Weiss woke up to an empty bed and the smell of coffee. Or at least, half of her brain did. The other half was in dreamland taking part of a political debate, and was about to find that she wasn't wearing a skirt, or so the awake half (that remembered this was a recurring dream) warned her.

She couldn't say Blake's absence surprised her, but it was certainly disappointing. The coffee, on the other hand, was a welcome surprise. The click of a closing door startled her out of the debate and into her bedroom. As she sat up, she saw Blake walking towards her carrying a tray. And on the tray…

"You brought me breakfast?" Weiss was starting to suspect she had fallen asleep in the middle of a skirtless debate.

"Technically, they did." Blake said pointing towards the door with her head. Of course. Blake would never leave her alone for something like this. "But I asked them to, yes." the faunus finished as she placed the tray on Weiss' lap. "It's time-efficient. I thought you'd appreciate that."

"I do love efficiency" Weiss said as she rolled her eyes. "Thank you. But I've got to ask, and please don't take this the wrong way, what the hell is going on?"

"We've got half an hour until we need to get to work, and we're having breakfast here." Blake began as she picked up her own mug. Weiss could already see where she was going. "Plenty of time to talk."

"Ah. The talk."

"Yes."

"Fine" Weiss said, taking a sip of coffee. "I'm listening." She looked at Blake. Blake looked back at her. A few seconds passed in complete silence "Blake?"

"I...might not have thought this through" the faunus said, her amber eyes suddenly interested in a random spot on the wall.

"You have no idea of what to say." Weiss stated flatly, trying to hide her amusement.

"I thought you'd get angry and that'd get the ball rolling. I didn't plan for this!" Blake was getting frustrated, and still refused to make eye contact.

"You didn't plan for a mature conversation?"

"No!"

Weiss sighed. She hadn't been looking forward to 'the talk', true, but she couldn't deny that something had to be done about their current...relationship status, and this wasn't getting them anywhere.

"Blake. Did you want us to fight?" She asked calmly.

"No! I just...didn't expect...this!" Blake said, gesturing at all of Weiss with her free hand.

"Seems to me like you wanted me to oppose you. Maybe you hoped I'd get angry enough to fire you?" Blake's ears twitched at that, but she didn't interrupt. Weiss smiled. "Or maybe you wanted me to convince you?"

"Convince me?"

Carefully, Weiss moved the tray from her lap to the bed and got out of bed.

"Breakfast in bed is not exactly a traditional break up tactic, Blake" Weiss said with a small smile as she took a small step towards her bodyguard, who in turn took a step back.

"B-break up?" Blake managed to say. The term had been poorly chosen, Weiss had to give her that.

"You know what I mean. It seems to me like you're sabotaging your own attempts at...whatever you want to call it. The cuddling didn't help either."

"I was hoping you were too sleepy to remember that."

"I wasn't."

"Ah." Blake said. "Well, I certainly see the point you're trying to make. But just because I'm terrible at this it doesn't mean I'm not right. Your security's been compromised and we need to take measures to...to...stop that!"

"I'm not doing anything!"

"You're doing your lip bite thing!"

Weiss gasped.

"I don't have a 'lip bit thing'!"

"You do! I'm trying to be professional here!"

"Well, it's not my fault you look so cute when you do so!"

"I'm serious!"

"So am I!"

"Ok, enough!" Blake said loudly, with a light blush on her face. "I know what you're doing and it's not going to work. We're going to figure this out right now, and you're not going to lip-bite your way out of it!" Blake took a deep breath. Weiss thought about protesting, but the look in those golden eyes told her she really didn't want to. "Now." Blake started slowly "I have thought of a few alternatives to our current security procedures. I can show you the specifics later, once I'm done with the paperwork. God I hate paperwork. But they all come down to the same thing: I keep working on keeping you alive in any way possible, but leave the more physical aspects to someone else."

"Not all physical aspects, I hope?" Weiss said before she could stop herself. Blake answered with her trademarked 'really?' eyebrows "Oh shut up, it was begging to be said"

"Fair enough." Blake said. "And no, not all physical aspects. Bedroom security would still be my direct responsibility. In some of the alternatives presented anyway. It's all up to you, of course."

Weiss looked at Blake. There was no hint of teasing or embarrassment in her deadpan expression. No blush, no twitching ears, nothing.

"Bedroom security?" She asked cautiously.

"That's what I said, yes. Now, of course, all of the alternatives will require an increased budget for my department, possibly other departments as well. And we'll need a whole new round of background checks, of course, even in the cases where hiring new people is avoided, which by the way is my recom-"

"Bedroom security." Weiss repeated slowly.

"Yes. Now, I don't need to tell you today is the big day. Everything's already in motion, but I was thinking of some last minute arrangements that could help with our current...dilemma."

"Huh?" Weiss said, not really listening anymore. Bedroom security, she thought. Slowly, a few scenarios starting to pop up in her mind. She tried tried to push them away and focus on Blake's voice, but it wasn't working.

"I was thinking we could make a few changes to blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah blah blah, army of unicorn-riding cabbages and you're not really listening to me, are you?"

"Not a word."

"Weiss, this is important. I'll make it short: I think I should stay behind the scenes, you can have a whole team instead."

"No."

"Weiss-"

"No. Out of the question."

"Why? Listen, just tell me how many people you want with you to feel safe, and I'll double that number. It's gonna take some work to figure out a way to do it without messing up the rest of the plans, but I'll find a way."

"I just need one person out there with me, Blake. Not a team, not an army, just one."

"I can't-" Blake started

"I can't do it without you, ok?" The words rushed out of Weiss' mouth before she could stop them. She knew she wasn't going to be able to stop talking, so she closed her eyes, to embarrassed to look at Blake as she gave words to her feelings "I need you to be by my side when I...when we do this. I won't be strong enough if you're not there."

"Weiss" Blake said softly, and Weiss felt herself being pulled into a tight hug. "You're stronger than you think you are." The words were whispered in her ear "You are the strongest person I know. But if you want me there...then I'll be there."

"Thank you." Weiss barely managed to say as she wiped a lonely tear from her face and looked up and saw Blake's shy smile.

"But only if there's also an army and a team." Blake added.

"Deal." She answered, standing in her toes so she could reach the other girl's lips.

Weiss finished making her announcement. A few seconds passed in complete silence, and then the crowd went insane. Blake saw Weiss take a small step back, her hands shaking as she held notes tightly, completely overwhelmed by the eruption of cheering and clapping from the cloud.

That's when Blake realized Weiss had never even stopped to consider the fact that, after everything she had done, people would admire her. Weiss had been prepared for the enemies since before the whole thing had started, but she had never expected any reward for her efforts. Now, a whole crowd of people, human and faunus alike, were cheering her name.

Blake saw Weiss turn around to look at her, a small smile in her face. As she watched Weiss nervously tidy her hair and bite her lip, she thought about how unbelievably lucky the world was to have someone like that in it. And because she was thinking that, she never saw the shooter.

A loud shot silenced the cheering, and blood began to flow.

How could she be so stupid? So selfish? After everything that had happened, everything Blake had done for her, how could she have put her life on the line like that? Now the bravest woman Weiss had ever met was fighting for her life because she had put herself in the way of a bullet meant for Weiss.

When they had been making plans to bait the White Fang, Weiss had threatened to fire Blake for proposing a plan that risked her own life, and she had meant it. But now she had stupidly asked her to do the same thing. Weiss never thought it would come to this. She should have, but instead she had just been thinking about how scared she was, about how much better everything seemed when Blake was around, how much stronger she felt. What did she think was going to happen? She knew Blake was willing to sacrifice herself for the cause, the faunus had made it clear. She knew she was risking her life, and everything they had worked so hard to achieve along with it. She should have known.

Weiss was beyond angry. At herself, of course, and at whoever had done this, and at Blake for being so stupid as to think her life was something she could just throw away. She was also scared for Blake's life, and confused about the whole situation. There had been so much movement, so fast, and so much blood…

All those feelings had put her in an almost catatonic state. She was vaguely aware she had been moved from one place to another. She remembered crying and yelling as they pushed her away from Blake so the doctor could take her in…

"Weiss?" A soft voice reached her. "Weiss." She looked up and saw someone looking at her. In her confusion, it took her a few seconds to recognize her.

"Ruby?" She asked. Slowly, she became more aware of her surroundings. They were sitting on a hallway, surrounded by her security staff. She had no idea where they were but from the smell she suspected it was a hospital.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came as soon as I could. I was on the roof."

"Oh...I didn't know."

"It was a last minute thing. Blake said it was important."

Weiss flinched at the sound of the name, and Ruby hugged her.

"Hey, hey it's ok. She's going to be ok Weiss, she's too stubborn not to be. Besides, she owes me money, she's not getting out of it so easily."

"She owes you money?"

"Uh...I got hurt once when we were working together, and she gave me this really boring rant about me being 'reckless', so we made a bet about who'd last longer without getting shot. She didn't count on me mostly fighting Grimm."

A few seconds passed as Weiss looked at the other girl, completely speechless. Ruby had a panicked look that said she was wishing she didn't talk so much.

Weiss laughed. It was a laugh filled with tears, as she released all the tension that had been building up.

"Thank you Ruby." She whispered. "I needed that."

"No problem." The girl said with a smile, but then she went serious. "Listen, uh...I need to tell you something. Important."

"Ok?"

"I found the guy that did this. Shot him with a tracker the moment he made the shot. I'm not sure how he managed to slip through security but I caught up with him after a few blocks."

"Did you...is he…?" Weiss didn't want to say the words, she wasn't sure what answer she wanted. We need him alive, Blake's voice said in her head. He's a monster. He needs to be put down, a horrible voice, her own voice, replied.

"I let him live. For now." Ruby said, all of the usual innocence gone from her expression. "I expect Blake will want a few words with him."

Weiss sighed.

"I expect she will."

There was a beeping.

There was light.

There was the sound of someone breathing softly next to her.

Blake woke up. She tried to sit up and fell back in bed, filled with pain. She felt a hand press hers.

"Hey." Weiss. Weiss was there with her.

"Weiss?"

"It's ok. You're ok." Weiss whispered. Blake looked around. A hospital room.

"Weiss, it's not safe for you to be here."

"You...you...idiot!"

"What?"

"Days! Days waiting for you to wake up, and that's the first thing you have to say?"

"Uh…"

"Do you have any idea how worried I was? Not to mention all the work that's been piling up…"

"Oh god."

"...and the moment you wake up, what do you do? You complain about me!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"You better be!" Weiss yelled, and Blake saw the tears building up in her face. "You better be sorry Blake Belladonna, and you better not scare me like this ever, ever again!"

"Uh…"

Weiss looked at her, expectant.

"Well?"

"I won't?"

"You can do better than that, Blake." Weiss said. "How about: 'I'm sorry I scared you Weiss, I promise I'll never do anything so stupid ever again'?"

"I…don't think I can make that promise." Blake said. "I would do it again."

"Blake!"

"I mean it!"

"Blake, I know what we're doing...everything we've built together...I know it's important, and that it could all fall apart if I die. But it's not worth your life Blake."

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, confused.

"I'm talking about you being so stupid as to think the world would better without you in it. I'm talking about you thinking the cause is worth more than your life. I'm-"

"Weiss." Blake interrupted. "I didn't do what I did because you're helping the faunus. I did it because you are you."

"I...uh...what?"

"Laaaaaaame!" Ruby's voice came from the other side of the room's door.

"Ruby Rose! Stop listening in to private conversations." Weiss yelled.

"Ruby's here?" Blake said, blushing.

"As far as I know, she hasn't left since we've got here." Weiss said, looking at the door intensely, as if hoping her anger would pulverize it and reach the girl behind it. "She's been annoying as hell but...well, it helped keep me sane, I think."

"Well, I guess you being here is not the most horrible, stupid idea I've ever heard then." Blake said.

"Blake!"

"What? I said it's not!"

"Listen, I know what you're trying to say, but I wasn't about to let you just stay here by yourself! Trust me, between Ruby and the rest of the security, this is one of the safest places on earth right now. Anyway, now that you're awake they'll probably let us move you back home. God I miss my bed."

"Wait. Are you saying...Weiss...did you stay here this whole time?"

Weiss looked at her as if she had just said something incredibly stupid.

"Of course." She said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Weiss!" Blake yelled, and then flinched in pain. "How long?" she managed to say.

"A week."

"I take it back. It is the most horrible, stupid idea I've ever heard."

"Oh, shut up."

"You shut up."

There were a few seconds of awkward silence.

"So…" Blake said. "Ruby's probably still listening in, right?"

"Definitely." Weiss said.

"No she's not!" Ruby said.

Blake bit her lip. There were so many things she wanted to say to Weiss, but even if she trusted Ruby with her life, she would rather die than let her hear all those things. She blushed just thinking about it. She coughed and looked around, trying to come up with something to say that didn't sound like something out of her romance novels. Her eyes found their way to a tray with food.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Oh." Weiss said, startled. "Um, the doctors said yesterday it was just a matter of time until you woke up so...yeah."

"You brought me breakfast?"

"Technically, they did." Weiss said with a small smile. "But I asked them to. You want some?"

"You know she does!" Ruby said.

"RUBY!" Weiss yelled.

But Blake didn't even listen. She had been wounded before. But the White Fang was...not so accommodating. Breakfast in bed. She thought with a smile. I guess there really is a first time for everything.

A.N: I feel like this is terrible timing and I don't know if posting this now is incredibly inappropriate or something that wouldn't get noticed if I didn't say anything, but I think I should.

There was a terrible shooting recently in the US. Maybe because I don't live there, maybe because life has been a bit hectic lately, maybe because I'm just dumb like that, I didn't find out about it until a few hours ago, and I didn't even make the connection between that event and this chapter, which has been floating around in my head for a couple of weeks, until I was getting ready to upload this. I re-read the chapter and took the time to think about what to do with it.

Racial hatred is a horrible thing and, while I hadn't even thought about it until today, it's kind of embarrassing how this story uses it for the sole purpose of romance. I set out to write a fluffy love story, and the whole Schnee/faunus tension seemed like a perfect starting point. It's why I love the pairing, or at least the main reason. For me, Monochrome is about love triumphing over hatred, and things can't get much better than that.

So yes, this is a pretty dumb, fluffy story in which racism plays a role, but it's not the main theme. Which is a problem, because it's not something that should ever be taken lightly. But it's also a story about hope for a better tomorrow, about building a world without hatred.

And it's also story with happy thoughts and silly jokes, because sometimes life is awful and you want to get home and read (or write) things with happy thoughts and silly jokes.

So I'm uploading this chapter, hoping it's received not as one that trivializes the horrible events of the Charleston church shooting, but a reminder that things can get better, even if there's monsters out there trying to spread hatred through violence.

It's impossible to be objective about things you write, so if anyone thinks I shouldn't have uploaded it, or even that I should delete it and wait some time, please let me know.