Blake snuck through the battle, wishing to avoid wasting energy. Because the fight with Scott had been so evenly matched, she wasn't quite in the best condition to be fighting a battle like this. She suspected the goal was to kill her, so she wanted to see if she could find someone she knew, someone like Adam. If she could do this without dying, she'd prefer to, and that was her best bet to do so. Someone familiar to her might be willing to talk. So far, she'd succeeded in making her way through without being noticed by retreating into the back sections of the stadium.

Even so, there were a few exceptions. She'd had a few instances where she'd seen escaping attendees or contestants having difficulties. In these cases, she'd struck from obscurity, taking one or two out with a quick and brutal attack. If the group was small, they'd be wiped up shortly thereafter. Otherwise, she allowed herself to be seen, leading them away and losing them. While that happened, whoever she had helped would manage to escape.

As she made her way around the stadium, she saw much of what was going on. While many of her former comrades seemed be causing as much mayhem as possible, it was clear they were certainly looking for her. She'd hoped she would be wrong, but that was not the case. Many of the groups she'd found being preyed upon were being asked if they'd seen her or knew where she'd run off. She knew that in other areas of the building she wasn't there to save them from the faunus' anger when they answered in the negative, leaving them at the mercy of their swords and guns. She needed to find someone, anyone, in a position of power to negotiate an end to this.

She slowed her movements, noticing the lower number of operatives and civilians. A few bodies lay limp, mostly White Fang surprisingly, killed with precision blade and bullet wounds. Had any fleeing people made their way out of the building already? Had they swept this area clean? Her ears pivoted, attempting to scan for any sounds. Screams, gunfire, roaring jets, clashing metal, and a wide assortment of other sounds could be heard in the distance, but this area remained quiet. Looking for a sign of where she was, she found a knocked down "You are here" map.

The docks… she thought, looking around and noting the windows. She was on the outer wall, near the northern docks. Anyone in this area would have escaped pretty quickly, vacating with the ferries. Even so, the lack of activity and high number of dead operatives disturbed her. Why? She supposed it didn't matter. Making her way to a window, she looked out. She was up on the second floor, allowing her a good view of the open first floor. As she'd thought, all the large ferries were gone, leaving the little marina empty. Then she heard it. Footsteps and voices.

She slid into an alcove, focusing on the idea of being hidden, counting on her natural talent. Boots, slowly and steadily creeping along the stone walkways. Quiet electronic voices – radio chatter. Shit, she thought, IRS. Earlier she'd overheard some mentioning they were looking for her as well. She could hide from White Fang, but the IRS would be another situation altogether. She'd planned on dodging her friends when she'd decided to turn herself in, but avoiding the IRS soldiers had not occurred to her. She hadn't counted on them making her safety a priority – they must have figured out what the White Fang was after. Not too hard, she imagined, considering they were asking everyone they saw for her.

"There's a small walled in harbor with a few luxury speed boats just through this hidden passage here. Go down and follow the paths. It'll come out just around the side, so you'll be in sight of the big ship, but these boats are fast. Good luck," Mrs. Knecht's voice said. Blake risked a peak out to investigate. IRS soldiers had appeared like termites in the woodwork, scanning the area. The hallway just down from her had the young woman standing by it and pointed toward a news stand. A soldier reached behind it and it slide aside silently, revealing a ladder going down into the passage she mentioned. The Councilmember walked out, escorted by his attendant Verginia and a few other judges. One had a bullet wound in their shoulder, dying their white shirt red.

"Thank you, Mrs. Knecht. Are you sure you do not wish to join us? I am certain there will be space available, and even if there were not, there is more than one boat," he responded, stopping to stand before her. He dwarfed the small woman, standing a full head taller with nearly twice the girth. Blake felt sympathy for her, feeling intimidated herself as she watched her struggle to respond.

"Y-y-yes, m-my lord, but thank you for the offer," she stammered out, her nerves giving her a rough start. "We've been trained to handle combat so that we may ensure the safety of all attendees as needed – I must remain until the stadium is evacuated."

"Such dedication," he replied. He kneeled before her, taking her hand and kissing it, causing her to become even more nervous and blush a startling red. At this, Verginia's bored expression flickered with anger as she narrowed her eyes. "I'm honored to have been guided by a woman as virtuous as you. May the Light watch over you, my dear, and farewell," he said as he rose. He turned away, motioning for Verginia to enter the passage before him. An uncharacteristic smile appeared as she went down. The others had followed a pair of soldiers down already. The people's priest… Blake thought, recalling how some referred to the former Shizine. She could see why – she imagined his silver tongue would be very beneficial in politics. She recalled her own meeting with the man, how intimidated and flattered she'd been – she wasn't used to finding herself flustered around men of any kind, but this man had succeeded. Him and the Alpha.

A bullet casing sliding across the floor caught her attention, causing her to turn around. She covered her mouth and ducked into the shadows of the alcove as she saw another soldier come out of the hallway behind her. They turned to look the other way as they entered, the matt black armor making quiet whirs as it molded to the motion. That had been close – if he'd looked the other way, even her desire to be hidden wouldn't have saved her from making direct eye contact.

Another called to him, asking if he'd found anything. Walking past too quickly to notice the eyes watching from the alcove, he ran over. She sighed, peeking out again to see what they were up too. She wanted to get into that passage – a boat could get her to that ship. That would undoubtedly have someone she could speak to. Catching pieces, she heard them discuss clearing the White Fang in this sector. Afterward, they ran inward toward the arena, leaving the now closed passage unguarded. She debated whether that was foolish of them before concluding that a guarded secret passage isn't very secret. Guards were probably at the bottom anyway – a narrow chute with a ladder provided a perfect choke point.

Creeping forward after listening out for anymore footsteps, she investigated the news stand. The back had nothing of interest on it, being a thin piece of fabric over a metal cage. The wall seemed similarly bare, made of smooth marble like the rest of the place. Of course the switch was well hidden, but she wasn't going to give up. She looked for anything odd, lightly running her fingers over the stand and the wall. There, on the wall, was a slight ridge followed by another. Looking, it was a small box that seemed undetectable in the shadow of the newsstand. Pressing it, the stand moved aside silently as it had before, revealing the metal rungs leading down to a dimly lit floor.

Positioning herself carefully, Blake prepared to hit the switch and jump down the hole. She didn't want to hit the rungs or scrape the wall, feeling that would give away her arrival to any guards. She'd drop down, take a very brief stock of the situation, and use a shadow to make the first move. Mentally prepping herself, she flared her aura for whatever she'd need it for – attack or defense. Likely both.

Hitting the button, she dropped down and hit the floor with a low three point landing. She was focused on being hidden and had landed with barely a sound, but it seemed unnecessary. The dark hall had lights every few yards, leaving stretches in strong shadow, curving with the circular shape of the building. Had they actually left it unguarded? Then she heard gunfire ahead, echoing through the tunnel. She ran as quickly as she could while remaining silent. She avoided the lights, keeping an eye out to avoid any cameras that may be watching, though her knowledge of Vale's security told her there would be no cameras for her to see.

After sprinting for a bit, she saw another tunnel intersected with this one. There a group of ten or so White Fang stood, the Councilmember and Verginia on her side of the tunnel. The masked warriors with guns were firing at him, but Verginia blocked the path. A brilliant white glow manifested before her in a lens, deflecting the shots. Blake had never seen such a large aura shield before and marveled at the attendant's ability. A crackling sound was heard as the Councilmember raised his left hand in a tan and black leather glove. Small metal talon-like protrusions at the fingertips cracked with electricity from yellow dust. His own white aura flashed as thunder clapped through the tunnel. Blake doubled over, doing her best to cover all four of her ears as the sound reverberated and the lights in the immediate vicinity shattered.

After fighting off the headache that came from the loud noise, she looked up. Verginia and the Councilmember were further down the tunnel, talking to a few soldiers who stood watch as the two continued on. The operatives lay on the ground, their still forms just barely visible now that the lights had been blown out. The area had a few tendrils of smoke rising up, the smell of ozone and burnt flesh noticeable. Blake crept forward to investigate, eying the IRS soldiers. The dark eye sockets of their skull like helmets were now lit with a blue light, marking the use of infrared. She wasn't going to be able to get to them without them noticing. She was counting on staying low, in the wake of the still warm corpses. She'd have to try another way, getting past IRS soldiers without fighting wouldn't be possible and she didn't want to hurt one. Not that'd it be an easy fight. Few had any training in aura techniques or semblance – that was what made huntsmen and huntresses so unique – but their equipment was fast approaching a level where that didn't matter, and they were plenty well trained in its use. Looking down the dark hallway the White Fang had come from, she felt a wave of nausea.

A dark liquid covered the entire tunnel, dripping from the ceiling. Dark chunks of flesh – she recognized an arm, intestines, and a few other organs at a glance – littered the ground, some even hanging from the ceiling. What had happened? She looked at the other bodies, which seemed largely intact. They had singed clothes and the distinct Lichtenberg figures from lightning damage, but a few had severely dented skulls or rib cages. The lightning attack had just been to stun them, she imagined, while they followed up with killing attacks to the head and torso. But that didn't explain the hallway. What had happened to this one that their body had… exploded? She tried to recall.

She'd heard one yell about reinforcements, screams of pain and surprise, but otherwise she'd only really noticed the reverberations of the thunderclap. With a glance toward the IRS soldiers, she wrinkled her nose. She didn't want to creep through the gore of the faunus, but she wasn't sure she should risk the shadow to skip over it. Making her decision, she jumped with a black blur, moving as quickly as she could through the new hallway. She heard them jerk their guns in response to the movement, one firing a energy not unlike the one she'd saved Weiss from. It seemed weaker, however, as it was a blue orb, had a smaller impact and didn't melt the stone walls like that one the invisible airship had fired. There was silence for a moment as she ran as silently as she could, looking back, before combat boots were heard sprinting down the hall.

"Freeze or we shoot!" she heard as they came into position and aimed down the hall toward her. One had a large rifle, one she was sure would rip through whatever protection her aura may give her. This hallway was dark enough that even she couldn't quite make anything out, but the blue glow told her they could see her. They had her.

The rifle started charging up. Wait a minute – she wasn't moving, why were going to fire. She activated a shadow, dropping to the ground in fear as the beam roared out – an angry red beam just like the one from the ship. The light blinded her again, her ears ringing.

"Direct hit! Nice," she heard one say.

"We warned them to stop moving – they should have listened." They?

"Shit, one's still standing!" Blake turned to look behind her and found a form standing over her. A red glow came from the hair and markings on the clothing, a white mask covering the face. Before she could react, it charged forward. A blade whipped out to absorb shots, each one causing the glow to brighten. As it neared the final few meters, the sword slashed out with a familiar battoujutsu technique. In an instant, she watched as the glow disappeared and the soldiers fell into a pile of petals. The attack also shattered the end of the tunnel, causing it to cave in.

Blake rose as the figure neared her, appearing out of the dust from the cave in. She went to speak but an arm wrapped around her from behind. She went to use a shadow, but found herself caught in their hold. It tightened on her arteries, quickly making her thoughts cloud. She struggled to speak, gasping breaths of sweet air. "Please," she pleaded hopefully. He wouldn't do this, would he? After everything they'd been through, he'd watch her die? She reached out to Adam, knowing it was him before her. Within seconds, she stopped moving. The swordsman simply stared as her limp form was set to the ground.

"Well, I'm glad one of you still calls me that. Care to tell me why you're out of bed?" her mother responded with a hint of a smile. She was squatting down in front of Ruby, her long auburn ponytail coiled on the ground, stress having caused a few grey strands to develop. She was in her combat uniform, an ammo and armor vest over her torso. The right arm was bare, the left covered by a thin sleeve of black elastic material with dark red leather strips that ended below the shoulder. The right leg was covered by a stocking of similar make, ending just before the cut off leg of maroon cargo pants. Her weapons hung in holders on her hips, the mottled black and maroon weapons peeking out from black leather. The bare shoulder had a white rose, a copy of the buckle Ruby wore, tattooed onto the skin with the words In Loving Memory wrapped around it.

"I, uh, well…" Ruby began, knowing it would sound ridiculous.

"Wanted to help," Mom said quietly. Then she sighed, pivoting to look back, a knee coming down atop her hair. She made a motion to the soldiers and then out the door. They stood at attention again with a "Sir, yes sir," before proceeding to march out and shut the door. "Brace yourself," she said as she turned back.

Ruby prepared for the pain as her mother effortlessly picked her up. Her mother wasn't large and muscled like Yang – that came from their father – having a build roughly equal to Ruby. Even so, it was firm and comforting, just like her sister. Curled in her arms, she really felt like the child she resented being thought of. It was only made worse by her mother's words.

"Nearly eighteen and being tucked into bed by your mother," she said as she eased her into the bed and positioned her comfortably in the pillows and covers. "I suppose we could just say I'm making up for lost time, though, hm?" she added after picking up the reaction. Once Ruby was lying down, head embraced by pillows and body covered to the chin in warm blankets, her mother sat down in the bedside chair. She just watched as Ruby's gaze flickered between her and the screen for a minute. Finally, Ruby spoke.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"A mother can't visit her child in the hospital?" she said. The voice brought back old, troubling memories. Her mother's voice was familiar, but there wasn't much associated with it for the girl. However, it was very similar to her mother's, and that brought up a whole mess of emotions.

"That's not why you're here," Ruby said quietly. If she were Yang, the amount of venom in those words would have put Weiss to shame, but from Ruby they were empty. There was nothing there, just a statement of fact. The grey eyes looked to the screen in the corner.

"They're targeting you and your team. You've become Primary Assets, on equal status with the Councilmember – at least for today," she answered finally. "The faunus girl, specifically." Ruby reeled.

"W-what do you mean? I don't have a faunus on my team?" Ruby said nervously, wondering if she or Yang had ever let it slip. This was her mother, but this was also the highest ranked military officer in all of Remnant. Blake's past had been covered up, but she imagined the world government would still be interested in prosecuting her if she'd been important in the White Fang.

"Ozpin may know a lot of things that others don't, but that girl's past isn't one of them. When you asked me to sign off on her pardon, I didn't do it in ignorance. I don't have a problem with giving people second chances. She wasn't even of legal age – to sentence her to death at such an age would have been harsh, even for our standards. That hasn't been done since… well, never mind. You'll hopefully never need to know about him. The point is, she seems to have made the decision to turn her life around. Fine – one less terrorist for me to hunt down. " That was reassuring. But how had she known? Was the IRS the one who had supplied those files to Ozpin? That could wait, though.

"So you're checking up on me? I'm fine. But my team is in danger. I need to go help them," Ruby said, trying to keep from sounding like a begging child.

"And do what? Get a bullet through your skull? That's about all you'll be good for – a notch for one of those faunus to say to his buddies, 'hey, I killed that girl that messed with Cinder Fall!' Luckily we kept it under wraps that your team didn't just assist in taking her down – you'd have criminals gunning for you from around the world."

"I don't care! You had a team! You have to know I can't just sit he-" Ruby began, but flinched as Mom slammed the arm of the chair. A creak was heard as the wood began to split.

"Enough," she said, voice low and angry. "I do not like repeating myself – do you remember that from when you still lived with me?" Ruby nodded. It had been a long time, over ten years in fact, since she'd lived with her. Even so, she remembered. Even when she was young, she was expected to behave. Yang's temper came from somewhere, after all. "You are not going anywhere." She paused again, looking toward the screen streaming the battle. "You're right, I had a team. Thankfully, they're still alive – though I admittedly haven't heard from them in some time. Even so, I'm all too familiar with feeling like there is nothing you can do when your team is in danger. All of them were crippled, two to the point that they had to give up being huntsmen. There was nothing I could do to save them, and we ended up in that mess because I thought we could handle something I knew we couldn't. You can't handle fighting in your condition." Mom sighed. She got up and walked over to Ruby, who was fighting back tears. "It's important to recognize your limits. It's also important to recognize what it means to have a team. A team has a leader, yes, but that doesn't mean they do everything alone. I don't know if I'd even have lived long enough to have Yang if I did everything alone, let alone live long enough to see the two of you become national heroes – however unsung. Trust in their ability, they've made it just as far as you have." By this point, she was kneeled down and gently brushing her fingers through Ruby's hair. The frustration Ruby felt - at being stuck in the hospital, at being treated as a child, at the White Fang for putting her friends in danger – built up to a boiling point. Then, as suddenly it came, it vanished. Her mother kissed her forehead after reading something on a forearm mounted scroll.

"W-what did you do?" Ruby sniffled, recognizing the numbing sensation as she relaxed. All her concerns and worries were there, at the edges of her awareness just as the pain had been earlier. Whenever she attempted to focus on one, however, it slipped from her thoughts as if it were slippery bar of soap flying from her mind's grasp.

"Just helping you relax," she answered, her voice faltering a bit. Ruby was slipping into a euphoric state, however, and didn't really notice. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, so softly that Ruby couldn't make it out. She looked at her curiously, wondering what she'd said. Her mother took a deep breath, composing herself. When she next spoke, it was confident again, but jesting. "I know my limits. My aura isn't great like it is for you two lovely daughters of mine. Or your Grandmother – she looked like she was my child when she died! So I don't expect to live much longer in my profession. I expect another ten or fifteen years – maybe twenty-five if I retire. I don't want to outlive my children, so could you stop being so reckless, at least until I'm gone?" Ruby nodded with a confused smile. Something about what just happened was frantically skittering along the edges of her thoughts, but the only emotion she could feel associated with it was love for the woman speaking to her. "Good. I need to go, but the soldiers will be right outside. Get some rest, stressing out probably wasn't helping you get any better. And remember, just because you can't feel the pain doesn't mean the damage isn't there – stay in bed." With that she walked toward the door and left.

Ruby was left staring at the screen where the strange ship was departing from the stadium, eyes heavily lidded. Once more, thoughts skittered in the shadows of her mind, but nothing was there when the mental light was shone. What was it she was meant to be feeling? What had been her interest in that place? Her friends? That thought brought comforting memories. For some reason, Blake in particular came to mind. She fell asleep, the skittering thoughts forgotten.

Outside, the mother of Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose stood in the midday sun. Her gaze was directed downward to the scroll on her arm. She thought about how an incoming message had made her check the device, the quick exchange as Ruby slipped into a sedated state. Should she have told her? Her gaze looked to the other message she'd ignored at the time.

How'd it go? She pulled up the keyboard to respond.

Well enough, I suppose. Nothing's changed – I still have one daughter that loves me and one that hates me. The response was quick – he must not be busy now that the White Fang was pulling out.

Well, that's good. That's a net total of zero in my book – at least you aren't in the negative ;) She chuckled at his childishness. Always the jokester. She seemed to have a knack for filling her life with men like that. Not that she was complaining, she was long past seeing humor as a waste of time. It was one of the few things that got her to smile these days. Even so, she wanted sincere comfort.

Why is it still so hard for me? Shouldn't it have gotten easier?

You thought maybe a mommy switch would get flipped some time? It's not like you don't love them. You're a good mother, Ma was proud of you. As she read that, she produced a small metal tube. It was an e-liquid vaporizer. The vapor in her lungs, she felt neurons begin to snap. Sweet nicotine, one of the few things she counted on to calm her.

No, I'm not, and she wasn't. I've always failed at everything that mattered. I was a shitty daughter, a shitty friend, a shitty lover and then even shittier wife, and now I'm a shitty mom. Why does anyone put up with my bullshit? I mean, look at Taiyang! I fucking threw him into the fire and the asshole still loves me like we're on our honeymoon. What kind of guy even does that?

One who loves you more than you hate yourself. He's a blacksmith and a Xiao Long – what's a little fire to him? Stop beating yourself up – Ruby doesn't blame you, isn't that all that matters? I mean, sure, Yang deciding to hate you for her probably doesn't help, but I'm sure she loves you too. She shook her head at his words on Yang.

She tried to light me on fire the last time we met and said she'd kill me if I ever came near Ruby ever again. Let's not forget that she also took the guardianship of Ruby from me as soon as she turned eighteen – the timestamp on that request was 12:01, btw. I'm pretty sure she doesn't love me in the slightest. She paused in her typing, taking a long drag, holding the vapor. As she exhaled, she continued. Tell him I'll send the money for the treatment soon. Yang's tuition will be coming a little later. Thank the Light Ozpin took Ruby in under a full ride scholarship, I'm not sure we'd be able to afford this otherwise.

*sigh* You're such a Debby Downer, you know that Ravyn? I'll let him know (you should really look into a raise – that salary of yours is bullshit). How was our little Rosebud doing? She chuckled. She supposed she was. She'd always been the serious one of the two – it's just the way she was. She loved her job, and always threw herself into her work. She was the loner who worked hard and climbed her way up the ladder. Being one of the youngest in such a position – the youngest before she helped Jack get his job – she was someone held to a golden standard. Many things got pushed to the sidelines to meet it, and that included her family. She remembered often coming home to a tired and hungry baby girl, stressing over picking her up from daycare when she was older or whether she'd have food while she worked late. Her own mother had stepped in to ease the load, steadily taking more and more until finally Ruby moved in with her and Ravyn left Vale to move aboard the Mythografos. Shaking her head, she went to reply.

She's in pain as usual, but she'll get through It. Have you met the girl who did it to her?

Yes, Blake Belladonna, correct? Apparently the reason for their attack today. Why? You aren't feeling angry, are you?

Not at all. That girl knew they were coming for her. She kept Ruby out of the picture, kept her safe here. If anything, I'd thank her. She looked at the alert that had gotten her attention while seeing Ruby. A priority distress from one of her soldiers at the stadium, it carried a chilling message.

Priority Alert: As of this time, Primary Asset Blake Belladonna was last reported within the tunnels. The units there have ceased responding, nearby units investigate immediately. Engage at full risk once done – her safety is a Primary Command from Officer Jack Irving, signed by General Rose.

It was received moments before the notification of the White Fang's retreat. That report came with a tentative casualty count that was considerably higher than she would have liked. It seemed the bulk of them were for the missiles that made it through the auroras' defensive fire, but some had to be for the stadium. Her other daughter and the Schnee heiress were confirmed safe but the faunus had remained unseen throughout the duration of the attack. She forwarded the alert with the caption: I couldn't bring myself to tell her.