The police…?

Weiss blood froze, Benihime's voice ringing inside her head.

She said if the police got involved Winter would get hurt… what do I do?

She had no choice but to follow their orders for now, so she stepped out of the car.

'Y-yes…?'

The tension in Weiss voice was obvious.

Oh god… they're definitely suspicious of me…

'I'd like to ask you a few questions,' the woman asked.

Weiss was shaking and could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead, but she timidly nodded her head in response.

'Are you the owner of this car?'

'N-no,' she responded, her voice cracking as she spoke.

'Do you know who does own it?'

'No,' she replied again.

'I see…'

The officer had a thoughtful look on her face as she asked her next question.

'Were you coaxed or blackmailed into waiting in this car?'

Weiss felt her mind screaming at her, telling her to spill everything to them, to tell them everything about Winter. It was that same thought of Winter that kept her from making such an outburst.

'I'll ask again, were you blackmailed into waiting here?'

'No,' Weiss firmly responded, realising she needed to sound more sure of herself.

'Hey,' her partner called from behind her, 'what's inside this briefcase?'

Weiss thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest from the stress, and without thinking, she did something that under normal circumstances she would never have even considered.

'That's mine!'

Snatching the briefcase out of the officers hands, she ran as fast as she could, clutching it tightly to her chest. She heard the shouts and footsteps of the officers behind her, but they quickly faded away as they realised she was too quick for them to catch.

She soon came to a stop some several blocks away, spluttering for breath in a back street away from crowded public areas. A few minutes passed, and then she heard it.

The familiar ringing of the phone Benihime had given her. She nervously answered, unsure of what Benihime would say or do.

'Didn't I tell you not to get the police involved?'

'I-it was an accident! I waited there just like you said, and they approached me!'

Who?! Who called the police? A person who lived in the area, or…

Her mind floated back to what Ruby had said a few days ago.

'Don't give her the money.'

No… she wouldn't… Ruby wouldn't do that…

Would she?

She was snapped back to reality by Benihime's cold words.

'Maybe I should just kill your sister right now.'

'No, please! I'll do anything! I didn't involve the police, so please… please don't hurt her…'

Weiss quivering body was met with a ray of hope upon Benihime's next sentence.

'This is your last warning. Any other instances like that and your sister will suffer the consequences. Now, head over to the eastern district, in the business sector. Wait there until I give my next order.'

'The business district…?'

This was a strange order. Until now, all the locations had been fairly public. Virtually nobody went to the business district unless they worked there, as most business deals were agreed over the phone. The only time the offices were used were when companies were meeting in person to discuss something important or to enter partnerships. Weiss herself had never actually been to it before as the Schnee Dust Company was in the northern section of Vale, mostly out of the way of pedestrians.

This is my chance, Ruby thought to herself, the bug that she had planted on Weiss clothes giving her exactly the information she wanted. The business district is perfect! Benihime won't know what went wrong when this is over.

Blake herself grew somewhat worried after witnessing the police intervention, but nonetheless remaining incognito so as to not draw attention to herself. If she wanted to catch Benihime, she needed to restrain herself no matter what happened. However, even she was growing ever more worn out by the constant movement, and she knew she couldn't keep it up for much longer.

'What did you just say?!'

Yang had explained the situation as gently as she could, but Weiss' parents were both furious at how calm she was.

'That's it, I'm going out there to look for her,' Weiss' mother stated, placing her luggage down on the ground next to her.

'Wait! We've already searched all over Vale for Winter,' Yang reasoned. 'If it was as simple as just looking around for her she'd be safe and sound right now.'

'Then I'll call the police. They will be able to handle this situation properly. They will at least deal with it better than a bunch of young girls.'

'You can't,' Yang stressed, remembering the threat that had been placed against them. 'The kidnapper said that if there's any police intervention Winter will die.'

'What?'

The looks of shock on their face turned to defeat as they realised that team RWBY was their best hope of seeing their daughter alive again.

'I don't believe this,' her husband stated angrily, 'we can't call the police, we have no idea where Winter might be and on top of that they've demanded every last bit of cash to the Schnee name… we're going to lose everything…'

Yang could see they were losing hope, so decided to try and reassure them.

'That might not be true. My sis is a very smart girl. A bit ditzy at times, sure, but there's a reason she was our leader at Beacon. She's a genius, and I know she has some kind of plan to get both Winter and your money back. She didn't tell any details, probably because she was worried that someone working with the kidnapper might have planted microphones here, but I know she's got something up her sleeve. She'll pull through, I promise, so don't give up just yet.'

'I'm just so angry,' Weiss father continued, 'if Weiss had been competent enough to handle the company on her own then Winter would never have been kidnapped. This is all her fault.'

Yang didn't show it, but that stinging remark hurt her. Weiss was completely distraught over what happened, and they had the nerve to blame her? But holding back her anger, she poke once again.

'Yeah, Weiss said the same thing,'

Looks of surprise took hold of their faces, both of them being taken aback by her comment. 'She blamed herself completely for what happened, but right now she's out there being run ragged by the person who has Winter. She's doing everything she can to make sure her sister comes back alive. The least you could do is treat her with a little bit of respect for it.'

Weiss mother was about to say something in retaliation, but her husband stepped in.

'Don't.' Taking a deep breath, he continued. 'She's right. We've been less than friendly to Weiss over the past few years despite the fact that she's our daughter. We were too blinded by our business to care about family. I hate to admit it, but it's the truth.'

Looking into his wife's eyes, he took hold of her hand and proclaimed something that stunned Yang.

'Let the kidnapper have the money. We've been so busy with business all this time that we didn't spend time with our family. Let's just give everything to them and start over. As a family. We don't need hundreds of millions of lien to be happy. We just need each other. How does that sound?'

His wife was definitely torn, and Yang knew why. The thought of losing everything they had worked towards in their life and changing their lifestyle so drastically would be jarring to anyone, not just them. Eventually however, she gave in to his proposal.

'That sounds wonderful.' Turning to Yang, she apologised. 'I'm terribly sorry about my attitude before. Yang, was it? Please accept my apologies.'

'Oh, it's no big deal, really.'

Yang uncomfortably accepted. She wasn't used to being thanked like that, so she didn't really know how to react to it.

Weiss… I hope everything's OK on your end.

Weiss had waited for quite a while in the business district, and finally after 15 long minutes the next phone call came.

'Go to the central district and wait outside the main gates of Beacon Academy for my next instructions.'

Weiss felt her legs screaming underneath her but she carried on regardless, refusing to let fatigue hold her back until she had her sister back with her.

'It's nearly time,' Benihime said to one of her men. 'I think I'll go out there and have a little bit of fun myself,' she playfully told him.

Meanwhile, Weiss ran through the streets of the business district to board the next train to Beacon, not taking any notice of her surroundings. It was because of this that she didn't see the person coming from the opposite direction, also in a hurry. The two ended up colliding head on, Weiss falling backwards and hitting her head on the pavement as the briefcase went sprawling out of her hands.

'I'm really sorry, I'm in a rush!'

That was all the person said to her after picking up their briefcase as Weiss shakily got to her feet and collected hers. Her head was pounding now, and she was barely managing to remain conscious through the fatigue and the injury, yet she still pushed herself along.

She managed to get on the train and her body appreciated the rest it gave her, allowing her a good 15 minutes before she had to move again. As she approached Beacon Academy, she received the call a little earlier this time.

'There is a field with a large tree in the middle of it just west of Beacon. Place the briefcase against that tree and leave. Do that and your sister will be returned to you as promised.'

Sorry Weiss, Ruby said to herself as she ran through the streets, if I didn't bump into you like that you would have seen me and freaked out. Now it's up to you to get Winter back, Blake. I'm counting on you!

She tightly held the briefcase in her arms and smiled to herself. During the commotion after she collided with Weiss she made sure to purposefully switch the briefcase with her own empty one. As long as Blake could rescue Winter, they would completely foil Benihime's plans.

Blake was still following Weiss, but she had to keep her distance from the heiress when she walked through the field. She didn't know where Weiss' final stop would be so she had no choice but to play it safe, however when she saw Weiss place the briefcase next to the tree and leave she knew this was it. Approaching it, she saw another figure nearby, one that also headed for that very tree.

'No way…' Blake said to herself, realising that it was either Benihime or someone very close to her. She attempted to run for the briefcase, but her opponent was much closer and more importantly, not worn out from constantly moving around.

So that's why she was making Weiss go all around Vale… she anticipated someone might tail her and wanted to wear us out before going in for the money… I get it now.

With the briefcase in hand, Benihime herself saw Blake charging towards her in the distance and gave a cute, taunting wave. She knew she had won, and Blake knew too. Benihime made her escape, herself being much faster than the Faunus as well as having more stamina. Blake had no choice but to give up the chase. She couldn't catch Benihime, and she could barely breathe because her heart was pounding so hard. Her throat was raw and dry, but she still screamed in despair at failing.

'DAMN IT!'

She dejectedly and slowly headed back to the Schnee mansion. Benihime's little game was over, and team RWBY was the loser.

'Release her,' Benihime told her henchmen after getting out of sight of Blake. 'We've accomplished everything we wanted.'

She was proud of her accomplishment, and with her head held high she headed back to her home.

'It's good to be back here. I was getting tired of that stuffy basement.'

Placing the briefcase in her safe, she went to go take a well-earned shower.

Very soon, team RWBY had arrived back at the Schnee mansion, Blake and Weiss both exhausted whilst Ruby seemed quite pleased. Yang had passed the time by talking with the Schnees and had offered them a place to stay whilst they found new accommodation, as their mansion would very soon be under the ownership of Benihime.

'I'm sorry,' Blake apologised, bowing her head to Weiss' parents. 'I couldn't get your money back and I couldn't find Winter.'

'You don't have to worry about that,' Weiss' father said with a smile. 'We received a call not too long ago. Winter has been released and she is heading here as we speak.'

'That's great,' Blake said, a sigh of relief escaping her lips.

'You don't need to worry about the money either,' Ruby said with a victorious grin, holding up the briefcase she had in her right hand. 'I switched the cases when I bumped into Weiss in the business district.'

'You did what?!'

Weiss was understandably furious, angry enough that even her exhaustion couldn't hold back her rage.

'You idiot! Why did you do something so stupid?! What if Benihime had found that empty briefcase and decided to kill my sister?!'

'I understand how you feel, Weiss, but Winter has been set free. Besides, if she did find that empty briefcase she will have realised that you weren't the one to do it. We would have just gone back to square one, and this whole thing would have happened on a different day.'

'Let's see it then,' Yang excitedly blurted out, proud of her sister for managing to get the money back now that Winter had been supposedly freed.

Triumphantly opening the briefcase, she wasn't met with the ecstatic cheers that she had expected. Upon looking for herself, she understood why.

Empty.

The briefcase was completely empty, save for a small, familiar looking note.

'What…? But… that's impossible! When did she…?'

Ruby couldn't believe it. It was undoubtedly a note from Benihime, but how?

Opening the note, the words written on it infuriated her.

Nice try, Ruby. Maybe next time you'll be the person who's one step ahead.

Love, Benihime.

Just then, the door behind her opened. In walked none other than Winter Schnee, exactly as promised. She was unharmed, yet Ruby wasn't happy. Benihime had ridiculed her. She even prepared this note in advance just to mock her. She was so certain of her victory from the start, and Ruby couldn't help but be angry. Just when she was proud of outwitting Benihime, she had the tables turned on her.

Damn you, Benihime. This isn't over. I will catch you, mark my words.

The atmosphere was very upbeat and light-hearted now that Winter had been safely returned, and everyone was happy with the outcome.

Everyone except one.