A/N: This was something I just had to get out there because it was at the back of my mind and wouldn't go away. I hadn't plan on putting remotely anything out, but there was that gut feeling that asked that I do. If I didn't, it felt like an opportunity missed and I felt that exact same way when I posted the prologue for The Longest Hunt. I promise I'm still working on that chapter, and no I haven't given up. This was just something I had to put to a page before it was lost to me.

"It's you and me, now, okay? You and me. But that's fine. So long as we've got each other, that's all that matters."

She tosses and turns in the dark, flinching and squirming at the unseen presence that haunts her restless sleep. The voice is familiar and warm, but the source feels so far away from her; urging that innate sense of danger and anxiousness to deepen. It's a fear she can't escape as faces begin to flash vaguely before her, and matched by the equally unsettling coalescing of multiple voices.

"Just remember one thing. We need a doctor, not a deadbeat. Fail to meet my expectations and there will be repercussions."

"And now a toast. To James and his cheery cherub. May your future be bight, safe, and boring as hell."

"What's the matter, teacher's pet? Gonna cry? Aww… Waaahh!"

"A few decorations, some donated toys, and this place will feel just like home."

Home.

Her brow furrows deeply in confusion.

The "home" she knew all her life were filled with fluorescent light, stone, and steel; it was where the air she breathed tasted filtered and sanitary. "Home" was where many people lived in such a small confined space, but the closeness was comforting even if some neighbors were insufferable. It was a place where meals always seemed to come from somewhere, even if she and the other kids didn't really know where. How could a "home" so underground have a farm? Such food needed sunlight and they didn't have any of that. Everything about her home, the Vault, was everything she knew since the moment she was born. Everyone she grew to know, everything her world revolved around was inside that place alone.

But she was sure that she grew up somewhere else.

There was supposed to a house, a big one, in the open space of a forest where all four seasons would come and go in its infinite cycle. The skies would be colored in a myriad of colors at dawn and dusk, and the summers were always the brightest of blues. There were hills of grass, beaches and shores she would watch, and these ships that would take off into the air with people inside to some faraway place. She would watch them every now and them, her eyes trying to follow them as far as they could.

Everything thing about this other place was vivid in detail, and there was a confidence to walk those streets with such vigor and liveliness. It was as if she knew this place so well.

"What is their problem anyway? So I'm the Overseer's daughter? So what? Like I get any kind of special treatment!"

"It's exactly as you said: I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold."

No, something's wrong.

Her life, her world, was within that Vault. Where else would she have met her only best friend other than that place? She couldn't just erase all those years together, that history, simply at a whim.

"No, Mister Deloria, that is not correct. Tell me. Are you really that stupid?"

"Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!"

A history of a world afraid of the outside, trapped within concrete and steel walls while everyone lived and died inside. They were safe and away from the dangers and creatures outside their little haven, and all they had to do was work together as one to keep everyone alive. In spite of the differences, the rumors, the snide remarks, the suspicion, and hovering security at the command of a central power, they survived.

"Your mommy? Oh, sweetie… I… Of course I miss her… so much. Each day more than the last."

Mom.

She felt something grip her heart tightly, like one of those old vice grips in Stanley's workshop. When she tried to think about her, to remember a face or a name, it became excruciating to bear and a hand gripped at her chest in protest. Anything to stop the pain, or to recall anything at all about the woman she could hardly… forget?

Her mother had hair like hers, features that she (the daughter) inherited so much from, and silver eyes that watched over her and the others with such great care and love. And encompassing all of that was a snow white cloak, signifying her mother's presence years after her death mysterious death.

Another surge of pain wracked her body.

Why would her mother's death be mysterious? Her dad said it was due to complications during childbirth, and not…

"What are you doing?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?!"

Damage?

She was going to hurt someone again?

"Yeah? Well daddy doctor ain't here to save you now, is he? So what you gonna do now, huh?"

She didn't need him for all of her fights. She would take on that stupid Tunnel Snake bully just like the time before, and make her sister proud.

"There's no such thing as negative friends. You just made one friend and one enemy!"

It was stupid that she would be praised for something like fighting, but it still brought a smile to her face. But she doesn't remember having a sister… She was an only child, wasn't she?

Another sharp wince as the pain pulsed.

"Stop gawking and get back to work. Selfish and insubordinate, just like your father."

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home, with a pat on the back… and a slap on the wrist!"

There were too many voices.

Too many of them for her to make out or remember.

"Look, it's just… You need to know these things. I'm not going to be around to hold your hand forever…"

"Sure, you may be acting like huntresses, but you're not thinking like one. Do you really think four girls and their friends can end all crime in the kingdom?"

She didn't know what most of this mean.

It was as if all the voices were arguing with one another, contradicting what the other tried to say. Or were they speaking in agreement? A unified voice that tried to reach her in the depths of her sleep, begging for her to understand them?

"Well that's a surprise. I'm used to every asshole smoothskin in this town treating me like shit just cause I look like a corpse. It's good to see there are still a few worthwhile people out there."

"My mom always says, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

"Any moment now, you'll be dead! Are you excited to see what that's lke?"

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

"Tunnel Snakes rule!"

"Ooh! We'll break his legs!"

"Revelations, 21:6. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end…"

"It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control for his body."

"It's a big world out there, honey, full of all sorts of people. What about you? What kind of person are you going to be?"

"I'm just glad to have my girls back at home."

Back at home…

If he meant those words, then why did he leave?

If he loved her, then why did he abandon her without so much as a word?

She turns over and over as the voices begin to swell, drowning her in all of the noise. Hands rushed to her cover her ears against the soundless barrage, and her legs kicked defiantly in a struggle to push out the noise.

"Ruby! Wake up!"

Someone was calling to her, but who? If only she could remember, then maybe she could ask the voice for help.

"Please wake up! It's me! It's—"

Ruby shot up from her bed, body soaked with sweat and trepidation as eye darted quickly about the room. Sheets and scraps of metal made the walls, roof, and floor in a earnest attempt to create some stability and comfort. It wasn't as structurally sound, and it didn't keep the sounds out or in, but it was better than sleeping in some worn down ruins where anything could get at her. She couldn't bear to think about another night without sleeping comfortably or with a finger constantly curled around the trigger. Without looking, her left hand searches blindly under her pillow and felt the grip of a gun tucked under there for safety.

Her dad would have been furious to learn if she kept dangerous stuff so close. He wouldn't even let her sleep with the BB gun he and Jonas gave her one birthday on her side of the room. For a man who raised her with both a hands on and off approach, he was also the worst worrier at home. Ruby pulls out the 10mm pistol, inspecting in the light that filtered through the holes of her shanty home.

Which Vault Security guard did she pick this up from?

Ruby shakes her head in grim dismissal.

What did it matter anyway?

Officer Kendall, someone who she believed would be the one to make sure everyone was okay, attacked her. She had helped him fend off the Radroaches that swarmed him, swinging away with her baseball bat, and then he…

No.

The people she believed would protect her and the others turned against them, gunning down Tom and Mary Holden for no reason she could think of. They were one of them, the few children that were allowed to be had in the Vault, and they…

Her breathing hitches at the memory of how their bodies fell under gunfire. She had barely missed them, and was too late to warn them of the guards. Ruby didn't know how she got away or how she came into possession of the gun. It was all a blur, and all she could do was run. Maybe they shot at her, but perhaps Kendall's armor that she used protected her.

Ruby's hands unlocked the magazine, slipping it out of his secure place inside the grip to look over her ammunition. They were all accounted, but she knew that like water it would be quick to go. Pulling back on the receiver, she noted that one still sat in the chamber when she return the gun back to its loaded state.

"Madam?"

Click!

Ruby's hand trembled as she aimed the gun toward her room's door, the trigger pulled instinctively while the gun remained jammed. She steadied her breath, calming with time paced inhales and exhales as the sound of her door knocked.

"Madam Rose? Is everything alright?" the voice inquired dutifully. "You were talking in your sleep, and I took it upon myself to see if you were well."

She quickly worked away at the jam, sorting out the kink and stowed away the now functional gun back under her pillow. Ruby would have to take another look at it tomorrow morning for any other problems. She couldn't have her only other weapon break on her too.

"I'm fine Wadsworth," she called out. "Just another nightmare. You know how I am, getting all scared in my sleep and stuff."

"Would you like for me to prepare you a glass of clean drinking water?"

"No, it's fine. We're going to need that for emergencies, and trade if necessary. Really though, I'm okay."

"Of course madam."

There was a slight pause, and Ruby prepared herself for bed once more when the tapping returned; urgently this time.

"Wadsworth, I promise I don't need anything. I'd tell you if I did, I swear!"

"That would be your guest, Madam."

"Oh."

Ruby slapped her forehead as a chiding reminder. How could she forget about him? She moved to her door, unlocking it as the tapping grew more insistent, and began to open it. The moment the door gave way, a medium sized figure squeezed its way through, hopping on its bed worriedly where brown eyes watched. Its tail wagged happily with the permission to enter (one she did not remember giving), but there was still the look of concern on the creature's face.

"Not you too Dogmeat."

The German shepherd simply whined, moving in circles on her bed before settling down on the worn mattress. His muzzle rested on her only pillow, nudging it impatiently as if to say, "Come sleep with me please." Ruby fixed him with as best a stern look she could at the dog, but the creature was blissfully unaware as it continued to whine.

"Fine…" she relented. Dogmeat barked happily in agreement, and Ruby moved to her makeshift workbench of a desk to leave her pistol. Sleeping on a gun with something that barely passed for a pillow was uncomfortable, and she trusted Wadsworth to alert her of any unwanted visitors. She sets down the 10mm on an open space, but her silver eye catch the glint of the other gun she had been working on for some time. Her fingers traced the long barrel, worn yet smooth with use and exposure to the elements. She had only heard about such rifles in old textbooks, but she never expected to see one for herself, let alone one stored away in some secret stone crevice.

The sniper rifle became her project, something to work on when going outside the town proved too dangerous. It was more complicated than her BB gun, but it kept her thoughts busy and away from her dad.

"Dad." She whispered quietly.

She had to find him soon, but this world was so big and Pip Boy could only map out so much. Ruby had gathered some leads on where he could have gone, but she was hardly prepared for the journey there. She still needed time, and she wasn't sure if it was time her dad had. Her eyes drifted to the last thing in the room, a modified Vault suit that she draped over the back of her work chair. Made specifically for personal defense with armored alterations, it proved better than her own suit that she grew into over the years.

"I'm pretty sure I remember a girl coming into town with that about ten, twelve years ago."

There was a chance that she was still out there.

Maybe then they could find her dad together.

He was just as much her dad as she was her sister.

Dogmeat barks insistently this time, huffing and grumbling as he watches Ruby move and climbs into bed.

"Alright, I get it."

Resting her head on the pillow, she can feel the shepherd move and position himself comfortably to sleep at her side. She could feel him nuzzling her cheek and neck, licking at her affectionately to a point she had to push his face away.

"Stop it. Your breath stinks."

The dog took no offense, and instead rested his head across her stomach. Ruby begins to run her fingers through his fur, scratching behind his ears and at his neck.

"I guess you and I don't really have anyone anymore, huh?"

Dogmeat whines quietly, but makes no other movement.

"I thought you belonged to someone else, with how you came up to me out of no where. I almost shot you too, you dunce."

Ruby could hear him breath out sharply, a snort; probably in disbelief or snark.

"But you don't seem so bad."

Dogmeat wagged his tail in response.

"I never had a dog before."

Even when she spoke those words, and when sleep began to overtake her, for some odd reason she couldn't believe that to be true.

"Ruby! Ruby!"

"That's enough Yang," a voice answered. "She's stabilized for now, but I don't believe she can hear us."

Even as she spoke those words, Weiss knew that Yang wouldn't relent. It had surprised them that the young reaper began to react at all, calling out for them specifically in her unconscious state. It was both a blessing and a curse, telling the rest of them that she was fine and at least coherent to a degree where she still remembered them. Yet it only brought more concerns as Ruby called out of her parents, her friends, and people the heiress was unsure if were real or from her partner's own home. Blake moved over to Yang, slowly steadying the shaking hands and guiding the older sister away in spite of her protests. Weiss didn't need to know or hear exactly what Blake was murmuring to her partner, but she was thankful that it helped calm the distressed sister.

The door to Ruby's room opened quickly, and she turned to find a familiar knight standing in the doorway; panting frantically as nurses moved passed him into the room.

"I heard that she's—!"

Wiess shook her head.

"Ruby's talking in her sleep, but she can't hear us."

She stood, giving the nurses a wide berth to work.

"What about Nora and Velvet?" she asked him. By the look on his face, Weiss knew that they were remained in similar states.

"Coco said that Velvet has yet to make any reaction to the treatments. They're worried that she might not be responsive at all, and..."

Jaune's words trailed off as Weiss looked over to the rest of her team. Blake nodded her off. She would take care of her partner, and the heiress pulled the blonde knight after her in her exit.

"And Nora?"

"Like Ruby," he answered slowly. "Still sleeping, but she won't stop calling for Ren."

They walked down the halls of the infirmary in relative silence toward the lobby. She noticed how speaking about his team made Jaune wear a different sort of conflict on his face; he was worried about his team and friends, but he also noted that particular detail specifically.

"And how is he?"

"Probably tying with Yang in the worry department," Jaune tried to joke. His half hearted chuckle fell short, and he had to force himself to sit when they arrived in the open seating area. His head buried deeply in his hands, and it stayed there as she took a seat beside him.

"He won't leave her side," he spoke. "I mean, he's her only family and they registered themselves like that. Aside from the rest of us, Ren has been allowed full access to see her and Ozpin was nice enough to give him and Yang and Coco some time away from class. But he's not... well."

Weiss could understand, or at least empathize where the young man was coming. Despite being soft spoken, everyone learned that Ren would the most animated or expressive around Nora and Nora alone. She, more or less, brought out the cordial and social aspect of the man whether he liked it or not.

They were inseparable, or at least believed they were.

"He doesn't eat anything we bring him, and won't talk to me or Pyrrha when we come to see Nora. Ren just... stopped."

He lifted his head to look at Weiss, the mournful expression was something she was beginning to see within all of her friends. It was also the first expression she saw every morning in the mirror every since the accident.

"I want to help him," Jaune pleaded more to himself. "We want to help, but he's just shut us out and all we're doing now is just watching them. I can't just let him do that to himself, hell, even Nora wouldn't let him do that to himself."

His hand reached out to hers, gripping them tightly. Were this another moment, another Jaune and another Weiss, she would have rebuffed the contact. Her fingers wrapped around his in consolation while deep azure eyes searched icy blues.

"What do I do Weiss? What do I do to help him?"

Of course he would ask her out of them all. The perfect heiress with all the answers, all the explanations, all the means to solve a problem because she herself wouldn't allow anything less.

"I don't know Jaune," she answered. If she did, then she would have been able to help out Velvet or her own partner.

"I don't know..."