Keep half of what you steal, give the rest to whatever faunus charity groups you can find and make it clear it's from us."

Which could draw back in the people who had left, as well building their war chest and reputation at the same time.

"I'll be sure to leave masks to make it clear we're the ones breaking and entering." She replied, her brain all too eager to think about the less morally questionable mission. "Maybe leave our sigil if they try and cover it up. You want all of the recruits to stay in Vale?"

"No." He shook his head, "Put whoever seems competent in charge and leave them with the ones not suited for combat. Let them pretend the old ways work, do charities, whatever they want so long as they bring in more recruits. Anyone who wants to actually fight should be sent here as soon as possible to begin proper training."

She nodded once. "I'll do my best. I'm guessing I should return once things seem stable?"

Adam gave her a sharp nod of his own, "Or when I recall you."

So... an assassination followed by a few months of playing cat burglar. Not what I thought I'd be doing at all... dammit. He's right... I should have known better. But this is... what I signed up for. Sacrificing my soul so other people didn't have to.

So that faunus could live without fear.

Ilia slowly stood and gave him another salute. "It will be done, Leader Taurus. What will you all be doing while I'm running around terrorizing old humans?"

"Terrorizing corporate ones." He replied, "There's several dust mines north of us. Two are SDC, one is a local company that's not all that different. Once Blake and I return, I'll lead attacks against them, shut them down, and liberate everyone we can. By the time that's done with you should have things well in hand, and we can regroup and choose our next targets."

Ilia smiled faintly, trying to recover some of the earlier levity. "Sounds something like a plan. I'll try not get arrested if you two try to avoid getting killed."

He snorted and smiled, clearly not nearly as affected by their conversation as she was. "Don't give me orders... and I'll look after Blake. For now, go check on Gray, I'll copy everything Sienna sent and have it ready when you get back."

"Understood. For the faunus."

"For the faunus."

Chapter Text

Ilia nearly fell four stories when the earpiece abruptly began to vibrate, a man all but shouting into her ear, "Amitola? Are you there?"

"Code names!" She hissed back, focusing more on making sure her grip on the balcony's edge was secure than on being polite. "And lower your voice dammit!"

"Sorry." Perry, who really needed a better alias than 'Pear', quieted somewhat has he resumed speaking. "Uh, we're in position ma'am. Lash, I mean. Sorry. Uh, security only did one check of the upper floors of the garage, now they're mostly staying on the ground level and watching the ways in. We can shoot up the cars whenever you give the signal, and we've got our escape route planned."

She felt her teeth grind as she cautiously hauled herself up, checking to make sure there weren't any lights on this particular floor. Thankfully the sliding glass doors were dark on the other side, which let her heave her body up and over the half-wall. She landed on the concrete floor of the balcony, staying in a crouch as she caught her breath. "Fine, good job. Next time just stick to telling me you're ready."

"I...uh, yes. Understood. We're ready."

"Good. Stay in position until I give the word." A tap against the earpiece changed the channel before he could say anything in reply, "Driver, we're nearly set. Status of the party guests?"

Berg Tukson was easily the most competent member of the city's White Fang membership, and she'd chosen him as the get-away driver for precisely that reason. He was also the one with most qualms about what they were doing, or at least he was the one being the most obvious about his misgivings. Not because he didn't think Winchester didn't deserve it, but because he feared that the backlash would do more harm to the faunus.

Which she'd admit to worrying about as well, so she couldn't really throw stones.

"Good news, everyone on the list has arrived." He replied calmly, "Bad news, Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon showed up after all."

Ilia swore under her breath, evidently not quietly enough because he let out a grim chuckle. "Yeah. Do we abort?"

She hesitated, thinking furiously.

Four weeks hadn't been nearly enough to establish a proper cover identity, especially not one noteworthy enough to be invited to something as high-end as the 'VNN Firefighter's Support Gala'. Not when a fifteen thousand lien donation to said firefighters was a requirement for entry. Nor was it enough time to try and take the place of one of the serving staff. Winchester had hired extremely high level caterers who weren't about a bring in a random huntress. And they would definitely know who should and shouldn't be present, so trying to hit one over the head and replace them was out as well.

Which left the old White Fang standby; pairing a diversion with a stealth infiltration.

Perry and his team of relative amateurs were lurking in the nearby parking garage that was being used to hold the limousines and luxury cars of the rich and famous. Vandalizing and-or destroying the high priced vehicles was a fairly small, fairly petty bit of violence that would still send a message. And, more importantly, it would draw attention. Hopefully pulling most of the security staff away or at least distracting them long enough for her to get to her target and let her do some property damage of her own.

But getting to her target would be a lot harder if there was a huntsman of Ozpin's caliber present. He wasn't even supposed to be here; there'd been an opinion piece in the news suggesting it was a token courtesy to invite him to practically every single event in the city, and that he'd never shown up to the prior years' events. They hadn't even bothered planning on what she would do if he or anyone else of his level showed up.

...shit. Maybe we'll get lucky and the diversion will draw him away.

"We proceed." She exhaled, "The High Leader herself ordered this mission. I'll handle it."

Tukson sounded extremely dubious. "...all right, if you say so Lash. Driver is ready."

"Check." Ilia tapped her ear once more, shutting the device off. Then she took a few critical moments to double-check everything. Her mask was secure, her hair was tied into a tight braid near her neck, Lightning Lash was loaded and ready, and she had eight extra dust vials plus three grenades attached to her belt. She also had a knife in each boot, just in case, and a silenced pistol holstered on her left thigh. The last would hopefully be the means by which she accomplished her mission, everything else was just in case she had to things the hard way.

The very, very, very hard way if the Headmaster of Beacon was present.

All right... no more delays. Time to fight for the faunus.

Licking her lips, she switched back to Perry's channel and murmured, "This is Lash. Go."

"Going." Perry replied, this time avoiding most of the extra dialogue. An amateur maybe, but he wasn't an idiot, and he'd seemed to pick things up quickly these past few weeks. "For the faunus."

"For the faunus." She murmured before closing the line.

Part one in motion, she slid over to the door and checked it. Locked, fairly surprising consider they were on the fourth floor, less surprising given that Winchester probably had plenty of enemies beyond the White Fang. More fortunate was the fact that the door was as old as the house; its lock was physical rather than electronic. Still, she wasn't about to force it just yet, not until its opening might go unnoticed. So instead she fell back to the balcony's half-wall and waited.

The security teams must have been on alert because it didn't take them long to realize that their charges were being attacked. Distant shouting and crashing was followed by muted gunfire, which in turn drew panicked shouts and screams from the various hangers-on hoping to catch a glimpse of a celebrity or two. Their cries drew more security types out of the mansion and into the streets, letting her watch from her vantage point as lights began to flash.

Her balcony wasn't a corner one, and she couldn't see much of the street even if she leaned around the wall. She could tell there was movement, but couldn't get a good enough view to let her know if Ozpin or even her target had gone racing out to investigate.

Hopefully yes to the Headmaster, hopefully no to the racist.

Turning back to the door, she pulled one of the dust canisters from her belt and eyed the handle. Using raw dust really wasn't her strength, but she knew the basics. And for this, that should be enough.

A very slight spray of purple mist combined with a gentle of push of her aura began the process. The gravity dust crystallized at once, something vaguely like a ball of shadow appearing for a few seconds as it pulled everything nearby towards it. Everything included the old lever-style lock on the side of the door, which twisted slowly upwards before clicking once.

Ilia let out a shaky breath and quickly pulled her aura back in, glancing nervously as the glass. It must have been very high end because it hadn't cracked, or even warped... which meant any alarms tied to the glass's integrity hadn't gone off.

And now we see if they're so paranoid their security is running on a fourth floor balcony doorway.

Her fingers lightly wrapped around the handle and pulled, the glass door sliding a few inches before she froze and listened.

Nothing.

Exhaling, she drew her semblance in around herself and pulled harder, opening it just enough to let her squeeze in. A gentle push closed it behind her. The darkness inside didn't bother her, save for the general lack of color, and a glance around revealed a large but fairly plain bedroom. There was a distinct lack of any personal touches, meaning it was probably intended as a guest room. Not a place she'd be likely to ambush her target from.

It was a few paces to the door, which opened to reveal an equally dark hallway. Not hesitating for more than a moment, she set out and began prowling through the home's top floor, letting her semblance drop to conserve aura in the absence of guards or visible security cameras.

Another guest bedroom, one that looked like it belonged to a family member, and then an over-sized bathroom later, she found a stairwell. Strictly speaking it probably would have been smarter to find the master bedroom and lurk there until after the gala, but that might also involve the man's wife and she had no idea how culpable the woman was in her husband's activities. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary she would assume 'not very' and try not to commit a double-murder.

So down the stairs she went, moving slowly and cautiously.

The third floor brought lighting and the general hum of distant conversation, but no immediate people. Ilia slowed her pace all the same, keeping a firm grip on her weapon with one hand while the other lingered near her dust vials and grenades.

For once, luck was on her side. While the first door she checked proved to be a storage closet, the second opened to a very well appointed study. A broad oak desk was the centerpiece, while old flags on freestanding poles, a liquor cabinet, a grand fireplace, war paintings, and ornamental weapons provided the kind of ambiance that rich old men seemed to love. Especially those who fancied themselves warriors.

In other words, it's perfect.

Quickly shutting the door behind her, she strode over the desk and started yanking open drawers. Actual paperwork filled most of them, which was unfortunate since she had nothing to carry it out with. However the central drawer slid open to reveal access to the table's computer system, along with a pair of detachable drives. Those she pulled free and pocketed before trying the desk itself.

"Dammit." She muttered when a cheerful display requested a password.

Ilia didn't even bother trying further. Her hacking abilities were more or less limited to picking up the computer and handing it to someone who actually knew what they were doing. Since that wasn't an option here, she simply shut it down and started back towards the door. Her hand was just about to touch the handle when raised voices and the hard sounds of boots stomping across hardwood began to draw closer.

Drawing on her semblance she quickly retreated behind one of the Valean flags, grabbing the pole it was mounted on and pulling it a step back to give her a shadowed corner to linger in. Her skin rippled to charcoal grey as her hair darkened to black, and she forced herself to remain calm as she waited.

Not more than a minute later the door all but slammed open to let three men stride in.

"Outrageous!" An absolute bear of a human in a dark suit, close cropped red hair streaked with gray, led the procession. His voice was as deep as his chest would indicate, and he was clearly the source of the angry shouting. "Those animals continue to prove themselves to be traitors and yet all I hear is you defending them!"

Alabastor Winchester.

"I don't care for your using of that word." The next man was far slimmer, and older, with an almost wild shock of gray hair cut in no real style. His suit was more professional than ornamental, and a cane lightly tapped the ground with each step. "The faunus have every reason to hate you given your actions and attitude. One could even say tonight's events were predictable."

Fuck. Ilia swallowed and will herself to think silent thoughts lest one of the most powerful huntsmen in Vale notice her.

"Mother did warn you, father." The third man was more of a boy. A teenager who looked ill at ease in his own suit, but whose physical similarities to the lord of the house made their relationship clear. "She told you to bring in more security."

"I brought in the Headmaster of Beacon himself, who apparently can't recognize dangerous subversives even after they set his car on fire and shoot mine to pieces!" Winchester snapped back, "And I told you to remain at the party, Cardin."

The boy's expression turned defensive. "You also said I needed to start taking my training seriously! Sitting on a meeting between you and the Headmaster seemed like a good way to start!"

Ozpin smiled, "The boy isn't wrong, Alabastor."

Teeth ground together before he replied, "I meant combat training, Cardin. I refuse to see you get punted around Signal's training rings by that blonde barbarian again. It was bad enough when the Bronzewing's were taunting me over your failures, now I have to listen to that drunken oaf pretending to teach you mock me... we'll deal with that later. For tonight get down to your mother and tell her to make sure our guests know I'm handling the situation."

Cardin Winchester glared at his father, then turned and stomped out without a word. Ozpin watched him go while Lord Winchester yanked open his liquor cabinet, chose a bottle, and poured himself a glass. He took a fortifying sip, nodded once, then walked to his desk and settled down without offering his guest any courtesy.

For her part, Ilia narrowed her eyes to slits and focused on taking slow breaths as her semblance continued to slowly eat at her aura.

"You hardly need me to call insurance agencies and berate your choice of security staff." The Headmaster noted when the silence dragged on for more than a minute. He evidently didn't feel like sitting, instead simply leaning on his cane as he spoke. "So I can only presume that this is another of your misguided attempts to change my enrollment standards."

"Misguided!?" Winchester practically roared the word, his anger coming right back. "Those beasts killed my father, my mother, and even now they destroy lives! They're terrorists at best and enemies of the state at worst, they should all be rounded up and-"

"That is enough!" Here she'd though Winchester's voice was loud, Ozpin's own reply nearly made her clap her hands over her ears.

"Enough." He repeated more quietly, thumping his cane once as he seemed to shake and gather himself. "I tolerated your prior phrasing because this is your home, and I your guest, but no more. Your parents died in war. A war they both opposed as you well know. Were your father still alive he would have-"

"He isn't." Winchester spat in reply. "It doesn't matter what he might have done because some dog eared bastard killed him in his sleep! The same kind of person you seem to love teaching how to be even better killers. Mark my words there will be another war from those ungrateful little creatures, and you are giving them all the help they need to prepare."

"Beacon admits all who wish to learn." Ozpin said, his voice as flat and cold as a sheet of ice. "That will not change."

Winchester's face twisted in anger, but he somehow avoided shouting further. "Fine. You'll regret it, I swear it... and my son will never study under you, nor will you ever see a single lien in support from me or those who see sense in this city."

"Cardin will have his own choice to make, when he is old enough." The Headmaster turned and began walking for the door. "And you will find our finances quite secure. Perhaps you should have bothered to check what Beacon's resources are before attempting to threaten me with cancelling your donation. And no, you don't need to bother. I'll be refusing any of your 'aid' regardless."

That evidently served as the of the conservation, because he turned and strode out without a farewell. Winchester stewed in furious silence, his chest heaving with angry breaths as he glared at the closing door, while Ilia lurked and felt somewhat better about Vale than she had just a few minutes prior.

"Animal loving idiot." Winchester muttered to himself, throwing back the rest of his liquor. "He'll regret it. I know it."

Ilia watched from her place in the corner as he irritably started up his desk's various screens and quickly typed out some kind of number. A moment later he was again shouting, this time at some kind of insurance representative. Keeping her breathing steady, she settled Lightning Lash onto her hip and then drew the small pistol as slowly as she could. Her semblance and Winchester's general distraction worked together to keep her hidden, letting her make sure the silencer was secure before she disengaged the safety.

The argument had been enough to quiet most of the uncertainty she'd felt over killing in cold blood, but as her fingers tightened around the weapon's grip she felt her heart sink a little in her chest. The man was a racist asshole of the first order, that much was certainly true. He'd done harm to the faunus across Vale for his entire life. He didn't deserve mercy.

But that didn't change the fact that this wasn't a fight. She wasn't defending herself in the heat of battle.

She was about to murder someone.

Wait...

"You'll have an agent at my address within the next hour or there will be hell to pay!"

Wait...

"You damned well better!" A finger slammed down to end the call before a fist slammed angrily onto the desk. "Useless idiots, all of them!"

Now. Ilia exhaled, raised her pistol, and then pulled the trigger.

The sudden, sharp motion in an otherwise still room must have been too much for her semblance because he started to turn in her direction. His angry expression shifted into puzzlement as he tried to work out what he'd just seen... but he didn't get the chance. It wasn't enough of a warning to engage his aura, and by the time he'd seen the suppressed flash of her gun the bullet had already impacted his left eye.

His head snapped back as red sprayed over the painting of a battlefield behind him, his body slumping in the chair. Ilia swallowed and stayed very still, listening furiously. The sound of a silenced gun was a lot louder than what most people assumed from movies, but it wasn't that much worse than a book slamming against a shelf.

Or a broad fist hitting a desk.

After nearly a minute there was no sound of rushing feet or alarms, and she cautiously stepped out and approached the body. The smell was already growing, making her stomach churn as she shakily walked around the desk to see that the back half of his head was practically gone. Things she'd really rather not have seen were entirely visible, and she quickly averted her eyes.

Taking another moment, she shuddered once and then quickly pulled a small bundle of cloth from one of her pockets. The flag of the White Fang unfolded before she let it fall over the ruined features, hiding everything from view even as it proclaimed just who had ended the man's life.

"You deserved this." She muttered as the pistol returned to its holster. "You deserved this, for everything you did."

Blood dripping onto the wooden floor was the only reply he gave.

Sucking in a shaky breath, and nearly throwing up from the smell, she quickly backed away and turned for the door. It opened into an empty hallway, and she wasted little time in heading for the stairs that would take her back up. Any thought of doing more damage was well and truly out of her mind. Her only focus was on getting out of this damned building as soon as possible... property damage could wait until her hands weren't shaking.

She took the stairs two at a time, and only realized that the fourth floor's hallway lights were on when she'd already begun moving along it.

"Alabastor?" A woman's voice called from ahead, making her all but slide to a stop as a tall woman with dark hair walked around a corner, a blue dress half covered by a fur lined coat. "I already spoke to our guests, I'm changing into something warmer so I can try and calm the crowd outside before..."

Her lightly lined features were blank in surprise as she stared at Ilia's mask, dark eyes flicking up and down, taking in her clothing and weapons before a shaky hand rose to her throat. "Oh. Oh gods."

Ilia steeled herself and dropped a hand to her weapon, drawing it free as she lowered her voice into a rough growl. "He deserved it."

The new widow's mouth quivered and she took a slow step back. "Oh gods... I warned him. Gods... was it... fast?"

Against her better judgment, Ilia gave her a very slight nod before speaking. "You need to get out of my way."

There was a tiny nod, a sob, then the woman staggered to one side. Her shoulder hit the wall and she slumped, falling slowly to her knees as her body shook. "God's... Alabastor... gods..."

Her stomach rolled again at the honest anguish that the man's wife was displaying, and she wasted no time in starting forwards again. Lightning Lash was kept ready but not quite aimed at the woman, who did nothing but continue to cry and choke as Ilia moved past her.

Whatever luck had been with her so far had obviously run out, because as she neared the guest room at the end of the hall another voice called. "Mother!? What's wrong...who is that!?"

Ilia snapped her head around to see the teenage son staring at her from the stairwell she'd come up, his expression somewhere between rage and terror.

"Fuck." The word came out as a hiss as she turned and ripped the door open. Cardin Winchester let out a furious sound behind her as she ran through the dark room for the balcony door.

She shoved it open and was on the balcony just as the young Winchester stormed into the bedroom, his long legs and the now-open doors helping him catch up. Ilia took a split second to rip a grenade from her belt, double-press a small button on the side, and toss it over her shoulder before she vaulted the balcony's wall and dropped.

A pained snarl came out of her throat as she caught herself on a third floor window sill, her eyes snapping up in time to a rush of mist and snow flare out from the white-dust filled bomb she'd just detonated. There was another furious sound, then a masculine cry before something exploded in the room she'd just left. The entire balcony simply erupted in a flash of fire and steam, rubble pelting her as she lost her grip and fell once more.

Instinct had her legs extend, kicking off from the wall and letting her tuck as she fell. Her aura flared as she hit the ground hard, her upper back and shoulders striking first as she rolled. The motion and aura saved her from a broken spine and paralyzation, but it didn't help the rush of pain that had her slow to get up as she gasped in pain.

Fortunately for her, the teenager chasing her wasn't as experienced. He was probably still in the part of his training where he thought aura made him all but invincible.

He threw himself out of the gaping hole in the side of the building, flaring his own aura as he came down. His soul's protection saved him from a pair of broken legs, but the sheer pain of landing on them made both of them buckle, leaving his ass to strike the ground and his mouth hanging open in a silent scream.

Scrambling up to her feet, she gave him a single look before tearing across the small grounds to the privacy wall. A hard jump got her hands atop it, and she heaved herself up and over in a single motion.

Even more sirens began to blare in the city around her as she cut across the tiny but manicured yards and gardens that surrounded the other tower mansions in the neighborhood. Leaping various fences and walls to avoid going anywhere near the street, she came over the last one to land in a narrow alley between one the estates and a bank that catered to that particular bracket of wealth. Moving to her right got her into the service alley that supported the bank and businesses farther along, and to where a single dark van was idling.

Its engine rumbled into gear as she sprinted to its rear, yanking the door open before leaping inside.

"Go." She hissed, trying to get the door closed and her incriminating gear off at the same time. "Casually as you can!"

Tukson gave her a hard look in the rear view mirror but he got them moving forwards regardless, "What happened?"

"He's... The target was eliminated." It was easier to say it that way, for some reason. "I was on my way out when the son spotted me. His semblance made a mess of things, but I got away when he did something stupid."

"...let's hope Khan is right and this actually helps us."

Ilia closed her eyes and breathed, her spots flaring a dull blue while she fought the urge to throw up as she remembered the slumped body and the sobbing widow. "You didn't hear him in there. The man was as screaming racist. He was trying to force Ozpin into not letting faunus into Beacon. He deserved it."

"Not saying he didn't." Tukson replied as he swung them out into the street, joining what little traffic was around. "Just saying I hope it doesn't backfire. You get anything else?"

"Two thumb drives." She replied as she pulled her mask off, setting it aside and starting on her her weapon's belt. "If we're lucky there will be good data on them, or at least things we can release to make him even less sympathetic."

"Hn. Not a bad idea." He nodded, "One of our girls is a tech support worker in her daily life. I'll call her in tomorrow. How far should we go before we ditch the van?"

"Other side of the river, find a parking garage without cameras." She pulled two fire dust vials free from her belt, then set it aside. "We'll burn it out to make sure there's no evidence left. Then it's on foot back to headquarters and I'll send the completion message."

And hopefully this will make people take us seriously... so that I don't have to do it again.

Chapter Text

"The debate over faunus rights continues to rage as the elections draw closer." The rather attractive woman smiled from behind the news desk, the VNN logo prominent on its facing. "While all of the candidates have come out against the methods being used and confirm that they consider the White Fang to be a terrorist organizations, all but two have also stated that the faunus of Vale have legitimate grievances with the government's enforcement of the Equality Acts."

Ilia sipped from a bottle of beer, her feet up on an old crate while she leaned back on an equally worn couch. The tiny 'lounge' in the middle of the warehouse was hidden away by various crates, but they'd managed to squeeze in a make-shift bar and plenty of furniture all the same.

"In particular they hold that the rash of attacks on businesses blatantly refusing to serve Faunus customers is reprehensible, but that the lack of police action in enforcing the city's own laws is equally illegal." The reporter, the screen named her as Lisa Lavender, continued, "Chief of Police Waters tended his resignation to the Council this morning, despite calls for him to remain in place until after the election. We go now to Calla Leavens outside of police headquarters, covering their efforts to fight back against the White Fang."

"It's working." Perry smiled from the back-less armchair he was sitting on, his own bottle raising in a silent salute. "They're finally taking us seriously."

There was a rumble of agreement from the dozen or so faunus present, several of them raising their own cheap drinks before downing more alcohol. None of them were in uniform tonight, everyone simply gathering to spend time with their comrades in

It had been a long two months since her actions at the Firefighter's Gala. The initial public reaction to the assassination had been swift and negative, proving Tukson right and giving Ilia doubts, but she had pulled herself together in time to make a counter-play. Among various business letters, the thumb drives she'd stolen had proven to contain various messages between Winchester and others who supported his beliefs. Messages that made his screaming racism and loathing for the faunus blatantly clear.

She'd wanted to release the text as soon as they'd broken the passwords and realized what they had, but it had been Perry who'd come up with a better plan. They'd waited an extra few days, until the morning of the funeral. While the widowed wife gave a tearful speech, they'd dumped everything anonymously to the net and sent additional copies to every major news station in Vale.

The subsequent media frenzy had more or less ruined the funeral's coverage and changed the narrative rather sharply. Not really enough to paint them in a good light, but it had muddied the waters enough that any talk of a crack-down on the faunus as a whole had died. Even better, the constant coverage had inspired many young and energized faunus to take up the mask, to help fight back. Even better, many of them had useful contacts, skills, or even friends who were sympathetic enough to lend a hand.

He's not wrong, Ilia mused as she looked around. Things are starting to look up. We'd still be in the sewers if the news wasn't constantly talking about faunus rights.

Shortly after the gala, Adam had sent a short message on one of the various forums the White Fang used for clandestine communication. He'd congratulated her on a job well done and urged her not to let up on the momentum. Ilia had been all too happy to bury herself in the work, doing her best to get the city's branch back into working order as she tried to forget what she'd done.

There hadn't been any more killings, at least that she knew of. Instead they'd focused on burglary and vandalism. Any shop with a 'No-Faunus' sign became a target, and any wealthy individual who released a statement demonizing them was fair game. In the interest of building up some confidence among the locals she had mostly focused on the latter, letting Perry and Tukson handle the former.

A few times they'd had to engage the police in order to escape into the sewers and forgotten tunnels under Vale, but by some miracle they'd avoided any real wounds on either side. The lack of consequences had done miracles to bolster the confidence of those already involved, and to encourage those on the fence to join up and fight the good fight.

"So," Perry turned to her with a grin, "When do we accelerate? I mean, hitting one or two shops a week had been working so far, but I think we've finally got the people to do more."

Ilia smiled and shook her head, "Easy there, remember that we've got more to do than just breaking into stores with illegal signs in the window."

"Yeah, but none of it brings in people like those raids do." He pushed his glasses up as his smile faded, "It's working. It's really working, we've got to keep the pressure up or they'll start covering celebrity gossip again."

"We will, we will." She held a hand up to try and calm him down, "I'm not saying we're going to slow down, I'm saying that we can't afford to be reckless. You almost got pinned down last week, and the police are ramping things up every day."

He waved a dismissive hand. "You could take any cop in this city."

While his confidence in her was flattering, she was a lot less sanguine about the idea of openly fighting the police. The moment she did, the moment the VPD realized that the White Fang had a huntress on staff, they'd start recruiting their own hunters to fight back... and there was a lot more of them than there was of her.

I can probably beat a student, or escape from a professional with my semblance... but a straight fight? No, bad idea.

"I can't be everywhere at once." Ilia reminded him patiently, "And I'm still the only one here with infiltration and serious combat training, which is what we need to focus on now. Or what you will be focusing on."

Perry frowned. "You want me to try and train people?"

She fought down her impatience. Perry was quick to learn but he could be painfully slow on the uptake sometimes. "No, I want you to go with the next group we send to Mountain Glenn. I've mentioned how well you've been picking things up to Adam, and he wants to take you on as a protege, get you ready to take my place when I rotate back out."

The man opened his mouth, closed it, then started to flush when the others began to whistle and clap. A few stepped over and clapped him on the back, making his embarrassment even worse. Ilia waited until the well wishers had mostly quieted down before speaking again, "You'll be going out at the end of the week, if that's enough time for you to handle getting a vacation from your day job."

"I'll f-figure it out." Perry stammered, eyes still a bit glazed. "Gods. Me? A cell leader? I'm... honored but-"

"You're a quick learner, passionate, organized, devoted, and a lot more of a people person than I am." Ilia smiled, "You might not be much of a fighter, but that's what Adam will be helping you with."

That only made his embarrassment worse, his flush rising as he looked at her for a several moments before quickly looking away. For her part, Ilia did her best to avoid shifting uncomfortably at the look. While Perry knew her preferences, that didn't seem to stop him from starting to like her in a way she wasn't entirely comfortable with. Something that probably wasn't helped by the fact that they worked together on an almost daily basis, and there wasn't really a way to avoid that.

Still, he had yet to go beyond covert looks and the occasional enamored expression, so it wasn't anything she couldn't deal with.

"Go ahead and take the night off to celebrate," She said as she got to her feet, "Tukson can handle this week's raid, you just focus on getting ready to head out."

"You're not staying?" He asked, doing only a mediocre job of hiding his disappointment.

She shook her head, "I have a heist to plan. Have fun, make sure someone is sober enough to get you home alive."

There was a general round of laughter, and then various faunus again converged on their future leader. Ilia slipped out while the merriment continued, walking down a slim 'hallway' between two crates before ducking through the tarp that served to hide the lounge's entrance. It wasn't much of a disguise, but a warehouse being used for long-term storage didn't really attract much attention to begin with.

Outside were two figures, one seated on a folding chair, the other leaning against one of the many crates.

"Make sure you get someone sober to relieve you in an hour." She told the young woman standing guard. "I won't be back tonight."

The young woman in a rough facsimile of a security uniform, brought a fist into a hand in a quick salute, her antlers gleaming a little in the dim light. "Yes, Leader."

Ilia nodded and glanced at the seated man, "Mind giving me a ride back to my hotel?"

Tukson simply stood up and pulled keys out of his pocket. The pair walked out of the corner area and down the main run of the warehouse, past crates that claimed to hold canned goods but in reality held what few supplies they'd been able to accumulate so far. In time there'd be more than just a few cases of dust, medical supplies, and preserved food... but for now most of the crates were empty.

Fixing that is still my main job.

"You still don't approve of the new path?" She asked the question only once they were out of earshot of the guards-woman.

"It's working at the moment, I'll admit that much." Came the easy reply, "But we both know we're running out of easy targets, and the backlash is growing."

She sucked in a slow breath and then let it out. "What do you propose we do instead? If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."

From the way he grimaced she guessed that he wasn't looking forwards to this conversation. But he didn't let that stop him from talking as they slipped out of the warehouse and began heading for his car. "We need to push harder on the charity front, even if we aren't officially the ones doing it. The city's nervous, holding its breath, but if violent action is all we offer eventually they're going to turn against us."

"We're working on it." She reminded him, "Putting the old organization back together is taking time, but we are working that angle as well."

"Slowly. I'm saying that should be our priority." He said as he unlocked the car, continuing to speak as they both climbed in. "It seems like all the lien we're managing to scrape together is going out as fast as it comes in. Thought we were supposed to be keeping at least half of it."

Ilia felt herself grimace. She'd said as much to Adam and hadn't gotten anywhere. "...orders change sometimes. The other cells need it more."

"Do they?" Tukson asked as he started the engine, spent a moment to turn the lights on, then got them moving. "Vale's the heart the kingdom but it feels like all Taurus wants from us is notice in the press, zealots who want to fight, and lien to fund his own attacks."

Her spots darkened. "Too far, Tukson."

The man let out a frustrated huff as they pulled out onto the streets, heading away from the harbor. "Call it like I see it. Sure, they took down most of those damned vigilantes last week, but did they really have to kill most of them?"

"They died fighting."

"Did they?" His voice was flat. "Look in me in the eye and tell me you believe that."

Ilia... looked out her window. As much as she wanted to deny it, she could still see Adam holding his sword above a surrendered guard, ready to bring it down. He hadn't then, but... without Sienna's direct supervision, it was only her and Blake. She was obviously busy, and Adam wouldn't bring Blake into a fight with living opponents if he could help it.

It... seemed all too likely that at least a few of the humans had died after the fighting was over.

Still...

Admit it yourself Ilia... you're having doubts, and you can't afford those.

She inhaled slowly and then let it out, keeping herself calm. Focused. Convicted. "They were murderers and rapists who escaped justice. If they died then it's not exactly a loss."

"Maybe not." Tukson admitted, "But like I said, how long until we run out of obvious targets like that? We're already getting close to the point where we'll be attacking shops just because some random faunus thought a clerk was judging them. How well is that going to play on the news? On our recruitment fliers?"

"I get it." She replied, irritation coloring her voice as her spots flared. "But again, what do you want me to do about it? I'm a temporary cell leader, a scout huntress, and a burglar. I'm following my orders and doing the best I can."

If he was upset or annoyed by her tone he didn't show it. "Your new orders which are worse than your old ones and you know it. You've already ignored another assassination assignment, don't tell me that you haven't."

Her heart skipped a beat and her spots flipped from red to blue. "...how did you find out about that?"

"Perry." He said simply. "He thought you should have gone through with it."

Of course he did...

"I killed his father, he's got the right to hate me and make badly written speeches about it." She murmured. "But he's still fifteen years old. I'm not assassinating a fifteen year old boy who's got no real power."

Trying to find the right way to tell that to Adam after she'd gotten the order by message hadn't gone anywhere. In the end she'd simply given up and given him a white lie about Cardin Winchester being too heavily protected given that he and his mother were now living in Signal Academy, surrounded by student level hunters and professional level teachers.

Perry had still thought she could do it, in his boundless confidence in her skills. And she probably could have.. not at the school, exactly, but the boy wasn't always at school. He went out to give speeches with his mother, trying to keep their personal tragedy in the limelight despite the public loathing of his deceased father.

But the key word in all of that was 'boy'. Ilia had crossed a line, she knew that. She'd done it so that future faunus wouldn't have to.

But there were some lines she wouldn't cross. Couldn't cross.

Tukson gave her an approving look then returned his eyes to the road, "Yeah, and that gives me hope. You're not bloodthirsty or just out for revenge, you want to make a difference. We all do. I don't know what's going on with the rest of the White Fang, but I think we've still got a chance of pulling off the balanced approach you were preaching when you first got here. We just have to do it before you rotate out."

Her head fell back against her seat as she sighed. Tukson might have been competent, devoted, and intelligent... but he was terrible for her morale.

Probably a good thing to have someone like him around, but that doesn't make it any less exhausting.

"...what are you thinking?"

"We start by keeping most of the lien we're bringing in." He said at once, "We use it to start up the old charity drives again, start showing the carrot instead of just the stick. We make sure to serve poor faunus and humans alike. Make it clear to everyone that we're not racist extremists."

Ilia twisted her lips. "Can't say I like that idea much, and I know a lot of the others will hate it."

"If we don't, we're violating the same equality laws the humans are." Tukson nodded as they stopped at a light, a police vehicle crossing ahead of them. "The cops will have every reason to crack down on that. Hell, they'd probably say they're shutting down White Fang recruiting operations to make themselves look better."

A hand rose to rub tiredly at her temples as she thought about it. What he wanted wasn't really all that extreme... if anything it was basically just the original plan as she'd told them all when she'd arrived. But the past few months had started making it clear that the plan she'd been given had been Sienna's, not Adam's, and what interest he'd had in it had faded quickly. To him Vale was just a place where their enemies conveniently concentrated themselves.

His focus was entirely on the outer regions of the kingdom. On the easy victories to be found in destroying SDC mines or racist vigilante groups.

This way is working... but like Tukson said, all of the recruits were getting are the ones who want to fight. We need them, but what happens when the fighting ends? Who will be there to put everything back together?

They didn't have anyone like the Albain brothers, or the support staff that they trained and shipped out to Mistral and Vacuo. The kinds of people who made sure the organization was just that; an organization. A group that could actually help run a village, a city, a kingdom. Who could involve themselves seriously in local politics and make their voices heard.

We've made the humans take notice of us... but for how long?

Tukson also hadn't been wrong when he'd said they were running low on easy targets. Vale wasn't as stubborn as Mistral, nor nearly as corrupt. They couldn't simply hit one part of town and leave the criminals running the other sections shrugging and jumping in to take advantage. Even the most racist humans here were already starting to pull down their 'No Faunus' signs in favor of more subtle ways to make them unwelcome. Eventually they'd be going after people based on hearsay, and that the potential to backfire real fast.

"We can try it." She said after a few blocks of thinking it over. "We'll keep whatever donations we get for the next two weeks, and whatever we get for what I steal. That should be enough for at least one charity run if you can find enough recruits to run it. If it goes well we can keep running with it."

He nodded slightly, though more of an acknowledgment that she'd spoken than in agreement. He probably wasn't about to get his hopes up until she did something to earn it.

"So," Tukson said in a tone indicating he was changing the subject, "Where are you going after I drop you off?"

"My room." She waved a vague hand, "That contact of Vi's came through this morning. I've got the complete plans for the mansion of some coffee mogul who donated fifty thousand lien to the Winchester's about a month before the gala."

"When were you going to move? Be nice if we could time our next attack to go along with yours." He might have had more than a few doubts, but Tukson was nothing if not professional. "The more divided the police response the better odds we all have of getting out."

Ilia hummed in thought. "I was actually thinking of a daylight run to avoid any personal encounters."

His fingers drummed as he slowed, pulling over and into a dimly lit parking lot. One of the many hotels in the city catering to Hunters loomed above them as he parked near the entrance, keeping the engine running. "I think I can make that work. I'll get back to you by the end of the week."

She nodded as she opened her door and slipped out, "Thanks for the ride. See you around."

Tukson brought two fingers up to the side of his head in an abbreviated salute, then pulled away. Ilia watched him go, then headed inside.

The lobby was largely empty given the late hour, though the bar attached to the hotel looked to be doing a brisk trade even though it was nearly midnight. She'd spent more than few late evenings there herself, in the immediate aftermath especially, but she still had work to do tonight.

And besides, the last thing she needed was to add alcoholism to her list of problems. A list of problems that grew exponentially when she reached her first floor room, opened the door, and found that she'd had visitors while she'd been out.

They hadn't trashed the room or anything so pointless... they'd made their point in other ways.

The secure safe she'd been storing her various clandestine goods inside of was wide open, the blueprints, documents, and various thieving tools were now neatly laid out one of the two double beds. Lightning Lash was next to them, the weapon completely disassembled with all of her dust cartridges missing. Both of the cheap scrolls she used to keep in touch with Perry and Tuskon were on the end table in a similar state of dismantlement, and the bag she'd been using to store hard currency was missing.

But the most blatant act had been to break her White Fang mask in half, then carefully prop both pieces on top of her pillow.

A small hand written note lay between them, and after closing the door behind her, she cautiously walked over and picked it up.

"I don't appreciate little animals running around my town, who are so ill trained they didn't even have the courtesy to ask my permission before stealing from my marks. I helped myself to your gains as payment for that insult, but I'm afraid that's as far as my mercy goes. You have until tomorrow to be out of Vale or you'll have a cage and collar of your very own in the city prison."

Ilia closed her eyes as her skin rippled to a furious scarlet, her spots blazing yellow. The note crumbled in her fist as her teeth ground together, the only words she could think of saying coming out in a low snarl. "Fucking dammit!"

Chapter Text

"Let me get this straight." Adam's voice was perfectly flat, never a good sign. "You were identified by some human thief who believes that Vale is his own personal playground. He called you an animal and threatened to reveal you to the authorities. Then instead of dealing with him, or even attempting to retaliate, you instead ran away with your tail tucked between your legs."

Ilia kept her breathing even and her skin normal as she did her best to maintain her own forced calm. "After evaluating the situation I decided that removing myself from Vale was the right decision for the White Fang."

"The right decision was to make us look like weak willed cowards?" Adam's jaw clenched, "Are you even listening to yourself? You backed down to some peacock of a human without even making an effort to fight back!"

A hot reply lept to her lips, and it took a massive amount of willpower to keep them shut. If this had been a private argument she wouldn't have hesitated to ask what the hell his problem was... but it wasn't.

Blake was standing awkwardly behind Adam, her ears flat against her skull as her eyes flicked between the two as each spoke. Still, if she'd been the only one Illia wouldn't have held back though she may have tried to refrain from going too far... but Perry and the dozen or so faunus who'd departed Vale with them were also present.

Which is the only reason I'm putting up with this.

It hadn't taken their small party very long to reach Mountain Glenn, where they'd found Adam and a few people from the western cells already present and gearing up for an operation of their own. Which had struck her as fairly ideal timing, since that would give Adam the options of taking a few recruits with while leaving others to help defend the camp, breaking them in slowly.

Those forward thinking thoughts hadn't lasted long. Tukson had apparently been able to get a message out after tall, detailing what had happened in Vale, because Adam had confronted her before they'd even had a chance to set their packs aside.

She'd expected a bit of disappointment, maybe a little show of Adam's temper, but a public berating in front of the people she'd help recruit hadn't even been on her list of possibilities. Especially since, by any standard she knew of, they'd accomplished a lot since she'd arrived in Vale. To hear him belittling everything they'd done over the last few months because she'd decided that picking a fight with Vale's criminal underground, on top of their ongoing fight with the authorities, wasn't a good idea... it was infuriating.

"This coming after you failed to complete tasks that I assigned to you, tasks that should have been more than simple given your experience and skills." He continued, his anger not abating even as her own steadily grew. "You disappointed me, Ilia. Such a promising start and yet you let our advantage slip through your fingers."

"I believe I did the best I could given the constantly changing objectives." Her voice stayed flat even as her words lashed out. "In three months of work we saw exponential growth in our recruiting efforts, constant media attention on the plight of the faunus, and-"

"You managed one attack a week." A hand slashed the air between them, "One heist a week. And that was after two months were you were lucky to get a mission completed every two weeks! That was not nearly good enough!"

"That's-"

He interrupted her again, "Such standards may have been acceptable in your first month given the state of the Vale cells, but your rate of progress was glacial. Embarrassing. And what's this I hear about you trying to start up some charity? A charity that would even serve humans?"

Ilia's self control slipped for a few seconds, her spots and eyes shifting to a blazing red. Everyone nearby, save for Blake, took a few subtle steps back as if they expected her to throw herself at him. She managed to avoid doing that even as the heat crept into her tones. "That was the original plan I was given."

"The plan was never to cater to humans." He spat back at her, "You're not even denying it."

"Operating support and charity groups was part of the plan." She clenched her fists as she spoke, "If we didn't at least pretend to serve both species we would have only invited a backlash."

"A backlash that we could have used to our advantage!" Adam almost snarled, "You, of all people, saying that! Here I thought that you understood that a different direction was required. That you are my subordinate, that it is your duty to follow my orders. That is something I expect you to do far better moving forwards. Is that understood?"

She started to snarl back, but a bit of motion drew her eyes to Blake. Their friend's expression was terrified, her eyes pleading with her to back down. Ilia half closed her eyes and tightened her fists, but she managed to force an affirmative out. "...yes, Leader Taurus."

From the way his jaw clenched again he didn't care for her tone. Blake noticed and took a hesitant step forwards, touching his arm. The simple gesture seemed to settle him somewhat, his shoulders slowly relaxing as he took deep breaths. Blake took another step forwards, reaching up to lightly touch his cheek, and he gave her a small nod before speaking once more.

"Let us hope you do." He stated before turning to Perry, evidently done with her. "Perry. I've heard good things about your potential from everyone in the Vale cell. What's your evaluation of the situation in the capital?"

The canine faunus nervously adjusted his glasses, shifting his weight back and forth in discomfort. "Uhm... our p-progress was a little slower than I'd have liked, but it was very steady. We never had any setbacks or even any serious injuries! After last year that's something like a miracle."

"Wounds are inevitable in war." Adam countered, "It sounds like you're avoiding saying your leader was overcautious."

"She... is." Perry gave her a guilty look, then seemed to rally himself and more words came out in a rush. "But... I understand why she is, sir. When she arrived our cell was in bad shape, morale was at rock bottom. Injuries or arrests, or the gods forbid deaths, might have broken us entirely. We could barely scrounge up ten people for a raid. Maybe it was slow and steady, and maybe that wasn't what I wanted personally, but... I think it might have been what we needed."

Adam regarded the man, then turned his attention back to Ilia and nodded once. "Well, I suppose you excelled at instilling loyalty. Was the situation that bad?"

Ilia pressed her lips into a thin line, eyes and freckles remaining red. It was fight not to ask if he'd even bothered to read her reports, but once more she kept her self control and even managed to not sound like she was snarling when she spoke. "It was."

"I see." Adam said after a few silent moments. A few more tense seconds passed before he shook his head and turned back to Perry and the other transfers from Vale. "Well I suppose you all didn't come out here simply to watch me berate a huntress for not going far enough. Come on, lets get you all sorted out and get you fed. Blake, please finish debriefing Ilia, I'll be there when I'm finished."

Blake didn't waste any time in stepping forwards and taking Ilia by the arm. It definitely wasn't the best look all things considered, to be pulled away like that, but since she was basically holding on to her self control by her fingertips it was probably for the best. The younger woman led her through the underground camp until they reached what had been a ruined storefront the last time Ilia had been there.

It had gotten some work done since then, and was evidently serving as Adam's living quarters-slash-command center. The various broken walls had been patched up, while the shattered windows had been replaced with cloth and tarp. What had been the shopping area was now filled with tables, maps, charts, and there a large desk whose surface was covered in stacks of paperwork.

Her companion led her past those and through a doorway into the backrooms. An employee rest area from the faded signs was now a small kitchen and living space, and Blake quickly ushered to to a seat next to a plywood table before bustling over to start making tea.

"What the hell was that?" Ilia demanded when it became clear that Blake wasn't going to speak first. "Did he not even read any of my fucking reports!? And why did he feel the need to do all of that in front of my recruits!?"

"He's... we've been busy. Very busy. And stressed." Her hands hesitated, then resumed their work. "He's under a lot of pressure, with leading everything. And... well, things didn't go well out west."

She let out a heavy exhalation and tried to get everything back to its normal shades. Listening to Blake make excuses for Adam humiliating her in front of her own people wasn't exactly what she wanted, but she did need at least some kind of an explanation. Otherwise she probably wouldn't be able to control her temper when he showed his face in here.

And while it might be satisfying to break his nose, he'd very definitely kick her ass after and that wouldn't do anyone any good. Least of all herself.

"We didn't hear much besides the news reports, there wasn't much coverage. Something about the trial ending and everything settling down, so I thought you dealt with all of them just fine. What actually happened?"

Blake closed her eyes and bowed her head as she set a kettle to boiling on a small heating coil. "They covered it up is what happened."

That made her grimace and brace herself, temper fading a little as she focused. "That bad?"

There was a tiny nod though Blake didn't actually turn around to face her. "The trials finished right when we got out there. At first it seemed like it would be just like we thought. They were sentenced for vigilante activity, a small fine each, nothing major. We expected that and it didn't really make us angry so much as it focused everyone. We had our plans and were ready for that. Then..."

Blake shook her head sharply, took a moment, then seemed to force herself to resume speaking. "Then the local sheriff arrested the wife of the dead farmer, and her children. Said they had been affiliated with terrorists. Were accomplices. He used the planted guns as evidence. The huntsman who caught them protested but the judge allowed it. They cuffed them right in the court room, right after they were told they wouldn't get justice."

Ilia stared at her for a few moments, then lowered her head and closed her eyes as well. "Shit."

"We raided the jail that night, just after sunset." The younger woman shook her head once, "We caught one of the deputies... violating her. Adam killed him. I got the children out of another cell, then we made a run for it. Sheriff got the vigilantes together and they all came after us. They pinned us down near a river, but the local cell came out to help us. They attacked the humans from behind, let me get the family to safety and left Adam free to double-back."

"He killed them all." It was more of a statement than a question.

"They did." Blake said with no emphasis on the correction. "I.. I think a few tried to surrender but... it was too much. Everyone was too angry. Adam and a few others went back into town, help the locals pack up everything they needed to come with us as fast as they could. We thought we'd be pursued but only the huntsman caught up to us. Said he'd reported what the judge and sheriff did, that the Council decided to hush it up. Then he let us go, said he'd reveal everything if the Council sent anyone else after us. Told us to get the family to safety and lay low."

"Probably their only option, with all the negativity running around." Ilia murmured, glancing at Blake's hunched form. "That would have been... what, a week or so after Winchester died?"

Blake's shoulders visibly tightened. "...I wanted to ask you about that."

Fuck! Me and my fucking mouth.

"What about it?" She tried for nonchalance but doubted she managed anything close to it.

"...you killed him, didn't you?"

Ilia pursed her lips and looked away from Blake, trying and failing to come up with anything she could say in response. Blake was young, maybe a little naive, definitely had poor taste in romantic partners, but she wasn't stupid. The media had made it blatantly clear that Winchester had been killed by a faunus, and with the Vale cell being what it was... she was really the only person who could have done it.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that, Blake?" She asked quietly.

"Ilia..."

Ilia sucked in a sharp breath and let it out, trying to force her rolling stomach to settle. "He was the one behind that group you dealt with, or at least the one who got them off. I listened to him literally screaming at the headmaster of Beacon that we were animals who should be rounded up and deported. We found emails he sent to other people like him that we wanted an economic blockade of Menagerie. He wanted to starve our city to death. He was evil."

"You murdered him." The words were a quiet whisper.

There wasn't really much she could say to that. Whatever she may have thought about him, however much he had deserved it, at the end of the day she had murdered him in cold blood. She hadn't even warned him, insulted him, anything. Just bang, thump, one living faunus terrorist, one dead racist human.

The kettle whistling saved her from having to respond immediately, the sound knocking Blake out of whatever dark mental space she'd ended up in. Soon enough they were both seated with lightly steaming cups in their hands, both young women sipping the scalding liquid rather than trying to carry on the uncomfortable conversation.

Adam found them in the same tense silence five minutes later, his mask settling onto the table as he sat, his one good eye flicked between them. His voice was low and still tinged with anger when he spoke, his attention words aimed at Blake while his glare settled on Ilia. "What happened?"

"You lied to me." Blake said quietly.

Their leader's back stiffened as the glare upgraded to a scowl. "You told her?"

Ilia glowered right back at him, "Haven't you already accused me of enough today? She guessed and I couldn't exactly deny it."

"You lied to me," Blake repeated, "And you told her not to tell me what you had her do in Vale."

"What Sienna ordered her to do." Adam spread his hands apart, "Blake, he was the one behind the vigilantes. You know that. He wasn't the kind of person we could talk down. Sometimes we have to go that far if we want to make a better world for the faunus."

"But... killing people in cold blood?" Her head shook, "People who fight us, attack us... I mean, that's self defense. But murdering some old man?"

Adam rose from his chair, moving around so that he could kneel beside Blake's. "Love... this is a war. Your parents refused to see it, but Sienna did, just like you and I did. We have to fight or nothing will ever change. Men like Winchester... He wasn't just some old man. He might not have fought us with a sword or a gun, but he fought us with his money, his influence. He was attacking us."

Blake closed her eyes, scrunching them up as though she was trying to shut out the entire world. "I... that doesn't... it doesn't feel right."

"I know." Adam gently rested both of his hands on one of her knees, "I know it's hard. But it's necessary. I'll never ask you to do anything like that. I swear it."

"I..." Yellow eyes opened, a complicated rush of emotions pulling at them before she glanced to one side. Adam quickly reached up and caught her chin, pulling her face back around to look at him while Ilia found her own eyes narrowing a little. "I.."

"Our next mission," Adam spoke over her, firmly but not severely. "Is in the north. An SDC enclosed village with more than a hundred faunus trapped inside. A good mission. A just mission."

"...ok." Blake said quietly, her eyes seemingly focusing on the brand that had ruined her partner's face. "I'll be ready."

He nodded once, leaned up and kissed her for a moment. Ilia started to look away, but found her eyes narrowing further when Blake clearly began to lean in to the kiss just as Adam pulled back. The disappointed expression she held faded when he gave her an almost proud smile, then he returned to his chair, attention turning back to Ilia.

"You'll be coming with us, resuming your post as lead scout." He informed her, voice turning curt. "You and Blake will be in charge of leading us along the route, then you'll be on watch for the Grimm during the actual raid."

Ilia tapped a single finger on the makeshift table. "Will I be berated for merely doing an 'acceptable' job this time as well?"

Adam's one good eye narrowed sharply, then Blake quickly reached out to take his hand. He seemed to squeeze it once, nod slightly, then spoke, "I... apologize for doing that in front of your men. It was... not a good example to set."

As far as apologies went that one was both unexpected yet utterly lacking. She was more than ready to needle him further, only for Blake's other hand to reach out and grab onto one of hers. A glance saw their eyes meet, and not for the first time Ilia felt her heart skip a beat before she quickly looked away.

"I... apology accepted." She managed to mumble out. "Just do it in private next time, or work it out in a spar between the three of us or something."

While he didn't look terribly thrilled at her words himself, or maybe it was just a bit of possessiveness over how she'd reacted to Blake, he kept his own words conciliatory. "That would probably be better, yes."

Ilia nodded and sipped some tea, Blake giving her hand a final squeeze before letting go. Her hand immediately felt colder, and she self-consciously brought it to cradle her warm cup as well. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." Adam straightened a little, looking glad for the return to businesses. "We have a few vehicles now, donated or brought with from the western villages. Should only take us a few days to reach the northern coast and the SDC camp. Like I said, you and Blake will be in the front in an open car. Once we get closer you'll go ahead to ensure the path is clear."

"No others with us?" She asked.

"No." His head shook once, "I unlocked a few auras, and we picked up a half-trained recruit last week, but I need them here, training. We'll take one team of your city dwellers with us. Banesaw will be responsible for whipping the rest into shape."

Ilia blinked. "Who?"

"Grey." Blake rolled her eyes, "One of the reports we got from Sienna called him that, apparently it's the SDC's new code-name for him. He liked it so much he's telling everyone to use it instead of his actual name."

"Oh gods." She groaned. "He would."

Adam smirked at her, "It's certainly better than Trix"

She blinked again, "What?"

Color rose up in Blake's cheeks while Adam's grin grew, "Your code-name. You fight with a whip and like to wear leather, but the full title was a bit long so they shortened it down to Trix."

Ilia needed a second before her mouth fell open, "You can't be serious! Blake, tell me this bastard is lying!"

"Well..."

Adam started cackling, and for one afternoon... they were all friends again. Joking, laughing, teasing, eating together. But every time her eyes met Adam's... Ilia knew that things had changed. That something had come between them. That the laughter and jokes were more for Blake's sake than theirs, that Blake was the only reason they'd even attempted to apologize to one another. Tried to put the display of Adam's temper behind them.

But... it wasn't that far behind them, and Ilia felt certain that things would get worse before they got better.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

"Well done Sister Ilia!" A broad hand slapped her shoulder, the man's smile infectious. "The Schnee's will feel that one!"

"They will." Ilia did her best to keep a smile on her face, and to keep her skin a neutral tan.

A slim woman with a doe's horns protruding from brown hair grabbed her hand, shaking it in an excited motion. "Thank you so much for killing those Grimm! I was terrified!"

"It was no problem at all, just doing my duty." Her cheeks were starting to ache from the forced grin.

"How many Grimm did you kill?" One of the cooks, a young man who'd had half of his lion tail cut off by a Human shouted. "Did you get more than Belladonna?"

"We don't keep score when it comes to Grimm. The only thing that mattered was that none of them got past us." There was a pleased rumble from the crowd surrounding her, the press of bodies making everything seem too close. "Excuse me, I think I need some water. I'm sure Blake will be happy to talk about it!"

That got a few of them looking over to where Blake was on Adam's arm, the two of them standing on a crate while their own admirers pelted them with praise and questions. It was enough to let her slip through, though it remained slow going. It seemed like everyone in their underground base had come out to celebrate the successful raid. While the men and women who'd actually freed the miners were getting most of the attention, everyone had apparently been told how she and Blake had fought off several dozen Grimm who'd been drawn to the fighting.

Ilia managed to get free after a few more handshakes, a hug from a fox-tailed woman that she'd have appreciated a lot more any other day, and several more slaps on the back.

A few of the cooks, mostly the elderly types, were hard at work preparing a victory feast. Not much was done yet but she was able to fill a tall glass of water and grab a loaf of bread for herself.

Then she took a quick glance around to make sure few people were paying attention anymore... and pulled her semblance in around her.

It wouldn't make her vanish. Not in the light and with so many people around, but she'd done a few experiments with it in Vale. So far as she could tell, when she used it in a crowd she didn't blend in so much as she simply became utterly unremarkable. So boring, so expected, that no one really paid much attention so long as she didn't do anything exceptionally unusual.

I really don't want to think about what my semblance says about my personality... or soul... or whatever.

The few people still hoping that she'd regale them with tales of glorious victory seemed to lose interest as she casually began walking away. Within a minute no one was even looking in her direction, which made it easily to escape to the ruined building she'd been assigned.

Adam and Blake may have gotten theirs cleaned up, but she was sure that Adam had picked hers out on purpose. No one had done more than make a token effort of cleaning out the ruined diner, and the only amenity was a cot in what had once been a kitchen.

Ilia wasted little time in setting her meal aside so that she collapse onto her ratted blankets, her hands rising to cover her face.

The raid had been textbook. Perfect.

She and Blake had scouted it out, picked out the weak spots in the perimeter, and then told Adam. He'd led a dozen of their Mistralian veterans backed up by twice as many Valean recruits in, breaching the walls and attacking the SDC guards. Somewhere in there the exterior turrets had gotten shut down, and Beowolves had come storming in to feast on the negative emotions.

It had been good to fight next to Blake again. She was still a bit raw, but she was more than good enough to deal with juvenile Grimm. They'd put most of them down without any trouble, the only tight spot coming when the pack leader had tried to get around them to get at the escaping miners.

Ilia had handled it personally, killing it in front of a dozen terrified men and women, too many of whom had SDC brands showing somewhere on their bodies.

She'd felt good in that moment, as they cheered her. As they cried and laughed. She'd felt like a hero.

And then she'd turned to her right, intending to get back to Blake, and had a perfect view into the compound.

Where Adam was executing a line of kneeling prisoners one at a time.

Her stomach churned at the memory, her hands pressing against her eyes as if that would make her stop seeing it in her head.

A boot crunched on broken glass outside of her 'room', but she didn't bother looking until she heard Blake speak. "Ilia? What are you doing in here? You should be out celebrating with us."

Ilia let her right hand fall away, opening that eye to look over her young friend. Blake's cheeks were red, a bit flushed. Someone had probably given her some alcohol. Or she'd been goaded into kissing Adam in public. Or both.

"You're their hero." Blake smiled, taking a few steps closer and holding out a hand. "Come on! Carr found a pair of guitars, and Flae is making drums out of scrap. They're trying to find someone to play so we can have music and dancing."

Sucking in a deep breath, Ilia slowly let it out. She was too cheerful. Too happy.

"Come on Ilia." Blake's smile turned mischievous, "There's a very pretty woman who was asking after you."

"...you didn't see it." She said quietly. "You couldn't have seen it."

The smile turned into a puzzled frown. "Saw what? What's wrong?"

Oh gods. She really didn't know. She hadn't seen it. "What Adam did."

"Adam?" Blake's frown deepened. "Ilia you're not making any sense. Today was perfect! We freed oppressed faunus, we destroyed an SDC mine! We did it without losing anyone!"

Ilia sat up, her head shaking once. "Blake... Adam killed them."

"What?"

"The SDC employees." She kept her voice low. "He killed the prisoners. All of them."

The young woman's mouth parted, then closed as she visibly swallowed. "No. No."

"Blake, I saw-"

"He wouldn't have done something like that. The guards fought us and tried to kill the miners! He only killed the ones fighting!"

"He-"

It was Blake's turn to shake her head, black hair flying back and forth. "He told me, Ilia. He made sure I knew what he did! So that I wouldn't be disappointed in him, that I wouldn't think him a monster! He only killed the ones who were trying to hurt faunus!"

Ilia felt her freckles and scales ripple to a sullen red. "I saw him killing kneeling men and women!"

"You saw wrong!" Blake snapped. "Adam wouldn't do that!"

"Then what happened to the rest of the mine's staff?" She demanded.

"He left them tied up in the compound!"

"Their corpses maybe." Ilia growled. "He-"

A foot stamped hard on the floor as Blake stalked forwards, looming over her. "Stop lying! You're just... you're projecting! You assassinated someone and now you're trying to make it seem like Adam would do the same!"

Red began a furious yellow, her skin brightening to scarlet as well. "Projecting!? He's the one who tried to order me to assassinate a fifteen year old boy!"

Blake's body tensed, then her right shoulder shifted, arm coming up. Ilia knew what that meant but she didn't, couldn't believe that she would actually do it.

Not until her cheek stung from the force of the slap, snapping her body from a furious red to a stunned blue.

"Stop lying!" Blake's voice cracked. "He would never order anything like that! He's a good man! He's our friend, Ilia! You... by the ancient gods, you're the one who introduced us!"

"Winchester was an enemy! He was fighting us! I... I didn't like doing it, but I did what I had to."

Blake crossed her arms high on her chest, glaring down her nose at her. "So what?"

"He wasn't an hourly employee stuck in an isolated mine!" She snapped back. "He wasn't someone who had no say in what the SDC does to our people! He wasn't a defeated man kneeling in the dirt!"

"No! No more lies!"

"Adam is changing!" She insisted. "He's angrier! More bloodthirsty! It's not the first time he went too far and it won't be the last! I'm trying to make you see that before you get hurt!"

"You're wrong! Adam isn't like that, he's... oh. Oh. That's what this is about!"

Ilia blinked. "Blake, I'm trying to tell you what I-"

"You're trying to break us up!" Blake spat. "Again! You're jealous that I'm with him and not you."

"What!? No! I'm-"

"Adam warned me about this. He said you weren't over me. That you were jealous of us. Jealous of him. That you wanted to be leader, that you wanted me!"

"Blake! I don't want his position!" She tried, again, to make the stubborn girl listen to her. "I'm trying to warn you that he's-"

Blake slapped her again, making her head snap back to collide with the wall behind her. She might have gone for a third but Ilia felt her patience snap. Within a breath she'd surged onto her feet, driving the younger girl back.

Yellow eyes widened in fear as Ilia brought a fist up, her teeth grinding as she throttled the urge to slam it into Blake's face.

"I..." She forced herself to lower her arm, to breath evenly. "If you hit me again I'm going to lose it."

Pale skin worked as Blake swallowed again.

"Blake," Ilia sucked in a ragged breath, letting it out after a few seconds. "I know what I saw. Adam killed those people. He killed all of them. Then he apparently lied to you about it. Sienna had to stop him from doing it in the past. I saw that too."

Blake scrunched her eyes closed... and shook her head. "No. He wouldn't. He wouldn't. You're wrong."

"Blake-"

"You're wrong! I'm not... I'm not listening to you attack him anymore. I'm going to go dance! Stay here and sulk!"

"Blake!" She tried to grab her arm only for her fingers to simply go through a transparent limb. Her shoulders fell as the after-image faded into black smoke, rapid footsteps vanishing as the girl ran away from her.

A single step was all she could manage before she stopped. She would never catch Blake unless she wanted to be caught, and if she went out there all she would do is make things worse. Make them public. Create another screaming match between herself and Adam, right in the middle of a celebration.

Ilia fell back onto her cot, sitting with her back to the wall.

How did things go so wrong?

She... wasn't going to shed any tears over what Adam had done. Not after what had happened to her parents. Maybe those people had deserved what happened. Maybe they hadn't.

But... how did killing them help the faunus? Wasn't that what this was all supposed to be about? If every SDC employee knew what they'd be killed if captured, would fewer of them join the company? Or would fewer of them surrender, costing more faunus lives when they fought to the death?

Killing Lord Winchester had... had been a dark act, but it had been a necessary one. He'd been a true enemy of the faunus. He'd exploited them, abused them, and used every bit of his wealth and political power to make their lives worse. Once he was dead, his companies put under more management, his true self exposed... things had changed.

And what did lying to Blake about everything do to help the faunus? Do to help Blake?

Ilia... wasn't comfortable with Blake knowing what she'd done either, but when Blake had pressed her she hadn't lied about it.

Adam had. He'd also apparently warned Blake about her. That she was still crushing on her, that she was jealous of him. He'd... he'd primed her to not believe anything Ilia said about him.

Glass crunched. Ilia looked up in time to see the man in question step inside. He'd removed his mask, showing off the brand that forever marred his features.

"Ilia." His voice was a low growl.

"Adam." She replied in the same tones. "You lied to Blake."

Her Leader narrowed his functional eye. A hand rummaged in a pocket, emerging with a key-chain. They clinked as he tossed them into her lap. "That's for one of the trucks. I want you gone by morning. I will contact Mistral to have a boat ready to pick you up near Ansel."

Ilia clenched her jaw. "Sienna assigned me to Vale."

"And I'm the Leader of the Vale branch." He replied. "I'm transferring you to Menagerie, where your bleeding heart belongs. You and Ghira can sing peace songs and plan protests together, maybe offer a couple of token prayers for the dead and dying in the Atlesian mines."

For the second time Ilia found herself on her feet, everything red as she snarled. "Don't you dare bring my parents into this!"

Adam sneered and stepped closer, looming as if to remind her of the difference in their sizes. "Then maybe you should learn to keep your mouth shut. While you're at it, maybe you can stop showing sympathy for our enemies at the same time."

"I'm not sympathetic for them! You know how I feel about Humans." Ilia stood her ground, getting up on her toes to get back in Adam's face. "But I don't let my feelings get in the way of my job! And my job is to make the lives of faunus better!"

"That is what I did." He growled back.

Ilia snorted. "Oh yeah, a couple of dozen beheaded civilians. That's exactly what we need to inspire change."

"Inspire change." Sarcasm dripped from the words. "You sound just like Ghira. We're not here to inspire anything. We're here to force it. Be gone before dawn... or I'll have to take you to task for making Blake cry."

Then he turned, slamming his shoulder into her, driving her back as he stalked out.

Ilia could only clench her fists... and glare at his back.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

Ilia brought a fist into an open palm, lowering her head as she saluted the woman she admired above all others. "Huntress Amitola reporting from Vale, High Leader Khan."

"Ilia." Even with her eyes locked on the floor, she could feel Sienna's frown. "Not that I'm displeased to see my favorite lieutenant, but I cannot help but wonder why you are here. I did not recall you from Vale. I don't remember any emergencies that would warrant Adam dispatching you either."

"No, ma'am. Leader Taurus... transferred me under his own authority."

Silence. Then there was a tired groan so quiet she might have imagined it, "Pick your head up and tell me what that hot-headed idiot has done with the position I granted him."

She grimaced but did as she was told, letting her hands fall to her sides as she brought her eyes up. Sienna looked both displeased yet somehow unsurprised, a single finger tapping on the armrest of her throne.

"I..." Ilia glanced past the High Leader, at the guards standing not far behind her. "It may be best discussed in private, High Leader."

Sienna's expression grew even darker. For a moment Ilia thought she would have her speak anyway, but then she snapped the fingers of one hand. "Everyone out. Seal the room, ensure no one enters."

Four men and women exchanged significant glances before bowing to their leader. A minute later they had all filed out, the doors closing with a heavy finality.

"What did the fool do?"

Ilia swallowed and lowered her eyes again. "Three weeks ago we conducted a raid on an SDC mine in northern Vale."

"Stop staring at your feet." Sienna barked. "And I know about the raid, I read the reports. It was a fairly routine victory over an isolated outpost. What did he leave out?"

"He... left out the part where he bound and then executed twelve civilian employees after the fighting was complete."

Silence. For a moment she didn't think Sienna was even breathing, then the older woman let out a tight exhalation and leaned back in her throne. "I see. What else?"

"He lied about it to Blake, and presumably everyone who wasn't directly involved. He said he'd left them tied up but unharmed. When I attempted to tell her the truth of the matter... went poorly. He accused me of being sympathetic for our enemies, told me to return to Ghira if I could no longer do what needed to be done."

A dark finger began tapping on her armrest again. "Did he give a reason? Did they bear arms?"

Ilia shook her head. "Not that I know of, High Leader. He gave no reason. I asked him what killing them did to advance the cause of the faunus. He didn't answer."

More silence came as Sienna folded her hands before her face, her eyes half-closed. Ilia remained at attention, saying nothing either, waiting for the High Leader to make her thoughts known.

"On its own I have no opinion on the deaths of SDC employees." Sienna finally said. "They were complicit in the crimes of the company through inaction and tolerance if nothing else, especially those overseeing an isolated mine. That being said... the fact that Adam felt the need to cover it up does concern me. I will have an office set aside for you, and all of the reports that Adam has dispatched from Vale printed out. I want you to go through each and every one of them and tell me what else he has been less than truthful about."

"Yes, High Leader. I will begin at once."

Sienna smiled, but there was an edge to it. "No. Take a day off, enjoy being home. You'll need it."

Ilia blinked. "High Leader?"

"Adam has no authority to transfer Hunter level agents between branches." That small edge grew until she was practically snarling. "Not without my direct approval, and apparently he couldn't even be bothered to tell me he was stepping beyond his permit. You will have three days to review his reports. Trifa will have returned from her own assignment by then. The pair of you will return to Vale with an official censure for that fool."

Her throat went dry. "A full censure?"

"Yes. If he oversteps his authority again I will have him relieved of command. I gave him that position against the advice of several others, veterans who thought him too young. I told them he could handle it, that he was exactly what we needed. And he is already lying on official reports and transferring a Huntress without either asking permission or even informing me!"

Freckles and eyes turned gray in fear at the rage lacing through Sienna's voice. It wasn't something Ilia had seriously considered before, though in hindsight she really should have. Sienna had probably risked a lot of her reputation by giving Adam command of one of the White Fang's five major cells. She'd shown him an incredible amount of trust in relying on him to turn around the situation in Vale.

And he hadn't even had the job for a year before he was making it look like a mistake.

Part of her relished the idea of being able to throw that into Adam's face. Of being able to tell him he was on thin ice, that he had lost Sienna's favor. That one more mistake would see him relieved of his title.

The rest of her imagined his reaction and nearly flinched.

At least Trifa will be there with me.

"Understood."

Sienna nodded, settling back once more as she visibly calmed herself. "Good. You may go. Report in tomorrow morning to begin your work."

Ilia saluted once more, the High Leader waving her off in response.

Outside the guards chuckled at her expression, one giving her a companionable pat on the shoulder. "We could hear the shouting. How bad was it?"

"Could have been worse." She shook her head. "I get to review reports for three days, but I get the rest of tonight off."

"Could be worse." He agreed. "Welcome home sister."

"Thank you, brother." Ilia waved as they filed back into the room, leaving her free to make her way out of the building. A few people she recognized stopped her to say hello, being just as surprised as Sienna to see her. She even ran into Fennec Albain near the exit, the man for once out and about without his brother.

He was a bit startled to see her, but he was eager to talk about how things were going in Vale. They spent a few minutes conversing before he had to move on, heading to his own meeting with Sienna.

Which left her free to walk the crowded streets of Kuo Kuana.

After time in Vale, the only city of faunus felt... different. When she'd been a little girl, running away from life in an orphanage in Mantle, it had been the most beautiful city she'd ever seen. Filled with trees, with the sounds of the ocean, with so many people who didn't judge her just because she could change color.

It had been perfect.

Now that she was older though... she felt how cramped it was. How dangerous it was to have a city built largely of wood and paper. How little technology could be seen, how every device was at least ten years out of date. How everyone conserved dust anyway they could.

It was still beautiful... but it was beauty on a knife's edge. A city of half a million prayers that none of the seasonal hurricanes swept farther west than usual. That the desert stayed east of the mountains. That the fishing fleets could keep everyone fed. That Mistral and Vale wouldn't embargo them as Atlas had. That their few huntsman and small militia could keep the Grimm at bay.

Ilia's eyes slid across the horizon, finally settling on the largest one in sight.

...you have to go there. You know you do. Just because they gave up doesn't meant that you don't owe them.

Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded once and set off.

Thirty minutes of dragging her feet later, and a basket of freshly caught saber-fish from a vendor tucked under one arm, she arrived at the Belladonna estate. Much like Sienna's smaller complex there were guards outside, though they bore the colors of Kuo Kuana's militia rather than the White Fang.

One of them recognized her, simply waving her by when she approached. That left her to be the one to pull back one of the heavy knockers.

The boom it made when released was as intimidating as it had been when she'd been a scared little girl... and the smiling face who pulled the door open was just as welcoming.

"Ilia?" Her voice was just as surprised as everyone else seemed to be, but her smile widened on seeing her. "You should have called ahead! Oh you didn't have to bring food dear."

"Hey Mrs Belladonna, and I always do."

"Kali, dear." The older woman quickly ushered her in, the pair exchanging a quick hug before breaking apart. "Come in, come in. Is...?"

Ilia felt her eyes shift to a morose blue at the hope in her voice. "I'm sorry, she's still in Vale."

For a brief moment the smile faltered, then snapped back into place. "It's all right dear. I'll tell Ghira that you're here, and have the cooks put those lovely fish in the oven."

The estate had hardly changed since she had been there last. It was almost painfully nostalgic to walk down the halls to the dining room, to settle onto the floor. Two servants bustled around, bringing in tea and plates filled with small cookies, taking the fish she'd brought as they left.

"Ilia!" Ghira's booming voice was as startling as ever, the giant of a man towering over his wife as they arrived. "Good to see you! I thought you were in Vale, is everything all right?"

"Everything's all right, Chieftain."

"Ilia." He managed to say her name in the same way her real father had in her fading memories. The perfect mix of fondness and disappointment. "You have a room in our house, even if it is a bit dusty. You know to call me Ghira."

She turned a bit pink before rippling back to tan. "I'm sorry. It's, um, been a while. Ghira."

He smiled as he settled in to sit across from her, Kali following behind to sit beside her husband. "It's all right, you were always a bit formal. Probably thanks to that school you went to."

"Probably." Her smile turned a bit brittle at the reminder. "How's home?"

"As calm and peaceful as always."

Kali smiled, "Liar. You and Corsec had to be separated by Sienna in the last Council session. She hasn't stopped gloating about being the one to play peacemaker since."

The sight of the massive Ghira pouting made her giggle and her spots flare trun orange, her colors brightening as he was quick to remind his wife of how she'd nearly gotten into a fight with a fellow shopper over the last tuna at the market. They spent the time until dinner telling her about life at home. A few more amusing stories of a life at peace, then more serious discussions about how the militia and White Fang were doing protecting the city.

"Sienna led an expedition into the interior last month." Ghira was saying as the servants began to bring out dinner. "They dealt with a pair of elder Grimm near the river. I'm going out in a few days to clear the coast near the mouth."

Ilia perked up. "We're going ahead with the dam project?"

He nodded. "Assuming our contacts in Vacuo come through on their idea of generating electricity from turbines. It could cut our dust imports by half."

"I'm sure the SDC has an opinion on that."

Ghira shrugged. "I'm sure they do, but Atlas already refuses to trade with us. They'll probably put pressure on Mistral and Vale to follow suit, but there are few corporations that will ship to us to begin with. It will hurt, but we'll survive."

"It helps," Kali added, "That Shade and Beacon Academies have consented to start sending their fourth year teams to help us clear the ground."

Ilia frowned as she set her tea aside. "They still won't help us set up our own school?"

The big man sighed. "They're both willing but Atlas is maintaining their hard line. Any Huntsman Academy will be considered a terrorist training facility and will be attacked as one. Mistral is still in their pocket, and Vale's Council won't commit to defending our independence."

Her frown became a scowl. "Of course they won't."

The Belladonna's exchanged looks before Kali shook her head, "We can talk more after dinner, dear."

The salted fish was perfect, the rice fluffy as she dug into both. The mixed vegetables weren't her favorite but the rest of it was good enough that she forgave their taste. In what seemed like no time at all the food was gone, cleared away, and more tea had been served.

"How is Vale?" Ghira asked. "We haven't heard much news lately."

"Not as bad as Mistral or Atlas, but it's not great either. Vale itself is a bit better than the villages." She relayed her experiences in the kingdom, in Ansel, and then in the city proper. Ghira in particular seemed to slump when she told him how quickly they'd begun to roll back the equality laws after he'd stepped down as High Leader.

"We were doing pretty good at pushing back before those criminals tracked me down." Her head shook, freckles bright as she complained. "Practically everyone had taken down those 'No Faunus' signs like you see in Mistral. I mean, they had other ways of making us feel unwelcome, but it was an improvement. We were making it dangerous and unpopular to be blatantly racist."

Ghira nodded slowly. He likely didn't like the word 'dangerous', but he was too polite to say as much at the dinner table. "Good, that's good. Did you consider going public with more information?"

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

He shifted in discomfort. "We... did hear about Lord Winchester."

Ilia froze, skin darkening to a horrified gray, eyes and freckles a depressed blue before she could even try to control them. It was all the admission they needed to know exactly who had done the deed.

"It's all right, Ilia." Ghira shook his head. "I won't pass judgment on you. If you ever need to talk about it you know that we're here."

Her eyes lowered. "He... was a racist. One of the worst. I.. I heard him. Screaming at Headmaster Ozpin, about how we were animals who didn't deserve to go to Beacon."

A warm hand patted hers, drawing her attention to Kali. "We read the files that you leaked after. I believe that was what Ghira meant earlier."

"Oh, yes, yes." Her husband was quick to keep going, to get past the awkward moment where they realized they'd just shared a meal with an assassin. An assassin they'd welcomed into their own home as something like a surrogate daughter. "That is what I meant. Vale is the most progressive of the three kingdoms. They react badly to having their dirty laundry displayed in public."

Ilia swallowed, "I.. what do you mean?"

"Have you considered finding more information like that?" He pressed gently. "Things that could help push the public onto your side? Sienna's people in Argus are doing very well with that. I... still don't condone the raids they launch, but they're using them to help uncover corruption, working practices, quiet orders to treat faunus worse than Humans. They're going public with them and humiliating a great many who thought things weren't as bad as they are."

She blinked a few times. She hadn't, not really, but it... was a decent idea. There had been a pretty big backlash when they'd put out Winchester's damaging letters, enough to completely ruin the coverage of his funeral. If they could find more information like that, make it clear just how many Humans still thought of them as disgusting pests...

It could help. Maybe it could even get a few Humans onto our side, put more pressure on the ones that just stand around and pretend they don't see anything. Of course... Adam would hate it. It's not violent enough for him. He'd just want me to kill whoever it was and not bother stealing anything after.

"It's not a bad idea. Vale's a lot larger than Argus, we wouldn't lack for targets." She said finally. "And I know at least one good agent in Vale who would love that kind of action. Maybe the two of us can come up with a few plans."

Ghira smiled. "Good to know an old man still has a couple of worthwhile suggestions left."

"Not that old dear." It was his turn for Kali to pat him on the hand, smiling. "How is everything else going Ilia?"

How is Blake doing?

"Things are..." She hesitated. She wanted to tell them that she was fine, that everything was all right. To avoid the uncomfortable topic. But... she couldn't do that to them. Not after everything they'd done for her. Not after they hadn't said anything after she'd admitted to murdering a man for the cause. "...not great."

Both of them sat up a bit straighter, Kali quickly speaking again. "Is she all right? She wasn't wounded in a fight was she?"

"No, no! Nothing like that, she's just..." Her spots and eyes flared yellow, "She's with Adam. And he's changing."

A sound like cracking plates made her avert her eyes again, Ghira's growl growing in volume as he spoke. "I knew that boy would be trouble one day. What is he doing with our daughter?"

Lying to her about executing helpless men and women, and driving me away from her. "I don't know. He sent me to Vale to work there, she stayed with him out in the country side. But... when I tried to talk to her about something he did, something he didn't tell her about, she wouldn't hear it. Defended him, accused me of... well, you can guess."

Kali's scowl was nearly as ferocious as her husband's. "That sounds like that manipulative little man. Not helped by the fact that he always knew that we did not approve of him. I always thought he was quite jealous of you, you know. That we welcomed you into our home while never showing him that kindness. I take it that these changes are not for the better?"

"No. He's..." Ilia's jaw worked. "...he's getting more violent. He berated me in public because I was only conducting a raid a week, that I left Vale rather than confront Torchwick when he tracked me down. Then we got into another argument where he accused me of being sympathetic for the people who killed my parents just because I... wouldn't do something."

Their scowls deepened, but it was Kali who kept speaking. "I can imagine what that was, dear. Is that why you're back? To tell Sienna?"

"He... tried to transfer me. Without her knowledge or approval. She's furious with him."

Ghira let out a low grunt. "He never liked the idea of restrictions on what he could or couldn't do. I knew she made a mistake when she promoted him, and now so does she."

"You can tell her you told her so later dear. Preferably after Ilia leaves to that Sienna doesn't berate the poor dear for telling us."

Ilia flushed blue, "Um, please. If you could. Sienna shouting about how angry she was with Adam was bad enough, I really don't want her screaming at me."

"I know, I know." Ghira seemed to settle down a bit, though his anger remained. "Are you going back to Vale?"

"Yes, in a few days."

"Could you... take a letter for us? To our daughter?"

Ilia didn't hesitate. "Of course."

"Thank you." He smiled. "You're a good person Ilia. Never forget that."

Her mouth opened... and she averted her eyes once again, unable to reply.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

"Ilia!" Perry's shout made her wince, an expression that turned into a full on grimace when he surged forward as if he was about to hug her. He seemed to recognize her body language at the last second, pulling up and awkwardly sticking a hand out instead. "Gods it's good to see you!"

"Good to see you too." She replied, more polite than honest. Thankfully more people began to trickle into Vale's warehouse headquarters, slipping between crates and smiling when they saw her waiting for them in casual jeans and a thin coat. "Tukson, Liam! Good to see you both as well."

The other two men seemed nearly as happy to see her as Perry. Sort of. Tukson looked more relieved than anything else, and he didn't even wait for the greetings to wrap up before asking, "Are you here to assist or are you being named Leader again?"

Perry's smile turned a bit wooden, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the two hadn't been getting along in her absence. When he spoke again his voice had cooled considerably. "Come on Berg, we can talk business after Ilia meets the other recruits and gets some rest. She's probably been on the road for days."

"No, it's fine." She quickly interjected. "It's something we have to talk about right away, I can catch up on my sleep at my hotel later."

Even the wooden smile faded. "I'm being demoted?"

Ilia winced. While she wasn't a fan of Perry's obvious crush on her, or his attitudes at times, that didn't mean she wanted to cut him down like this. He was a good soldier and he'd taken well to her training the last time through. Even tried to defend her when Adam had started screaming at her. Sort of. "Liam? Could you make sure we're not interrupted? This is just for the three of us."

The pale man gave her a quick nod, fox tail curling a bit in agitation as he retreated. Ilia waited until she heard him pushing a few others back, telling them that the leaders were having a private conversation before she motioned for the two men to sit as she picked out an armchair.

Perry quickly grabbed another, while Tukson settled onto a nearby couch.

"I am demoted then." Perry said before she could speak, his small canine ears flat against his head.

She sighed. "Technically no."

"Technically?"

"Adam didn't have the authority to transfer me to begin with." She explained patiently. "You're not being demoted from Leader, you get to keep the title and some of the authority. I'm only taking direct command of the Vale cell by way of seniority."

He frowned a little, working on that. "Wait, he didn't? But he's the Vale Leader! He's got to have the right to appoint cell commanders."

"Yes, he does. And if he'd just demoted me it would have been fine. But he didn't, he transferred me."

"So?"

I forgot how slow on the uptake you can be at times.

"Perry, I'm not a regular agent. I'm a Hunter." Ilia spread her hands apart. "There's not enough of us in the White Fang to begin with, so our transfers have to be approved by the High Leader herself to make sure each cell has what they need. The last thing she wants is for someone to get rid of a Hunter because of a personality clash or lover's quarrel, then get an entire cell decimated by Grimm."

Tukson sighed. "She's right, and she's trying to help you save face."

Perry still didn't look very happy, so she spoke again with the better news. "I've got further orders from Sienna to reorganize the cell based on how the Argus and Mistral groups are running. One cell devoted to acting openly, going after racists, the SDC, that kind of thing. Perry? That will be yours."

He did seem to perk up a little at that. "So what I already focus on?"

A muscle in her cheek twitched. He could have at least made a token effort to hide the fact that he hadn't been bothering with the outreach side of things. "Yes, but you'll pick out three agents who will report directly to me. I'll be using them as my personal support when I go out on any priority assignments. That will include any future assassination missions. Those have to be done with care and as organized a team as possible."

"Me, Liam... and Lectrie then."

Don't snap at him. Don't. "Perry... you're a Leader. If I'm doing something on my own it's because you and Tukson are going to be busy with something else. And I do need your help with something like another Winchester assignment I can call you in then."

"Oh, right." His disappointment was palpable. "Nava then."

She nodded. "Thank you. Tukson? You're going to be handling the community outreach detachment."

The bookseller frowned. "Are we actually going to do that now?"

Perry flushed badly enough that she felt the need to speak before he could. "Yes. I want charity works, online activity, and connections in faunus neighborhoods. An old faunus lady wants to cross the street? I want her helped. Kids need an escort to school? Handle it. Vandals messing with faunus homes? Get their addresses to Perry. I want every faunus in Vale to have a positive opinion of us to the point where any of their homes is a potential safehouse."

Tukson nodded slowly. "What about in the wider community?"

"The Human community." Perry muttered. "Who cares what they think?"

"All of us." The bigger man snapped back. "There's a hell of a lot more of them than faunus in this city."

Ilia slammed a fist on the armrest of her chair, the thump more muffled than she'd have liked but enough to get their attention. "Enough! Both of you!"

They broke eye contact, focusing on her as she continued. "Perry, you need to reign in that temper. I don't like Humans anymore than you do, practically all of them either abuse us or just stand by and watch. But that doesn't mean Tukson is wrong. There's too damned many to just ignore them."

Perry swallowed and looked away. "...yes ma'am."

"And to answer your question Tukson," She went on. "That's going to be my job. When I'm not coordinating your activities or helping train recruits, I'm going back to being a burglar. But this time I'm not going for lien, I'm going for information. Letters, messages, journals, records, whatever I can grab that will make the Humans hate their own kind the most. If what we find is bad enough... we'll consider elimination, but the main goal is try and force the Humans to clean up some of their own problems for once."

Another nod from Tukson was followed by a third, more energetic one. "I like it. Air their dirty laundry, make us look like freedom fighters instead of terrorists."

She pointed a finger at him. "Exactly. And if any of them double-down on being racists bastards they'll be a priority target. I'll handle single individuals if it comes to that. Perry will make sure there's not a single business in town that doesn't regret treating us like slaves."

That last seemed to perk Perry up a bit, even if he still didn't look exactly happy with the new order of things. Still he was content enough to go round everyone else up to come and greet her, to be told how things would be working moving forwards. The question and answer sessions that followed took several hours, and she was more than a little wrung out by the time she called it a day.

Perry had promised to get the upstairs office cleaned up for her by tomorrow, and to pick out the people he wanted transferred to his cell. Well, he'd more or less made it clear that he was going to take anyone even vaguely competent and leave Tukson with the dregs.

"He's going to be a problem." Tukson rumbled as the two of them slipped outside, walking for the man's car. "I think he wanted to murder me when I offered to drive you back to your hotel."

Her lips twisted. "I'd really hoped he'd be done with his crush by now. I've been gone for nearly two months."

And her return to Mountain Glenn hadn't been pretty. If Sienna hadn't sent Trifa with her she was sure that Adam would have simply kicked her right back out again, and even then he'd quickly found the loophole to get her out of his hair. Just as she'd told Perry, he'd never bothered to officially fire her as the Leader of the Vale Cell, and he was well within his rights to tell her to get back to her job.

Not that she really minded. Her attempts to talk to Blake had resulted in the younger woman vanishing on sight, and in the end she'd had to leave Ghira's letter in her room. Trifa had promised to keep an eye on her when she wasn't busy watching Adam like a hawk, and she'd have far better luck in that than Ilia would. Adam would have found any way he could to get rid of her, to send her out on dead-end assignments as far from him and Blake as possible.

At least in Vale she could exert some kind of control over what was going on. Try and get things back on track, back to what Sienna's vision was. And if Adam sent orders that she didn't like, she'd have access to a mini-CCT transmitter to confirm with Sienna about what she should and should not be doing.

"How bad has it gotten?" She asked as they got to his old truck. "Adam's reports weren't exactly detailed."

He grunted as they pulled open the doors, sliding inside. "It's bad. Police put out a notice that there's a shoot-on-sight order for anyone in a White Fang mask. That was last week. They already gunned down one of us, plus two teenagers who were trying to impress us enough to join up."

Ilia's spots flared red. "Dammit. Those idiots were running around attacking anyone they felt like weren't they?"

The engine rumbled to life when he turned the key, "Yeah. It gets worse. Perry learned a bit from you and from Taurus, but he wasn't ready for taking command. He's sloppy about code names, covering his tracks, and a dozen other things. We've lost people."

Oh good. I know where this is going. "How many? Dead? Captured? Missing?"

"Four of our better fighters are in jail, they were all in the same car and got caught speeding a half hour after shooting up a diner." She let her head fall back as he pulled out onto the street, driving slowly through the afternoon traffic. "Police found the masks and guns in the trunk because they didn't even bother to try and hide or ditch them. Candy and Robin are both dead. We got low on cash, Perry sent them to stick up a bank in the rough part of town."

"Cops?"

"It was a cartel bank. They killed them both, tracked us down, and then shot up Mazon in the security booth. Left a note on his body that they'd do worse if we ever did business in their territory again."

...dammit.

"Those were some of our best recruits." She sighed. "Did he at least recover the bodies?"

His voice was low, angry, and that told her all she needed to know. "Can you get rid of him?"

"Not without Adam's approval, and Adam likes Perry. Thinks he's got potential."

"Because they're both bloodthirsty morons who can't even-"

Ilia hissed, eyes blazing scarlet and yellow. "Tukson! Too far."

The fingers he had on the wheel flexed, claws emerging to dig into the leather. "...just calling it like I see it, Leader."

She inhaled slowly, then let it out. "He's a good fighter, and he's personable enough that everyone seems to like him. Apart from you... and me when he forgets that I'm both gay and not interested in him. We put him in the combat cell and do our best to make sure he only goes after approved targets, and knows to keep the collateral damage down."

Tukson grunted. Not so much agreeing she thought, so much as acknowledging that she'd spoken. There wasn't going to be any love lost between her subordinates that was for sure.

"I'm going to have to spend a lot of time looking over his shoulder, and hopefully making sure he doesn't get the wrong idea about our relationship." She continued. "I'm going to trust you to mostly run your team on your own."

That earned her a more positive sounding grunt as they stopped at a red light. "Do I get a budget?"

"Anything we get that doesn't go to supplies or medical treatment is yours."

"Perry won't like that. He's been giving out combat bonuses out of what little money we can scrape together."

"He'll survive." Or they'd have to have another long talk... And now I feel the need to make sure he wasn't giving himself any of those bonuses.

Of course the reminder of funding brought up exactly why she'd had to leave Vale the first time around. "Any encounters with Torchwick since I left?"

"Surprisingly not. Guess he was happy that you left." He paused. "Then again, without you none of us were really all that good at burglary, beyond what bits we grabbed during raids. We've been relying on donations and those have been drying up as things have gotten worse. Of course he might not be happy that you're back. You have a plan for him?"

She grimaced and felt herself turn a bit green. "Yeah. Find out what his territory is and try to avoid it if I can."

"Smart. Pretty sure Perry will call you a coward."

Her groan was pure frustration. "I get it, I get it. Enough for today all right?"

Tukson shook his head, gently accelerating with the traffic around them. When he spoke again it was to move on. "This division of labor thing. Mixing attacks and activism... is it actually working in Mistral?"

"According to Sienna it's working perfectly." She felt herself smiling. "Text book of what she wants done. Lot of stores and corporations are getting boycotted when their hiring policies are revealed, the ones that bring in scabs are getting torched to wild applause, and no one shed any tears when a judge who let his rapist nephew off with a warning was found dead."

"The nephew go after faunus only?"

"Mostly. I think there were a few Humans in there." She frowned then got where he was going, remembering a similar conversation in his truck before she'd left. "Oh, right, the laws thing. Yeah, you can work with and help Humans if you have to. Just make sure the main effort is on faunus."

He nodded sharply. "Thanks, and you know me. I believe in the cause, I'm just not fond of the patriots around me."

Ilia thought of Adam... Blake... Perry... and could only silently agree.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

Time rolled by, as it always did.

Ilia's stress levels rose and fell like the harbor tides as things got better, got worse, got better again. Then got even worse when her recruits and subordinates began to settle into factions and cliques. As Tukson and Perry went from quiet snarls to getting into a fist fight, and then being unable to be in the same room even with her playing referee.

The fact that most of her money and attention was devoted to activism rather than violence wasn't going over well with Perry either. Or with Adam. But since she had Sienna's blessing there wasn't much either man could do about it.

There was also the small fact that the division of labor was working, and that Tukson was a far better cell leader than Perry that really seemed to piss them both off.

Tukson was bringing in four new recruits for every one that Perry did, bringing in fifty lien for every one of Perry's, and had even made a couple of contacts within the local media to help leak their press releases.

Perry... was making her wish that she could get away with firing or transferring him. He'd managed to turn a simple ransacking of a diner known to abuse faunus workers into a complete fiasco; three Human and one faunus civilian had ended up dead. He'd tried to arrange a hit on a coffee mogul of all things, simply based on an online rumors of anti-faunus sentiment. On and on...

It had gotten to the point where she felt the need to personally supervise every one of the combat cell's missions. That had helped a bit, at first, but after she'd rejected his third attempt to ask her out on a date he'd finally gotten the hint that it was never happening. Apparently that was all it took for him to lose all respect for her, only sullenly obeying orders even as he hounded her to be more aggressive.

The time to be aggressive finally came in the middle of the evening in late fall.

"We should blow it up." He crossed his arms, glaring at the map on her desk rather than at her directly. He and Liam were in full uniform, contrasting horribly with her jeans, tank top, and black leather coat. "That would send the best message, and cost Schnee the most."

Gods save me from idiots.

"Liam, tell Perry why that's a bad idea." She'd stopped bothering with Perry's title when she'd realized his respect and admiration for her had begun and ended with his desire to get into her pants.

The man she wished she could put in Perry's place grimaced, not happy about being caught in the middle. But he was a good soldier and did he was told, "That much dust would demolish that entire part of the docks. Sure, it would send a bigger message, but it would be too big of a message. Every cop and huntsman in the city would drop everything they're doing to hunt us down."

Ilia nodded. "It would also cripple the city's economy, and you can bet the faunus in the worst jobs would be the first laid off. Sinking it in place still wrecks the ship, ruins most of the dust, and will make old man Schnee scream."

Perry frowned, one dog ear twitching, then shrugged. "I suppose. At least it's a proper attack mission this time, instead of another sweep to look for muggers."

Once she might have tried to explain to the idiot that protecting local faunus from petty human violence was critical to their image. That it earned them good will, donations, recruits, safe places. The downtrodden faunus in the lower quarters of the city cared far more for their day to day safety than they did if a few racist humans were attacked on the other side of town.

But she was tired of wasting her breath.

"We'll be splitting into several teams for this mission." Ilia spoke as if Perry hadn't said anything. "Perry? You'll be taking your team to the harbor master's office, that's where the security controls are. You can't let them get off an alarm."

He straightened up, finally taking this seriously. "We'll get it done. Rules of engagement?"

"Fire only if fired upon. The dockyards like to recruit faunus, they can pay us less and it makes them look good. Let's not give them a reason to change that policy."

He nodded. "Is there a place we can tie them up and leave them?"

She tapped the map with an index finger, tracing a line from the main building to the one next door. "As far as I can tell this is their break room. Leave them there."

"Got it. Who's getting the ship?"

Ilia tipped her head to the left. "Pick out ten of your people to go with Liam. Liam? Get aboard, get the crew subdued, and then get the charges set. Make sure they're well away from the dust though, the last thing we need is to blow ourselves up."

"Got it. How many crew?"

"Tukson's report says the Star of Atlas has eighteen, all Humans. No security bots that he could find, but stay on guard all the same. As for the crew, same orders as Perry's. I want them alive unless they start shooting at you."

The other man nodded in turn. "We going to use them to send a message?"

"We're going to humiliate them, and old man Shcnee while we're at it." She grinned. "Once they're off the ship tie them up, strip them down, and let your people go to town with pens and markers. I want every inch of their skin covered in writing saying how much they love worshiping the Schnee family. Get good pictures we can post online."

That drew snickers from everyone present, even Perry cracking a smile.

"And make sure you get their wallets. If we move fast enough we can probably drain their bank accounts while we're at it."

Snickers turned into sharper grins, Perry speaking up again. "I like that sound of that. Bonuses or for the war chest?"

"Best to get rid of quick. Bonuses for everyone in the operation, but make sure they know not to spend it obviously." Her finger tapped the map again. "I'll take the front gate and open it. Then while you all are busy with the primary mission, I'll be keeping my team on the street and watching out for any interference. Soon as Liam is done we scatter per policy."

Both men nodded.

"Any questions? No? Good. Get your people set and let's move."

Following them out of her office and down the rickety stairs, she found the twenty plus combat personnel of the White Fang in Vale ready and waiting. All of them saluted as they'd been taught, and she returned the gesture before telling them the mission. Knowing that they were going against the SDC drew a chorus of excited cheers, and it was an excited group that began to break apart as Perry separated out the people who'd be going with him against the group who'd be boarding the ship with Liam.

With the latter man gone, Ilia herself only had Lectrie and Nava to accompany her. The pair were probably the best fighters they'd managed to recruit, and she wished they had the time and money to get them better weapons than mass-produced sabers and a pair of rifles.

Where everyone else had pulled on their White Fang tunics, they'd followed her orders and stayed in casual clothing just as she had. That way they could actually act like look-outs without being blatantly obvious.

Nava grinned as she walked over to them, the light reflecting a bit from the stag horns protruding from messy auburn hair. "Never been able to hit the SDC before. This should be fun."

"Don't get excited." Lectrie replied, carefully tugging the hood of her sweatshirt over the donkey ears that were her own unfortunate trait. "We'll just be standing watch. We want this to be boring, not fun."

"Then we'll have to have fun celebrating after." Nava said, as ruthlessly cheerful as always. It was one of the things she liked about him... though she could have done without his close friendship with Perry. "Are we sticking together or splitting up boss?"

"Splitting up." She told them. "I want you two to each take one of the bikes. Nava, get setup at the harbor's parking lot. Lectrie?"

The taller woman nodded, "The northern intersection?"

"Yes, but there's not a good spot to loiter. Stay on the move, circle the blocks, try to avoid an obvious routine. Call me if anyone spots you, I can move up and you can take my place at the main gate if that happens." She glanced over her shoulder in time to see people dispersing, heading out. "Right. Let's go."

Their warehouse was in a good location for work near the docks. It was a straight shot down River Street, then a casual trip over the bridge to reach the southern section of the harbor. Of course riding in the side-car of Lectrie's motorcycle made the trip a little awkward. For some reason it always made her feel a bit like a little girl being driven to school.

Nava peeled away first, his bike slowing down as he rode into the nearly empty parking lot. Ilia turned in place, watching as he stopped and pulled out his scroll, doing a credible job of acting as if he'd simply stopped to take a call.

Her own stop came two blocks later, Lectrie slowing to a halt and letting her clamber out near the harbor's business entrance. A tired looking security guard looked up from the book he was reading as she pulled away. Ilia gave him a casual wave before putting her hands in her pockets and walking in the opposite direction. Just another woman on her way home after a late night date.

If only.

She'd almost asked Lectire out once or twice, but she knew it was a bad idea. She had no idea if Lectrie would even be interested for one, and for another there was the small fact that Ilia was her boss.

Plus, well, Ilia was still hoping that Sienna would find a way to re-assign Adam so that she could get out of Vale as well. Part of her seriously regretted ever convincing Trifa to put her in Sienna's car last year, regretted convincing Sienna to send her with Adam and Blake.

I'd have been happier training militia and baby hunters on Menagerie... but if I had, maybe Adam would be getting away with more. Doing more. The Vale Cell might be an even bigger mess. I'm doing good here.

She just wished that doing good came with enjoying her work. Maybe with a side of actual free time.

Brood later, work now.

Shaking her head, she sucked in a breath and called on her semblance when she let it out. A quick pause let her pull a ski mask out, making sure her hair was tucked underneath. Once that was done her skin rippled to black, she turned around, and began walking right back the way she'd just come.

The security guard had already gone back to his book by the time she returned to the corner. She probably didn't even need her semblance to help avoid his attention as she casually crossed the street, pulled a silenced pistol out from the holster concealed by her coat, and then circled around his little booth.

He did notice when she put the barrel against his neck, freezing in place.

"Up." She kept her voice low. "You'll live so long as you don't hit an alarm."

"No problems." He replied, keeping his hands spread as he slowly stood up. His plain brown uniform was crisp, new, and strained a bit to hid his gut. "No problems from me. Not dying for ten lien an hour."

"Good. Come on outside."

Security guy followed her orders without complaint, backing up until she told him to sit down next to a bicycle rack setup behind his little booth. He sat with his back to the supporting pole, awkwardly got his arms around it, and let her handcuff him out of sight of the street.

That done with she slipped back into the booth. Thankfully the designers had apparently had a low opinion of the future user's intelligence because everything was precisely labeled, which made it easy to raise the arm and do a quick check of the security cameras.

Nothing. Good.

Two minutes later an old van rumbled down the street, and she snorted when Perry cheekily used his turn signal while sticking an arm out of the window.

He may have been an ass, but he had his moments. His subordinates loved him for them, despite his occasional mistakes. If anything they seemed to like that he made those mistakes, that he was as fallible as they were. That he always promised them he wouldn't make the same one twice.

Ilia waved back as they drove through, Liam's van following right behind. Both drove faster than they should have once they were through, rushing to get to their targets before any other tired guards caught sight of them.

As soon as they passed she lowered the gate again, then slipped out to check on her prisoner. He glanced up at her, then closed his eyes and let his head fall back as if content to wait.

"You're unusually calm." She noted, keeping her voice as low and rough as usual when on a job.

"Panicking won't do me any good." He replied without opening his eyes. "And whatever you're doing, I doubt you want the heat of a murder charge. If you did you'd have already shot me."

Smart man, for a Human. "You're not wrong. Stay put, keep your mouth closed. We'll be done soon."

One of his shoulders twitched but he said nothing else. Ilia left him in place, heading back into his booth and settling into the chair. It gave her a good view of the road, letting her watch for any traffic. The fact that it was near midnight helped in that. She only saw one big semi rumble past, the logo of a local grocery chain plastered all over the trailer.

It had just turned down the next street when the muffled sound of a gunshot was instantly followed by two more. She was out of the booth in a flash, head on a swivel as she listened for more.

When all she heard was the dull rumble of a city at night, she pulled out her scroll and made a quick call. "Pear, was that you?"

"Yeah, one of the Human guards wanted to be a hero and tried to shoot me. Aura stopped it and one of my people put him down. Don't think any of them got to an alarm."

She let out a tight breath. "The rest?"

"We've got three others all pissing themselves in fear. Tying them up now, they're giving up all of the security codes to make sure we don't kill them."

"All right, good job. See if you can't use those codes to clear out the camera footage."

"Good idea, we'll get on it."

Ilia hung up, then made a second call. "Orange, status?"

"First charges set. Only found twelve crew so far, they say they're the only ones aboard." He paused. "We heard the gun shots. Perry?"

"Code names." She growled. "And yes, a guard got excited. Move fast."

"Sorry, right. Should we skip searching for the last of the crew?"

She hesitated, looking around once, then nodded. "Yes. If you find them, great, otherwise leave them to get out on their own when the ship starts sinking."

"Got it, we'll leave the hatches open."

From there, things went almost perfectly. Within twenty minutes Liam's people were off the ship, timers running on the explosives they'd left deep inside. They piled into their van and drove off, Perry's team following suit. Another call saw Nava driving off, and Lectrie heading to a rendezvous point near an all night diner where she would pick up Ilia.

Ilia herself waited until her scroll chimed at the top of the hour, then looked over to the massive container ship tied up against the pier.

There... wasn't much to see. Small plums of water sprayed up from the front and back end on the near side, and then it took several more minutes before she was sure that it was getting lower and lower in the water.

Smiling, she walked away, pulling her mask off once she was clear.

Textbook.

The next morning she checked the news first thing, looking for the headline... and felt her scroll tumble from limp fingers when she did.

White Fang leaves Faunus to drown on Cargo Ship!

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

The worst part wasn't that her mistake, her over-caution had cost six faunus their lives. It wasn't that the SDC had 'hired' them as proof of diversity and then kept them locked away like prisoners. Nor was it Liam's devastated reaction, blaming himself for not having been better, been faster, more thorough. For believing the crew that had told him there wasn't anyone else on the ship. That they'd left those humans behind to be rescued by the police, to be flown safely back to Atlas, when they deserved fare more than the humiliation that they'd received.

The worst part... was how everyone else reacted.

Perry had called them 'unfortunate martyrs'. Proof that the SDC's claims of inclusion merely meant new ways to cover up how they treated faunus like slaves. Nava had said it was sad, but that they were fighting a war. Collateral damage was going to happen. Adam hadn't even mentioned them in his response to her report, instead praising her for 'finally launching a proper raid'.

The rest of the combat cell wasn't much better. They thought of the entire thing as a great victory, a coup, and they'd howled when she'd put a hold on all future raids.

The support cell though... Tukson was doing his best in regards to damage control, but he was fighting an uphill battle. A day before the raid she'd been their darling. Proof that Sienna's new approach didn't mean reckless violence, that it meant carefully targeted violence to support a broad civil mandate. That it didn't mean scrapping all of the old Belladonna initiatives, that it meant supporting the soft hand with an iron fist. They'd broadly approved of Ilia... and then the day after the raid they'd turned on her. They were sure she was either incompetent, unfeeling, secretly an extremist, or all of the above.

Putting a hold on future violent action and having Tukson go all-in on a charity for the families of the dead was helping a little... even as it infuriated all of the extremists and the combat teams.

Ilia managed to keep a lid on everything for a month before she hit on a way to try and buoy her position. It wasn't a great plan. It wasn't even a good plan, she knew that much. But it was a plan, a way to show that she wasn't going to hide away in her office or surrender control of the cell to anyone else.

"Still say this isn't a great idea." Tukson's voice came from her ear piece, the man in question set up in her office at the warehouse. "You should at least have taken Lectrie or Liam with."

"Code names." She muttered in reply, tugging at the various pieces of her burglar's uniform. The black bodysuit tended to give people the wrong idea, especially when paired with Lightning Lash, but it was important to cover up all of her skin. She could usually control her color changing, but there was no reason to risk it. "Orange is just as good a getaway driver as they are."

His grunt was loud enough for his microphone to pick up. "You didn't say anything about this being a bad idea."

Ilia sighed. "I have to do something to prove that I'm still in this. That I haven't lost my touch. Something that all of the factions can approve of. Perry's probably already smuggling reports to Adam. If I don't do something I'll be relieved and he'll be put back in command."

"And going into Torchwick's territory to burgle the Winchester estate will help with that?"

She hoped so. It was what she was best at, her target was hated by everyone, and by doing it alone she'd remind everyone that she could handle herself. It would buy her more time to try and come up with a better idea to knit the moderates and the extremists back together. And... while she'd never admit it to Tukson, she was still debating the pros and cons of letting herself be seen by either the guardsman or the police. Roughing them up a bit would please Perry's crowd and prove she was a Huntress.

Well, the closest thing the White Fang had to a Huntress in the city, but still.

"Time check." Ilia murmured as she pulled her ski mask down, only settling her White Fang mask over top of that once it was set. A hand shifted left to right, confirming she had a pistol on her left hip and Lightning Lash on the other. Two dust grenades were on the back of her belt, her backpack was secure, and she had a knife in her left boot just in case. "Ready."

He sighed, clearly understanding that he wasn't going to talk her out of it. "It will be three hundred hours in five... three... now."

Blowing out a final breath, she tore if into a sprint, racing down the alley that she'd been lurking in. She flew across the empty street, leaped up to the edge of the perimeter wall, and hauled herself over.

Landing in the bushes with a small flex of her knees, she eyed the familiar mansion from behind the leafy cover. They'd repaired it after the Winchester boy had blown out half of the fourth floor's wall, replacing the old balcony entirely. A less skilled thief would have tried the same trick she'd used the first time; scale the building and slip in through one of the sliding doors.

She wasn't that stupid. Especially since a small bribe to the construction contractors who'd done the work had confirmed the balconies now all featured pressure sensors.

So she was going do this the old fashioned way.

Ilia settled into the bushes, let her semblance and skin shift to conceal her, and waited.

The 'security consultant' came limping by right on time ten minutes later. His mecha-shift rifle looked brand new and well cared for, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of him. Gray hair was tied back in a ponytail decades out of date for a man, his wild beard was in dire need of both a wash and a brush, and his old suit was plaid of all things.

Careful. He's an old racist Human, but he's still a retired Huntsman. Wait... wait...

Fingers wrapped around the hilt of her primary weapon as he walked closer, his eyes alert despite his limping gait. Sadly for him they weren't able to penetrate her semblance, sliding right over her amid the shrubbery as he moved past.

She waited until his back was entirely to her before she rose, stepped forwards, and flicked her arm forwards. Lightning Lash extended with a quiet whisper, then wrapped around his bare neck.

The old bastard was good. He began to twist the moment it began to cut into his skin, blue aura sparking around the point of impact to stop it from penetrating further than a shallow cut. If that had been it he probably could have gotten around, opened fire, and made this a complete mess.

Unfortunately for him, all she had to do was hold down a finger to send electricity surging down the length of her weapon and directly into his aging body. He seized up instantly, dropping like a puppet with his strings cut, quivering on the ground. Ilia carefully retracted her weapon, approaching slowly as smoke trailed up from where she'd struck him. When he began to stir she hit him again, his brain too scrambled to summon up his aura, sending another surge of power into his body.

That was enough for the old man. His eyes rolled back and she instantly eased off before she killed him. Not that she'd have mourned him, she'd found plenty of evidence online that he was an enemy of the faunus, but the last thing she needed right now was another person dead by her hand. Besides adding another ghost to haunt her, it might be enough to make moderates begin to quite again.

Irony. I can't kill a racist human because your death would hurt the cause of the faunus more than you living does.

Said human didn't do much besides shudder when she kicked his weapon away. Nor did he resist when she rifled through his pockets, finding his scroll and the mansion keys after a couple of seconds. His breathing was unsteady but he was still breathing.

"Guard is down but alive." She relayed as she pushed him onto his belly, her latest set of huntsman-grade handcuffs being used to make sure he'd have a hard time even if he recovered. "Could probably use medical attention, call someone after we're done."

"Got it." Tukson replied. "Keys?"

They jangled in her hand as she slid his scroll into a pocket. "In hand."

"Nothing on police channels. Should still be clear."

Nodding silently, Ilia stepped over the fallen Huntsman headed for the side door. If the Winchesters had actually been home rather than living outside of the city there probably would have been someone else manning the cameras. As it was, they'd definitely see her on the recording come morning. Which was fine. They'd howl about it and it would serve as further proof that she'd done what she came here to do. She just had to avoid anything that would easily identify her.

"Returning to the scene of the crime." She shook her head as she tried keys, finding the right one on attempt number three. The door slid open and she wasted no time in gliding inside. "I'm in."

"You should be in a servant's corridor. Main hall is directly head, should have a stairwell to the second. Contractors said there's some kind of display room in there, that's the most likely place for the target."

"Confirmed." The house may have been tall but it wasn't all that wide; the common failing of even the wealthiest homes in Vale. It didn't take her long to jog down the hallway, enter the small ballroom, and then turn to the stairs.

Floor two had the same simple walls and flooring that she remembered from the upper levels, two balconies overlooking the ballroom below, then a short hallway with three doors.

Door number one was a darkened kitchen. Its opposite number proved to be an opulent bathroom, probably intended to impress any guests. But the third door opened into a display room that reminded her strongly of Lord Winchester's office. Old Valean flags hung from the walls, paintings of battles and huntsman in places of honor between them. Armchairs were set up near a grand fireplace, while a few tall tables were carefully arranged near a well appointed bar. Cigar boxes and ash trays were strategically positioned on each, and despite the Lord's death there wasn't any dust on anything.

Only wealthy humans would waste lien on having maids dust a dead man's study.

Her target was hanging above the darkened fireplace.

"Got it. One ancestral weapon within reach." It was a fairly impressive one; a two handed mace with vicious spikes set around a holder for dust crystals. Old fashioned and out of date, but literally invaluable to the family who owned it.

Or to wealthy collectors who prized antiques and didn't ask questions.

"Be ready to run. Soon as you grab it an alarm will probably go off." Tukson warned her.

If she'd been a simple thief she'd have taken more time on this. Maybe gotten something to get around the security systems, found a way to cut power to the building, that kind of thing. Found a way to avoid drawing any attention until she was long gone.

But that wasn't the point of the White Fang.

"Setting the scene." Letting her backpack fall to the ground, a quick tug on the zipper all it took to let her start pulling cloth out.

Replacing all of the Valean battle flags with White Fang banners took longer than she'd have liked, but it was very cathartic. And tossing the old ones into the fireplace along with some of the expensive booze from the bar, then setting the entire thing alight with high priced cigars really worked for her.

"Shame you're not here. The fire really makes the banners look good." She smiled in memory. "Reminds me of the beach bonfires on Menagerie."

Tukson actually chuckled. "Maybe next time, Lash. Don't admire it for too long, smoke will be coming out of the chimney soon."

"I know, I know. Pulling the target."

Moving her backpack over, she stretched out her arms, took a deep breath, and then reached up to grab the Winchester mace from its display rack. The moment she yanked it free she heard the Huntsman's scroll begin beeping rapidly in her pocket. Hopefully that was the only alarm that had been triggered, but there wasn't any point in testing that theory.

A quick inspection found a button to collapse it down to a more manageable size, and she wasted no time in stuffing it into her bag. Still heavy but now infinitely easier to carry.

Then the pack was around her shoulders again, and her feet were pounding on hardwood.

"Still nothing on police scanners."

"Good. Send a ping to Orange, I'm on my way... crap!" She skidded to an awkward stop, nearly falling face first down the stairs before regaining her balance.

A petite human girl was standing at the bottom of them... a very stylish girl. Her coat, boots,and parasol made her look like a wealthy young teen ready to go on a stroll more than someone who should be standing around a darkened manor in the middle of the night. Multi-colored hair was cut in a loose bob, either naturally or artificially matching the two-toned eyes peering up at her.

Her appearance was odd but it wasn't had what caused Ilia to slide to a stop. That honor went to the small scroll in the girl's hand, currently displaying a man's face as she pointed it towards Ilia.

"Well now..." His voice was tinny through the small speakers. "...this is an unpleasant surprise. Here I thought you'd learned your lesson, but I guess you just can't teach an animal once it reaches a certain age."

Torchwick. She recognized his face and his voice from the news. Dammit. He or the girl must have spotted her while she was casing the mansion. May have even been casing it for themselves. There was probably quite a bit of expensive material in here beyond the mace, and with the Winchesters gone it made for a tempting target. She'd have honestly thought Torchwick would have hit the place a long time ago... but evidently he'd been content to wait a while.

Her luck was truly terrible.

"Normally I'd take that kind of thing rather badly, but I'm in a good mood tonight. Hand over whatever you grabbed and I'll-"

The girl shot backwards a second before Ilia's attack would have struck the scroll, then spun to her left to avoid the follow-up crack of her whip. Torchwick snarled something that was inaudible as Ilia pressed aggressively, racing down the stairs, working Lightning Lash in a continuous series of whip-strikes to keep her enemy away.

Ilia had no idea if the girl had aura, and the last thing the White Fang needed right now was for the authorities to find a woman dead at her hands. A lot of noise, some uses of the dust to send sparks flying, and rapid movement kept her back without being all that threatening. It bought Ilia the time she needed to run for the servant's entrance.

She sent a final flick to make Torchwick's helper scurry back, the girl's eyes wide and startled, then bolted for the door.

...where she only barely got her aura up in time to stop a heeled boot from breaking her nose.

The blow snapped her head back, a follow up kick slamming into her jaw. She managed to get an arm up in time to divert a third, backpedaling rapidly and shaking her head.

Her enemy gave her an almost demure little smile to go with a mocking bow, parasol resting casually on one shoulder.

"How the hell..." Semblance. Obviously. But a semblance meant aura, and aura meant she didn't have to hold back.

"What's happening!?"

"Torchwick!" She snapped as she took one more step back, then sprinted for the front door. The girl was small but quick, parasol lashing out at Ilia's legs. She parried it away with her own weapon, then launched a riposte at the mismatched eyes only to strike air. Her opponent nimbly hopped back, then darted back in, lashing out with two more quick kicks that forced her to keep her arms low, leaving her open for the frilly weapon to come flying at her face.

Ilia hissed in pain as it struck her cheek, again trying to retaliate in kind only for the shorter woman to slide backwards with another grin.

It became a horrified expression when Ilia's free hand emerged from behind her back, a dust grenade flying right at the girls' face. She frantically batted it out of the air, sending it to ricochet around the ballroom... and left herself open for Ilia to land a solid hit of her own. Pink light flared as two quick slashes hit her chest, sparks flying as the electrical dust tried to find a proper channel.

The girl practically flew backwards, an unhappy snarl on her face, some of her multi-colored hair now standing on end.

For her part Ilia was already moving again, sprinting laterally to get to the inert grenade she'd used as a distraction. Her enemy saw her target, bared her teeth, and then came rushing after her.

Ilia waited until the last possible second before abruptly changing direction, moving to the right, racing for the front door. She heard boots skidding on the hardwood floor, though oddly the girl didn't curse, shout, or make any other noises at all. Grabbing onto the handle she yanked it open just enough to dart through.

Her enemy rammed into the door just as she got clear... slamming it shut on Lightning Lash hard enough yank it free from her fingers.

It was Ilia's turn to jerk to a halt, cursing as she scrambled to recover her weapon. She'd barely gotten the hilt back into her hand before the girl got a hold of the other end, pulling it back inside with surprising strength.

Then she slammed the door shut on it again, the already bent blade snapping in a new direction.

"Bitch!" She hauled back, the grip working to her advantage as she managed to get it free. The top third had been bent nearly to the horizontal from the first hit, the second adding a less severe but still damaging bend farther down. There was no way she could retract it into the hilt, much less shift it back to whip form.

The doors swung open, the girl panting a bit but once again smug as she looked over Ilia's broken weapon.

"Lash! Cops incoming!" Tukson's voice barked in her ear. "Get clear!"

He'd barely finished before she heard the first sirens, and it was a fight to resist the urge to look away from her opponent.

Said opponent didn't feel the same, turning left in some kind of instinctive response to the sound of authorities.

Ilia was running before she could turn back.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

A wanted faunus terrorist walks into a school and is greeted with smiles and handshakes.

"You must be Miss Shae Quinn." The man who shook her hand was handsome enough that even she noticed, with bright lavender eyes and blonde hair. "Welcome to Signal Academy!"

"Thank you." Illia replied, "You're Professor Xiao-Long?"

"That's me, call me Tai."

"Call me Shae." She smiled back. She couldn't help it; for a Human the man had an infectious grin. "And thank you again for letting me use your forges."

Taking the ferry out to Patch Island to visit Signal hadn't been her first idea, or even her second, but for once things had actually seemed to work out for her.

While the police had found what she'd done and the news was going crazy over her follow-up attack on the Winchesters, evidently Torchwick's partner had either shut down or destroyed the security cameras. Since she'd had to use her distinctive weapon that had been good news, and even better had been the nearly million lien a rich Mistrali businessman had paid online for the Winchester mace.

The combination of humiliating a hated Human family and the massive wealth influx had done what she'd needed it to do; everyone had simmered down a bit, content to follow her lead once more.

Even Adam had grudgingly approved, though he'd warned her that he wanted more action sooner rather than later. Sienna had been more effusive in her praise, and it had been the High Leader's idea for Ilia to pay a visit to Signal Academy. She'd recommended it when Ilia had been detailing the damage Lightning Lash had taken, and the difficulty in finding a Huntsman supplier who would actually let her do her own repairs in their shop.

Sienna had told her to simply ask a Huntsman Academy to use their equipment. Most were fairly open about lending their facilities to professionals, provided they got permission first. She'd also noted that Ilia could mingle with the students and staff, maybe locate a few potential recruits while she was at it. Just to scout them out, mind you. Active recruiting would wait until they'd graduated. Not that Sienna had any compunctions about recruiting young, Blake and Ilia herself being prime examples, but the White Fang had learned their lesson about how hard it was to train up young Huntsman.

Better to leave that to the schools, to recruit from graduates or at least from the second level academies. Ilia had agreed that it was a good idea, and she'd dug out her old fake identity as a huntress from Vacuo.

Though I could have gone without having to pretend to be Human... again. At least the Winchesters are in Vale on some kind of stupid speaking tour. She didn't think either would recognize her, not in casual clothes without a mask, but it was better to avoid the risk.

Tai chuckled, motioning with a broad arm and bringing her back to the present. "It's not problem at all. Come on, they're right this way. What happened if you don't mind me asking?"

She didn't have to fake her sigh as she thumped the bag containing Lightning Lash's bent and broken form. "Got in a fight with a criminal with a brain. They did something I didn't expect and broke it in more ways that I want to count."

"You catch them?"

"No." It was a fight to keep her skin or eyes from rippling, lowering her voice when she noticed several students go running by on a morning jog. "In all honesty they might have been better than me, with a nasty semblance. It was close enough that I didn't waste time sticking around."

"We can't get them all, and at least you're alive and healthy." A gentle pat on her shoulder was probably supposed to be reassuring, but he had enough strength that it nearly made her knee buckle. "Are you going to need a room for the night? We've got spare dorms."

Ilia blinked in surprise. "I... ah, I don't know. Depends on how long it will take to fix everything. How much would it cost me?"

He grinned. "A couple of spars in front of my combat class tomorrow afternoon. Maybe stay late to go a few rounds in front of the other groups and we'll cover any parts you use too."

More blinking. "That's... I mean, seriously? I have plenty of lien. I don't need charity."

"It's not charity." Another wave of his hand. "Consider it a favor going both ways. Lot of our students... well, I think some of them are getting a little too used to us teachers. They could use a demonstration from someone they don't think is old and out of touch. If you're up for it, I mean."

Well it wasn't what she'd expected but she supposed it could help her check out the student body for any faunus. It would probably be a lot better than trying to find an excuse to eat lunch with the students, or to give a lecture on a subject she wasn't actually qualified in.

Then again, fighting one or more Huntsman who'd lived long enough to retire probably wouldn't go well either... but maybe she'd learn something while getting punched in the mouth.

"I think I can manage that much, if you don't mind waiting until my weapon is fixed." She felt her smile returning. "I'm not bad at hand to hand, but I don't think that would be enough against someone your size."

He let out a genuine laugh. "Great! Come on, forges are right here. I'll help you get set up and then go talk to the Headmistress about a room."

The Forges were far enough way to give her enough time to look around as they headed for the reinforced building set aside from the school proper.

Signal was... nice enough, she supposed, but there wasn't any disguising that it was a school. It had the same look as several other old buildings she'd seen around Vale, though unlike the city proper its ground had plenty of trees and open space. Apart from the early morning joggers, only a few others were enjoying the pleasant weather to eat their breakfast outdoors.

Ilia looked them over as they noticed her walking beside their professor, ignoring their stares and gossiping in favor of trying to see if any were faunus.

There weren't any.

"How many students?" She asked.

"Almost three hundred." There was a trace of pride in his voice. "Our first two years are larger than usual. Plenty of foreign students applying lately. We've got a good reputation for getting kids into Beacon or Haven. A couple even made it into Shade. Almost a hundred percent entrance over the last few years."

She nodded agreeably, trying to keep him talking. "Mostly from Mistral then?"

"About half of the non-Vale group." Tai shrugged. "Most of the rest are from Vacuo and then a few from Atlas. Their parents all emigrated, the island's mayor is trying to bulk up the population a bit."

"Any from Menagerie?"

If he was surprised by the question he didn't show it. "Only one. Nice kid in second year, his parents got jobs at the dock. And all of the Atlesian kids are faunus who were sick of living in Mantle if that's what you're really asking."

Careful Ilia. He's cheerful, not stupid.

"You caught me." She did her best to keep her smile going. "I visited Kuo Kuona once with a few other Hunters from Vacuo. Kind of... fell in love with the city. Wished that I could stay longer, and I try to keep an eye out for faunus orphans. Help them when I can."

Tai's smile was practically radiant. "Good on you. Gods know that they could use someone to look out for them, especially lately."

Ilia slowed to a stop outside of the Forge. The lights were already on inside and she could hear someone moving around... and it was just a gut instinct, but something told her the teacher would rather not have this kind of discussion in front of students.

"You mean with the White Fang?" She asked quietly.

His smile faded into a serious expression, his own voice lowering. "Yeah. Was your 'criminal' one of them?"

No, but the criminal's opponent had been. "No, but I've run into a few of them. You?"

"No, thankfully." Tai shook his head. "Right now we've got the opposite problem. A couple locals got boozed up and tried to go after those families who fled Atlas. My old teammate stopped them before they even got close, but I'm worried. They're meeting up every other night. Supposedly it's just a drinking club but... well, I think we both know what they talk about while they drink."

She again had to fight the urge to flinch, to change color. What they were doing was supposed to help faunus, not inspire humans to go after them.

Tukson is going to be insufferable when he finds out.

"You think the White Fang will set them off again?"

"Seems like it's just a matter of time with how active they are, and how little they seem to care about collateral damage." It was another fight not to flinch. "Patch usually doesn't have any problems with that kind of thing, but... well, until recently there weren't all that many faunus residents."

That was a more familiar story. It was easy to not notice racism when there weren't any Faunus around, when the angriest Humans didn't have a target. But once a family moved in next door... "Is there a lot of them?"

"Of Faunus? Not more than three or four families, plus a few more students here whose families live in Vale." His thick arms crossed as he glanced over his shoulder, as if he could see the island's moderately sized village from here. "The idiots who think the world is ending because a few people with extra ears moved into town? Half a dozen, ten at most."

Which didn't sound like all that many but then Patch didn't seem to be that large of a community either. "Other teachers?"

"No, thank the gods for that." He turned back to her, his expression serious. "We do our best to help keep the peace but, well, between school, our own families, and the Grimm we can't be everywhere at once. I don't suppose I can convince you to stick around in case they try again? There's always Grimm to kill, and the Mayor pays for it."

Ilia hesitated. The idea... appealed to her a bit. She could make excuses to Perry, Tukson, and Adam, it wasn't like they'd be all that upset for her to be out of the picture for a while. She could stay on Patch, get out of the city, even do the work of a real huntress.

...and maybe beat up some racist thugs on the side.

Tai tried to make it even more tempting. "We could get you set up at the inn, or here at school. Patch could really use a full-time Huntress that doesn't have to spend nine hours a day here in Signal. Just for a few weeks, you know? Cut down some of the Grimm building up on the far side of the Island, help keep the peace, easy work."

It would be easy work compared to what she was used to. It would be the kind of work she'd wanted to do when she was a little girl dreaming of moving up to Atlas, attending the Academy.

It would be peaceful... and all I'd have to do is pretend to be Human again.

The very idea nearly made her shudder. Made childhood memories that she'd done her best to bury to come bubbling back to the surface. A stupid little girl trying to fit in, mocking her own species just to make the people around her think she was one of them.

"I'm sorry." And she surprised herself by meaning it. The man in front of her may have been Human, but he was at least trying to do something. That put him in the slimmest of minorities in her experience. "I'd love to but I've got commitments. I can leave you my scroll number though. If they cause problems I can try to get back in time to help, or see if any of my teammates can get here in time to help."

Tai looked disappointed but not surprised. "Thanks, I know it's a sudden ask. Come on, let's stop standing around when there's work to do."

She nodded and followed him inside.

The forges in Menagerie had been pretty rough. All of the various pieces of equipment had been old, arranged in an open air market loosely protected from the weather by awnings. The few bits of good components they could import were horded for the best of the best, leaving everyone else to deal with second or third tier parts. There might have been three or four people in the entire White Fang who actually owned a real Huntsman grade weapon, and even then none had more than the most basic of mecha-shift functions.

Signal's forges were clearly brand new, and even a glance around the room made her realize that Sienna and Ghira would have done anything to get half of the weapon's parts lining the walls. They could have made several dozen weapons from what Signal, a junior Academy, just had laying around.

A single student was sitting at one of the work benches, her feet kicking idly as she carefully worked on a disassembled sniper rifle that looked to be as large as she was. Like the others she was in the dark blue uniform of the school, but she'd accessorized with a bright red cloak.

Tai groaned when he saw the student, raising his voice as they approached. "Don't tell me you broke Crescent Rose already?"

The girl apparently hadn't heard them come in. She let out a startled squeak, trying to stand and push her stool back in the same motion. All she managed to do was unbalance herself, arms windmilling cartoonishly as she fell backwards.

Her professor was there in time to catch her, chuckling as he pushed both her and the stool back into place. "Easy there Rubes."

"Daaaaad!" The girl protested. "Don't scare me like that!"

"We've been talking in the doorway for three minutes before we walked in." Tai replied with a teasing grin, ruffling her hair. "I think someone needs some more lessons in minding her surroundings."

Any further complaints the student, Tai's daughter apparently, had vanished when she spun around and saw Ilia. She promptly squeaked again, face turning scarlet as she tried to jerk her head out from his hand. "Daaaaad! Not in front of a real huntress!"

Ilia couldn't help but laugh along with Tai. "Ruby Rose, this is Huntress Quinn from Vacuo. Shae? My daughter Ruby."

"A pleasure." Ilia smiled, offering her hand.

To her surprise the girl's blush only got worse, but she did manage to snap an arm out to shake hers once. "H-hi!

Tai groaned in the exact same way Ghira had whenever Blake had done something particularly embarrassing as a child. "She's a huntress, Ruby. Not a celebrity, you don't have to be shy."

His daughter apparently disagreed from the way she was trying to tuck her cloak's hood down enough to cover her scarlet face.

"She takes after her mother." Tai confided with a fond smile. "You can use any of the tables you want if you want to get started. There should be a tablet around here somewhere to keep track of any parts you use."

Ilia nodded, still smiling as well. For Humans these two weren't bad. "Thanks."

Picking the nearest table, she got her bag onto it while Tai resumed teasing his daughter. She only half listened as she pulled Lightning Lash out. Her grin faded into a tired sigh at the sight of her weapon. It wasn't the best, she knew that. She'd made it from scraps and second-hand parts... but it had been hers dammit.

She liked it, was familiar with it, knew how to use it. And that little thief had ruined it.

"Is... that a variable dust whip?" The girl's voice came from right by her elbow, and it was Ilia's turn to jerk in surprise. "What happened to it!?"

How did she... Ilia shook her head, "A, ah, a criminal I was chasing smashed it in a door. A heavy door. Several times."

The student scowled. "What a jerk."

"She was kind of a jerk." Ilia agreed, "Your, uh, your father and the other teachers are being kind enough to let me fix it here."

"And," Tai added as he stepped over. "She's going to spar with me and your uncle Qrow tomorrow in front of the sixth years. If you behave today I may even let you out of class to come watch."

Ruby practically vibrated in excitement. "That will be awesome! Do you need help fixing it? I'm great with weapons, I can help! I can show you where everything is! Ooo, looks like it only has two Dust vial intakes right now. Have you thought about refitting it to hold more? Looks like it's got the space to hold five or six. Does it have a gun mode or does it just help you manipulate Dust?"

The sudden shift from 'horribly shy' to 'motormouth' left Ilia blinking with her mouth parted slightly.

"She's a weapons nut." Tai provided. "Who's going to be late for her Dust class if she doesn't go eat breakfast soon."

"But... but... weapons dad! A real huntress's weapon!"

He smiled and gently pried her away from Ilia's table. "No buts Ruby. Let her work on her weapon on her own, you can watch her use it tomorrow."

The girl pouted, looking remarkably like a scowling puppy, then turned and stalked back over to her own bench to start putting her tools away.

Tai waited until he was sure she was actually cleaning up before turning back to her. "Lunch is at eleven thirty, feel free to join us in the staff room. I'll be back this afternoon with a room key for you."

"Thank you." She said, and once again surprised herself by meaning it. "I do appreciate this."

That infectious smile returned as he waved her off. "Don't worry about it. Give Qrow and I a good spar tomorrow and we'll call it even."

Ilia nodded, hesitated, then felt her mouth move without any input from her brain. "I... maybe I can stay one more day. Make a few more adjustments, test it out on some Grimm. Talk to those families from Atlas about what's going on."

He blinked once, then his smile widened further. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

It sounded good to her too.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15

Rowing a boat was hard work. Not that they had a choice, the old tub they'd stolen had a motor that sounded like howling Grimm. They'd used it to get out of the city harbor, and to cross most of the channel... but the final approach to the island had to be done quietly.

"Regretting this yet?" Perry groaned as they all heaved in unison.

"Shut up Perry." Ilia gasped, her arms moving in time with everyone else's. "Just shut up."

"Shutting up..." A gasp broke apart his words. "...boss."

Ragged laughter came from the other three people in the boat, the loudest from Lectrie. She'd drawn the long straw and was settled in the front, keeping an eye out for anyone else on the water while the rest of them rowed.

The donkey faunus looked over her shoulder, the woman's rough ears up and alert. "We're almost at the beach! Just a bit more!"

Her arms burned as they kept up their motion, working the oar in time with Perry's. Nearer to the back, or stern or whatever it was called on a boat, Nava and Liam were doing the same thing. A short eternity later she felt the boat shudder as it struck sand, everyone but Lectrie slumping in place in relief.

"Scout... ahead." Ilia ordered the other woman. "Not too far. Everyone else stretch out, get some water."

Lectrie nodded, pulling her mask on before nimbly leaping clear. It didn't take her long to trot up the beach and vanish into the woods surrounding Patch's small village. The rest of them got out far more slowly, grabbing bottles of water and cheap energy bars as they did.

As usual Perry stuck near her, closer than she was strictly comfortable with but not so far into her personal space that she could really snap at him either. So instead she simply wolfed down a bar that was supposedly chocolate but mostly tasted like nothing in particular, punctuating each bite with sips of water.

Perry initially seemed to content to to the same. At least until they'd finished, and then he ruined the silent camaraderie by speaking. "I have to say I'm glad we're doing this. A lot of us got worried when you called a halt after our last raid."

Ilia grimaced as she lowered her bottle from her lips. "Do you really blame me? We had bad intelligence that got six innocent faunus killed. Trapped in tiny rooms and drowned. Not exactly our finest hour."

He shifted awkwardly, as if he wanted to disagree but couldn't bring himself to. "I know, I know. That part of the mission was bad. Uh... are you sure on the intelligence for this one?"

"I talked with four professors at Signal and two of the emigre families." Her head shook once. "They all confirmed these idiots have been making threats, and they're pretty sure they killed one of the student's dogs. Left its corpse in front of their house."

Perry's attitude darkened at once, his water bottle crackling when his fingers clenched down on it. "Fucking humans. What does killing an innocent pet do?"

Her head shook, "I don't think I want to know how they make that connection. Either way I left one of our listening beacons in the bar they use, and from I heard they've got big plans for tonight. Most of Signal's staff is in Vale for an under-seventeen tournament, and another is out camping in the north part of the island to clear out a Grimm nest."

"So they've got a window to act freely." Perry's jaw clenched. "Bastards. That school couldn't leave anyone behind?"

"They did, but they've still got two hundred or so students crammed into their dorms to watch over. Several of whom are faunus." She reminded him. "And Patch doesn't have walls like Vale. They've got to watch for Grimm here too."

It was his turn to shake his head. "I suppose."

"They know it's a problem, they just don't have the manpower to deal with it. They practically tried to bribe me just to get me to stay for a few weeks to help out."

That made him blink, then smile. "I'm surprised you didn't."

"It was tempting." Ilia admitted, "I could probably have handled them myself, but I thought doing it in the mask would make a better statement."

"Hard to look bad protecting innocent families from being lynched." He agreed before pausing, as if trying to find the right words. "When we get back to Vale, I was wondering if-"

Ilia held up a hand for silence, glad for the interruption. "Quiet, I hear movement."

Perry looked frustrated but he was professional enough to fall to a knee, pulling his gun out as he did. Nava and Liam did the same while Ilia dropped a hand to Lightning Lash's hilt. The newly repairs had done a lot for it, even if she'd shied away from going all-in on upgrades. Mostly thanks to a lack of time and the tiny voice of guilt reminding her that those parts were meant for real hunters in training.

Still, the new mechashift gears and dust channels were far more efficient, and the new leather on the grip was much nicer.

"It's me!" Letrie called from the tree line. "I found the bar! We've got to move, I think they're getting ready to head out hunting!"

She grimaced. Damn. "Masks on, guns in hand. Code names only from here on out."

Everyone nodded. Within a minute white masks covered all of their faces, and everyone but her had their submachine-guns armed and ready. For her part Ilia drew her old saber, making sure Lightning Lash was secure on her back. The last thing she needed was for someone to recognize it, so it would only be used as a last resort. She'd tied her hair up in a bun and drew a black hood over it as well.

Hopefully it won't come to needing it. Last thing we need is for someone from Signal to recognize me and plaster my face all over the kingdom. That would make things complicated.

They followed Lectrie as she led them down a worn old path, emerging from the treeline into the edge of town. After that they hardly needed a guide. Even if Ilia hadn't already known where they were going, the sound of drunken men and women was a beacon no one could miss.

Ilia took the lead, her second wind rolling in as the five of them raced down a dark residential street. A few lights were on but they didn't see anyone outside. Not until they made it to the small collection of brand new homes built at the northern edge of town.

Nine Humans using a mixture of scrolls and a couple of actual torches for light were already surrounding the first house. It was a quaint home, with a single story painted red, and a nice little picket fence only half finished out front.

"-fucking animals!" A man was shouting, "Should have stayed on your zoo island!"

A much more nervous sounding woman shouted back, presumably from a window. "I've called Signal! Go away and leave us alone!"

Mocking, drunken laughter came from the small crowd, their apparent leader speaking up again. "Like those bestiality lovers will save you! You want to stay on our island then you've gotta pay rent like a proper person! Let us see that bunny tail on your little ass or we'll burn your house down!"

Lectrie began to aim but Ilia quickly put a hand out, whispering harshly. "Not yet! Everyone spread out, stay behind them. We can't let even one escape."

The other woman looked furious but jerked her head in a quick nod. Ilia made a series of quick gestures, silent commands that saw her team fan out behind the mob.

"-a Huntsman is coming!" The voice in the house screamed, her voice going shrill with very real fear. "Go away before he teaches you a lesson!"

All that got her was another round of laughs. "Last chance bunny bitch! You can pay us with your ass willingly, or we'll burn you out of your little hole and then have our fun!"

They were nearly all in place when one of the Humans, drunker or simply more of a pyromaniac than the rest, took action. He stumbled forwards, throwing a bottle with one hand and his torch with the other. The booze shattered against the side of the house, glistening for the moments before it erupted in flame.

"Fuck! Open fire!" Ilia spat, rushing forwards with her saber raised.

One of the mob managed to hear her over the raucous cheers of the others. The woman turned, stumbling a little from whatever she'd been drinking, and then her mouth opened in a scream of her own.

"White-"

It was as far as she got before Liam put five rounds into her chest. The others all cut loose at the same time, firing in short, aimed bursts just like she and Adam had taught them. Humans fell left and right, dying one after the other. A couple tried to run but none of them were faster than bullets.

Perry and Nava cut the runners down before they got very far. By the time she was among them, only the leader was still upright and able to swing his torch at her.

Ilia sneered, bobbed to her right, and took his hand off at the wrist in a single cut. The thug's scream cut off into a choking gurgle when she flicked her saber back the other way, opening his throat.

Ignoring his flailing, she collapsed her weapon and slid to a stop near the burning home. Not much of it had gone up yet, and a quick look around let her see bags of dirt settled in next to empty pots and small bags of plant seeds.

"Grab the dirt!" She barked as Lectrie and Liam came running up, "Douse the fire!"

The donkey-eared woman was quick to grab one, tossing it to her partner. He ripped the bag open within a moment and handed it to Ilia in turn, and she threw it over the flames. It took all four bags but they managed to mostly smother it, and Lectrie was quick to run around the side to try and find a water hose to make sure.

"We've got the fire out!" Ilia called in, "Are there any flames inside?"

No response.

Grimacing, she glanced at Liam. "Break the door down. We've got to make sure they're all right."

He nodded once, sucked in a breath, and then lowered his shoulder. It wasn't as easy as the movies made it look. His aura flickered several times as he repeatedly rammed into it, the wood giving way on the fifth effort.

Ilia followed him into a cute little house, a living area on the right and a kitchen on their left. A young woman was clutching a bunny eared girl who couldn't have been older than three, holding her child to her chest with one hand while her other clutched a shaking kitchen knife.

"Smoke!" Liam's bark jerked her attention the other way, to where gray was coming out from one of the vents. "It's in the walls!"

Cursing, Ilia took a cautious step towards the woman and her daughter. "Ma'am, you have to get out of the house. We're here to help you."

"T-terrorists!" Said woman stuttered, shaking even more violently. "Y-you're t-t-terrorists!"

"Ma'am, your house is on fire." Ilia tried again, keeping her hands spread peacefully. "Please. You have to get your daughter to safety. We'll try to save your home but you have to get clear."

The woman hesitated, green eyes wide... then her daughter let out a sob and her resolve broke. Her knife clattered to the floor, both hands clutching her child as she stumbled forwards. Ilia quickly got a hold of her shoulder, guiding her out into the night.

"Trick! Get her to one of her neighbor's, make sure they're faunus."

"It's all right ma'am. You're safe." Lectrie said as gently as she could, taking Ilia's place and wrapping an arm around the now sobbing woman's shoulder. "You're both safe. Come on, this way. It's all right."

Ilia lost a few seconds watching them go, then turned back and ran to the house. Liam had already come out as well, grabbing the hose that Lectrie had dropped. Between them they soaked down the entire front of the home, wrestled the hose inside, and then coated most of the living room as well.

It probably did all kinds of damage on its own but she wasn't sure what else they could do. She was pretty sure Patch didn't have a dedicated fire service, and she seriously doubted that the woman would be able for afford a new home and belongings. At least the smoke had seemed to have stopped.

They were stumbling back outside when she realized something rather important.

"Where's Pear and Stag?"

Liam blinked, looking up from where he'd been inspecting his fluffy tail for blood. "Uh... last I saw they were making sure none of the Humans got away. Maybe they chased after one?"

Ilia frowned. "I'm going to tear them a new one if they wandered off instead of helping save that woman and her kid."

Her subordinate twisted his lips. "Yeah. I'd rather a Human get away than let a three year old burn to death."

"Agreed. Grab Trick once she's done, take pictures of the scene and the house, and then get back to the boat. I'll round up those two so we can get clear."

There was a quick nod before they split up. A quick jog got her back to the street, the corpses of the would-be lynch mob laying around her.

Six... seven... She glanced down the street, eight and nine. That's all of them, so where did those two idiots run off to?

Another look around didn't let her see anyone, but there were plenty of lights on inside of homes now. If one of Signal's professors wasn't scrambling into clothes and grabbing weapons than she'd badly misjudged them. Their window to get out of here without having to deal with the authorities would be shrinking every minute they wasted.

A third look at the dirt street gave her a clue; boot prints headed back the same way that the last two members of the mob had been trying to flee.

What's that way? More homes and... Her stomach sank. ...and the bar these idiots were drinking at.

A bar with Human owners.

Ilia's legs began churning before she'd finished the thought, arms pumping as she sprinted down the street. More and more lights began to flicker on as she ran past homes, people sticking their heads out of windows or stepping onto their porches. Shouts came when they caught sight of her mask, men and women calling for others to call Signal. That the White Fang was attacking Patch. Attacking Signal.

That last bit made her sick when she heard it. Was their reputation really that bad that people thought they'd attack a Huntsman Academy? One for children on top of that?

Her third wind came as she whipped around a corner, sliding to a stop as she approached The Laughing Cow.

The bar and grill was already on fire. Its cute, cartoon sign of a bull sipping beer through a straw was barely visible as smoke billowed out of windows, scarlet flames dancing inside. She could hear bottles bursting from the pressure, adding more fuel to be consumed. There wouldn't be any saving of this particular building. The neighbors would be lucky if none of the sparks carried to their own places of business.

Nor could she save its owners.

The married couple who had owned the place were already dead. Their hands bound behind them with twist-ties as they lay face-down in the parking lot.

She had just enough time to see a third form laying beside them before Perry casually aimed and pulled his trigger, putting three rounds into the sobbing boy.

Boy.

He couldn't have been older than fifteen.

"What in the nine hells do you think you're doing!?" Her scream tore something in her throat. "What the actual fuck!?"

Perry and Nava both jumped in surprise, whipping around to face her. The latter at least looked uncomfortable, shifting awkwardly, but Perry simply shook his head. "Dealing with the last of them. Come on, it's time to leave. Authorities will be here soon."

Ilia's skin flared to scarlet, her eyes and hair following suit. "Don't you fucking dare try to give me orders after that! That was a child!"

"We don't have time for this Ilia!" He snapped back. "We have to go before-"

"Code names!" She screeched. "You incompetent fucking-"

"Shut the hell up you panicking bitch!" He bellowed in reply, "We're done here! Mission complete, let's go!"

She was ready to tell him they could find their own way back when motion in the corner of her eye made her swing around, the other two following suit as a fourth person came into view.

Ilia recognized him. Had sparred with him in front of a bunch of excited fourteen year olds earlier this week. Well, that was putting a positive spin on things. She'd gotten her ass kicked by him several different ways, and she hadn't thought he'd been trying all that hard.

Professor Qrow Branwen of Signal wasn't wearing a shirt, and his left boot was untied. Of course the giant sword clutched in his left hand and the murderous look in his eyes made him look exactly as deadly as he was.

That look went from murderous to apocalyptic when he saw the three bodies at Perry's feet.

There wasn't any need for orders or further arguing. All three of them turned and ran for it.

The veteran huntsman pursued.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16

Ilia's arms shook as Branwen hammered at her guard, rapidly giving ground through the thine forest as she frantically defended herself. He'd already gotten two good hits in, taking down chunks of her aura. Her uniform was soaked with sweat, breath coming out in sharp gasps as she desperately tried to buy everyone time to get the boat ready.

The lack of any features on her saber wasn't helping against his more complicated weapon. He'd already shot her once with the gun built into the hilt, and put a few rounds into Nava when he'd tried to get involved.

She couldn't use Lightning Lash either. It wouldn't have helped much but she'd be doing better with the options it would give her. But if she did he'd recognize it in an instant. She couldn't even speak since they'd shared a few words during and after their spar, which was becoming a larger problem as Perry started running his mouth.

"Cover sister Ilia from the boat!" His shout came as she ducked beneath a slash, frantically skipping back a few more paces. Somehow her left foot got caught up in some tree roots, making her wobble, leaving her off-balance when Branwen reversed his motion and lashed out with a kick aimed at her chest.

The bastard was strong, it knocked her back even farther, an explosive breath coming out in a hard cough. She didn't have time to recover, barely turning aside a thrust, throwing a quick punch at his nose to make him pause, and then scrambling into another retreat.

Her boots had barely hit the sand before Branwen was all over her once again. That damned sword moved more quickly than it had any right to. She barely deflected a slash, but the follow-up overhand cut was too much for her exhausted arms. They gave way and let the heavy blade collide with her shoulder, her aura sparking wildly as a pained yelp escaped her.

"Ilia! Down!"

Another kick from the huntsman had her going down anyway, so it worked out. Her back hit the sand just as all four of her companions opened fire. Branwen cursed, sword whirling in front of him, but he couldn't come close to blocking them all. Red sparks flared as rounds got through, hitting his aura, finally driving him back.

Grains of sand flew everywhere as she frantically crab-walked backwards, rising in a crouch the moment she felt water. Someone stopped shooting long enough to fire up the boat's engine, another pair of hands grabbing hers when she lunged for the side.

"He's retreating! Keep shooting!" Perry helped haul her in as Lectrie got them going in reverse, the old boat slowly pulling away from the beach. "Keep-down!"

The warning was several seconds too late for Ilia. Several rounds hit her back and drove her into Perry, another scream coming out as her aura finally gave up. Lectrie shouted something else as the engine's noise built up to a loud roar.

For a more seconds the gunfire continued... then the incoming slowed significantly as they finally got clear of the Human's limited night vision.

"Stop..." She gasped. "Stop shooting. He'll home in on us."

Nava and Liam both quickly eased off on the triggers, only one final shot snapping by somewhere overhead before Branwen gave up as well.

"We're clear." Perry groaned, collapsing onto a bench with a tired groan. "You all right Ilia?"

She wanted to tear his head off but all she could do was shift over, collapsing in the front of the boat. "Aura broken. And we're not clear... he'll be calling Vale."

Lectrie spoke up from her place in the back, "If they send out boats we'll be in trouble."

"Then we should speed up. Head south, lose them in the industrial sector." Perry said at once. "We'll head for the faunus neighborhoods east of them, hold up there until dawn."

"No you idiot." Ilia groaned, waving a tired hand to their right. "That's too obvious, they'll expect us to head right for them. Lectrie? Steer north-east towards. They won't expect us to head for the wealthy part of town. Can pull up at a coastal mansion, ditch the boat at the private docks. Then we call for rides."

The taller woman nodded and adjusted their course, opening up the throttle as soon as she'd gotten them pointed the right direction. No one spoke as they raced across the ocean, choppy waves making the old boat rattle and shake as they pushed the engine to its limits. Its noise grew to the point where they couldn't even hear each other speak, which clearly suited Perry just fine.

He glared right back at Ilia, then shifted around only to find Liam and Lectrie giving him equally furious glares. In the end he settled for turning his back on all of them in favor of staring out over the water.

Nava at least had the grace to look ashamed even through his mask, flinching when he felt Ilia eyes on him. The young man kept his eyes on his feet after that.

Their trip back to Vale seemed to both take forever and yet go by in a flash. A quick glance at her scroll told her that her aura was trying to recover, but was still in the red. Enough to stop a few civilian rounds but not much more than that.

Dammit. Branwen was a monster, it was liking fighting an even better Adam. And if we don't go to ground quickly we're going to have even more hunters all over us.

Lectrie started to slow them down as they neared Vale's coastline, only for Ilia to gesture for her to keep the up speed. Getting back into the city was far more important than being quiet at the moment. If they got caught while rowing, assuming they even had the strength to try that again, they'd be screwed out on the open water.

She got it after a moment and quickly got them back up to speed. Within a couple of minutes they'd shot past the anti-Grimm sonar buoys, then through the outer harbor markers.

"Lights!" Perry's shout was hard to hear, but his frantic gestures got their attention. "Patrol!"

Ilia quickly scanned the water, trying to ignore the glittering lights of Vale obscuring everything. It took her a moment before she spotted them; a steady blue light on a much larger boat off to the southeast.

"North!" It was her turn to shout, "Faster!"

While Lectrie adjusted course, she shouldered her way past Nava and Perry, ignoring the latter's furious gestures. Liam shifted over, letting her hop over his bench to stand in the back, eyes tracking the other vehicle.

For a moment it was properly silhouetted by the lights, and she recognized the outline of a long police cutter. The kind that usually just cruised up and down the river or went out to corral drunken boaters in summer. Thankfully it seemed to have missed them entirely, turning south, heading towards the poorer sections of the city.

A pair of gestures saw Lectrie slow their breakneck pace, then turn inland themselves.

"They turned south." She said as soon as the engine was quiet enough to let them speak without screaming. "Probably heading to block the harbor and industrial docks. I bet they're more boats waiting in the river for us."

Liam nodded, "Good call turning north boss."

Perry's fists clenched but somehow he kept his mouth shut.

Carefully driving around several anchored boats just off shore, they slowed further as they tried to find an open dock or at least a sandy bit of beach. Thankfully it didn't take them long to find the latter and within a few minutes Lectrie had driven them aground in the backyard of a small mansion.

Five tired terrorists tromped through the waves, moving past the building proper to get to the street. There Nava took point, glancing left and right before motioning them down to a rather fancy bus stop complete with a roof and half-walls. Once inside they all collapsed again, guzzling water and trying to recover.

"Uniforms and masks off, put them in your backpacks." Ilia tossed her bottle aside to start pulling at hers. "Liam, call headquarters. Tell Tukson we need rides."

He nodded, "How many?"

She mulled it over, glancing at the map helpfully posted on the nearby wall. "Uh... two. Perry and I will go straight south, they can pick us up near the mall. The three of you will go east towards the Winchester place. There's an all night grocer a couple of blocks. Act like you're just out buying drinks."

Everyone nodded and for once there wasn't any complaining. No doubt because everyone else was eager to get clear before she exploded on Perry, and Perry was just as eager to snap back at her.

The moment that Liam had finished his call, Tukson promising to get two drivers out to pick them up at once, their team split up. Perry fell in beside her as they walked south down silent streets.

"You could have gotten us all killed tonight." Ilia growled. "You know that right?'

Perry adjusted his glasses without looking at her. "And you've gone from cautious to cowardly."

She felt her voice lower further. "Oh? Please explain to me how the disobeying orders, jeopardizing an operation, and gunning down unarmed bystanders is the height of bravery."

"You once told me that there's two kinds of Humans. The kind who abuses us, and the kind that stands by and lets it happen." He snapped back. "They weren't innocent, no Human is."

"They-"

He spoke over her, "They profited from it! How much lien do you think they raked in getting those Humans liquored up?"

Ilia felt her freckles heat up. "And how did their kid profit from it, Perry? He didn't even look old enough to have graduated school yet."

"He..." For a brief second he looked unsure of himself. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Collateral damage happens in war."

"And if Branwen had killed me? Nava? Liam?" She pressed him harder. "What would we be?"

"Martyrs."

Her lips pulled back as her eyes shifted to match her scales. "We didn't get into this fight to die, Perry."

"We didn't get into it to sit around chasing off petty thieves either." He spat. "If you had your way that's all we would do."

She was ready to reply when lights came up from behind them. The pair of them fell silent and tried to look casual, something she did far better than he. An expensive car slowly rolled past, an exhausted looking Human chugging coffee as he drove. He didn't so much as glance their way.

Ilia took deep breaths as they kept walking, forcing her skin and eyes to return to their natural shades. The last thing she needed was to be glowing, especially at night.

"I would have been fine with torching the bar." She said a few blocks later, once she'd gotten a hold of her temper. "If you could have given me proof that the owners were in agreement with the rioter's views of us, I might have even approved of you killing them. But their kid didn't deserve that, and you're not even trying to deny that you put us all at risk."

Perry's lips curled into an unpleasant sneer. "You wouldn't have."

"I've killed more people for the cause than you." The words were a furious hiss. "I've seen the worst of what Humanity can do to us. You're a fucking child Perry."

"I know what has to be done to win this war. I know what it will cost. I know we have to take risks to send the message to the Humans that we won't be bullied anymore!"

Her right foot hit the sidewalk harder than necessary as she pulled up to a stop, whirling on him. "This isn't Atlas! This isn't Mantle! This is Vale. This isn't the place for that kind of bloodthirsty idiocy!"

"Weak." He kept up the sneer.

"Idiot!" Came her retort. "We've been successful because we don't do stupid things like gun down children. You think the cops have seriously been after us? That Huntsman have? The pressure has gotten worse since the docks but now it's going to go through the roof!"

"Then we'll fight them!" A fist hit her shoulder, driving her back as he tried to loom. He shouldn't have bothered, he wasn't tall or built enough to make it work, and it just left her even angrier. "You're a huntress aren't you? For all the good you do when a Human ones shows up!"

She smacked his arm away and stepped forwards, getting right into his face. "Fight them? We'll die. In droves, and nothing will change for the Faunus. Things will only get worse. You want to fight, Perry? You want to die a martyr for the cause? Fine. Fine! I'll arrange a transfer to Atlas. Maybe you'll get lucky and run into Winter Schnee! I'm sure you'll love every second of her sword cutting into your belly!"

Perry's mouth was opening to retort when a bird shrieked directly overhead. Both of them flew apart, hands going reflexively to weapons, Ilia's heart hammering until she saw a blackbird perch itself on a nearby street light. It let let out another caw, then began cleaning its feathers as if it hadn't scared them half to death.

Once she was sure she wasn't going to pass out from a mixture of anger and stress, she forced her hands away from her weapons. Perry did the same, both of them turning back to glare at one another again.

Ilia spoke before he could. "I will get Adam and Sienna on a conference call when we're back. It's clear that one of us needs to leave."

He jerked his chin in a single nod, seemed to swallow his first response, then tried again. "F-fine. Passing the buck? Just like you. Fine."

She twitched, knowing he'd obliquely called her a coward again, then waved for him to start walking again.

It was a tense pair that got moving. Ilia ended up a good yard ahead, balancing on the edge of the sidewalk while Perry tromped through the grass rather than be anywhere near her. They made it most of a mile in furious silence until Ilia caught sight of movement ahead and held up a hand. For all that he apparently hated her now, Perry quickly froze, the pair of them lurking in the small patch of darkness between street lights.

A single figure was walking casually in their direction.

A man without a shirt... and a giant sword in one hand.

"How the hell...?" She hissed.

"What do we do?" Perry demanded just as quietly, moving back beside her, ready to support if needed. "Fight?"

"He kicked my ass at full aura, I'm still in the red." She licked her lips, thinking furiously. "He knows me as a huntress. We can use that. We ditch the bags over the fence, play it like we're on a date and have no idea what's-ah!"

Pain flared up from her side, a shaking hand grabbing onto the dagger that had just been driven into her side. "...wh-what?"

Perry's face was unreadable as he pushed her against the nearest fence. Ilia felt her legs going weak as she gaped at him, trying to wrap her ahead around what he'd just done. "What..."

"You're a coward." He hissed. "A cowardly, failure of a bitch. We could have... he'll deal with you, and I will do what has to be done to save our people."

Her right hand managed to make a fist, but her punch was so telegraphed that he easily dodged backwards. A single motion saw his backpack come off his shoulders to strike her in the chest, the blow too much for her unsteady legs.

Ilia fell, a breathy sound all she could manage as the impact seemed to let the knife dig deeper into her.

Perry didn't even look back as he turned, sprinting back the way they'd just come from.

That... bastard! That cowardly, conniving son of a...!

Branwen had caught a glimpse of the struggle. Footsteps made her look up as the Human sprinted right for her. That was fine. She could explain this, she could lie. She could... her eyes fell onto the pack that Perry had thrown at her.

It had opened, his uniform and pack spilled out on the ground in front of her.

When she looked up again, Branwen was standing over her.

"...figures." The Human rasped. "I almost liked you."

For once... she couldn't think of anything to say.

He stared at her for several seconds, then at the dagger in her side. "That'll have gotten arteries. Know I cracked your aura. You'll bleed out soon without help."

She swallowed, using all of her willpower not to change color.

"...not going to kill you." Branwen shook his head. "But I'm not going to save a dying terrorist either."

Then he turned and started sprinting, racing after Perry without looking back either.

Leaving her alone, a knife's hilt with its snarling wolf iconography protruding from her side.

Chapter Text

Chapter 17

Perry was a lot of things. A first class son of a bitch. A traitor. Someone whose loyalty had apparently ended the moment he'd realized she would never date or sleep with him. Someone who equated murdering random Humans with advancing Faunus rights. He was a good enough fighter. A decent tactician. Probably better at keeping a finger on the morale of the troops than she was. Better at cheering them up, talking to them, building close bonds.

He was all of those things.

He was also someone who was terrible at considering all of the angles of a problem. Case in point? He should have ripped the dagger out.

Ilia gasped as her shoulder rammed into a wall, the sturdy bricks the only thing keeping her upright. Pain throbbed through the belly with every breath and she was certain she was leaving a thin trail of blood with each shaking step she managed to take. Her left hand stayed on the weapon still buried in her flank, probably the only thing stopping her from bleeding out.

She had no idea where Branwen or Perry had gone. If the traitor had been captured or not. It didn't matter.

"Focus..." The word was a gasp. "Focus. Get to the mall. Pray someone is there."

She wasn't even sure how she'd gotten as far as she had. It was nearly dawn and the amount of cars moving around seemed to be picking up every minute as people began to commute to work. Now that she'd left the wealthier quarter of the city it wouldn't be long before foot traffic started up as well.

Can't be in the open then. That would mean a hospital. That would mean questions. That would mean capture.

Ilia pushed on, sticking to the side street she'd been somewhat surprised to find herself on. No banks, no fuel stations, no cameras. She hoped.

"Keep moving. Just keep... moving."

A car pulled onto the street just ahead, moving too slowly her way. Her semblance was out. She was losing aura as fast as her body recharged it, all of it going to the gash in her side. Hissing in pain, she shifted so that they couldn't see her wound, hanging her head and hoping she looked like just another early morning drunk.

It wasn't until the driver gunned the engine for several seconds then slammed on their brakes that she looked up again.

What she'd taken for a car was in fact a beat up old truck, one with a very familiar driver. "Ilia!?"

Tukson practically flew out of the driver's side, leaving the engine running. "He said you were dead. What happened?"

"Perry." She gasped as he took her arm, his mouth opening in horror when he saw her belly. "Traitor. He... did this. Left me."

Tukson swore under his breath, hesitated, then got onto her good side. "Come on. You shouldn't sit down with that there, lay in the back. I'll get you medical attention."

"...back to base." The relief she felt on seeing him seemed to sap what strength she had left, the big man taking nearly all of her weight. "...report..."

"Come on. Take it slow."

She tried to walk again, to take one more step... and felt herself begin to fall as everything went black.

When she woke up she was in a dark bedroom, her throat was absolutely dry, and she felt twice as exhausted as she had after rowing that damned boat to Patch.

"You're finally awake." Tukon's voice made her turn her head to the right, something that took too much effort for her liking. The bookseller was seated in a comfortable armchair beside her bed, the rest of the curiously undecorated. "You're in my spare bedroom. What do you remember?"

Ilia sucked in a slow breath and winced at the pull on her stomach. "...the mission to Patch. Perry stabbing me. You."

He seemed to wince. "Well, that's something. Water?"

She nodded and he rose, picking up a bottle from the floor. He had to help her sit up to drink it, and the movement made her realize she had an IV line attached to one arm. "...doctor?"

"Off the books. Graduate student, I give him whatever books he needs for free, he sees me and my people on the side."

Smart. Also slightly worrying that he'd had a doctor, or the nearest thing to one, available but had never told her. That was definitely the kind of asset that a Leader needed to know about. Still this wasn't the time or place for that.

She sipped from the bottle once he handed it over, careful not to guzzle it. Once she was done she settled it beside her rather than handing it back, and Tukson quickly returned to his seat.

"You got lucky. An inch lower and you'd have been dead. As it was he got you patched up and pumped some auric boosters into you, plus anti-biotics." He nodded towards the IV line. "Should be able to take that off now that you're up, but he says you're not going to combat ready for a while. Have to take it easy."

As if my luck would let me take it easy. "How long have I been down?"

His usually serious expression grew more so. "Four days. I'm the only one who knows you're alive."

Ilia felt her eyes narrow. "Why?"

Tukson grimaced. "Perry got a hold of Taurus the moment he got back to base. Reported that you died heroically holding off a Huntsman so he could escape. It's already been reported to Menagerie."

Red worked its way up and down her body, eyes, and hair. "Bastard. I'm going to kill him. How long until I can walk? I have to call Sienna and-"

"Nava, Lectrie, and Liam are dead."

Her mouth snapped shut.

"They went out to find your body." Tukson continued. "Just like I did. Two police units pinned them down, then a team of Hunters came in and hammered them. They went down fighting. Perry's already calling them martyrs."

Martyrs... He'd used that word before. Had sounded like that was the kind of thing they should be hoping to create. ...or helping create.

"They were good. Our best. Too good for random cops." The words were a whisper from blue lips. "That son of a bitch. He set them up."

Tukson looked down at the floor. "...can't prove it, but my instincts say you're right. Everyone in the combat cell is fighting mad right now. So are some of mine, even if more of them are still confused over what exactly happened."

Ilia bowed her head as well. That... traitor. He accused her of... when he set his own allies, his own friends, up to die? And for what? His ego? His refusal to accept the reality of their struggle?

Swallowing, she closed her eyes and forced herself to be calm. For her color to return to normal. There would be a time to mourn them... but that time wasn't now. Now they had to act. They had to make sure that the traitor in their ranks paid for what he'd done. That he didn't get away with it.

"We need to contact Sienna."

That drew a tired huff. "Sure. How? Perry's got control of the cell now. If he even suspects you're still alive he's going to finish the job. And how many of his fanatics would believe you over him?"

The question hurt nearly as much as the blade in her guts had. She really had no idea. Letting Perry keep his extremists in one place where she could keep an eye on them had seemed smart at the time, but now she wondered if she hadn't made a mistake. Hadn't made it easy for Perry to cultivate their loyalty. Especially as her interactions with them had gotten harsher as they kept getting closer to the line of what she thought of acceptable actions.

"He told them I died a hero." She shook her head slowly, "Can't be more than one or two he told the truth to. Maybe no one."

"You willing to risk our lives on that?"

Well... when he put it like that? No, not really. Maybe if she'd been healthy and ready to fight, but she wasn't. Fight... crap. "Did you grab my pack?"

Tukson blinked and then shook his head. "You didn't have one on you."

Dammit!

She must have left it behind somewhere during her fugue state. Lightning Lash had been in there, along with her old saber. Her caution of not wanting to look armed and dangerous at night was coming back to bite her in the ass.

"So it's a covert operation." She adjusted. "Perry will want to use my... my death. He'll want a big operation. What does he have planned?"

"Something for tomorrow." A broad shoulder rose and fell. "He didn't give me details, just told me to have cars and safe-houses ready for a big raid."

She nodded. "Tomorrow night then. You drop me off outside, I sneak in, I contact Sienna and tell her what happened. She'll know what to do."

He looked skeptical. "No offense, Ilia, but I don't think she'll be able to do much for us anytime soon."

Yeah... there is that. "I'll have to stay in hiding. Are we at your place?"

"My guest room, but I'm the only one of your close contacts left with the others gone. He'll come here first the moment he realizes you're around."

Another good point. She must have been more out of it than she thought to not be thinking this through. "Right... right. You think he remembers the old base in the sewers?"

"...probably, but I don't know if he'd think to look there. It was pretty disgusting." Tukson hedged. "Might work for a few days, long enough to find something long term. Can't you just go back to Patch? Take that Huntress job?"

"Branwen saw my face."

There was a quiet but entirely heartfelt string of swearing. "That dog-eared bastard really screwed you over didn't he?"

"Yes. Yes he did." Ilia exhaled, carefully forcing her once again red-skin to darken back to tan. "Can you spare a weapon, and enough food and water for a few days? I can handle myself after that."

Tukson nodded once. "It won't be the best but I've got supplies and a gun for emergencies. What's the plan?"

Ilia mulled it over for several silent moments. "Call your doctor and see how many auric boosters he can spare. I'm going to need my semblance tomorrow."

"That won't be healthy for you."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "No... it won't. But it's the only thing that will make this work."

Chapter Text

Chapter 18

Tukson's fingers drummed on the steering wheel, and his eyes were locked on the cars going past. "You sure about this?"

"No." Ilia responded as she checked her equipment. Her old uniform was gone, leaving her in torn jeans and a faded shirt that he'd grabbed from a donation center. A thin coat did its job of covering her shoulder holster and the pistol that was her only weapon.

The lack of a scroll was an issue, but he'd at least had an old watch that she pushed into a pocket.

"But whatever is going on here has to be happening without Sienna knowing about it. I have to warn her."

"I get that." He said. "But why not just go back to Menagerie? I still think that's a better idea."

She shook her head once. "With what lien? I'd have to steal it and that will draw attention and take time that we don't have. Even if I pulled it off, I'd have to get back over to Anima, travel south, then find a boat to Kuo Kuona. All without drawing attention from the authorities or Adam's people. This is faster and safer."

Tukson glanced at the warehouses in the distance. "Yeah. Safer."

"I know our headquarters. The patrols, the guards, everything. I get in, I send my message to Sienna, I get out." She blew out a short breath. "Then I just have to lay low until Sienna gets things under control. I can hide out in the city until then."

"You sure?"

Not at all. "My cover is still intact so long as I don't run into Branwen."

He grunted. "Or the Winchesters."

Ilia felt her eyes begin to shift colors before she fought down the change. "He's never seen my face, and I lost Lightning Lash. They won't recognize me."

"...if you say so." The bookseller hesitated, then turned and offered her a broad hand. "Good luck."

She took it, a single shake their last contact before she opened the passenger door. "Parking garage on second street. If I'm not there in an hour get clear, I'll find my own way down to the sewers."

Tukson nodded as she got out. As soon as the door was closed he put his battered old truck into drive, joining the rest of the late night traffic.

Ilia watched him go, pulling her coat a little tighter around her. Going into a mission without her old weapon left her feeling... rather naked. It wasn't helped by the fact that she wasn't very good with guns, but Tukson had never really been a combat agent. The little pistol was the only weapon he'd even owned.

And... despite her bravado, she knew this was anything like a good idea. She still had bandages on her side from where Perry had stabbed her, and she hadn't gotten anything like the proper amount of sleep. She should have still been resting, recovering, letting her aura knit her body back together. Then done some rehab, maybe pick up a bladed weapon, and only then tried this.

She'd have had her full aura ready to go. Three boosters had her at something like high levels, but too much of her aura was still working on repairing her body. With more time... maybe she could have even stolen a uniform, combining it with the full use of her semblance to simply walk in through the front door.

But... she didn't have a week or two to wait.

I have to do this. I have to warn Sienna. I have to. I don't know what Perry is aiming for, but I can't let him get away with it. Sienna will make it right. She'll make everything right. I can rest after that.

Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded once and then got moving. A short walk brought her to the nearest intersection where she joined a couple of workers just leaving shifts at a canning plant. A gentle pull on her Semblance left her just another blue-collar Human walking home after a long day.

She stayed with them when the light changed, crossing the street, trailing just a couple of steps behind as they walked past various warehouses. The fourth had a security guard reading a magazine in the booth outside, though she doubted any of the workers noticed that Elisa's hat was being held up by her horns.

The older woman glanced up as they walked past, eyes sliding over them all before returning to her reading.

Semblance don't fail me now. Past the guard house, twenty paces.

Each step made her nerves ache as if this was her very first assignment instead of something she'd done a few dozen times.

And stop. Crack in the sidewalk is the edge of camera four.

Turning, she casually put her back to the security wall, crossing her arms as if simply waiting for something. It took a good ten minutes for her window of opportunity; a scant few seconds where there was no one headed her way on either side of the street, and where all of the cars were being held up by red lights farther down the road.

Jumping up to catch the top of the wall made her everything hurt. The pain got worse as she hauled herself up and over, more of it flaring up from her legs when she landed. A quick run got her underneath of the warehouse's corner camera before it could swing back to point at her.

"Ow..." Ilia groaned, keeping her back to the building as she tried to catch her breath.

I really should have stretched at least.

Still, this wasn't the place to rest and recover. She was all of a dozen yards from the front door and it would only be a matter of time before someone walked past.

Craning her neck back, she watched as the camera swept back and forth, timing her departure to when it was aimed at the front entrance. Then it was just as case of darting along the long side of the building, stopping next to the ladder leading to the roof, and carefully clambering up it.

Five rungs... six rungs... skip the seventh to avoid the security alarm. Same for the tenth.

Her arms had joined her back in aching by the time she got to the roof. Sprawling out on the sheet metal shouldn't have been comfortable, but with how much she hurt it felt like a fluffy bed in a nice hotel.

A quick check of her borrowed watch told her she didn't have long to enjoy the moment. If what Perry had planned was still on the combat teams would be heading out soon. Sure enough, within a few minutes she began to hear movement below. Cars and trucks rumbled, and a careful shift let her watch as a convoy of unmarked vehicles began to slowly pull out of the building.

"Leaving all at once." She shook her head. "I get betrayed and all of their professionalism goes out the window."

Ilia waited until the last car had gone, and then waited another five minutes just to make sure before carefully making her way back down. Avoiding the rungs with sensors on them was a bit harder going down than it had been going up, but no alarms blared when she got back down to the ground.

Then it was just another timed run back to the front, a quick use of her semblance to make sure that Elisa didn't look her way from the security booth, and then she was inside.

Honestly...

Apparently the cars all leaving at once wasn't the only thing that had changed over the last several days. The carefully arranged containers that had made the warehouse look legitimate had been moved, leaving broad spaces that likely made it easier to move around. Easier to park the cars and trucks they'd just used.

Easier for anyone to simply wander in and realize that something was going on. Especially since they hadn't even closed the heavy doors behind them.

She cut left after entering, getting out of the old lighting to ease the strain on her semblance. A quick shake set her skin to black, freckles and eyes to a dull gray; everything she could to simply vanish as she carefully picked her way through the building. There was enough noise to indicate that they'd left a couple of people behind to keep an eye on the base, which made her slow down every time someone spoke.

The staircase leading to the small office overlooking the floor was the real test. It was narrow and a bit rickety, and if she went too quickly it would draw everyone's attention. It could do that even if she went slowly.

Which meant it was time to gamble that she had enough aura in her to really push her semblance to the limits.

Finding a dark shadow case by one of the roof's supports, she settled in to wait once again.

Her moment came when one of the new recruits came strolling over. He probably meant to look casual, but the nervous, excited way his wolf tail was wagging betrayed him even before she noticed how he kept looking around.

Another rookie looking to see how the officer's lived while all of the adults were gone. Perfect.

Ilia pulled harder on her aura, her semblance intensifying as she casually fell into step behind him. It felt almost like was walking around in a thick, fuzzy blanket, and the lights above seemed to dim.

She'd made it all of three steps before recruit took his first step on the staircase, winced at the noise, and turned to glance over his shoulder.

Her heart clenched at the sight of his face... then relaxed as he raised a finger to his lips.

"Shh! I bet they've got some good stuff hidden away!"

Lips parted as she gaped at him, and he got a few steps ahead before her brain reengaged. She quickly caught up, moving as carefully as he did, two thieves doing their best to avoid being noticed.

He didn't see me. He saw another rookie. Thank the gods... ow. Spoke too soon. The ache of pulling so deeply on her semblance didn't seem to come from anywhere in specific; it just made her entire body thrum in time with her heartbeat.

It wasn't a long climb, but by the time they got up she felt her breath shortening. Worse, the lights seemed to be brighter, and even in her confused state she knew it must have had something to do with her semblance.

Apparently it could let her hide in plain sight... but not for very long. She could practically feel what was left of her reserves plummeting with each second that went by.

Which was why the moment they got to the top and inside the office, she pulled out her gun and pistol-whipped the rookie on the back of the head. It didn't work quite as well as she'd have liked; she'd pulled a bit of her strength to avoid hurting him. Too much of it in fact.

He fell to his knees with a startled curse, grabbing at his hair and started to turn. It took two more hits to bludgeon him down, and he wasn't terribly quiet when he finally collapsed.

"Dammit." She didn't wait around to see if anyone would notice.

Perry hadn't changed her office just yet, something she was thankful for as she fell into the battered chair behind her desk. A quick flick of a button saw the window shutters rotate, darkening the office and making sure no one outside would be able to see the glow of the mini-CCT.

"I did it. I did it." Fingers flew over the keyboard as she booted the system up, rapidly picking out the emergency code and then selecting Sienna. "Come on. It's daylight there, pick up. Pick up."

The holographic display shifted from the menu to the connecting screen, flickered once, and finally showed the Menagerie headquarters.

...and two men who were not Sienna Khan.

"Ah, Sister Illia." Fennic Albain smiled from his place beside his brother. "What an unexpected surprise."

Corsec nodded in agreement. "We were told you died heroically holding off a Human huntsman."

"No, he left me to bleed out." Ilia replied. "I need to talk to Sienna immediately. It's an emergency."

Fennec's ears quivered though his smile didn't fade. "As we could tell from the code you used. Sadly the High Leader left Menagerie this morning, to personally take command in Mistral after Leader Amranth fell ill."

Thankfully his brother got to the point more succinctly. "We were entrusted with handling any crisis in her absence. I trust yours has to do with your survival?"

Ilia hesitated. She'd have vastly preferred talking only with Sienna about this, but they'd already picked up and seen her. And the system would record her call regardless. Best to tell them what was going on.

"Yes. Perry betrayed me, stabbed me in the back and left me for dead. He wanted to pin the blame for a botched raid on me I think, and to get control of the vale cell back. He didn't like how I was running the cell as the High Leader personally instructed me."

Corsec hummed. "Your orders to avoid pointless killing, no doubt."

She blinked. "You know my orders?"

"Of course." Fennec smiled once again. "We work quite closely with the High Leader. We know you were sent to keep an eye on Leader Taurus along with Sister Trifa, to ensure he did not deviate from the High Leader's orders."

"Oh. Good. Good." Ilia shook her head, "I don't have much more time. I need you to relay what happened to Sienna. I'm going to go to ground."

The brothers exchanged a quick glance, then Corsec waved a dismissive hand. "Of course. Rest assured that we will see your former second in command reprimanded most harshly for his actions."

"Thank you. I... I never saw it-"

"He should have made sure it was a lethal stroke."

For the second time in the last few minutes she felt her heart skip a beat and her breathing stop.

Fennec sighed. "You would have made a wonderful martyr, Ilia. You were loyal, dedicated. You had the tragic past, the personal connection to so many. It would have been your last great contribution to the cause of Faunus supremacy."

Ilia rose to her feet, "Sienna will-"

"She already mourns you. You have no idea how painful it was for her to order your removal." Corsec cut her off. "The Belladonna's were not told that detail, of course, but they have already built you a lovely little tomb behind their estate. I believe they intend to hold a public wake for you tomorrow. We will not be so crass as to ruin such an emotional occasion with something as banal as the truth."

The smile on Fennec's face darkened. "You served the faunus well in your time, sister. But this is no longer the time for cautious action. Now is the time to be bold, to make the world tremble... and you with your caution would only be in the way."

Her fist hit the disconnect button before he could say anymore.

"Gods..." This was bad. This was worse than... "Sienna. No... no she wouldn't. They're lying. They're... oh gods. She trusts them."

She trusted them enough to leave them in control of Menagerie in her absence. She trusted men who apparently thought nothing of murdering their own just because... what?

"Because I'm not a bloodthirsty monster?" The words were a whisper. "Because I'm... I'm not insane?"

"You are talking to yourself in the dark." Her breath hitched as Adam casually walked into the room. Wilt and Bloom was secure on his belt, a hand resting on the weapon as she smiled at her. "Hello, Illia. Welcome home."

"Adam." To her shame his name didn't come out any louder than her prior words. "What are you doing here?"

"Supervising the new Leader's first mission... and making sure he didn't leave any loose ends." Adam shook his head. "I approve of his zeal but his execution leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps he regretted following my orders to remove you."

Adam? He'd been the one to tell Perry to do it? "Why? Why? We... were friends! We've saved each other's lives! I... by the gods, I introduced you and Blake!"

His free hand waved at the communications device. "I thought Fennec explained it well enough. Your kind had their time. Your purpose. You did well by our people... but your time is gone, just like Ghira's. You helped prime the pump, and we will be forever grateful for that. But now... now it's time to take the next step. A step you refuse to take, no matter how hard I tried to help you take it."

"You..."

"I never thought it would come to this, Ilia. I thought you would stand beside me. Beside Blake. All the way to the end." He took a casual step to his right, as if daring her to make a run for the door.

She would never make it. They both knew that.

Fully rested, with Lightning Lash, with Dust... Ilia might have lasted a minute or two against Adam. Long enough to run. But right now she was running on fumes, her aura was probably in the red, and her only weapon was a civilian-grade pistol.

This was the end, and they both knew it.

Adam sighed and shook his head once. "What happened to you? What gave you such a bleeding heart? You hated them just as much as any of us in the beginning. Your hatred... it was pure, almost beautiful."

"I..." Ilia hated humanity for what it had taken from her. She hated the SDC, she hated Atlas, she hated the Humans who just stood by and let the faunus be abused. But... there were five Humans to every faunus. The Atlesian Air Fleet could kill everyone on Menagerie in less time than it had taken Fennec to gloat. And how many Humans would stand in their way? "You can't mean that you want a war. You can't."

"It's a war we will win, just like the last."

Oh Gods. He really was mad. He'd gone mad. They'd all gone mad. "You're insane! We can't win another Faunus War! We can't!"

His grin twisted into a snarl. "We can and we will! We are the superior species and we will make Humanity pay for that they've done!"

"Adam-!"

"And you will play your part!"

Exhausted or not, stunned or not, the part of her brain dedicated to flight or fight was apparently still working. Adam's shoulders had only begun to tense before Ilia turned and bolted for the nearest window.

She hit the cheap shutters as a shotgun blast hit her back. The impact actually helped a bit even if it drained her aura, helping throw her through the glass.

Hitting the ground in a roll, she tried to come up running but her body wasn't quite up to it. Instead she came up staggering, pushing off a container just as Adam reached the window and took a second shot.

Ilia felt her aura shatter, whimpering sounds the only thing she could say as she scrambled to get up to speed, to get out of his line of sight.

For once luck was on her side; his third shot missed, blowing out a whole in the container she'd just been beside, giving her enough time to run past it and into the old living space. Three more recruits were inside, already rushing to see what was going on.

"Leader Amitola?" A woman gasped. "You're alive!? What-"

A forearm shoved her back, letting her run through them. Everything hurt. Nothing made sense.

Sienna... Sienna would never approve. They were lying. She... I have to live. I have to get out. I have to warn her.

"Stop her! She betrayed us all!"

Ilia ran for her life. The front door was out. There was too much open space near it. He'd shoot her long before she could make it. The door on the river side. Then a quick run down it, back to the streets. He couldn't chase her in public. It would draw too much attention. Ruin his little plot to make her a martyr if the police could tell she'd died to his gun.

Less than a hundred yards. She just had to stay ahead of them for that long.

Footsteps and shouts echoed wildly as she ran between containers. Ducking left, running down another narrow alley, then right to follow the wall. She lost a few seconds at the door. It was locked and she lacked the strength to force it, so instead she shot out the lock with her pistol.

The sounds drew more shouting, more orders, more pounding feet. They were coming.

Vale's muggy night air welcomed her as she stumbled outside, her right hand against the warehouse's wall as she tried to get back up to speed. Not more than a yard to the left were the dark waters of the River Vale, empty of any barges she might have tried to swim for.

Her wound hurt. Her breathing was labored. Nothing made sense.

Ilia ran as her former comrades pursued. She could hear them coming, hear them shouting for her to stop. To come back.

She ran past the other door on this side. It was still locked. She was still ahead of her pursuit.

She made it to the corner. Could see the street lights, the last hope she had.

Her footsteps jerked to a sudden stop.

"..." Nothing came out as she tried to speak. It was a struggle to even turn her head, to look to her right, to look at the man who'd been waiting just out of sight.

Perry adjusted his glasses with his free hand, his other holding the hilt of the sword he'd just rammed into her belly.

"I'm sorry, Ilia." He said quietly. "I loved you, you know. But we all have to make sacrifices for the faunus."

Her skin rippled wildly between cowardly black, furious scarlet, and hopeless blue. "...I..."

"For the faunus." The pain finally hit when he pulled the sword free, the agony around her stomach suddenly becoming her entire world. She stumbled back, clutching at herself on reflex, the warmth of her own blood coating her hands.

"...don't..."

The sword rose. Ilia felt her legs give out.

Pain came as the weapon fell, cutting her from her left shoulder to her hip.

Then her back struck the water... and she sank.

No... not like this...

Everything was cold. And dark.

Not like this... not... not...like...

...no...

Chapter Text

Epilogue – One Year Later

"Sister Belladonna?"

Blake closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fighting down the urge to snarl at the person who'd dragged her out of her book and back into reality.

Cold, depressing, disappointing reality.

"Yes?" Setting aside The Man with Two Souls, she turned to look at the man who'd cautiously poked his head into her tent. "What is it?"

"May I come in, sister?"

Another urge to sigh was ruthlessly suppressed. No matter how tiring she found it, she was Adam's partner, his second in command. She had to appear cool and collected at all times. He harped on it constantly.

Her left hand rose in a single motion, "Of course."

The man slipped inside, bowing his head and bringing a fist into his open palm. Blake merely waved again, dismissing the salute. "What is it, brother? Has Adam returned from Mountain Glenn?"

"Not yet, sister. He sent a message indicating he will return tomorrow." He held out a folded envelope. "He orders you to be ready for an operation that day. A mixed train will be carrying a significant SDC shipment."

Joy.

She'd been enjoying Adam's absence more than she should have for a young woman separated from her lover. Then again, she wasn't sure how much love she had left to give anymore. Or how much Adam's spiteful heart had to give. Things had... gone so wrong over the last year. Few years really, even if she'd been slow to realize what was happening.

One of his words made her frown, shaking her head a little as she focused. "A mixed train? You mean differing cargoes?"

He hesitated, "Passengers and freight. Our contact on the coast thinks it's to dissuade us from attacking, that we won't risk civilian casualties."

They clearly don't know Adam then...

"I see."

The envelop was extended towards her, "Orders, ma'am."

"Set it on the table." She said tiredly, leaning back in her seat. "Did he indicate what teams will be accompanying us."

"No ma'am." More hesitation. "Ma'am, I was ordered to make sure that you personally took the envelope."

That made her blink and then frown, taking a closer look at the operative in front of her. He was very tense for a messenger. Sweating even. He'd yet to meet her eyes either. A glance at his head and another at his body didn't reveal his faunus trait, and she didn't recognize his voice.

A hand slid under the table, her fingers wrapping around Gambol Shroud's hilt. "Name yourself, brother."

"Brother White, ma'am. Recently transferred from the Vale City Cell."

Even the mention of the city made her heart clench unpleasantly. "...why were you transferred, Brother?"

His throat worked as he swallowed, the mask not hiding his pale features. "I was... part of Leader Tukson's support cell. I decided to remain with the White Fang when he vanished last month, and Leader Perry thought my logistical skills would be of more use out here."

Ah. That certainly explained the nerves. Adam and Perry were both insisting that Tukson had been killed, that he'd finally gotten caught by the police while organizing charities. But... she didn't buy that. Tukson had been good. Very, very good.

But he'd also been very, very disliked within the White Fang. He'd never made a secret of the fact that he didn't like Adam, or that he positively loathed Perry. Anyone who worked for him would be tainted by association even if they'd shown loyalty by remaining with the White Fang.

"When was the last time you saw Tukson?"

If it was possible his nerves got worse. "I was already debriefed by Huntsman Banesaw, ma'am."

That gave his nerves even more of a reason to exist. Banesaw was a terrific warrior, and completely useless when it came to anything else. He was the kind of man that thought that fear and anger were the only motivations that mattered.

It made him useless at interrogating people. So long as they acted like they were scared of him Banesaw would walk away convinced they were too cowardly to lie.

Her voice lowered, "When was the last time you saw Tukson?"

The man didn't quite whimper but it was close. The envelope shook in his hand as he raised it a bit higher, "Please, Sister Belladonna."

She frowned at him. Why was the envelope with Adam's orders so important? For that matter, why were they even in an envelope? They should have just been printed out... and the verbal ones he'd relayed were already enough for her.

Unless...

"Open it."

"I'm not-" He made a strangled sound when her hand emerged with her weapon, not quite aiming it at him. Trembling fingers promptly started ripping at the paper, tilting it so that she could see inside.

The aura she'd begun to call up in case it was an explosive faded as she saw a routine letter...

...and a small data drive.

"I was to give it you, and to ensure you alone knew of it." He whispered. "It... it's about Leader Amitola."

Her heart clenched again. "Don't ever say her name again."

White flinched. "Please, ma'am. I'm just doing as I was told. My... last orders from a man I respected on behalf of our last true leader."

Blake's mouth was dry and she struggled not to point her weapon at him. Ilia...

She'd done everything she could to push Ilia out of her mind. Out of her memories. To stop waking up from nightmares of screaming at Ilia for being jealous, then turning to see her corpse laying before her. Of waking up with the crippling guilt of knowing that her best friend was dead. That the last time they'd talked she had... she had...

"You..." Gambol Shroud came to rest on the table as she set it beside her book. "...you knew her?"

"...yes ma'am." His voice remained low, almost inaudible. "She... turned our cell around. She made sure our priority was always on the faunus of the city. Since she vanished... it's all gone wrong."

"Since she died." Blake corrected harshly. "Since a Huntsman killed her and dumped her body in the river."

White swallowed and took a half-step forwards, holding the envelope out. "I know what I said, ma'am. Please. The drive will explain it."

Blake nearly picked up her weapon again, and truthfully she wasn't sure how she managed to snatch the envelope instead. "You will wait outside until I've reviewed it. Don't think about going anywhere until I call for you."

He jerked his head in a terrified nod, gave her another salute, and then fled... revealing a dog tail curled between his legs in fear as he did.

She waited until he was outside before rising, tossing the envelope and Adam's instructions aside as she walked to their working desk. The lap-scroll there was hardly new but it worked well enough, and it didn't take her more than a few seconds to plug in the drive and boot it up.

There were three files inside with instructive labels; Read Me First, Watch Me Second, Read Me Third.

Two taps opened up the first file.

Sit down before you watch the attached video. It is unpleasant. Have a bucket. Do not allow anyone else to see it. Be sure to read the third file. Destroy this disk when you are done and remove the files from your viewing history. B. Tukson.

Blake clenched her jaw, dragged a chair over, and sat. Then she fired up the video file, frowning when security footage began to play. The camera was an stationary one, focused on a broad sidewalk between a warehouse and a river. For a full minute there wasn't anything, and she began to wonder what the point of this even was.

Then a figure in street clothes staggered into view at the bottom of the screen.

Her hand flew to her mouth when she realized that she knew that ponytail. The slim but sturdy body. The same one she'd seen in too many terrible dreams.

Ilia... this...

Ilia was in bad shape. Staggering as she tried to run, clearly wounded on one side. The fact that she was visible at all on camera meant her semblance wasn't up, her aura probably depleted.

Is this... Anger surged up, replacing the horror. This is how she died. That bastard! That son of a bitch sent me-

Her mental train sputtered to a halt and died when Ilia's pursuers came into view.

They weren't huntsman.

They...

...they...

Five figures in White Fang uniforms came running after her, closely followed by... by Adam.

Blake tried to pause the video. Tried to stop it. All she did was slap the side of the machine in a flailing motion, forcing her to watch when Ilia reached the corner and someone drove a thin object into her.

Forced to watch as Ilia staggered back, grainy hands on her stomach as another man lazily stalked after her.

Forced to watch as light glinted off a sword, off glasses.

Forced to watch as Ilia fell into the dark water.

And then... and then it got worse.

One of the figures in uniform turned to Adam, pointing at the water. Their other arm was waving wildly. She could imagine the shouting that must have been happening. The demands to explain what had just happened.

Adam's sword flickered.

The man died.

The others tried to run. They met the other man at the end of the alley. Swords rose and fell. More bodies were pushed into the water.

Then two men walked out of sight, walking beside one another.

The video cut out after that.

Blake was throwing up on the ground a second later, some functional part of her brain noting that she should have grabbed a bucket like the file had said.

It... he couldn't have...

Couldn't it? A treacherous voice whispered in the back of her mind. He was in Vale then. Said he was there to help after she died. Said that several recruits died trying to help him get Ilia's body back.

She heaved some more. Bile and bits of her lunch coming out, splattering onto the dirt.

He's not the same young man you loved. That same voice went on, ruthlessly telling her every fact that she'd spent the last several months hiding from. Everything she'd known but refused to face. Every reason she'd buried herself in trashy books and fake worlds. He hated Ilia. You know he sent Trifa on that mission hoping she'd be injured. Sent home. Unable to spy on him for Sienna. Unable to find out what happened to Ilia.

Blake gasped for breath, trying to get enough saliva to spit out the taste in her mouth.

The worst thing wasn't that she'd just watched her lover help murder her best friend. Watched him kill their own people for witnessing it.

The worst part... was that she didn't doubt the video for a moment. Didn't consider it might be fake for more than a moment before dismissing the idea.

Adam... she'd read some of his plans, his orders. The ones he tried to hide from her, tried to cover up. She knew that he paid Humans to put up anti-faunus propaganda in Vale. That he'd told Banesaw that he wanted no prisoners during a raid on a lumber camp that she'd been kept away from. That Sienna had pulled all support for him, for the Vale Cell. A last effort to reign his increasingly reckless actions in.

Once she'd have defended him. Refused to see it. Refused to accept it.

Once... when she'd thought Adam had loved her.

He doesn't anymore. You're just a possession to him. Something to control. Something to please him when he feels the need. When was the last time he cared about your comfort? The last time he showed you real affection?

She couldn't remember anymore.

And Ilia tried to tell you.

The sound that came out wasn't quite a sob or another heave, but it had elements of both. After a few more shaky breaths she managed to turn back to the machine and select the third file, opening it on her second attempt to do so.

The White Fang is broken beyond repair. I pray that you see this. 1174 West Steel Street, Apartment 476. Day Twelve, Month Four. If you are not there I will be vanishing before I am Vanished. The train seems ideal.

Blake stared at the tiny words... and began planning.