The Road to Recovery
Takes place after events of v3 e12 in Atlas.
Weiss stood in front of the full-length mirror. "Is this really my life from now on, company parties and running the company after father retires she thought as she got dressed to head downstairs to the ritzy event. When she reached the small party hall she immediately started assessing the situation. Figuring out how long she would have to stay for to talk to the seventy or so guests make a good impression for the company. "She hated all the money here all the old money men and women alike buying extra years with greed most have never seen real combat never had their life on the line never lost anything," Weiss fumed internally. She talked and went through all the motions with the guests. Like a magnet, she slowly migrated over to the military guests. At least, they were a bit younger and easier to talk to. Ever since Winter left and their father disowned her Weiss had viewed all members of the military in the highest respect. She saw General Ironwood arrive just as the party was winding down, once he made eye contact with her he made a beeline right for her.
"Miss Schnee," he greeted her in his usual commanding tone.
"Hello sir," she responded. "Is there any news from Vale, of my friends uh I mean teammates," She asked with a hint of gleefulness.
"That is exactly why I am here to talk to you. Yang Xiao Long is leaving your sisters airship at this precise moment. I have convinced her along with her father to have a cybernetic prosthetic grafted onto her injured arm. She agreed but only if she could see you first thing tomorrow morning," He briefed her.
With a muffled tone of excitement, she responded, "of course general it would be the least I could do".
With that note, the party was officially done and Weiss left the hall to retire to her bedroom. She started going over in her head what to say to Yang and why of all people did she want to see Weiss. They had never gotten along that well Yang always teased Weiss. At least, it was the weekend and she would not need approval from father to go out. He was so controlling. "Banned from combat for life," the words rang out in her head. Weiss had been spending all her alone time on the weekends to practice her semblance and combat in secret. In the two months she had been home she had managed to summon and control a Beowulf, holding it under her control for several minutes.
She lay in her bed staring at the ceiling fan thinking of what to say to Yang. How to comfort someone that has gone through that kind of loss. She eventually fell asleep but awoke as soon as six in the morning rolled around. Even without an alarm she awoke at the same time almost every day, It always bothered her teammates back at Beacon. Ruby was quick to pick up on the habit, Blake and Yang however always hated it they stayed in bed for as long as possible. She Remembered Beacon so well it was truly the first time in her life that she was really genuinely happy. Now life was just a boring trudge through corporate meeting after business deal. She decided to wear her combat skirt, light jacket, and high heel boots it's what she always wore at beacon while fighting plus it was Weiss's favorite outfit. She headed out and left the house. Deciding to walk to the military hospital where yang would be. It was winter in atlas so the sun had not even come up yet. The kingdom only had a few hours of sunlight a day in the winter. The cold did not bother Weiss she was used to it. She actually liked it along with her aura surrounding her she was perfectly warm.
She walked through the entryway to the hospital and located the front desk. Approaching the receptionist she asked her for the room number of Yang Xiao Long. Three zero nine the middle-aged women told her. Weiss thanked her and found the elevator at the end of a white hallway. She took it up to the third floor scanning the doors down the long hallway she found three zero nine. She knocked on the closed door but there was no answer. She knocked again louder this time and again no answer. "Sleeping in again, at least yang hasn't changed in that regard," she thought to herself. She slowly opened the door to see an older blond man sleeping in the chair that sat in the corner of the single hospital room. "That must be her father," Weiss assumed. Yang was lying in bed with the blankets pulled right up to her neck so her arm could not be seen. The heat was the next thing that hit Her. Two space heaters and Yang was under 3 heavy blankets Weiss softly spoke out Hello and both Xiao long's awoke. The blond man stood up from his chair and put himself between his daughter and the white haired girl. "Oh yeah that was her father alright," Weiss reasoned
It's alright dad that's Weiss," Yang spoke groggily.
"Oh well ok then. Nice to meet you, Weiss. Yang has been excited to see you ever since we left the house yesterday morning. By the way, I'm Yang's father, but you can just call me Tai," He said.
"Dad could you leave us alone for a bit I want to talk to Weiss in private," asked Yang.
"Sure thing Honey Bear er Yang," Tai said. As he left he was already on his scroll with the doctor.
"Honey bear," Weiss said while giggling.
"Shut up ice Ice queen," Yang responded.
"So how have you been," asked Weiss?
"Well I would like to say fine, but that's just not the truth. I don't know how I'm going to go on, I feel useless and stupid. I charged in to save blake head first overcome with rage thinking I could overpower that piece of shit. Now I can't even make food for myself anymore," Yang said. Feeling the pain start in the back of her throat, this always happened when she was on the verge of crying.
"Yang it's going to be okay, as long as you're here I'll be here to support you in any way I can. Teammates should never leave each other in distress," Weiss reassured her.
Tears had started to form in Yang's lilac eyes."Tell that to Blake and Ruby," she said through soft sniffles.
"What," questioned Weiss.
"Back at Beacon during the attack...as soon as Blake and I got to the safe zone of the city she just ran, just like she always fucking does! Why why the hell would she do that, we needed each other we were partners. You just don't do that to someone, hell I wouldn't do that to anyone. Ruby...at least she told me she was leaving for Haven. She asked me if I needed her at home, she wouldn't go until spring but I just said nothing and she left. I pushed my own sister away Weiss it's just dad and me now," Yang cried.
Weiss was taken back, Yang has been hit the hardest of all during the attack. To make matters worse she seemed to be going through PTSD. Weiss had helped Winter through it after her first large-scale military operation as a commander when atlas lost good men and women to the Grimm. She placed a hand on Yang's right shoulder while sitting on the edge of the bed in an attempt to comfort her friend.
"If you want to talk just talk ok. Get it all out, you need to be strong for your operation tomorrow. The Yang i know wouldn't let anything get her down especially this," Weiss said.
Weiss comforted the sobbing Blonde the best she could. Yang felt her icy cold touch on her shoulder, it was refreshing in a way. After a couple of seconds it had snapped Yang out of her current state of mind. "This is a completely different side of Weiss. Comforting and caring not cold and distant like she usually was," Yang thought. All the feelings of anger and helplessness had been frozen in place, yang stopped replaying that night in her head. Instead, she could reflect on it with a new found perspective. She leaned against the cold girl it was oddly comforting in weird sort of way. The cold forced her to work out her problems in her head but she knew if she needed to talk she could.
Eventually, Tai came back and he had decided to take the girls out for breakfast. It would help him get a lay of the city and Yang could get adjusted to living here for a while. He had been talking to General Ironwood about the recovery process. Physical therapy and training to use her new arm in combat would take anywhere between five to eight months. He asked Weiss to leave him and his daughter alone for five minutes while he told yang how long they could be staying for. Depending on how well she took to the prosthetic. She took it very well in fact she was happy about it, Tai had not seen his daughter happy in a long time. While yang was getting dressed he thanked Weiss profusely for helping his daughter. On the way to the small restaurant that Weiss had suggested Tai and Yang were shivering even though they were wearing heavy coats. Weiss laughed at them, they looked like tourists. She explained how to use your aura for warmth and to slightly slow your breathing as she hailed a cab. Weiss paid at the restaurant, it was the least she could do given how much food yang ate, as she now had to fast until her first operation was complete.
Back at the hospital, Yang Weiss and Tai walked through the hospital gardens and chatted. Tai was embarrassing his daughter with his loving nicknames for Yang and terrible puns. Weiss got a call on her scroll during their fun. "Ugh it was her father," she thought.
"Sorry I have to take this," she said. "Hello father what are you calling about," she said into the scroll.
"Weiss where are you and why have you left the house," he said in a rude tone.
"I am at the military hospital. One of my team members has come to Atlas to have surgery, I'm here with her helping her get acquainted with the city," Weiss responded.
"Well be home by One this afternoon do you understand me young lady," He bellowed over the phone, Tai and Yang hearing the whole thing.
"What was that about," said yang.
"Just my father he is very controlling since I'm his only heir," Explained Weiss
"Wow he sounds like a buzzkill," Yang said as she rolled her eyes.
Eventually, Weiss had to head home, she promised herself that she would be there tomorrow to see Yang into her operation. When she got home her father was waiting for her in the entryway, arms crossed and anger on his face. He screamed at Weiss as soon as the butler had left to hang up her coat. He berated her for seeing a teammate even after he had forbidden her from anything hunting related. Weiss never told him she had still been training in secret, trying to master her semblance. She tried to defend herself from his rage induced verbal assault. When she began to talk back he smacked her across the face. He froze dead with she didn't even flinch his hand was red and throbbing. It had been like he hit a brick wall. Weiss didn't say a thing she looked at her father with rage in her face, she had never been this mad before she finally knew what yang felt like while fighting. She formed a glyph of ice under his feet and pushed him causing him to slip and fall. She stormed off to her room as fast as possible and returned with Myrtenaster. She grabbed her father and held the razor sharp point to his neck, she felt like doing it but had decided it was best just to scare the old man.
"Never talk about my teammates or me like that again or I will take this company from you by force do you, understand me old man," Weiss screamed at him!
The man slowly began to laugh at his daughter. "Weiss you can use you your little toy and all the cheap hunter tricks you want but you do not scare me," he said.
"I don't need to scare you but I bet my friends can, "she said, as she summoned a Beowulf behind him.
The senior Schnee felt a heavy breath on the back of his neck and turned to face the large creature. He never knew what his family's hereditary semblance was, he knew nothing of hunting or the Grimm. The large creature scared him "was this Weiss's doing no nothing but a cheap trick an illusion," he reasoned. Well right up until the creature sent him flying across the room with a swipe of its heavy paw. He called out to his daughter for help as the creature ran up to him to continue its assault. Weiss did nothing she wanted to see the man squirm, for him to truly experience fear and through that learn the error of his ways. After almost an hour he had begun to tire, he couldn't run forever through his own home, from a beast that could tear him to shreds. He was gasping for air as the creature took another swipe and knocked the wind out of him. Having been cornered he did the only thing he could think of, he prayed. He prayed for his daughter to save him he prayed for someone to save him as the beast approached. All it did was pick him up and walk him back to his daughter while putting just enough pressure on the old man's ribcage to cause him pain but nothing permanent. He was thrown to the ground with a large thud by the white Grimm. He looked at his daughter with tears of fear in his eyes. He finally understood why Winter and Weiss did what they do, to help people to protect people like him. He gazed at Weiss in a way she had not seen since she was young child, and had a newfound respect for his daughter.
"Father," she addressed him.
"Weiss I'm sorry. I have treated you terribly these last few months and well I don't have an excuse for it, I just didn't want you to get hurt. You are the one that can keep me from getting hurt, you and your sister. You do this to protect people like me and if your teammate needs you then you should be there for her," He confessed to her. More proud than he had ever been in his children.
"I'm sorry I had to put you through that father. I just had to show you why I do what I do, to keep the fear you just felt at bay. Right now my teammate has that same fear in her mind, she needs support through this time in her life. I will have to be relieved of my financial training so I can be there for her," Weiss Lectured the old man.
"Of course, anything you need and When your friend is fully healed up she can stay in the guest house. You will still need at least one day a week of training there is a lot to running this company ok," he said.
"Ok father," she said.