Commission -- The Cat's Out of the Bag 010

The destruction of the stolen Atlesian Paladin came at a cost. Dozens of civilians were injured in the pursuit, though luckily, there had been zero casualities despite the carnage Torchwick had unleashed. Headmaster Ozpin had been very understanding about the entire ordeal, smoothing things over with the authorities, though that hadn’t stopped Professor Goodwitch from giving them all a severe dressing down.

None of them fought it. It was well deserved.

Though it wasn’t all bad. In addition to denying them the use of the Paladin, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora managed to capture dozens of White Fang agents, though the more senior and higher ranked members escaped after blanketing the area in tear gas to cover their retreat. Hundreds of weapons were seized by the police, along with ammunition and explosives.

All in all, it was a win.

But the culprits were still on the loose, and Blake couldn’t abide by that. While they’d stopped them this time, they were still out there. How had they gotten their hands on such advanced Atlas military tech? What were they stealing all that Dust for? And why were the White Fang working with Roman Torchwick to begin with?

These were all questions that needed answers. But those answers were eluding her, no matter how much time and effort she was dedicating to the cause.

“Ms. Belladonna, a word,” Doctor Oobleck called as she was packing up her things at the end of class.

Blake paused, her book halfway into her book bag as her friends shot her looks of concern. That wasn’t anything new lately, and she couldn’t even blame them for being worried, though it still annoyed her. Blake knew that she could be a tad… obsessive about things, but they had to understand that this was important.

The White Fang, Roman Torchwick… she couldn’t just ignore what was happening. People’s lives were at stake. It required her entire, undivided attention, and if she lost a little bit of a sleep over it? What was a little sleep compared to the price of a life?

Her eyelids ached, as if in protest to her thoughts. They felt like they weighed a ton each, and it was a struggle to keep her eyes open.

“Yes, sir,” she said, remaining in her seat as everyone else left the classroom.

Doctor Oobleck approached her desk, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Do you know why I wish to speak with you?”

Blake shook her head. “No, sir.”

“You’re last assignment was well below your usual standard,” he said, getting straight to the point. “And your participation in class has dropped dramatically, as of late,” he peered at her closely, and Blake shied back, turning her face so he couldn’t see the bags under her eyes. “Are you finding the subject matter difficult? Or is something else bothering you?”

Now her teachers were getting on her case.

“The subject matter is fine, I just… haven’t been getting much sleep lately. I’ll do better,” she replied, voice even. “If that is all?”

Oobleck hummed, clearly not believing her, but he said, “Very well. You are dismissed.”

She couldn’t get out of that classroom fast enough.

Unfortunately, someone was waiting for her.

Jaune Arc was leaning against the wall opposite the door, and perked up when she appeared. Straightening up, he said, “Everything okay?”

She almost snapped at him before realizing that he was asking about Oobleck, not in general.

“Yeah, he just… wanted to talk to me about my grades.”

“Urgh, yeah – I know all about that,” he said jokingly.

Blake supposed he did. It was the entire reason he’d found out about her past to begin with.

She glanced away awkwardly, rubbing her arm. “Why were you waiting for me?”

Jaune shrugged. “Why not? We haven’t really hung out lately, so I thought we could chill out together. We’ve only got self-study for the rest of the day.”

There was a reason they hadn’t hung out together much recently, and it was all Blake’s doing.

She found it difficult to look at him and not remember the way Torchwick had blown him up with the cannon on that damned mech, and recall that overwhelming terror that had gripped her in the moments before she’d discovered he was alright. It was the second time Jaune had gotten blown up recently and both times, it was her fault.

She was starting to see a pattern.

Blake was bad news. Her past, her baggage, it was beginning to harm those around her, and it terrified her. Part of the reason why she wanted to figure out what the Fang and Torchwick were up to so badly was because of the danger they posed, not just the residents of Vale but to faunus, in and out of the White Fang – but the other part, the more personal, closer to home part… she wanted to find out and stop what they were doing so her friends weren’t put in any more danger because of her.

But that wasn’t possible, at least not right now, so she had taken to avoiding him.

It was cowardly, but Blake had never claimed herself to be a courageous person. She couldn’t avoid her teammates, they lived in the same room together, but Jaune… outside of classes, she’d made sure to make herself scarce.

Of course he’d noticed.

He wasn’t an idiot.

“I’m busy today,” she muttered unconvincingly.

“Oh?”

They stood in silence.

“What are you doing?”

Blake pursed her lips. “I’m investigating the White Fang.”

She waited for the expected backlash, for him to tell her to slow down, to not worry about it, let the authorities handle it, all of the common lines she’d heard from Ruby, Yang and Weiss, but instead, he surprised her.

“Need any help?”

She blinked stupidly, staring at him uncomprehendingly.

“What?”

“Do you need any help?” he asked again, completely serious. “I have nothing to do, and two minds are better than one, right?”

Was he being serious?

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose. “You want to help me?”

“Yeah. Why not?” he asked this as if her questioning his desire was stupid, and she was being silly. “It’s just reading, right? You aren’t sneaking off into Vale and doing anything dangerous, are you?”

He was being a smart ass but she couldn’t even be mad about it. If she thought it would help, that is exactly what she would be doing. Jaune knew it, and was pointing it out.

“Yeah, it’s just reading,” she squinted at him. “Are you sure? This isn’t exactly a fun time.”

“It’ll help, won’t it?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then I’m happy to do it.”

...What did she ever do to deserve such a good friend?

It wasn’t just Jaune, either. All of her friends… they’d all been so understanding. They might not have the same urgency she did regarding this matter, but they weren’t turning their back on her. They were worried for her, and Blake understood that.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Come with me.”

He had a stupid look on his face. That stupid smile he got when he was very pleased with himself. Blake scoffed as she began making her way to the library and Jaune followed, a little pep in his step.

He was really rubbing it in, wasn’t he?

The library was pretty busy at this time of day. With the Vytal Festival fast approaching, many of the older students were scrambling to finish their latest assignments. Blake led him over to the computers and picked the one at the far end, away from everyone else, tucked in a corner.

“So what do you want me to do?” he asked, sitting down and letting his book bag slump to the floor.

“We know they are operating out of Southeast Vale,” she said, sitting down in the free chair next to him. “I’ve been looking into the area, checking news articles for signs of other criminal activity, public police records, anything. I’ve also been investigating who owns the warehouses in the area. The Paladin may have been a one time thing but we know they’ve also used airships and they have to be storing them somewhere. They can’t exactly just leave them out in a field for anyone to see.”

Jaune nodded. “Right.”

“Most of the Dust robberies have been taking place in this area,” she brought up a map of Vale on the computer, and circled the Northeast portion of the commercial district. “It’s close to their starting point, as you can see. Though Torchwick has targeted stores here and here,” she circled a place in the Southwest, near the coast, and the Northwest, in the affluent suburbs where the more wealthy residents lived. “These are outliers. Big stores with lots of Dust, so worth the time and effort to haul the goods across the city despite the bigger risk.”

“Okay. So what do you want me to focus on?”

“This,” she brought up a bunch of forums. “People use these sites to talk about anything to do with Vale. Where the best cafes are, where the cheapest bargains are, what streets to avoid during peak hour traffic, everything. Most of it is useless chatter but some of it is more interesting. Strange things they saw on a Saturday night, unusual happenings, loud noises, those types of things. See this?” she selected one of the threads. “They’re talking about the Paladin. And over here in this one – people are talking about seeing airships in the sky, in the dead of night, the day we were at the docks. They even talk about the direction they saw them coming from, which lines up with what we now know.”

“So you want me to sort through all these posts and see if anything stands out as strange? Like weird sightings or whatever?” he asked, and Blake nodded. “There must be dozens of new threads every day, and thousands of posts in each.”

“There are.”

Jaune groaned.

Blake frowned. “If you don’t want to help…”

He shook his head. “You aren’t getting rid of me that easily. I said I’d help so I’ll help.”

She gave him the addresses for the different forums and he got to work, pulling out a notebook and a pen. Blake watched him as he began scanning through a bunch of threads that had promising titles, carefully reading each post. Blake hesitated before turning towards her own computer and bringing up the list of businesses that owned and operated warehouses in the Southeast that she’d compiled.

An hour passed in silence, the only sound coming from their fingers tapping away at the keyboards, and Jaune’s pen scrawling notes of interest in his notebook. Blake blinked rapidly as her vision swam, the light of the screen making her already aching eyes sting but she pressed on, ignoring the slow building throb until it became impossible to brush off.

She rubbed at her tired eyes, a full blown headache forming. Pain lanced through her head, and it was almost blinding in its intensity.

“You okay?” Jaune asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Blake grunted. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look it.”

“Well I am!” she snapped. “If you’re going to be a busybody, you can leave.”

Her tone was a little harsh and she regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth, but Jaune didn’t react, simply humming, as if she’d said something particularly dull.

“Do you want something to drink?”

Blake opened her mouth to deny it before pausing, thinking it over. “Yes, I would.”

“I’ll go get something from the vending machine outside,” he finally turned her way, smiling. “Want anything specific?”

“...They have ice tea. I’ll take one of those.”

“Anything to eat?”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she accused.

His eyes crinkled happily. “Maybe just a little bit?”

“Bastard.”

He laughed, loudly.

“I just want you to feel better, that’s all,” he said genuinely. “A few of my sister’s can be stubborn, just like you. They’d act all proud and grumpy, until their little brother starts looking after them. Then they’d fold like wet paper and admit all their wrongs, and enjoy being pampered.”

Blake glared at him. “I’m not one of your sisters.”

“No,” he agreed. “You’re not. But I think the same strategy will work.”

She went to say something when her headache gave a powerful throb, the pain making her wince. His happy expression fell, replaced by concern.

“You need to rest.”

Blake scowled. “You’re just like the rest of them!”

“I’m not saying stop,” he said softly. “Just take a little break while I go get you something to drink and eat. Did you have anything at lunch?”

Blake looked away guiltily.

“So you didn’t. You need to look after yourself better.”

“What I need to do is find out what the White Fang and Roman Torchwick are up to!”

“And you can’t do that if someone is playing the bongo drums in your head,” Jaune pointed out. “Are you seriously telling me you can focus like that?”

She hated it when he was right.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, standing up. “Just close your eyes and rest until then, okay? This stuff isn’t going anywhere.”

“I don’t have time to rest,” she said mulishly but he wasn’t listening, already walking away and didn’t hear her.

Blake sighed, giving the computer screen a half-hearted glare before giving in, folding her arms and resting her head. Letting her eyes slip shut, the darkness helped alleviate some of the strain.

“Just for a couple of minutes,” she murmured to herself, and then she was out like a light.

Blake wasn’t sure how long she was asleep for but when she regained consciousness, it was a slow thing. Groggy and still tired despite the nap, she became aware of a presence sitting beside her, tapping away at the keyboard. There was something warm draped over her shoulders and back, and when she shifted her face slightly and inhaled, her lungs were filled with the scent of Jaune’s cologne.

Opening her eyes, she blinked as she spotted the blond writing something down before typing away again, a half empty bottle of cola by his side. There was also an empty packet of chips, discarded beside an unopened bottle of iced tea and a pre-packed sandwich.

She watched him closely. He was unaware that she was awake, his face focused as he scrolled down a page of forum posts. From the darkened lighting, Blake saw that evening had fallen. She’d slept a lot longer than she’d meant to. A few hours at least.

Annoyance flared before it sputtered out and died before it could fully form. He hadn’t woken her up. She should be furious, wasting such precious time… but she didn’t have it in her. Instead she just continued to watch him, eyes tracing the line of his jaw. His face appeared leaner than before, the last vestiges of boyhood falling away as he became a man. A light blond stubble grew but the hairs were so fine and blond that it was difficult to make out unless she was close, like she was right now. Without his uniform jacket, he was left in his white shirt, having also discarded the blue vest. The red tie hung loosely around his neck, his top unbuttoned around the neck and the sleeves of his shirt had been rolled up to his elbows, showing his defined forearms, the muscles shifting as he began typing again.

Jaune was… rather handsome, wasn’t he?

The thought came suddenly and without warning, and Blake felt her cheeks flood with heat. It wasn’t so outlandish to think so, but she’d never felt so tender in her chest like this when thinking it, a rush of affection making her heart swell.

It almost made her choke.

He wasn’t just handsome, either. He was so good to her. Jaune always made her feel so important and – dare she say it – loved. He always had her back, even when she was being unreasonable. Avoiding him had been miserable, and with a sudden bolt of insight, she realized what this was.

Blake was fond of him. No, not just fond. She liked him. Really liked him. She may even love… no, wasn’t that a little too quick? But the thought didn’t feel wrong. Not at all.

Oh no.

She must have made a sound because Jaune’s eyes turned her way.

“Oh, you’re awake?” he asked, surprised. “Have a good sleep?”

Blake glared at him half-heartedly as she sat up, wincing. Her back was a little stiff on account of the awkward angle she’d slept in.

“You didn’t wake me up,” she accused.

“Guilty,” he held up his hands, grinning.

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re an asshole?”

He snickered. “Only you.”

Blake scoffed.

“How do you feel?”

“Better,” she answered begrudgingly. She still felt exhausted but the edge had been taken off, and her eyes no longer felt like they wanted to roll out of her head.

“Thirsty? Hungry?”

Her stomach roared, answering him. Snatching the packaged sandwich, she ignored his smug expression and opened it. It wasn’t anything special, just some smoked chicken between slices of plain white bread with mayonnaise and cheese, but Blake found herself devouring it like it was the most delicious thing she’d ever eaten.

It wasn’t nearly enough to sate her hunger.

After Blake finished half of her bottle of iced tea, she peered down at the notebook Jaune had been writing in and saw that the entire page was filled with notes. Surprised, she picked it up and flipped back a few pages and saw that it wasn’t just one page he’d filled but several.

“What’s all this?”

“Dates and times, locations, usernames – there have been a lot of mentions of strange lights in the sky, almost all around Southern Vale. Of course, some of them think it’s UFO’s and the aliens are coming to enslave us all,” he said, voice tinged with amusement. “But too many other people have seen the lights, and some have even taken pictures. I’m not an expert but they remind me of the lights on smaller airships like bullheads. And then this, here,” he ran his finger over one of the pages, drawing her attention to what he’d written. “This user claims to work for border security. Customs. He talks about a large shipment of unmarked, unregistered firearms being seized. The news reports around the same time confirm it, though they only mention it as ‘contraband’ instead of anything specific. Weapons aren’t exactly rare in Vale, right? So if you’re trying to sneak them in and on this sort of scale…”

“...it isn’t for anything good,” Blake finished. “When was this?”

“He only made the post a couple of days ago. There is a lot of speculation in the thread, the usual suspects are being blamed. Gangs, the various crime families… the White Fang…”

Blake continued reading and saw how much Jaune had gleaned from these posts, honestly impressed. Some of this was dated a few weeks back, and yet she’d missed it.

...Maybe she was more tired than she thought.

“So – does this help?” he asked cheekily.

“...A little bit. Maybe.”

“I’ll take it,” he said with a laugh. Blake scoffed before a smile found its way to her lips.

Blue eyes regarded her fondly. “There it is.”

Her brow furrowed, puzzled. “What?”

“That smile – I haven’t seen it for a while.”

“Oh shut up,” she said, her smile fading as quick as it come. “I smile plenty.”

“Not recently.”

“Jaune,” she warned.

“Hey, I’m just saying that you could slow down a little bit, that’s all.”

He was just repeating the same words that her teammates had been throwing her way, only this time it was harder to shrug off. Probably because of how much better she already felt, getting a little rest.

She was stubborn, though.

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

It looked like he wasn’t going to listen, his mouth opening before he sighed, leaning back.

“Fine. I won’t push.”

Why did that just make her feel worse?

“We’ll talk about something else,” he said, and she didn’t like the tone he was using. Not at all. “Has anyone asked you to the dance yet?”

Blake set his notebook down, unimpressed.

“As a matter of fact, yes they have,” she said.

Jaune perked up. “Oh?”

“Sun asked me.”

“So you’re going with Sun, then?”

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Jaune… I don’t have time for a silly dance. It’s a waste of time, time I can spend on more important things.”

“I thought we weren’t talking about that.”

She pointed at him, and his eyes crossed as she shoved it by his nose. “Don’t be a smart ass.”

“So you aren’t going then?”

“No, I’m not.”

“So what will you be doing?” he asked as she dropped her finger. “Everyone is going to be there tomorrow. Don’t tell me you’re going to hide away in your room. That’s a little sad, isn’t it?”

“I’ll be right here, doing this,” she slapped her palm against his notes. “Enough about me. If you’re so interested in a stupid dance, who are you taking?”

He was quiet for a moment, his expression somber.

“I’m not taking anyone,” he said.

“Have you asked anyone?”

He shook his head.

That was surprising.

“Not even Weiss?”

He shrugged.

“She’d just say no.”

Blake blinked.

“You won’t know unless you ask.”

“Ah – I think I know enough,” he smiled awkwardly. “She’s made it pretty clear, right? No… I don’t think that will be happening.”

Thinking about it a little, Blake couldn’t even remember the last time Jaune had tried to flirt with the heiress. Not since the new semester had begun, that was for sure, but even before that… it had been a long time.

“So you aren’t going to ask anyone else?”

He stared at her.

“Well – I was going to ask someone,” he revealed. “But she just told me she isn’t going.”

Blake felt her heart stop.

“That isn’t a very funny joke, Jaune.”

“I’m not joking.”

There was no humor on his face, his voice completely serious.

“W-Why would you ask me?” she asked, off kilter. Her breathing felt shallow.

“Why not?” he replied. “I thought we could have a lot of fun. I’m a pretty good dancer, you know. I wouldn’t step on your toes, your feet would be perfectly safe with me. Friends can go together, right?”

Friends.

He meant as friends.

Blake gathered her wits, her panic fleeting. Friends. She felt silly.

“Sorry to disappoint,” she managed.

He sighed. “Bummer. Well, you said you’re going to be here, right? Mind if I join you?”

“Jaune…”

“What?”

She might think the dance was a huge waste of time but that didn’t mean she wanted him to skip it. This was her responsibility and while she appreciated his help, she really did, Blake didn’t want her friends to deny themselves on account of her.

“You don’t need to do that,” she told him. “You want to go, don’t you? Don’t skip out on it just because of me. That isn’t what I want.”

He smiled. “What if it’s what I want?”

“Why would you want to be here?” she asked. “This is tedious work.”

“You aren’t wrong, it is pretty boring,” he agreed. “But I don’t feel like showing up alone, and since you’ve turned me down already, I’ll just have to lick my wounds in the library where no one can see me. Pretty pathetic, huh?”

“You’re unbelievable.”

He chuckled.

“You could always ask someone else.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know – Ruby?”

“Well, it did cross my mind…” Blake’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, what’s with that look?”

“What look? I don’t have any look.”

“That look. As if you want to stab me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

By his expression, he didn’t believe her. “Anyway, as I was saying, I did think about it but Yang might get the wrong idea and I don’t want things to be awkward because of it.”

“That’s unusually astute of you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, even though I know you’re insulting me.”

Blake felt her lips twitch. “Take it however you like. What about Pyrrha?”

Jaune scoffed. “Are you kidding me? She’s Pyrrha. How many people do you think have already asked her? There is no way she doesn’t already have a date.”

“So I was just the last available pick, is that it? Way to make a girl feel special.”

“Hey, you turned me down, remember?” he pointed out. “And you weren’t the last available pick. You’re just the only one I wanted to ask.”

Jaune Arc wasn’t the smoothest talker. In fact, he was down right horrid when he tried to act suave. He was most dangerous when he spoke the truth, because when he did, he gave little thought to the words that came out of his mouth. It hit hardest when it was genuine, said effortlessly, and Blake felt her cheeks warm up in response.

“You shouldn’t say things like that. A girl might take it the wrong way.”

“Like what? I’m only telling the truth.”

That was the problem.

“So instead of going to the dance, you’re going to come here and sift through forum posts all night?”

“Yeeeep. Unless you have something else for me to do?”

He wasn’t going to back down. Blake felt… grateful.

“Jaune?”

“Yeah?”

She smiled, giving him a look of gratitude. “Thank you.”

He returned her smile. “You’re welcome.”

It was a nice moment, interrupted by her traitorous stomach. Blake looked away, mortified as he laughed.

“I guess you’re still hungry,” he said knowingly. “Come on, let’s go get some dinner.”

She didn’t bother arguing.

Their teams were waiting for them when they arrived, though they’d already finished their food. Yang took one look at her and grinned, “You look like you’re in a better mood.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she answered, setting down her tray. Her plate was filled with fish.

“Uh huh, right,” she said teasingly.

“Where have you two been?” Ruby asked curiously.

“Just in the library,” Jaune replied, sitting down between Nora and Pyrrha. “We lost track of time.”

“And what were you doing in the library, exactly?” Weiss pressed.

Blake wasn’t a fan of her tone, hearing the implication. The heiress was correct, of course – they had been researching the White Fang – but that didn’t matter. What she was doing wasn’t wrong, it was important, and she was about to let her have a piece of her mind, the good mood Jaune had put her in evaporating, but he beat her to the punch.

“What do you mean? We had a self-study session,” he said innocently. “Oobleck told her that her history grade has been down a bit, so we focused on that.”

Weiss’ eyes narrowed slightly. “Is that right?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I also struggle a bit in that class, so we worked together. It’s waaay less boring when you’ve got someone with you.”

Jaune was typically a pretty poor liar but this time, if Blake hadn’t known better, even she would have been convinced by his words. Weiss continued to stare at him but he remained unflustered, instead starting on his meal.

“Well, we’ve got some good news,” Yang announced, cutting through the awkwardness. “Team CFVY’s mission is taking longer than expected, so Weiss and I have been drafted to help plan the dance.”

Pyrrha tilted her head. “But the dance is tomorrow. Isn’t that really short notice?”

Yang waved her hand. “Psh – most of the planning has already been done, we just get to put our own little spin on things, that’s all. Set the tone, create atmosphere – that sorta thing.”

“Oh, oh, can I help?” Nora asked, her eyes lighting up. “Please, please, please?”

“As long as you behave,” Weiss said. “While the logistics have been largely handled, our job is still important. I will not have you embarrass us!”

Nora frowned. “Jeez, who do you think I am? I know how to throw a party!”

“Do you?” Weiss asked shrewdly. “Do you really?”

“I do! Tell her, Renny!”

“She doesn’t know the first thing about throwing a party,” Ren deadpanned, causing everyone to laugh – except Nora, and Blake.

Blake was doing her best to ignore talk of the dance, focusing instead on her fish. The flesh flaked away effortlessly, and she popped a small morsel into her mouth and chewed. As always, Beacon delivered.

“Yes, well,” Weiss sniffed. “So long as you don’t get in the way, I see no problem with you helping out. But speaking of the dance, I have something I must do,” she stood. “I bid you all a goodnight.”

“Where are you going?” Ruby asked.

“None of your business,” Weiss said sharply. “It is a private matter I must attend to.”

When she was gone, Yang was the first to speculate. “I think she’s going to ask someone to the dance.”

Blake glanced at Jaune but he didn’t react, eating his food. Pyrrha also glanced his way, as if gauging his reaction.

“What? Who?” Ruby frowned.

“Probably Neptune, if I had to guess,” Yang said knowingly.

Blake continued eating her fish until her plate was practically clean, and was getting ready to head back to the library to continue her research when Yang placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

“What?” Blake asked warily.

“We need to talk.”

She had a feeling she wasn’t going to enjoy whatever this was about. Who was she kidding? She knew exactly what this was going to be about.

“Do we have to?”

“Yes,” Yang said sternly. “We do.”