I wanted to do this idea right after I saw episode 10 of volume 2, but school and other fics got in the way. So this has been done a few times already, but here's my take on it :'3

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Rescue

After Dr. Oobleck's brief and high-tension history lesson about Mountain Glen, it didn't take long for the four of them to take action now that they knew what they were dealing with.

Or at least, thought they knew what they were dealing with.

The doctor went first, insisting the girls only follow should he call back up to them it was safe below.

Weiss watched anxiously as he jumped down, his form quickly vanishing in the shadows that seemed to swallow him whole.

And Ruby...

Ruby was down there somewhere.

The thought still made Weiss sick, and a quick glance to either side at Yang and Blake told her they weren't feeling any better.

But there was something else they all had in common; that flame in their eyes, the need to get to Ruby as quickly as possibly, to ensure she was safe. They had no idea how many men were down that gaping chasm, nor were they aware of the calibre of the fighting skills their enemies were capable of.

It seemed to take a lot longer for Dr. Oobleck's voice to call up to them, and in the meantime, the trio simply paced at the edges of the hole, antsy and eager to jump down.

Yang ran a hand through her hair and let out a steamy breath, her eyes rimmed with crimson.

Blake recognized these things as signs her partner was experiencing powerful emotions, and in this case, it was closer to a panic attack than anything else. She put a hand to Yang's back and murmured softly to her.

"It's alright, Yang. We'll get her back safely."

Her words may have comforted Yang a bit, but Weiss wasn't as easily pacified. Her left hand gripped Myrtenaster's hilt until her fingers went almost numb, and her right hand was balled into a fist. She tried to calm her breathing, making an effort to keep her mind from straying down the dark path to the worst-case scenarios where it always seemed to want to go.

Instead, she tried to act like she imagined her leader would in this situation and occupied herself with somewhat more optimistic thoughts. It brought her little comfort if any at all, but a few seconds later, Dr. Oobleck's voice rose up through the darkness.

"Girls! You may proceed, but! Only with absolute caution."

Weiss didn't wait a second longer. She jumped down without a shred of hesitance, even before Yang could.

Weiss braced herself for the impact of the landing, feeling her feet hit the ground within a few seconds. She kept her balance perfectly, certain not to make a sound more than was necessary.

Yang and Blake followed shortly afterward, the former of the two carrying Zwei. Yang had also tucked Crescent Rose onto her belt; of course Ruby was most accustomed to its weight, but her sister was the next best person to carry it now.

Dr. Oobleck assessed they were all present before going through their intended plan. Naturally, it was to proceed with extreme care and caution. He would walk at the head of the group together with Blake; she had volunteered herself casually, in a way she hoped to be without giving away her secret. She knew her superior hearing and nocturnal vision would guide them through the darkness easily, and the doctor did not oppose her.

Their only objective right now was to get Ruby out; they could worry about what came afterward once they'd accomplished that much. There were nods of agreement all around before the group set off, treading lightly.

Zwei scampered somewhat ahead of the rest of the group; his small size would allow him to potentially scout ahead while remaining unnoticed. Yang and Weiss walked side by side, alert for any sounds or signs of trouble.

Yang kept nervously running her hand through her hair, and Weiss flashed the blonde a knowing glance. She kept her voice almost inaudibly low, stepping a bit closer to address her.

"Don't worry. You should know better than anyone that your sister's more than capable of handling herself in a situation like this, if not with cheerful charisma, then with dumb luck."

But her words didn't seem to have the intended effect on Yang.

"No. Weiss, you don't understand. She's so dependent on Crescent Rose. I tried to each her, but she's just no good at hand-to-hand combat, and without her scythe... she literally wouldn't have a fighting chance."

Weiss sighed, keeping her tone gentle.

"Have a little faith in her."

Yang looked to the side, into Weiss' reassuring eyes, detecting the fear there as well. But she was right, and Yang knew she was; Weiss was Ruby's partner, and she had more trust in Ruby than her own sister did.

Yang wiped her arm over her forehead and exhaled again.

"Yeah. Thanks, Weiss."

The heiress said nothing more as they continued onward.

It wasn't long before Blake stopped moving, causing all of them to freeze. When she focused on her hearing, Weiss could make out the sounds as well, the sounds of activity, movement.

"There's something up ahead," Blake murmured, voicing the heiress' thoughts. "If I had to guess, I'd say it sounds like people... working? Almost like miners or something."

Dr. Oobleck muttered to himself how such a discovery wouldn't be unlikely. He ordered them to check their surroundings, to see if there were any alternative passageways, but they all returned with the same fruitless verdict.

"Then we've got no choice but to proceed forward," he said. "Now ladies, may I remind you that finding Ruby is our only objective. Fighting will likely be inevitable, but avoid it if you can. We're not here right now to put a stop to their antics; we're here to find your leader and bring her back safely."

There were affirmative nods all around, hands bracing on triggers, eyes narrowing, growls rising up throats. The doctor took note of all of this and offered a word of caution.

"I admire the spunk ladies, but do not let it turn into conceitedness. Now then, on my command..."

They all fell silent, holding their breaths as they honed in on the sounds coming from the cave before them where a faint brightness was leaking out.

Weiss tried to see if she could catch a glimpse of anything in the distance, but it was no use. She kept her eyes on her professor as they inched closer to the mouth of the next underground clearing.

Then, he signaled for all of them to stop and stepped in alone. His voice echoed out, silencing the mutters of the workers as they were alerted to his presence.

"Evening, ladies and gentlemen!" he called out. "Now, I'm well-aware that our presence isn't welcome here, so if you'd just be so kind as to give back what's ours, we can all just forget this and put it all behind us, right?"

A beat of silence.

And then a collective shout as they all charged him.

Oobleck sighed. "Alright, well it was worth a shot. Ladies, prepare yourselves."

And with those last words of caution, he rushed into the oncoming wave of attackers.

The three girls followed suit, weapons drawn and adrenaline coursing.

It was a wide cave with tall rafters up to the ceiling, which they now knew led to the wasteland above them. But what Weiss noticed immediately were the massive explosives lining the walls.

Before she could so much as call out a warning to the others, a bullet was shot toward her. A quick dodge sufficed to evade it, and Weiss aimed her rapier at the guilty party, hardly surprised to find they were White Fang. She snarled vehemently at the five men before her, piercing gaze boring into their masks.

"First you degrade my family name and business, and now you kidnap my partner. This is personal."

She shot forward on an agility glyph, avoiding all of their bullets as she found herself behind them. With a spin, she sliced at shoulders, then ducked down to score her blade behind the backs of their knees, causing them all to crumple.

It wasn't a second later when more of them were on top of her, and Weiss cast a repulsion glyph to send them all flying across the cave, letting her anger out through her actions. She was mindful of her Dust, however, because she wasn't sure how sensitive the explosives were or what might trigger a response.

No one engaged her immediately afterward, so she looked to her teammates.

Blake was clearly fighting with a different malice than usual, something she'd been saving and building up for years against this group. She swung her sword powerfully, shouting grunts of effort with every hit, utilizing her semblance to the fullest to dodge.

For a moment, Weiss was worried she was letting revenge get to her head; the heiress herself had almost been guilty of that.

But when she watched for a second longer, she caught a glimpse of Blake's eyes. There was a calmness there – cold, but focused – and Weiss could tell she was trying to be as level-headed as possible, given the situation.

As Blake disarmed several men in front of her, she failed to notice one creeping up from behind, the chaotic noise too loud for her ears to pick up on the smaller details. Weiss prepared a glyph, ready to shoot herself forward to intercept the man, but she soon found her assistance wasn't needed.

Zwei scampered beneath the man's feet, effectively tripping him and giving Blake the warning she needed to get out of the way. Weiss watched her scoop up the corgi and bring him out of harm's way.

A yell from behind Weiss alerted her to more trouble, and she quickly turned to address it. A bullet shot past her hair as she charged them, casting a glyph beneath their feet. With a flurry of hand motions, she commanded the glyph upward, turning her captives upside down, guns falling uselessly to the ground.

"Where is she?" she demanded of them. "Where did you take her?"

But the responses were all dumbfounded comments.

"W-Whaddyou mean?"

"We ain't seen nothin'!"

"The boss didn't tell us anything!"

Weiss growled in frustration. Having gotten all she could from them, she flicked her hands, sending the glyph spinning in rapid circles before releasing her victims, letting them crash to the ground, dazed and useless.

"Weiss!"

The heiress snapped herself around at the sound of Yang's call. She located the blonde easily; it wasn't too hard to find the source of all the shots of fire that left their enemies howling.

Weiss realized it hadn't been a cry for help, but merely to get her attention. Yang's lavender eyes met hers before quickly flicking upward.

It was then Weiss noticed there was another level above them. Probably a good place to keep hostages. She looked back to Yang with a silent question in her eyes.

Yang was surrounded, drawing most of their opponents' attention to herself, almost as if she was purposefully trying to be a distraction for Weiss.

But before the heiress could take advantage and leap to the upper level, Yang called out to her again.

"Wait!"

Weiss halted, tension pounding through her veins, anxious to get moving. Yang threw several more enraged punches, sending bodies flying. When she got a second to reach behind her, she unclasped Crescent Rose from her belt and slid it far across the floor of the cave. Weiss dove forward to retrieve it, sending a brief nod over her shoulder before casting a trail of glyphs into the air.

Even with the added weight of the scythe, she managed to jump up quickly. She felt the rush of air as several bullets shot past her, but Weiss didn't look back.

Even when she dropped down onto the solid ground of the second level, she didn't glance down below, but dashed forward. She was wary for any signs of motion, but it appeared most of their adversaries had been directed at the lower level to intercept her team.

Her eyes went to the wall-side of the path, seeking out a room that didn't contain a horrifying amount of explosives.

There were a lot of those.

But at last, she came upon exactly what she sought.

There was no door, but several lamps shown from within. She quickly scoured the room inside for enemies but found it vacant, save from one person.

"Ruby!"

The girl was tied to a chair, posture slouched and tape over her mouth. At first, Weiss feared she'd been drugged or worse, and rushed inside, putting down her partner's scythe.

"Ruby! Are you alright?"

At the sound of her voice, Ruby's eyes flew open and a muffled cry sounded past the tape. Weiss made quick work of peeling it off.

"Owwie!"

"Sorry."

"Waaah, Weiss! You came to get me!" she sniffled.

"You dunce." Weiss grunted as she slipped behind the chair, dragging the tip of her rapier down the rope to severe it. "Of course we came to get you. You didn't think we'd leave you here, now did you?"

Ruby sighed with relief when her hands were freed, and she rubbed her sore wrists.

"Well, no. But like, I mean I'm surprised you found this place!"

"It wasn't hard," Weiss informed her. "You left behind a giant crater. That seems to be your trademark."

"Hey, the one back at school wasn't even that big!"

"Whatever." Weiss stepped back around to the front of the chair, eyes flicking toward the door. "We've got to-"

But the second her eyes came back to Ruby's face, she felt her blood prickle.

In the lamplight, she could clearly make out the purple bruise that spread over the left side of Ruby's face.

Weiss was disgusted, enraged, and horrified all at one. She dropped down to one knee, making herself somewhat eye-level with her leader.

"Ruby..."

Her right hand reached up, fingertips brushing with care over her cheek.

"Ah!" Her partner flinched, and Weiss recoiled instantly.

"Who did this to you?" she demanded. Her voice was cold and hard – unforgiving. "Ruby, which one of them hurt you? Was it Roman Torchwick?"

"Ah, no..." Ruby sniffled a little bit. "Well, he was the one who tied me up, and he was gonna start... interrogating me about why I was here and who I was with until you guys came in and distracted him. I don't know where he went," she confessed. "But it was one of those White Fang guys who hit me. I couldn't even fight back..."

As Weiss listened, she felt her blood grow hotter and hotter with fury, teeth digging into her lip. There was no doubt in her mind that if the rest of them hadn't arrived when they had that Roman Torchwick would have indeed interrogated Ruby about her being there.

And there was no doubt in her mind that if the girl didn't speak, there would be many more bruises covering her body right now.

Weiss visibly shuddered, and a sound of utmost disgust left her throat in a cough.

"I'm sorry, Ruby..." There was still rage in her voice, but it was subdued for now, being pushed down by concern.

Her hand reached up again, and this time Ruby was ready for the contact. Weiss' fingers traced the bruise over her cheek, and Ruby leaned her head into her partner's palm. She closed her eyes briefly for a moment of silence, relishing Weiss' touch. She felt a cool aura emitting onto her face, battling against the pain that had settled there. Ruby sighed, and Weiss didn't miss the way it trembled. The brunette reopened her eyes and found Weiss'.

"I guess we kinda match for now, huh?" She tilted her bruised left cheek into Weiss' hand as her eyes traveled over the scar on the heiress' face. Weiss blinked before nodding slowly.

"Yours will heal," she murmured. "I'm glad for that. You've got too cute a face to let it be damaged."

The comment had Ruby blushing a little bit before a chuckle passed her lips. But it hurt to smile, and her lips fell back into a frown.

Weiss reflected her expression as she continued sharing her aura with her. She could tell there was still something Ruby wasn't saying.

All it took was a gentle voice when their eyes met again.

"Ruby...?"

Her tone was coaxing, caring, and Ruby gave in, her lip trembling as she closed her eyes, blinking out tears.

"I'm just... I'm so relieved you found me... I was scared, Weiss..."

The sobs were soft, broken things, sounds Weiss had somehow always expected from Ruby, and yet never thought she would actually hear.

But she was hearing them now, and she needed them to stop.

The heiress stood herself up, leaning slightly over Ruby where she still sat, and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"I know," she said. "I know you were scared. I'm sorry, Ruby..." She felt her partner jolt a little as she cried, hands clinging to Weiss' back. Weiss squeezed her a little tighter. "I was scared too, Ruby. We all were. I'm... so glad you're alright."

Ruby nodded, quieting her sobs against Weiss' collar, savoring her warmth. They held each other for a moment, letting the reality sink in.

But this was enough for now. They could continue later, when they were all safe and together again.

Right now, the sounds of fighting down below reached their ears, and the two girls parted. Weiss straightened up, helping Ruby to her feet and giving her shoulders a few pats.

"We need to get back and help the others."

"Right." Ruby nodded, clearing away the last of her tears on her sleeve. Weiss bent down to pick up Crescent Rose before handing it back to its owner. Ruby accepted the scythe with a short "Aaahh~!" and hugged it to her chest. Weiss shook her head a few times.

"That thing is hefty. I've got to commend you for making it seem so effortless to use it."

"Heehee~"

"Let's go, then."

Weiss led her partner to the small room's exit and ushered her out. When she peered down below, it was obvious Beacon was winning; most of the White Fang's members were unconscious, and it seemed many of their other enemies had fled. It wouldn't take longer than five minutes to let the others know Ruby was with them and get back to the surface and then to their campsite.

Weiss let out a relieved sigh. She cast a trail of glyphs leading down to the ground, a signal to the others she was returning to them.

"Get ready to jump," she cautioned Ruby.

But before Weiss could kick off, she felt a hand squeezing hers. She looked beside her to find Ruby grinning crookedly, only on the uninjured side of her face. Weiss sighed.

"What is it, you dolt?"

"I just realized I never said thanks, Weiss." She squeezed her partner's hand a little tighter. "So thanks."

The heiress rolled her eyes and looked away.

"You don't need to thank me. You'd have done the same."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "Now let's go! I'm hungry after all this and there's food back at camp."

Weiss rolled her eyes again, but made sure to keep a tight grip on the hand in hers.

And together, they jumped down onto the path of glyphs that would lead them back to their team.

A/N: Fast, sloppy story. Just to hold me over until next week.

Please review!