Ruby drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair nervously. She'd been called into HQ both unexpectedly and without an explanation, two things that were rarely a good sign in her line of work. The secretary at the desk in front of her had her eyes glued to her computer screen typing away about this and that like a machine.
Ruby looked at the door to her sister's office nervously. Yang had been promoted to one of the senior management positions within HQ nearly a year ago and in that time Ruby had seen or heard little of her older sister, both because of her own work load and that of her sisters.
The phone on the secretary's desk rang and Ruby jumped slightly as she came back to reality. Without taking her eyes off the monitor the woman reached a slender hand out to the phone and pressed the speaker button.
"Yes Ma'am?" She asked.
"Send her in." Yang's voice crackled over the phones loud speaker like she'd only just woken up.
"Yes Ma'am," She replied before turning to Ruby who was already on her feet. "Ms Xiao Long will see you now." She said in her proper and polite monotone voice.
"Thanks," Ruby said as she walked through the door.
It closed with a soft click behind her and she surveyed her sister's office for the first time since she'd gotten the position.
As she had expected Yang looked like a wreak, her usual attire had been replaced with a crisp black business suit which looked like she'd been wearing it for the last two days, her hair was just as messy and she had deep bags under her eyes.
She flinched just by looking at her. "Jesus Yang you look rough, what the hell happened?" She asked as she moved closer to her sister.
Yang offered her a half-hearted smile as she rummaged through the small mountain of paper work in front of her.
"Minor hiccup in Ferren-port last week," She mumbled.
"Minor? Half the city was levelled." Ruby said as she sat down.
Yang sighed before she pushed the call button on the phone on her desk. "Valery would you get us some coffee." She asked.
"Of course Ma'am, you're usual?" She asked.
"Get me something with enough caffeine to kill and elephant." She replied.
"And for Ms Rose?"
Yang looked at her.
"Just a latté," Ruby said.
"Latté," Yang repeated.
"Of course Ma'am," The woman replied before hanging up.
"So what happened in Ferren-port that has you doing this much paper work?" Ruby asked. "The news is reporting that the power plant went critical."
Yang sighed as she signed various documents and read over others. "Remind me again, what's you're clearance level?"
"Uh, Omega 3," She replied slowly.
"Well not anymore," Yang said as she expertly pulled a small file out of the small mountain without bringing it down on her. "As of right now you've been promoted to Alpha 5, congratulations."
Ruby just stared at her wide eyes; she did believe what she'd just heard. "Alpha?" She said after a moment. "Yang are you serious!?" She asked.
"Yea," She said as she tossed the file to the side and began looking for another.
"You're really not pulling my leg?" She asked.
"No," Her sister replied. "I thought you'd be happy?" She said, sounding a little disappointed.
Ruby jumped slightly in her chair. "Oh, no of course I'm happy," She said hurriedly to reassure her sister. "I'm just a little shocked is all. I thought Alpha level clearance had to be handed out by the CEO." She said.
Yang nodded. "It does," She confirmed. "But because of the incident in Ferren-port we're a bit short staff so they told me to pick three people to promote to Alpha 5 clearance and give them their own assignments." She said as she pulled out yet another file. "No that's Pyrrha's but I'll need that next." She mumbled to herself as her secretary came back in holding a tray.
"Here are your drinks Ma'am," She said as she offered Yang the tray. Yang nodded her thanks as she took the novelty sized coffee cup offered to her and began drinking, slowly at first but as she drank she seemed to become more alive.
Ruby took the offered Latté with a silent nod as she watched her sister scull what had to be at least 20 cups of coffee in one go.
She set the cup down with a satisfied sigh and looked back at Ruby.
"Yang you're going to give yourself a heart attack." Ruby said.
Yang just smiled at her. "Eh, this job's gonna kill me one way or another," She said as she pulled out another file.
"Ah, here it is." She said happily as she handed the file over to Ruby who opened it and began looking through it.
"I'm getting transferred!?" She asked almost panic stricken.
Yang looked at her, "Well sort of."
"What do you mean 'sort of'!?" Ruby shouted, as she began flicking through the pages.
Yang sighed as she began searching for the right files. "Look it's nothing bad, good in fact." She began. "You're being given your own post."
Ruby stopped dead as she looked up at Yang her mouth slightly open. "What, Why?" She asked to stunned to say anything more.
"Look it's all got to do with Ferren-port." Yang said. "The Media has only reported that it was a reactor going critical that took out the city, but in reality it was something else entirely." She said.
"What happened?" Ruby asked as she regained her senses.
"Well our intelligence is a little lacking at the moment but we had a team of eight Hunters investigating a small secret society," She explained. "Turns out they were a Grim cult. The unit moved in to remove them and the next thing we knew half the city had been taken out in an explosion."
Ruby nodded along with what Yang was saying dumbly.
"As you can imagine after this little incident we're short-handed in several locations. As such Ozpin's given me the authority to promote Hunter's who I believe are worthy of the position. Congratulations Ruby, you just got you first solo post."
The look of shock never left Ruby's face as she just sat in the chair across from Yang, trying to comprehend what she had just been told.
She'd been a hunter for all of a year, and it was all but unheard off for hunters to be given a solo post before at least 2 years of team jobs.
"Y-Yang, are you sure about this?" Ruby asked a little nervously.
Yang raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd be excited by this." She said disappointment creeping back into her voice.
"Oh, no, no, no, I-I am…excited," She said. "I'm just a little nervous I guess." She said as she fiddled with her sleeve.
Yang smiled at her reassuringly as she got up and walked around the table and sat on a small sofa to the side, beckoning n Ruby over to join her.
"Look trust me on this Sis." Yang said as she rubbed her sisters back reassuringly. "I know getting you first solo post can be a bit daunting but trust me you'll do fine."
"And you're sure you're not going to get in trouble for this?" Ruby asked a little bit calmer now.
Yang nodded her usual grin plastered across her face. "Of course not, Ozpin's already signed off on all three of the promotions and none of the other hunters in the area have complained about it, so unless you want to retire it's all official."
Ruby sighed. "You know I wish you'd have told me about this earlier, maybe even asked me first." She mumbled.
Yang sighed as she stood up. "Oh come on. You've all but begged me on several occasions to give you a solo post and now that I'm giving you one you're trying to get out of it."
"Yang it's in Baleworth, that's on the other side of the country!" Ruby protested.
Yang shrugged. "So?" She countered. "Look Ruby, I'm doing this as you're boss, not as your sister, and besides you sister and your boss both agree that this is a good thing for you."
Ruby looked up at her. "How so?" She challenged standing up to look at her sister giving the older woman her best intimidating glare.
Yang just folded her arms and assumed a bored expression. "Look all of your recent field work has proven that you're more than capable of handling things without a team backing you up and ever since you and Weiss broke up you've been mopey at best and hardly do anything. A new change of scenery and a fresh work load would be good for you." She said.
"So what, I get a little upset over a break up and you send me over the other side of the country?" Ruby retorted hotly. "How in the hell does it help me if you're up rooting my life and sending me hundreds of miles away? What about my team? What about my friends?"
Yang sighed and buried her face in her hand; Ruby could be so difficult some times. Though admittedly she knew this would happen the second she mentioned Weiss. "Look Ruby you know that wasn't my intention." Yang said trying to defuse the situation. "But for one thing all you've done since you and Weiss broke up is work, so a temporary change of place will help you get your mind off it. As far as your friends go we're about to stage a god damn intervention because of how you've been acting lately and you're teams being promoted and reassigned same as you." Yang replied. "If you're upset about the location I get that, but it'll only be for a year at most then after that I'll be able to get you back here or somewhere much closer but for now I'm sorry but this is just the hand you've been dealt."
Ruby sighed as she slumped back down on the couch behind her, silently admitting defeat. "I'm sorry Yang," Ruby mumbled sadly. Yang allowed herself a sad smile as she sat down to comfort her sister.
"It's just a lot to take in and I-,"
Yang cut her off by giving her a big hug. "Just relax will you." She said soothingly. "You'll be fine, on the last two missions you basically had you team running to keep up with you and all they had to do was pick off the stragglers and tidy up the loose ends. You'll do fine, and if after a year you still want to come back I'll figure something out." Yang said.
Ruby offered her sister a small smile as she pulled away. "You make it sound like I won't want to come back." She said.
Yang shrugged. "You kind of get attached to your first proper post. Hell I didn't want to come back from Colbeth until it was a direct order, and I'm honestly thinking of retiring there."
Ruby nodded. "Promise you'll come visit me as soon as you can?" She asked sheepishly. Yang smiled and kissed her forehead as she gave her another deep hug.
"Of course I will." She said. "I've got some leave coming up in a few weeks so I'll be there before you know it."
Ruby smiled and took a deep breath as she stood up and picked up the transfer order yang had given her earlier. "So when do I leave?" She asked.
"Three days," Yang told her. "Until you've gotten yourself to Baleworth you're no longer on active duty."
Ruby nodded.
"There will be someone from the agency there to meet you when you get off the plane." She told her. "So just take a day off to relax and get yourself sorted.
Ruby nodded as she gave her sister one last hug. "Thanks Yang. If you can spare the time I'd like to have dinner with you tomorrow night before I leave." She said.
Yang nodded. "Only if you let me put the bill." She said.
"How altruistic of you," Ruby said with a hint of distrust in her voice.
Yang only smiled. "What? It's only fair." Yang said.
"How so?" Ruby asked cautiously. She had a very bad feeling about this.
"Cause I'm going to bleed you dry when I come to visit you." The blond said with a particularly evil grin.
Ruby sighed. "Yea okay, see you tomorrow." Ruby said as she walked out of the door.
Ruby stood in front of the impressive set of double doors fiddling with the hem of her skirt, she had tried and failed to work up the courage to knock on the doors several times but she kept freaking out at the very last minute.
She sighed to herself as she slapped her face lightly. "Come on Ruby, you're a big girl now, you're 22 for fuck's sake and it's been a month, you can talk to her." Rewarded with a new found rush of determination ruby raised her hand and knocked on the door strongly.
It opened almost immediately. A tall slender woman standing in front of her, her hair was let down and she was wearing a more casual skirt than she usually wore but her eyes and terse expression were the same as ever.
"U-um, h-hello Weiss," Ruby said meekly
"What do you want Ruby?" Weiss asked in her usual harsh tone.
"I um, I wanted to talk to you about something." She said.
Weiss looked her up and down before shrugging. "Okay, come in." She said as she stepped to the side to allow Ruby to enter.
Ruby smiled as she stepped into Weiss' family manor. The white haired girl made to move deeper into the manor but Ruby stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Here's fine," She said. "It won't take long."
Weiss nodded and turned to look at her ex. "So what is it?" She asked in the same abrasive manner as before.
Ruby sighed, "Weiss do you have to be like that?" Ruby asked, more than a little annoyed at the other woman's attitude.
"Like what?" Weiss challenged, her cheeks blushing slightly.
"Difficult," Ruby countered. "Look I know we broke up but it doesn't mean we can be civil with each other."
Weiss' eyes narrowed slightly at the comment. "You said you wanted to talk to you about something so just do it already."
Ruby was silent until the near overwhelming urge to slap Weiss dissipated. "I just wanted to talk to you about it in person, after everything we've been through together I figured I owed you at least that much." Ruby said.
"Then talk already, I don't have time for this so would you just spit it out already!" Weiss said loudly.
"I'm getting transferred, okay!" Ruby snapped finally getting sick of the other woman's behaviour. "I've been given my own post over in Baleworth for at least a year, and seeing as we were together for four years I figured I owed you an explanation and a goodbye!"
The sudden outburst made the other woman take a step back, it was rare to say the least for Ruby to truly snap like that, more surprising was the news she imparted. Weiss just stood there, eyes wide, mouth slightly open as she just stared at her.
The two stood there for a second before Ruby finally gave up, sighing to herself as she turned to the door.
"Ruby wait," Weiss suddenly called out, grabbing the other girl by the shoulder. "I-I'm sorry about how I acted." She mumbled weakly.
Ruby smiled to herself as she turned back around. "It's okay Weiss, I'm sorry for shouting."
The tension between the two eased off somewhat only to be replaced by an awkward silence.
"So, when are you leaving for your new post?" Weiss asked after a moment.
"Tomorrow," She replied.
"Well, uh, if you want, we could, um, go and get dinner or something." Weiss mumbled uncertainly.
Ruby smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "I appreciate the thought Weiss I really do, but I'm having dinner with Yang and I know how well you two get along."
Weiss seemed to blush with embarrassment as she looked down at her feet.
Gently Ruby raised a hand to her cheek and raised her face. "Goodbye Weiss, for what it's worth I am sorry for how it ended between us."
Weiss smiled weakly as she held her own hand over Ruby's savouring the touch one last time.
"I'll miss you," She said.
Ruby smiled as she rubbed her thumb across Weiss' cheek affectionately. "I'll miss you two Princess." She said softly.
The next thing Ruby knew Weiss flung herself at her, kissing her passionaly.
Ruby's first thought was to push away but after a moment's hesitation her brain said. fuck it. So for one last time Ruby kissed her, a goodbye that conveyed what words could not.
Time seemed to laps for a while before the two finally parted.
"You know it's moments like this that make me regret ever breaking up with you." Ruby said with a soft smile.
Weiss retuned the smile. "Goodbye Ruby."
You know brain if you could stop getting distracted but countless fan-fictions; that would be great.
What's happening Frendlies?
Okay so this idea has just been circulating around my head for a week or so, and it's not so much an idea as it is several ideas that all seem to take place in the same universie-thing that I've some how concocted.
Long and the short Hunter are kind of like super-heroes for some reason my sleep deprived brain believed that this was a totally workable story line, and for some reason it has to be Blake and Ruby, and there are villains and there are heroes and this is all just one big mess that has a highly likely possibility of swan-diving down a flight of stairs. So as you can see the title reflects more than just the large amounts of drama that is to come.
So yea, next chapter might have more exposition but for now just nod your head, smile and silently think to yourself, 'what the fuck is wrong with this guy?' also the rating may or may not change depending on how perverted I get.
One last thing, I'm changing the character ages slightly so Yang in this is about 30 while every one else is in their early to mid twenties...cause you know, my brain.
Until next time I wish you all the best.
Yours truly.
Nicolai Grey.