A plan to attack the orphanage is set in motion and Blake is told the true intentions of Yang and Winter.

Notes:

I'm back! I'm sorry for not updating this at all, but life has been crazy. From graduate school, to getting a job and then doing a new documentary, I've barely had time to write.

A short update that will finally move this story forward.

"Is it ready?" a somber voice says gravely while taking a drink. "Are our beautiful bombs ready?

Adam Taurus, main lieutenant of the White Fang, flinches a little; an action that is not missed by their leader.

"One of them is." he confesses hesitantly. "The other one, unfortunately, does not have enough dust to function."

"That is surprising." she says not surprised. "Specially since we hired Roman Torchwick to steal some dust from the SDC and deliver it to us. If I remember correctly, it was enough dust to power a full Atlas army with Paladins included."

"And he stole the dust from the SDC warehouse successfully." the bull faunus explains. "But when he met with us to exchange it for the money, people from the Vale P.D found Torchwick and hence interrupted the operation."

"And by interrupted you mean…"

"They stopped our brothers and sisters from taking the remaining half of the dust."

"And the money?"

"Torchwick took it all with him." Adam admits bitterly.

"Damn it!" the woman screams angrily. "This mission, it wasn't difficult at all, Adam. In fact, it was so easy that you delegated it to one of your lieutenants, claiming that it was basically just bringing the dust back to headquarters. And yet here you are without the dust and without our money."

"Everything on our side went just as planned. It was Torchwick's involvement in the operation that got the Vale P.D to find us!" Adam argues passionately. "It was a bad idea to break him out of prison and use him."

"And it was your ineptitude and lack of vision that prevented you from considering that the police could track him. Actions which left us with one less bomb!" she yells and this makes the younger man remain quiet. "For too long, I have allowed you to do things your way, Adam. And lately, your results have been lacking. Losing Belladonna and now the dust… I am getting concerned that your commitment to the cause… Is not as strong as it issued to be."

"The White Fang is my life." he promises. "And all of these events have just been bad luck. I swear to you that I will get revenge."

"I don't want revenge." the leader huffs. "I want results."

"I'll get you those results. We can still use one of the bombs. And, we have full schematics, schedules and maps of the orphanage."

Hearing this relaxes the woman.

"Good." she says after a while. "Then you know what I will want you to do: We have to show all faunus the lies the SDC is spreading with this orphanage. And in order to do that, we have to find a way to blame the SDC for the bomb. That shouldn't be too hard to do because we'll be using their dust. We can say that the explosion was set-up by extremist of the SDC to teach humans a lesson about them liking faunus."

"No Sienna, you're thinking too small. The media will not buy that story and will immediately blame us." Adam muses and then smiles widely. "But, if everyone were to die in the explosion…"

"But the kids." Sienna whispers. "They're faunus just like us."

"They're sacrifices that must be made for the cause. Think about how people will react to the news. Faunus will be angry and upset. It will be our opportunity to finally strike back against the SDC and force them to have a repeat of the White Massacre. Only this time, it will be their people dying and not ours." he finishes with a loud laugh.

Sienna closes her eyes, thinking it over.

"This movement was not built to hurt people of our kind. And, it will not start doing so under my leadership." she says determined. "The plan will continue to be that the bomb will be placed in the teacher's room during the lunch break."

"But…"

"No buts, Adam. You will do as I say." Sienna says firmly and this makes Adam remain quiet. "Or will you not?" she adds when Adam doesn't answer her back.

"I will." Adam promises her angrily. "Anything for the White Fang." he vows and leaves the older woman behind, already thinking of a way to get what he wanted.

MCMCMCMCM

Getting back to the orphanage from the warehouse wasn't as difficult as Yang had made it seem. In fact, Blake was now certain that earlier, the blonde woman had taken another, longer route to bring them to the building. Then again, Blake should have expected that from the huntress; who pretended to be goofy and a little of an airhead but was also one of the best huntresses in Atlas. It would be foolish of Yang to trust her completely.

After all, she was a former White Fang lieutenant.

The blonde huntress had told her that she would pick her up, but after waiting for half an hour, Blake decided to just return to the warehouse by herself. Using the passwords and codes that Winter had shared with Blake earlier, the faunus woman was able to get inside the warehouse rather quickly.

"Hello?" Blake asks loudly while closing everything and making sure that nothing inside the warehouse was amiss. "Is anyone here?"

Knowing that Winter was going to get an alert soon of her presence in the warehouse, Blake decided to explore a little of the place, having been curious about the many rooms the building seemed to have.

Making sure of not touching or disturbing anything, Blake can't help herself from stopping in front of the weapons room; her attention fully taken by a pair of katanas that were inside a transparent box.

She had been fascinated with katanas since she was a child. Her parents had come from a japanese background and had wanted Blake to learn as much as possible from the japanese culture. And, after reading many books about it, the cat faunus started using kimonos and weapons that were japanese.

It just felt right to her.

Nevertheless, before she had the chance to try to get a closer look at the swords, she heard the door opening and a very loud Yang and exhausted Winter getting inside.

Sniffing quickly, Blake realizes that by the way their steps were slower than usual and the way the smell of dust lingered in the air, they had just come back from a fight.

"Finally home!" Yang exclaims happily. "Blakey!" she calls loudly. "I know you're here already! Come out, we need to talk."

Groaning at the annoying nickname the blonde huntress had given her, Blake left the weapons' room and quickly moved towards the dining room, only stopping once she saw the state in which Yang and Winter's clothes were.

"Are you ok?" she asks concerned to the older women. "What happened to you two?"

"We are." Winter assures her calmly. "And let's just say that we ran into some trouble."

"Trouble?" Blake looks at Yang who merely grins at her. "What kind of trouble?"

Based on the state of their clothes, with Winter still wearing her Atlas uniform and Yang having the same clothes she had used when driving her to the orphanage; if Blake had to guess, then most probably Yang had uncovered some sort of lead regarding Weiss' safety while she was keeping watch at the orphanage.

Which was something that Blake needed to know.

"The one that we unfortunately do not want to have." Yang half-answers her question. "But, before we get to that, there's one question that I must ask you."

Taking a deep breath, Blake nods in acknowledgment.

"I need to know… How was your first day of school?" Yang teases her and it takes the cat faunus a couple of seconds to fully grasp the change of topic.

"Huh?" she murmurs confused but then realizes that Yang is waiting for her answer. "You want to know how my first day was?"

"That is what I asked." the blonde says amused. "Unless it's something secret that you don't want to share." she adds knowingly and this makes Blake gulp.

To be honest, Blake had been expecting the blonde huntress to make a comment regarding her first day at the orphanage. And, even though she was not certain of what Ruby and Weiss must have told the older women; she suspected that Yang knew something.

That knowing smile on her face was suggestive enough.

Choosing to feign indifference, Blake merely takes a seat at the table, taking her time to answer the question the blonde huntress asked her.

"Nothing that I wouldn't want to share." the black-haired woman replies confidently. "But before I answer you this, I was curious; how was your day of babysitting?" she asks instead and gets a surprised look from Yang and a chuckle from Winter.

"Don't encourage her, Winter." Yang pouts, which only makes the white-haired woman roll her eyes.

"Then you shouldn't antagonize her." Winter replies while pouring the cat faunus some tea. "Specially when she seems to suspect who was the one responsible of getting us to look like this." she points at their clothes.

Thanking the older woman for her gesture, Blake takes a sip and groans again, this time in delight because of the splendid tea she was drinking.

"This is great." she says happily to the white haired woman who chuckles yet again.

"I brew it myself." Winter explains proudly. "Took me a long time to get it to taste this way".

"I can tell." the black-haired woman replies surely. "I can taste the different spices in the brew. You must have experimented with different flavors to get it to taste this way."

This makes Winter smile once more and pour more tea into Blake's tea cup.

"Winter is obsessed with tea." Yang explains to her cheekily. "It's kinda like a hobby to her."

"Tea soothes me." Winter merely says. "And, I like to drink good tea. And, the brews available in Atlas were just not up to my standards."

"That's just the Schnee way of saying you're picky." the blonde huntress adds and moves her head away from Winter's smack.

This makes Blake chuckle.

"Even though I know I have no right to make any demands..." she starts saying seriously. "I want to know what happened to you two. Because based on the state of your clothes, you must have fought against someone or something. And, because Winter is still wearing her uniform, that must mean that she was in a hurry to support you, Yang." she continues explaining. "Which leads me to assume that you were the one that raised the alert. An alert that had to be near the orphanage."

Yang and Winter merely look at each other, the white haired woman choosing to take a seat next to Blake.

"You're clever Blakey." the blonde gives her a dashing smile. "And because of that, I'm going to choose to trust you." she then becomes serious. "Nevertheless, before I do that, there's something that I have to ask you. And this time it's a serious question."

Blake nods in understanding.

"From what I've heard about you, people say that you were one of the White Fang's best lieutenants. Soldiers wanted to go on missions with you and you had the trust of Adam Taurus." Yang says seriously. "And what we're about to ask you, it will make you betray that trust all those people placed on you."

This makes Blake take a deep breath, knowing what the huntress was trying to tell her with this. If she simply chose to betray the White Fang, then that meant Yang, Winter and Ruby wouldn't trust her (because that would go against everything she believed in). But if she had the right motives to betray the White Fang, then that was different. If she could give Yang and Winter a good enough reason, then that would prove her loyalty.

Not to them, because she really didn't know them to be willing to betray her comrades inside the White Fang.

But Weiss, well, that was completely different.

"I told Winter earlier that I saw Weiss as my mate." she confesses to Yang who nods in confirmation. "And today, I also told Weiss my feelings." she closes her eyes and smiles happily. "Feelings that she accepted and reciprocated." she pulls her scarf away and shows them the mark Weiss had given her. "And because of that, my priorities, my goals, my life; they all center around Weiss. Because Weiss means and is everything to me."

She stops for a couple of seconds to see how these news would be received. And, based on the soft smiles Winter and Yang were giving her, it seemed like her desire to be with Weiss was not condemned by either of them.

"I'm sure you must be aware of the risks you face by being with Weiss." Winter tells her softly. "Specially because of your status as a faunus." she points the obvious. "And knowing my sister, I'm confident she warned you as well of said risks."

Blake nods in confirmation.

"So if you still want to be with her, then who I am to stop you?" the white-haired woman gives her an understanding smile. "The only thing I can do is help Weiss achieve her dreams faster so your relationship can flourish."

"Which means, Blakey, that now you are just as invested as we are in helping Weiss take over the SDC." Yang smirks at her. "So your relationship is not in jeopardy."

"But the SDC will not be the only ones upset." Blake mutters. "I'm a faunus and she's a Schnee. The White Fang will never accept that."

"Of course not." the blonde tells her simply. "Which is why we also plan to eliminate the White Fang."

Eliminate the White Fang?!

"Not in the way you're thinking it." Winter explains to the black-haired woman when she sees her panicked expression. "We just want to eliminate the current leadership that has damaged the roots of the White Fang. Make faunus see that the movement is not what it claims to be."

"Once that happens, without support, the White Fang will simply dissipate. And, just like it happened in Patch, if humans and faunus start to get along, then there will be no need for the White Fang." Yang smiles kindly at her.

"And with Weiss controlling the SDC, you can ensure that happens." Blake starts to understand the plan these four women have. "So that's why she's still working for that vile man."

"Indeed. Weiss is staying in there because she knows it's the only way she'll have enough power to make a change." Winter tells her sadly. "Which is why, we must take advantage of this current situation."

This makes Blake stare curiously at the two older women.

"You were right in your earlier assessment, Blake. I did find something during my rounds around the orphanage." Yang explains to the cat faunus.

"Our mole inside the White Fang recently told us that the White Fang has set a target on the orphanage." Winter explains to Blake. "Because of that, we thought it prudent to have you there as well; to keep an eye on things."

"So that's why Ruby suggested I get that job." Blake remembers the events of the previous night.

"Indeed. Before this morning, we didn't know exactly in which way the White Fang was planning to attack the orphanage. And as usual, we suspected that Weiss would be their main target."

"But today, after I left you at the orphanage, I found someone suspicious taking pictures of the outside the building." Yang adds and gives a tablet to Blake, who starts to take a look at the many schematics and maps in it.

They were all regarding the orphanage.

"Who did you get this from?" Blake asks worriedly.

"A lion faunus that was a new White Fang recruit." Yang answers her calmly and watches Blake's expression somber. "The information in his device was enough to alert us of a dust transaction that the White Fang was having in the docks."

"And I, unrelated to this, had been called to an urgent meeting with General Ironwood, who informed me that Roman Torchwick had stolen 2 tons of dust from the SDC a couple of days ago."

"Two tons!" Blake says worriedly.

"We already knew that some dust had been stolen thanks to our mole inside the SDC." Yang adds calmly. "But we didn't know it was that much."

"The White Fang has never successfully stolen that much dust. We just never had the capacity to do it and a way to transport it without making it volatile." Blake explains to them.

"Which is why the White Fang hired Torchwick to steal the dust. Yang intercepted them in the exchange and we were able to confirm the White Fang's direct involvement in breaking Torchwick out of his prison in Vale." Winter explains.

"We managed to get back a ton of the dust that was stolen." Yang says bitterly. "But I'm afraid the White Fang has the other half."

"And we're assuming that they're planning to use it in some way at the orphanage." Winter finishes explaining.

Taking a deep breath, Blake gets up from her chair and starts walking in circles around the dining room. She knew that the White Fang wouldn't like what was happening at the orphanage, but she wasn't expecting them to retaliate so quickly.

Then again, she had been missing for three weeks and then completely focused on finding Weiss.

"In those files that you got from the device, are there schematics of the air ducts and entryways?" Blake asks and Winter nods in confirmation.

"Does that mean something to you?" Yang asks her and that's when Blake remembers what she's about to do.

She's going to betray the White Fang.

And even though she hated herself for betraying the few comrades she had inside the White Fang, her priorities had completely changed the moment she made Weiss her mate.

Because her mate was her life. And she was going to do everything she could to protect Weiss and her dreams.

And those dreams included the orphanage.

Taking a seat again, Blake starts reading all the schematics and maps, noticing that some were highlighted and others seemed to have sections missing.

"You see here…" she points at a map that had all the emergency entries and exits. "With the way the doors are highlighted, it is highly likely that they plan to lock all the emergency exits." she then takes out another map. "And in this map, because of the way some doors have 'x's on them, it must mean that these rooms are possible targets."

"But these rooms have nothing special in them." Winter says confused. "They're just places that anyone in the building can have access to. No security codes or anything like that."

"Which would make infiltration easier." Yang murmurs. "And because the orphanage hires faunus workers, it wouldn't be shocking for the staff to see a faunus in there."

"Yang is right." Blake adds. "The White Fang likes to infiltrate places. To ensure effectiveness." she finishes bitterly.

"But if they plan to attack Weiss, why is it that her room is not marked?" Winter asks them while pointing at said room in the map. "Wouldn't they mark it for their operative to know where to go?"

"You're right." Blake murmurs. "But targeting only Weiss, it would make it very obvious that the White Fang is responsible."

"And you're saying they wouldn't want that right now…" Yang understands what Blake is trying to say. "Because of the documentary done about the orphanage."

"You think it has a correlation to this attack?" Winter asks the cat faunus.

"It must." Blake tells the older woman. "Think about it. All of Atlas must have seen it. And in it, they're showing positive relationships between faunus and humans. And like Yang told me, when there's peace and prosperity between humans and faunus; there's no need for the White Fang."

This makes Yang and Winter open their eyes in shock.

"They just don't want to hurt Weiss. They want to hurt them all." Yang whispers.

"At least all the humans and adult faunus that are supporting Weiss." Blake corrects her. "The White Fang does not target children. Nor faunus."

"And that's why the targets are rooms where children can't get to." Winter understands what Blake is trying to tell them.

"Based on all that, and the dust that was recently stolen, most probably the White Fang will try to use a bomb."

"A bomb?!" Yang asks concerned. "But using a bomb can injure the faunus kids that are there as well as the humans."

"That's why they have the map of the rooms inside the orphanage. They will probably try to place it in a room where only teachers can go."

"That helps us limit the number of rooms that may be targets." Winter says seriously.

"I'm assuming that Weiss' secret safe room is also not in any schematics, correct?" Blake asks them and both women nod. "Good, that can be a place for her to hide if the Fang deploys extra operatives."

"So the White Fang is trying to hurt the teachers and make it seem like it was because of their support for faunus. To discourage others from doing the same." Winter says upset.

"All to diminish Weiss' efforts in unifying faunus and humans." Yang closes her eyes. "We cannot let that happen. We can't let them destroy the orphanage."

"But Weiss is our priority." Winter adds. "She takes precedence over the orphanage and the people inside."

"Weiss would hate that." Blake tells them bitterly. "That she is placed above the people she cares about."

"We know." Yang tells her seriously. "And that's why Blake, we can't tell her anything. Because you know what will happen if she knows…"

"She'll tell the staff and evacuate everyone. And once she does that, the White Fang will know that they have a mole or that someone stole their data." Blake answers upset. "Just because I know that, that doesn't mean that I have to like it."

"Even though I hate to say it, we don't have many other options." Winter tries to appease Blake. "Believe me, I hate lying to my sister. But, I do it because I know how she is. And, if she jeopardizes this operation, then the odds of us being able to get our hands on that bomb and dust diminish."

Like how she did when she saved me… Blake realizes what Winter is not saying.

And Winter is right. Weiss was just too kind and good.

"We all know that just because the White Fang won't use the bomb on the orphanage; that won't mean that they won't use it anywhere else." Yang tells Blake.

"So we're using the orphanage as bait." the cat faunus closes her eyes.

"It's the only choice we have." Yang says seriously. "We will all be there, as well as friends inside the SDC that will be supporting the crew that day. Once we have eyes on the bomb, we'll intercept them and evacuate everyone."

"It's too risky." Blake murmurs dejectedly. "But like you said, it's the only option we have where we can stop the White Fang from destroying the orphanage as well as recover the ton of dust."

I just hope Weiss forgives me for keeping this from her.