Dream Theory - Chapter 10 (Patreon)

Visibly relieved by Ruby’s appearance, Weiss rushed over and pulled her into a kiss that felt like comfort and nerves rolled into one.  It was the type of kiss that only ended because of more pressing matters - in this case, by Weiss holding Ruby’s shoulders and making sure she was unharmed.

“Are you ok?” Weiss asked while searching for visible signs of injury.  “Are you hurt?  I can take you to the hospital - right now.  We can leave right now -”

“I’m ok, Weiss.”

“Are you sure?”  From Weiss’ expression, she didn’t believe it was true.  Only when Ruby nodded did Weiss sigh and draw her into a firm hug.

“Thank god.  I tried to call you - your apartment -”

“Kinda burned down, yeah.”  After returning the hug, Ruby stepped away with a concerned look.  “Everyone got out ok, right?”

“The news reported no injuries and only one missing - you.”  Not content to let Ruby get away, Weiss pulled her in for another hug and burrowed into her neck for comfort.  “Thank god you’re alright.  I thought - I thought - I was just worried.”  

“I’m fine,” Ruby replied while gently rubbing her hand up and down Weiss’ back.  “We made it out before they got there.  Or...we made it out while they were trying to get there.”

“What happened?” Weiss asked, suddenly pulling away from Ruby with a huff of anger.  “Who did this, and why?”

When Ruby raised her hand in Blake’s direction, Weiss finally acknowledged Blake’s existence - and her expression immediately fell into a scowl.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Yang goes missing and Ruby’s apartment burns down - of course you’re back.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Blake replied, feeling a frown tug at her lips.  The way Weiss glared at her wasn’t exactly welcoming, but she wasn’t expecting a warm welcome from anyone - nor did she need one.  She needed to find Yang, and this...stranger...wasn’t going to help with that.

“Ruby…” she said, catching Ruby’s attention and motioning away from the back of the house.  “We really need to keep searching...”

“For Yang’s kidnappers,” Ruby immediately explained to Weiss.  Blake flinched at the added detail and turned towards Weiss for damage control.

“Sorry for barging in on your evening, but Ruby and I need to discuss something in private.  If you wouldn’t mind giving us a minute.” 

Scoffing at the response, Weiss reached down and grabbed ahold of Ruby’s hand.

“It’s funny that you think Ruby and I have secrets.  Whatever you need to tell her, you can tell me.”

Blake sighed as Weiss provided more reasons why they shouldn’t have come here to begin with.  Better to risk life and limb in the more-questionable districts than walk right into the lion’s den.

“Listen,” Blake replied, figuring that honesty was the best policy.  “I don’t know you, so I don’t exactly trust you.”

“Really?  After all the time I’ve spent helping Yang, you don’t trust me?  Well that’s just rich…”  Adding a roll of her eyes, Weiss turned away from Blake and moved closer to Ruby’s side.  Even though she didn’t say it aloud, her demeanor clearly wanted Blake to stay away - from Ruby and herself.

“How am I supposed to know what your intentions are?” Blake asked, earning another scoff.  “Maybe you’re only trying to get closer to Ruby and Yang to figure out what they know.”

When Ruby looked at Weiss - her eyes wide with surprise - Weiss’ expression darkened with rage.

“For your safety...” she snarled.  “I hope you didn’t just imply what I think you did.”

From the look in Weiss’ eyes, she expected Blake to back away from the accusation - to apologize or try to make amends.

“I didn’t survive this long by trusting strangers,” she replied instead, hearing a hardness in her tone as the weight of those words rested upon her.

“No, you survived this long by isolating yourself from the people who care about you.”

“Weiss.”

Weiss instantly defused at Ruby’s voice, straightening her posture and leveling Blake with another glare but no response.

“Blake,” Ruby said, giving Blake an exasperated look.  “You don’t have to trust Weiss, but I do.  So did Yang.”

Hearing Yang’s name felt like hot coals pressed to Blake’s skin, and the triumphant smirk on Weiss’ lips did nothing to soothe the burn.

Arguing against that response would be arguing against Yang’s choice in friends - Blake wasn’t willing to do that, even though she knew Yang trusted too easily.  That wasn’t an argument for now, however.  Right now, she had to accept that even though she didn’t trust Weiss, Ruby and Yang did.

“If I was going to turn you in,” Weiss added, still leveling Blake with that stern gaze.  “The police would already be here.”  With a flip of her hair, Weiss put on a smile that looked genuine despite its inherent fakeness.  “Besides, I could’ve had the police searching for you months ago if that’s what I wanted to do.”

While the response rattled Blake - she hadn’t known anyone beside Yang and Ruby knew she was alive - she hid the emotion away as fast as possible.

“What do you mean?” was all she asked in an attempt to learn more.  Her attention turned away from Weiss when Ruby sighed.

“Yang asked for help…she was trying to find you.  When the two of us couldn’t crack the dreams, we brought in Weiss as a third set of eyes.”

A rush of emotions flew through Blake at the disclosure.  Embarrassment, annoyance, and frustration, among others.

“I wasn’t aware…” she muttered while turning away from prying eyes.  

The response was a half-truth since she’d suspected that Yang recorded and analyzed the dream sequences - on her own.  Blake hadn’t expected her to share those with anyone else.  Maybe Ruby, because Ruby and Yang were close, but a stranger?  An outsider?  Those were personal conversations...personal experiences...and she showed them to Weiss.  Someone Blake just met had more information about her than she’d ever willingly provide on her own.

It was off-putting, to say the least.

“Well, now you’re aware.”  

Again, Weiss’ curtness rubbed Blake the wrong way, but she couldn’t determine if that was merely Weiss’ personality or some other emotion slipping through.

“And I’m guessing you know what happened to Yang,” Weiss added.  

With a single sentence, Weiss spurred Blake into motion and reignited her sense of urgency.  Before answering the unspoken question, however, she sent Ruby another look requesting reassurance that this abrupt, demanding person was really the one they wanted to entrust with helping them.  When Ruby nodded, she sighed and acquiesced.

“Someone kidnapped her,” she explained.  “They broke into her apartment and kidnapped her.”

For some reason, she expected a reaction from Weiss - widened eyes, a gasp, or any indication of surprise.  Instead, Weiss’ glare never wavered while she waited for Blake to continue.  

When it became obvious that was the only reaction she would receive, Blake resumed the explanation she hadn’t finished at Ruby’s apartment.

“As you’re both apparently aware,” she began, shaking her head at the reminder of their unknown involvement in her life.  “Yang and I have been meeting using the Dreamscape, but last night...she was late.”

Thinking about yesterday, she closed her eyes and fought the growing regret over taking so long to figure the situation out.  If she’d noticed earlier, she could’ve started searching earlier.  Maybe she would already have an idea of where Yang was or an idea of how to get her back...

“She eventually showed up,” Blake continued.  “But when she did, something was...wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked, her expression far more inquisitive than Weiss’ hard glare.

Closing her eyes again, Blake replayed the dream from last night and felt another wave of guilt and fear wash over her.  The way Yang ran from her - hid from her - suggested that her likeness had already been used, and not in a positive way.  The longer that went on...the harder it would be to undo.

“She wasn’t herself,” she answered in lieu of going into detail.  “She acted like...like she was being manipulated in some way - through her dreams.”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing this entire time?”

Blake frowned at the hostile response, but Ruby reached out for Weiss’ hand.

“Weiss…” she whispered, and Weiss clenched her jaw before continuing in a less-attacking tone.

“If they’re manipulating her through a Dreamscape, why get you involved?”

The answer to that question seemed obvious to Blake, but most people didn’t live with the level of paranoia she’d endured for the past year.  Most people would write off coincidence as coincidence, but not her.  Not anymore.

“They want me to know they have her,” she replied, believing the answer with every fiber in her being.  Weiss, however, didn’t lose an ounce of her skepticism.

“Why would they do that?” 

Blake sighed at the incessant line of questioning, but knew she had no choice but to respond when Ruby also waited for the answer.

“Because they knew I would come back for her.”

And now that she was back, they could search for her in earnest.  They could scour the city, or just wait for Daydreamer’s launch and seek her out then.  Either way, they had her close at hand to witness the unwanted beginning of her creation.

“Well perfect,” Weiss replied with a casual wave of one hand.  “Then we hand you over and get Yang back - problem solved.”

The response was so dry and sardonic, Blake couldn’t tell whether it was a joke or not.  And when she narrowed her eyes - trying to get a read on Weiss’ intentions - she found nothing but an annoyed, slightly-angry frown aimed back at her.  

From first impressions, she should have pushed harder for a different hiding place.  She’d had no reason to trust Weiss before walking into the house, and now she had very legitimate reasons not to trust her.  Maybe Weiss hadn’t called the police yet, but it didn’t feel like she opposed the idea of removing Blake from her life as quickly as possible.  Fortunately for their quickly-souring relationship, Ruby spoke next.

“But why go through all the trouble just to get you back here?”

“I have some theories,” Blake said, her brow furrowing when those theories bubbled to the forefront of her mind.  Each had to do with power - control - and the need to remove her knowledge from the picture.  With her out of the way, it could take months or even years for anyone to find Daydreamer’s true purpose.  By then, it might be too late to reverse the damage.

“It doesn’t matter why they want me back,” she concluded with a shake of her head.  “What matters is that they have Yang, and they’re already putting her through god-knows-what in the Dreamscape.  Prolonged exposure can warp her reality.  It could make it impossible for her to determine what’s real and what’s not.”  Pausing for a second, Blake let the weight of that outcome sink in before adding, “We need to find her.  Soon.”

After sharing a glance with Weiss - who nodded almost imperceptibly - Ruby gave Blake a small, tired smile.

“What do you think we’ve been doing?  As soon as I got that alert, I...”  Walking to the side of the hall, Ruby sat on the entryway bench and sighed.  Weiss immediately followed and sat next to Ruby before running a hand up and down her back.  

“This isn’t your fault,” Weiss whispered, low enough that Blake almost didn’t hear.  The words seemed to help, as Ruby sighed again but eventually looked up.

“I’ve combed all the cameras I can find, but they flat out destroyed a bunch of them.  The ones still working are so messed up, it’ll take time to unscramble them.”

“How long?”

“A while.  And I dunno if you noticed, but they just melted my stuff.  That kind of slows me down a bit.”

“What do you need to work here?” Blake asked, desperately seeking a means to continue their search.

“A lot.  And it’s not the type of stuff you can buy all at once without raising some serious questions.”

As her frustration and worry boiled over, Blake ran a hand through her hair - a nervous habit picked up from Yang - and started pacing.

“Can you work on your phone?” she asked, sparing Ruby a glance.

“Some stuff, but not enough.  I can go to the department -”

“No.”  Blake shook her head at the suggestion, then turned back to Ruby and shook her head again.  “We don’t know who’s behind this, and we don’t know who’s helping them.”

“You think someone at the department is in on this?”

“Yes.  Yang found a clue that might help find the transit center bombers.  She told someone, and now she’s missing - connect the dots.”

“Who did she tell?”

“Does it matter?”  Panic gripped Blake’s chest the longer she was forced to stand here and do nothing.  “Someone has her, and we need to find her now.”

“You don’t think that’s what we’re doing?” Weiss cut in, looking affronted that Blake dared raise her voice at Ruby.  “We want to find her just as much, if not more, than you do.”

Interpreting the response as another dig at her intentions, Blake gritted her teeth and muttered, “That’s unlikely,” before letting it go.  If the purpose of these comments was to get under her skin, it was working, but she didn’t want Weiss to know that.

“Anyway.”  After giving Weiss a look, Ruby met Blake’s gaze.  “If I don’t check in with work, they’re going to assume I’m ‘dead by fire.’”

“That’s exactly what you should do.”

Scoffing at the idea, Weiss sent Blake another withering glare.

“‘Playing dead’ might be your modus operandi, but there are better ways of handling things.”

Clenching her teeth, Blake bit back her first response in favor of something more diplomatic.

“Then what’s your suggestion?”

“Ruby reports what happened then uses her lab to track down Yang.  Once she finds a location, they send in tactical to get her.”

“Someone just set Ruby’s apartment on fire,” Blake countered.  “What if someone’s been instructed to get rid of her?  What if they’re waiting for her to show up at work?”

“Who is it, Blake?” Ruby asked again.  “Who did Yang tell?”

“Whoever’s in charge of the transit center case.”

“Saffold??”  Eyes widening, Ruby looked at Weiss, who ground her teeth together and frowned.

“You could’ve said any other name,” Weiss began.  “And I wouldn’t have believed you.  But Detective Saffold is a snake - she tries to sell out the department every chance she gets.”

The response increased Blake’s fears and confirmed her suspicion that Yang trusted someone she shouldn’t have.  That was just like her though - always seeing the good in people or the situation.  By now, Blake knew better.  

And, from how unhappy Weiss looked at the turn of events, she knew better too.  Sighing at the circumstances, she shook her head while Ruby attempted a smile.

“So...guess I’m ‘dead,’ huh?”

“Technically, only missing,” Weiss corrected before reaching for Ruby’s hand - the gesture looking like a habitual and subconscious search for comfort.  “And only until we find Yang.  If someone’s after you, I don’t want you walking right into their trap.”

“Well, I could skip into it.  Or like...flounce.”  When Ruby earned a stern expression for the joke, she cleared her throat and grew more serious.  “Right, so I’m not checking in or going to the department - that still leaves the issue of a computer though.  We can’t exactly just go out and buy one.  I can try to use yours, but that old thing might die in the process.”

Gently rubbing Ruby’s back, Weiss looked at her for a few thoughtful seconds before sighing.

“Then I guess I’ll give you your gift early,” she muttered before looking at both of them.  “Follow me.”

Without waiting for a response, Weiss stood and headed towards the front of the house.  After sharing a glance, Ruby and Blake followed - the quick walk giving her the opportunity to see more of the mansion Weiss called ‘home.’

Everything was neatly organized and decorated in the same style - ornate, yet not too flashy, which was surprising given Weiss’ status and likely wealth.  Contrary to what Blake would’ve expected, nothing screamed ‘self-righteous,’ ‘greedy,’ or ‘pretentious.’  Instead, the entryway exuded warmth and liveliness - from the plush carpets rolled out over wood floors to the coat rack with several colorful jackets hanging on it.

One of the doorways led to a well-used living room with several white sofas and armchairs situated around an AVR system built into the coffee table.  Real bookshelves lined the walls, each shelf filled with rustic novels that gave Blake reason to pause.  She thought she was one of the few left who indulged in a physical novel, but did Weiss do the same?  Or were those only decoration?

On the other side of the hall, at the foot of the staircase, lay the kitchen.  From the size of the room and grandeur of the appliances inside, Blake had to assume Weiss actually cooked - or, at least, she had enough money to pretend like she actually cooked.

Their path led into the kitchen, past the island and dining table, and to a locked door leading back towards the rear of the house.

“This was supposed to be your birthday present,” Weiss explained, unlocking the door with her palm before pushing it open.  She didn’t walk inside, however, and instead gestured for Ruby to go first.

As soon as Ruby walked through the doorway, motion-detecting lights illuminated a large room filled with more hi-tech machinery than Blake had seen anywhere outside of Ruby’s lab or Ruby’s apartment.  Screens covered the far wall, creating a large, tile mosaic that could be used individually or as one.  A memory pad sat at the corner of a desk, along with a shimmering red tech-glove with black lines tracing the circuitry.  Various boxes and towers surely had other purposes that Blake didn’t even know about, but one thing was certain - every piece was powerful, new, and expensive.

“Oh my god.”

Racing to the desk, Ruby knelt on the floor and peered over several pieces of equipment stored underneath.  While she did that and Weiss walked further into the room, Blake lingered by the door and examined Ruby’s new ‘gift.’

“This is exactly like my setup at home!” Ruby exclaimed while slipping on the tech-glove and flexing her fingers.  “Only better!  This stuff is brand new!”

Blake glanced at Weiss, who wore a small smile that only belied a fraction of how pleased she was at the success of her present.

“I’ve been buying the parts piece-by-piece,” she explained.  “Every time I went to your place, I made a note of another piece or asked you about it.  Then I ordered it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”  Nodding once, Weiss’ smile grew when Ruby turned on the computer and gasped at the startup screen.  “I know you don’t like to leave your office behind, so I had a replica built here.  I thought that maybe then...you’d feel more comfortable staying over longer…”

Though Weiss looked embarrassed by the admission, Ruby turned away from the computer and beamed.

“You got that right!”

“Will it do what you need it to do?” Blake asked, interjecting herself in the conversation to get them back on track.  “Can you use it to find Yang?”

“It’s just what I need.”  After pausing for a second, Ruby raced over and kissed Weiss’ cheek.  “And you’re perfect for getting it for me.”

When the two girls shared a look of utmost love and devotion, Blake felt a pinprick of jealousy.  Fortunately, the feeling faded when Ruby rubbed her hands together and turned her full attention to the screens.

“This is why you backup copies in remote locations around the world,” she muttered while flying through the setup process.  “Then, if someone destroys all your stuff, you just pull everything down and…”

Taking a step back, Ruby grinned as an assortment of graphs and video feeds loaded on the screen, looking exactly like the computer she just left behind.

“Voila!” she said with a wave.  “Just like home!”

“Now you can find the kidnappers,” Blake said, feeling a wave of relief when she noticed the video from the hidden camera was still open on the screens.  This was just like Ruby’s other computer, which meant they might finally be on their way to finding the culprits.

“That’s first and last on my list.”  When Ruby grabbed the video and enlarged it across multiple screens, however, Weiss reached out to pause her work.

“Before you do that…”  Wearing a firm expression, Weiss turned towards Blake.  “You need to tell us exactly what’s going on.  Why do these people want you?  What are they after?  What do you know?”

When Ruby stopped working and turned towards Blake, she did her best not to sigh at how relentless Weiss was.  After all this time jumping through hoops to keep the information hidden, she wasn’t keen on spilling it to a relative stranger.  Nor did she feel Weiss had any right to know.  If anyone deserved to know, it was Yang - and Yang didn’t know for a reason.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” Blake tried to deflect with a shake of her head.  “We need to find Yang.”

“I think it matters plenty,” Weiss retorted, refusing to budge on the topic.  “Your secrets were fine up until they got Yang kidnapped.  Now, you either tell us what’s going on or do your searching elsewhere.”

Blake didn’t appreciate the tone or the thinly-disguised accusation, and she didn’t appreciate receiving demands from someone she just met.  It seemed like Weiss and Ruby were close, but she wasn’t willing to take chances.  Any information falling into the wrong hands could be deadly, and she had no way of knowing who Weiss might tell - or who Weiss would tell.

Unfortunately, if the choice was giving them information or not having Ruby’s help, she knew what she had to do.  But she would only give them the tip of the iceberg - nothing more than necessary.  Hopefully she wouldn’t regret the decision later...

“It’s Dreamscape,” she answered, watching surprise flicker through Weiss’ eyes while Ruby more openly displayed the emotion.  “Someone at the company blew up the transit center when I was supposed to be there.”

“The company wants you dead?” Ruby repeated.  “But why?  What’d you do?”

Blake didn’t want to get into this right now, but she needed Ruby’s help.  Her options were to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible, or use her limited resources and even more limited computer savvy to search for Yang one block at a time.  Considering the time investment of that second option, going through a quick explanation was likely worth it.

“Years ago, Taven Bishop created his master plan - a Dreamscape that could be used virtually anytime, anywhere.  His vision was to put a Dreamscape in every room of every building in the world, allowing quick and easy access at any time of day.  So we created the Daydreamer.” 

Internally, Blake flinched at the name, but continued her explanation when Weiss and Ruby said nothing.

“It was an ambitious goal, but we created exactly what he wanted.  Daydreamer pushes the bounds of dreaming to another level - an as-yet-untouched realm of subconscious.  When we got into fine-tuning the system, however, something changed.  A special team was created and given top clearance to the entire company.  Their goal was shrouded in secrecy, but it had to do with building a system so immersive that dreamers wouldn’t be able to tell reality from dream anymore.”

Thinking back on that time in her life, Blake briefly closed her eyes and sighed.

“‘Project Daydream’ they called it.  That team changed Daydreamer and, by the time the final details came across my desk, it contained a substantial flaw.”

“What type of flaw?” Weiss immediately asked.  Sighing at the question, Blake shook her head.  

“It’s...complicated.” 

“Try me.”

Seeing the confrontation in Weiss’ eyes, Blake shook her head again rather than get into that conversation.  

“An exploit, of sorts.  A weakness that could be used by someone skilled enough.  I’ll explain the technical details later - all I know is that I found a flaw, and when I tried to stop it from going into the finished product, someone set off a bomb in the transit station.  In the same terminal I was supposed to be waiting for the unscheduled and impromptu work conference they sent me on.”

Taven decided that she should go on the trip.  He told her about it personally.  He gave no indication that it was anything but his idea and his decision to send her, of all the employees who could’ve gone.

She’d replayed that conversation in her mind thousands of times since then.  Was anything about it unusual?  Off?  Did it really seem like his decision, or had someone convinced him it was a good decision?

It sounded like a conspiracy, which was exactly why Weiss frowned and looked like she didn’t want to accept the explanation.

“What you’re saying is that the largest company in the world - and the richest man in the world - wants you dead.”

That wasn’t precisely what Blake said, but she nodded anyway.

“Yes.”

Again, Weiss looked like she didn’t want to believe it, as her eyes narrowed and she observed Blake’s every move.  But, eventually, she scoffed and turned away.

“No wonder you ran.”

“Why didn’t you report it to the police?” Ruby added.  “To me.  Or at least Yang -”

Blake shook her head, but Weiss answered the question first.

“Taven Bishop isn’t someone you arrest - he’s not even someone you threaten to arrest.  That’s why the case with his son is such a big deal, remember?  No one can believe the police had the gall to charge a Bishop with a crime, not when they’re wealthier and more powerful than any other family in the world.”

Ruby stared at Weiss for a long time, her mind clearly working through the situation before forming a conclusion.

“But...you’re representing his son.”

The question confirmed Blake’s intuition not to trust Weiss - she was already in Bishop’s pocket - but Weiss responded by pursing her lips and looking incredibly unhappy with the situation.

“I am.”

“Then...can’t you get in a ton of trouble if you’re...you know, investigating him?”

Looking even more unhappy, Weiss unfolded her arms and nodded once.

“I can.”

After shooting a glance towards Blake, Ruby moved closer to Weiss and gently touched her arm.

“Then maybe…”

“No,” Weiss said, cutting Ruby off.  “I’m helping.  I don’t care - I just want Yang back.”

The determined response tilted Blake’s perception away from her initial assumption, and a thread of guilt wove through her chest.  Of course, this could all be a setup - maybe Weiss didn’t care about her job because she was doing her job by getting information out of them.  But she seemed to genuinely care about Yang’s well-being…

“Are you sure?” Ruby pressed.

“I’m sure.  I’ll do anything that needs to be done to bring Yang back.  I’ll drop the case - I’ll retire if I have to.”

“Retire?” Ruby yelped.  “Like, stop working?”

“Yes.”  Brow furrowing, Weiss nodded and thought through the situation.  “Burnout happens all the time - it wouldn’t surprise anyone.  Plus, I’ve already been laying the groundwork to step away.”

“You have?” Ruby asked, and Weiss gave her a soft look.

“Yes,” she replied, reaching out to hold Ruby’s hands.  “Because I’m tired of keeping this a secret,” she explained, clutching Ruby’s hands closer.  “I want to take you out for dinners, and take walks in the park without worrying about who might see us - I want to be a real couple.”

“Weiss…but what would you do?”

“I don’t know.”  Weiss let out a small laugh and smiled.  “But I don’t care.  I just want to be with you.”

With how touching the conversation was, Blake found it even more difficult to not believe Weiss’ words were true.  She seemed to care - to truly care - about Ruby and Yang.  Was her only crime circumstance and timing?  What if she and Blake met before everything fell apart?  How would she feel then?

When Blake shuffled her feet, Ruby leaned forward to kiss Weiss before moving away with a smile.

“We’ll discuss later.  But first -”  Turning to the computer screen, Ruby pulled up the video Blake downloaded from the camera in Yang’s apartment.  “We have a sister to find.”

While Blake and Weiss watched, Ruby moved screens and windows in some order that she, and only she, understood.  From there, she opened window-after-window of video feeds from around the city.  Many were locked, as they should be to avoid prying eyes, but the level of encryption was hardly enough to pause Ruby’s progress.

“This is what I was doing earlier…” she mumbled while staring at one video at a time.  “Trying to piece together a timeline.  With your video though, we know the exact time…”

After pulling up gridlines marking the times on all of the videos, Ruby scrolled to a very specific time on the first one and pressed play.  The video showed the sidewalk down the street from Yang’s apartment, but the resolution made it nearly impossible to make out more than the largest details.

Long after Blake wrote off the point-of-view as worthless, Ruby kept staring.  Going through the video one frame at a time, she searched for clues that only she would find.  To everyone else, it was an endless span of nothing, nothing, and more nothing.  And to Blake, it was too slow - too tedious - and too time-consuming for her not to get restless.

“We have their masks,” she pointed out, motioning to the screen.  “Can’t you just track those - see where else they showed up?”

Finally ceasing her intent scanning, Ruby turned around.

“Do you really think it’s that easy?”  

“When we have their masks, yes.”  Blake knew it was the wrong answer the moment Ruby scoffed and Weiss shook her head.

“Notice anything strange about this?” Ruby asked while pulling up a still image from the hidden camera.  When Blake looked at the screen but didn’t immediately respond, Ruby said, “Here, look closer.”  After enlarging the picture and fixing the resolution, she drew circles around the kidnappers’ faces.  “How about now?”

Now that Blake could see the faces clearly - all five the same portrait - her heart sank.

“Did you think they were just quintuplets or something?” Ruby asked, looking at Blake while she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair.  “Sure, it’d be nice if they all chose unique masks - that’d make my job super easy - but they’re all using Jace-Face, Blake.  You know what Jace-Face is, right?”

“Yes, I know what Jace-Face is,” she mumbled while Ruby turned back to the computer.  After several rapid hand motions, she pulled up a larger window.

“Ok, then you know how hard it is to track.”  Taking a step back, Ruby gestured towards the screen.  “Here are the facial matches from the night Yang was kidnapped.”  

The number of orange dots on the screen must have approached a hundred.

“And that’s just a few blocks.”  Moving her hand in another intricate gesture, Ruby moved the view out even further, which revealed hundreds more orange dots.  “Here’s the district - and you don’t even want to see the city.”

Looking at the screen made Blake feel helpless and lost like nothing else could.  

“Every criminal in the city uses Jace-Face,” Ruby concluded, sounding exasperated that she even needed to explain this.  “Combine them with people who just bought a new holomask, don’t know how to use a holomask, and kids who think it’s funny to run around with the default image, and you have thousands of hits at any given moment.”

“There has to be a faster way,” Blake mumbled, pacing again while her mind raced.  Those were too many leads to track quickly, which meant finding Yang would take even longer, which meant she’d be in the Dreamscape longer, which meant...

“There isn’t.  The only thing we can do is search for another way to find them - the masks aren’t helpful.”

Blake ran her hand through her hair in frustration.  Every minute - every second Yang spent in those nightmares was a step closer to losing her for good.  If Ruby couldn’t find her soon, Blake had to go back into the Dreamscape and find her, which might be a better or worse solution based on Yang’s willingness to accept her.

And, realistically, she wasn’t sure if that was a dream she would wake up from.  

“We don’t have time for this.”

“I know, Blake.  But this isn’t like having a magic lamp or something.  I can’t just ask it where Yang is and get it to spit out an answer.”

“We don’t know what they’re doing to her,” Blake said, her heart pounding at the thought.  “For all we know, she’s already -”

The thought stopped her cold.

“Just find something,” she finished.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Weiss immediately snapped, crossing her arms and standing by Ruby’s shoulder.

“It’s fine, Weiss,” Ruby muttered, minimizing the map of holomasks and getting back to work.

“No, it’s not,” Weiss said before turning back to Blake.  “You don’t get to storm in here and boss people around.  Not after what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?” Blake asked, tilting her head and scoffing at the accusation.

“You’re the reason we’re here, aren’t you?”

Gritting her teeth, Blake avoided the trap argument.

“We’re here for Yang.”

“Yes, and Yang wouldn’t be in trouble if it weren’t - for - you.”

Blake hated the way Weiss emphasized the words.  Most of all, she hated that Weiss had a point.  This was her fault, but she didn’t need someone to point that out to her.  She was already fully, painfully aware of her responsibility.

“You don’t understand the type of danger she’s in.”

“If only someone would enlighten me,” Weiss replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm.  “Oh, that’s right.  You won’t.  Because you refuse to help us.”

“What does it look like I’m doing right now?”

“Covering up mistakes.”

Blake scowled at the insinuation, which Weiss made without a fraction of regret or consequence.

“Ok!  Both of you - cut it out.”

Blake stopped her rebuttal as both she and Weiss turned to Ruby.

“I can’t think with you arguing in my ear,” Ruby said.  “So out - take it into the hall or somewhere I don’t have to hear it.”

For a second, it looked like Weiss didn’t know what to do with such an instruction.  After digesting it, however, she gave Blake a blistering look before stomping towards the door.

“Weiss,” Ruby said when Weiss’ hand barely touched the doorknob.

“Yes?”

“Come here a second?”

Weiss brushed harshly past Blake, who opened the door to let herself out.  When she turned around, however, she caught a glimpse of the kiss Ruby gave Weiss.  Another pinprick of jealousy appeared in her chest, but she clenched her jaw and left the room behind.  Weiss joined her seconds later - fury tempered but still very much alive.

“Ruby has never kicked me out of a room before,” she snapped, straightening her shirt before giving Blake a disdainful gaze.  “Just one more thing I can thank you for.”

“Did I do something to you?” Blake asked, her annoyance finally bursting through.

“No.  You did something to someone I care about.”

The comment deflated Blake’s anger, which made it impossible for her to think of a harsh response.  Weiss, however, took the silence as tacit agreement with the words.

“I don’t trust you,” she added, giving Blake yet another glare while stepping into her space.  “All this time, you wouldn’t come home.  You wouldn’t even tell Yang what was going on.  Now you’re back and ready to be a knight in shining armor?”  Weiss scoffed and shook her head at the idea.  “You’re not telling us something, and if Yang or Ruby get hurt because of it, I’ll make sure you pay.”

Straightening her posture, Weiss flipped her hair over one shoulder and gave Blake a withering gaze.

“Feel free to make yourself at home.  In my home, where I’m only letting you stay because Ruby and Yang think so highly of you.  Although I can’t see why.”

With that last insult issued, Weiss spun on her heel and stalked away.

Blake wanted to be angry - she wanted to hate Weiss for the comments - but instead she just felt...tired.  Sitting down at the kitchen table, she set her head in her hands and sighed.

If Ruby couldn’t find anything soon, she would use the Dreamscape and connect with Yang again.  It would be a trap, but she would walk into it with hopes that her skills were enough to get her out.  If not...well, hopefully Yang would be safe if Blake was actually dead.

But first, she would hold out hope that Ruby found something...anything...