Team STRM ran through the corridor of the compound, stopping to check any door they came across. Turk turned to one on their left and kicked it in. Judging by the look of disappointment on his face, it wasn't the room they were looking for.

"She's not in here." he sighed.

Rocco activated his guitar's axe form and slashed another door off its hinges, only to reveal a small supply closet. He shook his head indicating this was the wrong room as well.

Mei got lucky and heard voices on the other side of the door she found. Kicking it in, she found herself in the view of a number of White Fang members. "Oh, uh, hi! Sorry about the door." she awkwardly chuckled. The White Fang said nothing and instantly drew their weapons or brought out the retractable claws some had. Turk moved in to help her, Ebb and Flow in their shotgun form, but a clawed palm from his Faunus teammate stopped him. "It's okay. I got this. She gave a wink before strutting inside with the broken door shutting behind her followed by the sounds of fighting and gunfire.

"Keep looking. She has to be in one of these." Snow ordered as he kicked in another door. His previous statement proved right to both his pleasure and dismay. A dark rectangular room welcomed him in. Inside was some overturned chairs and a table shoved to one side of the room, opposite of the mission objective. She sat in the back left corner, curled up in a ball and shivering feverishly. Her clothes were tattered quite roughly, leaving her only in a torn combat skirt and ripped hood. Even in the darkness, Snow could make out a number of cuts and bruises across her exposed skin.

"Comrades, she's in here!" Snow called over to his friends as he quickly walked up to her, inspecting her wounds. He was closely followed in by Turk and Rocco as they took in the horrific sight.

"What the...Ruby?" Rocco gasped as he saw the young brunette covered in bruises. She didn't answer and just sat there, still shaking with a terrified look on her face.

"It's okay, Ruby. We're here to get you home. Can you walk?" Snow asked, calmly. She quickly broke her balled-up position and wrapped her arms around the massive albino, catching him off guard. Instead of giving an answer to his question, she simply started whimpering into his shoulder. He could feel part of his sleeve become damp with what he could only assume was tears. Understanding her situation, he picked her up gently and carried her out. Mei took one look at the poor girl as she was carried out and gasped, putting a hand over her mouth in shock. The cteam could only think of one thing to ask to themselves.

"What happened to you, Ruby?"

Just an interlude for now, this is the intro to what I'm hoping will become a great fic. Stay tuned for the first chapter coming soon.

I don't own RWBY, but I do own STRM. If you need an introduction to them, read my previous fic.