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We Still Are Made Of Greed

Summary:

Blake Belladonna is a journalist for hire, and they come back to Vale after three years in Anima. Fifteen missing people, suspicious dust experiments, and even more suspicious friends lead Blake to discover the layers in Vale. Layers that pull Blake deeper into the chaos.

Notes:

I just wanted a crime/romance Bumbleby fic. I also want people to enjoy one, so here we are.

I jumped on the NB!Blake Belladonna, by the way.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Street lamps in the streets of Vale shine bright, illuminating the fresh rain on the concrete and buildings. Few people walking in the downpour swiftly cover themselves with their jackets or hoods, racing to leave the awful weather.

Blake adjusts their glasses by pushing up the bridge with their index finger, and they frown at the weather. Their amber eyes dart to the left, then to the right. Where is she?

"Oh!" A surprised exclamation comes from behind the cat Faunus, and they turn to greet her source and friend. There stands a well-built female with firetruck red hair, her form swallowed slightly by the dark green turtleneck sweater she has on. A smile forms on her face. "Hello again! Were you here long?"

Blake shakes their head. "Not at all. Want to sit down in the cafe?"

The woman hesitates. "Blake, I'm not sure that's a good idea. I know Vale is… more relaxed with Faunus than other places, but it still has their people,"

"So that place is racist?"

"Not racist, but…" Seeing the raised eyebrow and pursed lips, the woman sighs. "Yes, they're racist."

"That's okay; this won't take too long anyway. Thanks for the scoop, Pyrrha," Blake finally smiles and holds out their hand to the street. "Shall we?"

Pyrrha giggles. She pads forward and lies a hand on Blake's shoulder. "We shall," The redhead takes the lead by marching forward with a slight wink to the Faunus. Blake shakes their head with a small chuckle.

The impromptu trip took less than ten minutes, and the pair ended up at Pyrrha's apartment near the Vale docks. Blake brings their mug to mouth to sip gratefully at the tea their friend provided for them. They set their mug down and pull their scroll from the inner pocket of their sherpa lined denim jacket and place it next to their mug, recording any audio.

"Blake Belladonna. Investigating the abrupt disappearances of people around the kingdom of Vale," Blake leans back into the soft gray armchair, and Pyrrha rests on the soft to their left. "Pyrrha Nikos is providing further intel on the matter.

"Pyrrha, what can you tell me about these people who went missing?"

Pyrrha sighs and glances towards the only window in the living room. Her leg bounces. "I never knew them personally, but I've heard about them in passing. Some of them were here visiting someone or for the festivals that happen around this time of year, but the others live here," She shakes her head at the cockiness these snatchers must have to take people while others were still roaming around. "Fifteen people are gone, and before they went missing, a lot of dust was taken from dust shops. I don't think that was a coincidence."

"Dust?"

"Yes," Pyrrha sighs and drums her fingers on the meat of her thigh. "Dust went missing only to turn back up near the borders like nothing ever happened."

Blake follows Pyrrha's scared gaze to the window. Their cat ears swivel and flick at the constant tapping Pyrrha's heel made against the hardwood floor. "Do you have a clue on who these people may be? Any theories as to how they took them?"

"Not in the slightest. I had a hunch at first, but now I'm not too sure about it," At Blake's curious stare, Pyrrha meets their gaze with a grimace. "I thought it was those Branwen Bandits, but they're always in Anima."

"And there's no other criminal who'd steal dust?"

Pyrrha thinks for a moment before shaking her head. "No. Roman Torchwick went off the grid a while ago, and the White Fang—" Blake flinches acutely. "—they're also inactive. So, unless Torchwick is secretly working from the shadows, it has to be someone familiar to Vale, and Sanus in general."

"Thank you, Pyrrha," Blake hits stop on the audio recording, and they sink back into the armchair. "God, who knew journalism could be this hard? I can barely get interviews with tons of people."

Pyrrha laughs in good nature, but her eyes drift to the window again. "Jaune told you not to do it because one of his many sisters is going gray from the job. Wait… is that a gray-hair?"

Blake rolls their eyes and fixes their glasses, which had slid down their nose. "Oh, har har. You really like knocking my self-esteem down, don't you?"

"Guilty,"

A chuckle makes its way out of the cat Faunus. "D'you know who I could talk to next?"

Pyrrha has a thoughtful look on her face and she opens her mouth, glancing at the window for a split second. She nods. "I believe Weiss is still in town; maybe forever. She moved back from Atlas a few months ago and hasn't mentioned leaving Vale,"

The hopeful raise of eyebrows and the wide smile on Blake's face contorts, melting into a slight scowl. "Seriously? Weiss?"

"I know you two've had your…" The redhead struggles to collect her thoughts and dish them into words. "disagreements in the past, but she's changed."

"Weiss Schnee,"

"Yes,"

"Sounds fake,"

"I know, but—"

"But nothing!" Blake snaps. They put their face in their hands and groan. "She can't change from how she used to be."

Weiss and Blake used to be friends with Pyrrha acting as the middleman until the two were comfortable around each other. They did everything together, from trash-talking Jacques Schnee to gossiping about random things. Three years ago had been the high of Blake's life; they got into writing, Weiss denied her title as heiress and went out of her way to be a lawyer, and the two of them found love. Until it all came crashing down due to Blake's oblivious nature.

And now Pyrrha of all people wants Blake to walk her butt over to wherever the hell Weiss decided to hold herself up and ask—politely, of course—for an interview for these innocent missing people. Weiss Schnee isn't innocent, and Blake doesn't trust their lives in some stuck-up's hands.

Standing with a slight sigh, Pyrrha rubs soothing circles on Blake's tense shoulder blades. Blake looks up from their hands. "I'll go with you, if you want,"

"Please,"

Pyrrha nods with an encouraging smile. "C'mon then! We can do this interview now and then you won't have to see Weiss again if you don't want," She reaches down and grabs Blake's hands and pulls them up off of the armchair. "Then we can go see Ren and Nora, maybe even Jaune if he's home."

Blake's ears slowly come to life and perk on top of her head. "That sounds amazing,"

"See? Friends make it all better! Now, grab your stuff and I'll get my car,"

"The one you haven't driven since last year?"

"Hey!"

———

Across the street in an office building being renovated is a man and a woman. The man has a sniper rifle loaded and propped up on the half-open window, and the woman is lazily spinning a pen between her fingers.

The man grunts and pulls his eye away from staring down the scope. "Has the boss given our orders yet? I'm gettin' bored,"

"No, she hasn't. Can't handle recon?"

"I can. Just wanna have some fun,"

The woman scoffs, and the pen she's spinning comes to a sharp halt between her middle and index finger. She points the pen at the sniper. "You may have the accuracy, but I have the goods. I can make you freak out with just a stab of this pen if I wanted,"

"Geez, okay," The man rolls his eyes. He returns to staring down the scope of his rifle, the cross pointed at a familiar redhead and a cat Faunus. "Invincible Girl's got a partner, huh? That's cute."

———

"Tell me why we're doing this again?"

"So you can get your story! I may not have been that much help, but Weiss knows things,"

Blake rolls their eyes with a scowl. "Of course she does,"

Pyrrha tuts and gently elbows them in the side. "Behave,"

"Fine, mom,"

The receptionist looks up from his place behind the desk with a kind smile. "Miss Schnee will see you now,"

The duo nod at the receptionist and make their way to the elevators. Blake crosses their arms and huffs once inside an elevator.

"What lawyer needs an elevator in the first place?"

"I'm not too sure, Blake," Pyrrha sounds oddly detatched while saying this, a faraway look in her eyes. Blake nervously eyes her taller friend. The redhead breaks out of her head and smiles. "Whatever the reason, it must be for the dust Weiss keeps for… experimentation."

"But dust experimentation was..." The elevator doors open, and Pyrrha rushes out. Blake worriedly follows their friend. "banned because of the incidents."

The walls bend and stretch around Blake as they make their way over to Pyrrha. "Is it just me or are the walls being weird?"

Pyrrha knocks on the door, ignoring their question. A quick "Come in!" has the redhead opening the door for Blake. "After you,"

Blake clutches the strap on their tattered messenger bag as they step into the freezing office. They swallow harshly when the white-haired woman at the desk glances up with a shocked gasp.

"Blake?" Weiss quickly stands and buttons her popped dress shirt collar. She smoothes down the wrinkles of her dress pants and smiles. "What a pleasure seeing you here!"

Blake narrows their eyes. "Feeling's not mutual,"

The hopeful glint in icy blue eyes dim, and the smile droops to a neutral line. Her gaze flickers down to the all-too-familiar bag on Blake's hip, and she chuckles sardonically.

"I thought our first meeting after three years would be over coffee, not an interview for that blog of yours," Weiss sharply says and takes her seat. She flicks her hand. "Sit down."

Blake takes a seat and pulls out their stereotypical journalist notepad. "I don't have a blog anymore, Weiss,"

"Details, details,"

Pyrrha sits down beside Blake, an uncomfortable smile on her face. "Why don't we just move this interview along?"

Weiss sighs and looks to Blake. "What is it?"

"I want to know about those people who went missing,"

The lawyer sits up ramrod straight, open expression now closed off and hardened. The shift is so sudden that Blake's ears fold back in fear of a surprise attack. Weiss narrows her eyes, and the scar is much more threatening.

"Who told you?"

Blake freezes. "Told me what?"

The stiffness in Weiss slowly unwinds, but the tense of her shoulders say she's still on edge. "Nothing,"

Blake looks over to Pyrrha for more insight, but the redhead is staring out of the window. What the hell happened in Vale while she made a career in Anima? They turn back to Weiss.

"I-I just want to know if there's anything you might know. I know that you know that dust has been going missing only to turn up days later at the borders of Vale," Blake shrinks under the stern glare. Her hands tremble. "SDC dust, and you keep your eye on the company."

Weiss leans back in her chair and locks her fingers together, still observing the way Blake fidgets under her watchful gaze. She nods with a thoughtful, pouted bottom lip. "Yes. I do," She sits back up and leans her elbows against her polished mahogany desk, chin resting on her interlaced fingers. "I suppose it's only fair I do this for you since the wound is still fresh from years ago. The SDC apparently has no idea who's stealing the dust, but it has some sort of connection to those fifteen people missing."

Blake swiftly jots that down and looks up. "Anything else?"

Weiss is silent for a long moment, as if she is tasting the question to see how to answer it properly. "There is another connection, but I have no idea what it is," She's lying. Blake grits their teeth together.

"Pyrrha told me about dust experimentation," Pyrrha startles and looks at Blake, but they have their amber eyes on Weiss. "Care to tell me what that's about when dust experiments were banned everywhere in Remnant."

The lawyer hums. "If you avoid the law, anything is legal," She cryptically says, but she doesn't allow Blake to fish around for another question about it. "You know how dust sets up our world and provides the bare necessities; all of this we learned in college. Dust helps the world, but in many ways can hurt it as well. Fire dust, for example, can be used by those for a quick way to set up a campfire, but can also be used to harm others in arson. I want to see if dust can be used in unorthodox ways.

"And besides, I have… special permission to do so," Weiss finishes. Her icy eyes hold a certain challenge in them. "Will that be all?"

Blake nods stiffly. "I suppose so," They shove their notes back in their messenger bag and stand. "Have a great rest of the day."

Pyrrha rises to her feet and says something too soft for Blake's feline features to catch before returning to their side. The redhead pats the jet black-haired woman on the back.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy,"

Pyrrha leads Blake out of Weiss' office. Curious light blue eyes observe them as they leave, and the white-haired woman reaches over to pick up her scroll. She presses the speed dial and places the scroll next to her ear.

"What's up?"

Weiss stares at the closing door. "We might have a problem,"

———

Notes:

I don't own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.