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Everyone noticed the changes in Weiss’s behavior when they were reunited. She returned stripped of a title, would flinch at sudden physical contact or when voices were raised, and all but refused to talk of what she went through. It wasn’t too hard to piece things together.
Ruby was the one who had vowed out loud to not leave her side in Atlas, but the rest were in agreement. No one was going to hurt Weiss - not again, not on their watch.
So when Jacques stepped out of his company aircraft after their mission at the mines, they were all instantly on edge. But Weiss stood tall, her voice strong and commanding. When her hand shook, Blake was there to hold it with the rest of Team RWBY flanking her on either side. When Jacques raised his voice and dared take a step closer to his daughter, their hands found their weapons and were ready to strike when Ironwood intervened.
After Jacques retreated and was out of sight, Weiss was visibly worn from the confrontation. But with her official huntress license, a slice of cake in her hand, and her sister and friends, no, family, surrounding her, she felt safe enough to lay down her guard. She knew they would protect her.
On the bleachers, Ruby sent out a group text to her teammates. Excluding Weiss.
When Weiss is sleeping, we’ll meet in JNR and Oscar’s room. We need a plan.
That night, with Weiss sound asleep and exhausted from the day’s events, Ruby, Blake, and Yang snuck next door.
Ruby and Jaune, the team leaders, faced the bunks in chairs they pulled away from the desks. Once everyone else was settled and cuddled up in the bunk beds, Ruby spoke.
“We can’t let that happen again. She took it well, but next time she might not be ready. She shouldn’t have to go through that, not when we’re around.”
Nora spoke from her perch next to Yang, her voice serious. “Do you think he’ll try anything?”
After a moment of thought, Blake answered. “He’d be pretty stupid to try anything when Weiss herself is a professional huntress, not to mentioned she’s surrounded with other huntsmen at all times. But then again, he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.”
Ren hummed. “I think it’d be best to have someone with her at all times when she leaves the academy. He can’t come in here because he’s scared of Ironwood, but if he were to try something it would be outside.”
“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Jaune said from his chair. “I think we’d all sleep a little better if we at least have a plan.”
“Well, resident tactician.” Ruby’s silver eyes turned to Jaune, who was already deep in thought. “What do you have in mind?”
After around an hour of planning, they were satisfied with the results. After Oscar fell asleep on Blake’s shoulder, they decided to call it a night. Everyone but Weiss showed up to their first huntsmen missions completely exhausted after their late evening, but they considered it more than worth it. They had a plan.
The official name for it, thanks to Jaune, was Jacques Watch - but the code name for when Weiss was around was Code White. There were few rules to this plan of theirs, but with proper execution, they were bound to be effective.
- Someone must be with Weiss whenever she leaves the Academy. Prepare your excuses and make them believable.
- If you are with Weiss and think you see Jacques, the first priority is to get her out of the immediate area safely without either of them seeing each other. Then, contact the others. They’ll take care of it if need be.
- If you are not with Weiss but see Jacques, tell whoever is with Weiss your location so they can avoid him. Keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t try anything.
- Do not let Weiss find out about Jacques Watch.
Despite their numerous hefty accomplishments throughout their short lives, none of them were particularly great actors. But that was putting it lightly. To tell the truth, they were absolutely horrendous.
The first time Weiss announced that she was leaving the school, everyone tripped over themselves to offer to accompany her. Ruby was able to reach her first because of her semblance, and it was only because of how much Weiss loved her partner and her company that she allowed her to come with her to the store without any further questions.
The others were not so lucky. Weiss spared them no such sympathy and questioned them relentlessly, but allowed them to come along nonetheless. Eventually, she stopped asking questions. They were her family, and although they seemed to be acting even weirder than usual she would allow them to come along. It was the complete opposite from how the majority of her blood family treated her, and though it took some getting used to at first, she grew to love it.
They seemed to be extra alert outside of school grounds, but she wrote it off as them being more paranoid since Beacon. They had grown a lot in her absence, and she was still discovering new aspects of them that had not been there before.
These routine miniature field trips had gone without incident or suspicion for a few weeks. But, as things tended to do with this group, things began to go wrong.
Jaune had accompanied Weiss to the market under the guise of getting some fruit to surprise his team. Weiss, used to this behavior by now, welcomed him along.
She had excused herself to the bathroom when he saw it - a flash of white hair and an even whiter suit. Not taking any chances, he pulled out his scroll and dialed the others while moving in front of the bathroom door.
Yang answered after a single ring. “What’s wrong?”
Jaune’s eyes scanned his surroundings while he answered. “He’s here. We’re in the market.”
“We’re on our way. Where’s Weiss? Did she see him?” The others could be heard gathering their weapons and shouting in the background.
“No, she’s in the bathroom.”
“What’re you waiting for, go in there and distract her?”
“That’s the girl’s bathroom, I can’t go in there!”
“Yes you can-”
“No, she doesn’t even know he’s here, going in there would be suspicious.”
“I don’t know just - lean on the door or something so she can’t get out while we take care of it.”
“Alright, make it quick. I don’t know how long I can stall her. She’s tiny but she’s mighty.”
“We’ll come get you when we’re done.”
Jaune sighed and leaned his entire body weight against the door, moving his hand to the hilt of his sword. Thankfully, the bathroom was in a pretty secluded part of the market and no one was likely to come around and demand access to the facility or wonder why a very tall man was guarding the door with his life.
It took about thirty seconds for Weiss to try to open the door.
“What the - ugh. Hello? Jaune? I think the door is jammed.”
Jaune froze and pretended to take a few seconds to approach the door. “What’s that, Weiss?”
“I think the door is jammed. Can you open it from your side?”
Jaune texted the others with one hand and banged on the door with the other. “Uhh yeah, no problem. Oh no, I can’t get it. What a nightmare. Maybe it’ll unlock itself in a few minutes.”
“she’s onto me pls hurry”
Just after Jaune hit ‘send,’ he heard rapid footsteps approach the bathrooms. He drew his sword and stood as menacingly as he could with his weight still leaning against the door. He heard Weiss asking why she heard him draw his sword behind him, but ignored it in favor of mentally preparing for battle.
Nora rounded the corner, igniting a sigh of relief from Jaune. He sheathed his sword as Nora spoke.
“He’s not here. We just saw some random guy who kinda looked like him.”
“Who the hell dresses like that?”
“I don’t know, Atlas is weird.”
Weiss’s voice came from behind the closed door. “Jaune? Is that Nora? What’s she doing here?”
The two shared a panicked look before Jaune answered loudly. “Oh what a relief, Nora’s here! Hey Nora, can you help me open this here jammed door?” Quietly, he whispered to Nora. “Where are the others?”
She responded in a louder voice, her definition of quiet slightly different than his. “They went back to the Academy. As far as Weiss needs to know, they were never here.”
She then raised her voice in a typical Nora fashion. “Hey Weiss! Don’t worry, Thunder Thighs is here to help!” After a few theatrical grunts, she swung open the door as Jaune stepped away and attempted to look natural. Weiss’s unamused face wasn’t anything new to them.
“For your sakes, I’m going to go along with whatever just happened.”
She pushed past them and led the way towards the Academy, leaving Nora and Jaune in the dust.
“She walks really fast with those little legs.”
“I heard that!”
“Shit.”
The second time, it was not a false alarm. Amidst the dense crowd, Blake and Oscar could clearly see the unmistakable face of Jacques Schnee. Weiss was busy looking at the pastries in a bakery window, asking no one in particular if they thought Ruby would like some cinnamon rolls.
While she was distracted, Blake motioned Oscar to begin to push Weiss in the opposite direction. In the corner of her eye, she could see him grabbing her hand and using his infamous puppy dog eyes on her. “Please Weiss? We can come back here later or find another bakery, that way they’ll be fresh, please! I never got to see anything like this on the farm!”
While Weiss relented and allowed him to lead their small group towards a particularly grand building and tourist attraction in the distance, Blake hung back dialed the first number she saw in her contacts list. Ruby.
“Blake? What is it?”
Blake stole a glance behind her and saw Jacques conversing with an equally snooty businessman. “He’s here. It’s not a false alarm this time, Oscar and I both saw him. He’s distracted right now but he’s too close for comfort. We’re in the shopping district and Oscar’s leading her towards the capitol building.”
“Do we need to come cause a distraction or something?”
Blake thought for a brief second before she answered. “No. Not yet. He’d be more likely to approach if he saw all of us here. Oscar and I will make sure we’re far enough away.” Ahead of her, she saw Weiss look back and send her a concerned look after seeing the hardened expression on her face. “I gotta go. I’ll call you if things go south, just be on standby.”
She ended the call and caught up to the duo. Weiss studied her before asking, “Are you alright? Who were you calling?”
She shot her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. Yang just lost her arm and couldn’t find it.”
Weiss didn’t quite believe her, but at the same time knew she couldn’t put Yang past it. She laughed softly and decided to play along. “That’s your girl.”
Despite the situation, Blake smiled fondly. “Yeah. That she is.”
Blake didn’t let her guard down until they were safely back inside Atlas Academy, a box of assorted baked goods in Weiss’s arms.
“I’m gonna go find Ruby. I’ll let her get first pick before Nora smells these.”
Blake nodded in acknowledgement and sent a quick text to Yang.
If Weiss asks, you called because you lost your arm. Just go with it. ;)
The third time, Weiss was with Ruby and Ren. The others were split into groups as they ran errands nearby.
They had almost made the entire trip without incident. They were headed to a cafe where they intended to meet the others for lunch when Ren felt something off. He nudged Ruby non discreetly while he scanned the immediate area, trusting her to call the others. She had just gotten a hold of Nora when he saw him.
Jacques Schnee was as unpleasant as ever, accompanied by his fellow ‘elites.’ But he was looking at something, his eyes narrowed in anger. Following his gaze, he quickly realized that he had seen Weiss. Feeling someone watching her, the girl in question looked up to see her father rapidly advancing in their direction.
Ren gently but firmly shoved Weiss behind him, his remaining hand reaching for Stormflower while Ruby was frantically telling the others, “Get here now, we’re near the cafe, he sees us and he’s coming for Weiss, he’s mad, hurry.”
She rapidly hung up and placed herself in front of Jacques, effectively making a two-person shield between him and his daughter.
Ruby spoke in a cold and unforgiving voice, a tone reserved for her biggest of enemies. “What do you want?”
Jacques stopped before her and rolled her eyes. “Can’t a man just speak to his daughter?”
Ren spoke up when he felt Weiss tense behind him. He looked over his shoulder and sent her a reassuring smile, lightly squeezing her hand. His eyes turned cold when he looked back to Jacques. “After what you’ve done? Absolutely not.”
Jacques sneered and was about to retort when he felt a blade come to rest against his throat. He turned to see Qrow, his red eyes narrowed and full of nothing but contempt. “If you value your life, I suggest you leave and never come near Weiss again.”
Behind him, the remaining members of Teams RWBY and ORNJ drew their weapons to solidify his threat.
Jacques gulped before spitting out, “Did you just threaten me? I am Jacques Schnee, CEO of the-”
Qrow cut him off once more, almost literally. Harbinger ever so slightly sunk into his throat. “I, for one, am Qrow Branwen, a Huntsman, and have reason to believe that you were about to harm an innocent person. Your status has no say in this. Mine does.”
The infamous sleazebag opened his mouth to speak once more but was cut off by the sound of Crescent Rose unfolding as the blade came to land on his chest. He looked into silver eyes as Ruby said a single word with enough venom that his blood instantly went cold.
“Leave.”
With one more look at Weiss, who shrunk even further behind Ren but shot him a glare all the same, he turned and walked down the street with multiple pairs of unforgiving eyes following him.
When he was finally gone, Weiss let out a long sigh of relief before collapsing on a nearby chair and held her head in her hands. Ruby crouched in front of her, taking one of her small hands in her own. Weiss lifted her head and looked into her partner’s eyes to see herself reflected back. She was crying.
Ruby wiped her tears as Yang and Blake surrounded her on both sides in a hug. Ren set his hand on her knee, ready to use his semblance if she needed it. The others gathered closer.
Ruby was the first to speak, her voice so gentle and full of love that Weiss almost broke right then and there. “Weiss? Are you okay?”
She took a second to take note of her surroundings, her family surrounding her on all sides. Protecting her, making her feel safe.
Weiss looked to Ruby, an indescribable emotion on her face. The closest thing she could compare it to was love. But it was so much more than that. Love, gratitude, joy, pride, awe. All of these emotions found a home in her. Weiss spoke, her voice thick.
“Yeah. I think I am.”
And she was.