Disclaimer: November's goal (sorry about the late posting) and this was harder to write than it rightly should've been.

Doctor Weiss Schnee had a bit of a reputation at Beacon Hospital. Known as "the Ice Queen" by patients and staff alike, she excelled at maintaining a cool, calm, detached persona through even the most trying cases. Even the interns quickly learned that staying out of her way would forever be the best course of action and considered it favoritism from her when one received a biting remark rather than a cold glare and stony silence.

Now, one might think she endeavored to keep this facade in place because she hated people but that was what she wanted people to think. In reality, she cared very deeply for her patients, fellow doctors, and friends; she acted so unapproachable as a safeguard against accusations of improper behavior. If one of her patients received a flower delivery to brighten their day, did they suspect she'd sent them? No. If one intern in particular landed on her service more often than their peers, did anyone think she was playing favorites? Not at all. If she volunteered to take an extra shift or general surgery from another doctor, did they think of it as her being nice? Of course not. And if she slipped away when she had a moment, did any person even think she was paying a special visit to a special patient? Never.

Weiss closed the door softly behind her, a smile on her lips as she managed to enter without waking the room's occupant.

Or so she thought. "Good morning, Sugar Plum."

"How do you do that?" Somehow, her expression brightened even more as she sat on the hospital bed, taking one of her lover's hands in hers. "Your eyes were closed."

"But my heart wasn't," Penny replied, opening her eyes and smiling softly. "Every time you're near, my heart skips a beat, so I always know when it's you."

"That's medically impossible."

"I know that." One ginger brow raised. "But do you have a better explanation?"

They both laughed quietly in the predawn morning and she reached out to lightly tuck a lock of hair behind Penny's ear. "Are you nervous?"

"No." She shrugged, leaning back into the unforgiving hospital bed. "By this point, I don't think I can be. I know I'm in good hands."

"I won't be the one operating on you today." A frown tugged at her lips. Being one of the best cybernetic surgeons in Remnant came with upsides and downsides. On the one hand, she'd done most of Penny's procedures herself, with the hospital never the wiser as to the potential conflict of interest. On the other, her skills had… unfortunate limitations, ones she was forced to recognize. "Winter's more familiar with this particular procedure. She's very good at it-"

"I know. We've already been over this a thousand times." A thumb rubbed at the back of her hand. "You're more nervous than I am."

Weiss drew in a shaky breath. "I've tried valiantly to find a suitable excuse for pushing back my own surgeries to watch yours but I've failed."

"I know it's antithetical to your very being, my love, but you have to know when to let someone else take control."

"I let you pick dinner the other night."

"Not what I meant." Penny's eyes closed briefly, pain flashing across her expression. Weiss' brows pinched together, quickly checking every monitor in the room and trying to calm the pounding in her chest. "I'm fine-"

"It's getting worse." She lightly cupped her girlfriend's face, leaning forward to give her a soft kiss. The very nature of the woman's unique existence meant that most of the mundane parts of life presented unexpected challenges. The parts of her that were circuits and wires requires a technician's finesse while the flesh and bone requires a doctor's steady hand and it prompted Weiss' interest in the field. However, when one side or the other began to fail, it brought forth a series of symptoms that would worry even the most hardened medical professional. "You've never rejected replacement parts before."

"There's a first time for everything, isn't there?" Despite her previous agony, Penny smiled easily when it passed, turning her head to press a kiss against her lover's palm. "You shouldn't worry so much. I'll be fine."

"I'm exactly the reasonable amount of worried," she replied, once again checking the monitors. While the deviations weren't anything that would postpone her surgery, she still thought they should be included in her pre-op work-up. "Is there anything I can get you?"

She could see in clear green eyes a request held back and the secretive little smile on the woman's lips. "Only one thing comes to mind, and it's a silly thing. You're going to say no, anyway."

"It's not silly to me." Weiss glanced at the digital clock on one monitor. She had a bit of time left. "What is it?"

"Could we watch our movie before I go into surgery?" Almost immediately, she shook her head. "But it would take too long, you have patients-"

"Hey." She squeezed her lover's hand, a soft smile on her lips. "You let me worry about that." Leaning forward, she snuck a little kiss before standing up. "I have rounds now but I'll be back soon. Okay?"

"Okay." Penny smiled, giving her hand a squeeze back. "Try not to terrorize too many people."

"No promises," she replied, and they shared another laugh before she left the room, ensuring to slip back into her role as the resident Ice Queen. As luck would have it, no one saw her exit, leaving her free to head down to the surgery board and begin bending her schedule to accommodate her girlfriend's wish.

Weiss had a chart in hand, reviewing the necessary information for her next surgery. After a bit of shuffling, she managed to carve out an hour and a half, just enough time to slip back to Penny's room and be gone before the nurses returned for pre-op. However, she hadn't managed to do so without drawing a bit of attention.

"So, we gonna talk about it?" She glanced up, noting how Dr. Yang Xiao Long, their foremost pediatrics surgeon, leaned against the counter with that bright smile she always wore dialed up to eleven. "Just a little?"

"We're not that close," she replied coolly, mindful of the people milling about around them.

"C'mon, I'm your best friend!"

"Ruby is my best friend."

"I'm related to your best friend!" She chuckled, obviously amused with the denials. Unfortunately, that seemed to be rather characteristic of their friendship overall, especially considering it was Weiss herself who fitted the woman with her prosthetic anchor. Although it took a solid year before she returned to the surgical floor, Yang's right arm now had all the finesse she required for such delicate work, a talent that belied her burly frame. "Look, I just want to make sure everything's okay. Ya know, what with your sis being here and all…"

"I'm not threatened by Winter's ability; we're both skilled surgeons who have specialized in our own ways," she said, setting aside the chart and picking up her cup of coffee, which was almost empty and also easily replaced by one of the cups Yang carried. The other two cups likely contained teas for Ruby and Blake, wherever those two had run off. "I requested her to take this surgery. It's simply closer to her core talents than mine."

The smile dimmed slightly, lilac eyes scanning the area around them before Yang nodded her head towards an empty room they both slipped into quietly, closing the door to offer a modicum of privacy.

"Alright, come off it. This isn't about ability; you two have a weird rivalry, respect thing going on that I don't get, but it's there." Yang wiggled her fingers in a vague before setting both of them on her hips. "So you giving up this surgery without a fight- suggesting it, even- definitely means something's up."

"Yang." Weiss pressed her lips into a thin line, debating whether or not she wanted to fight this particular battle. In the end, she didn't. "The patient is my girlfriend."

"The patient- Penny?" The plain shock in the woman's expression probably should've offended her, were it not for the clarification that immediately followed. "You've been operating on your own girlfriend for years without us knowing!? Haven't you two been together since med school?"

"Yes." She put her hands in the pockets of her coat and leaned back against the wall, a soft smile curling her lips. "She wanted to be a surgeon but her cybernetic implants were considered 'too risky' for a surgical intern at the time. No one would take her."

"That bites." Crossing her arms over her chest, the woman rested against the door with a frown, subconsciously rubbing at her bicep. "She always talked about school not working out for her, so she ended up doing the hobby shop thing. A bummer, though; I would've loved to work with her. She's got a real head for details and I'm sure the kids would love her."

"Much like your sister, she fancied cardiothorasics, but I don't doubt she would've given pediatrics a shot." Weiss couldn't help the way she smiled, the dark spot of the stiff resistance Penny faced trying to enter the medical community as something more than their greatest triumph in merging organic and inorganic materials dissipating as she recalled half a hundred factiods the woman would relay at the drop of a hat, if given the opportunity. "She's always been like that, though. She just… loves learning."

"I still can't believe you've been doing her surgeries yourself this whole time. I mean, I can't even imagine doing that myself." Yang slowly shook her head. "It would just… get to me too much, I think. Or it'd have to be special circumstances-"

"Penny's the reason I took up this specialty. Why Winter did, too." She sighed, offering a small shrug. "There's not many cybernetic surgeons and I always worried, what with the resistance she faced, that someone might… get it into their head that her care only mattered as much as we could learn from her. I just don't trust anyone else to take care of her."

"Well, that sounds about right." Pushing off the door, the woman set a hand on her shoulder. "You need anything from me today? Anything at all."

"Think you could keep everyone busy between nine and ten thirty?" A small smile curled her lips. "Penny wants to watch our movie before going under. That's why I shuffled my schedule."

Yang chuckled, cracking her knuckles. "Oh, that's easy." Then she tilted her head. "What movie, though?"

"It's a recording of The Nutcracker ballet. Not a movie proper, I'll admit, but… that's what we call it." When she noticed the look on her friend's face, she raised a brow. "What?"

"Hey, I know you've got a soft heart under the ice, but it's nice to see it come out every now and again." She winked, ignoring the eye roll that met her comment and reaching behind her to open the door. "Just leave the diversions to me and try not to worry."

"Thank you."

"And, uh… sorry." She raised a brow. "I… may have implied more than once that your girlfriend didn't really exist because you never introduced her to us? I mean, we've been working together for ten years now."

"Why am I not surprised." The moment they left the room, her mask had slipped back into place just in time to send a few interns scurrying away from the previously abandoned cups of coffee and tea on the counter, which Yang collected up to deliver to their proper recipients.

Weiss, meanwhile, picked up the chart she'd been studying and continued with her day.

As promised, Yang- with a bit of help from their fellow doctors- kept the nurses and interns rather busy long enough for Weiss to crawl into her girlfriend's cramped hospital bed, holding a scroll up so both of them could see the movie playing. She had a copy saved to every device she owned that could play it, just in case, and they both hummed along to the pieces, heads leaned together as she idly carded her fingers through ginger locks. Her girlfriend's monitors only deviated a few times, not enough to ruin her enjoyment of the ballet, though it did cause Weiss to look up each and every time.

When it ended, Penny turned her head, silently asking for a kiss- which she gladly obliged. "Thank you for this."

"No need to thank me," Weiss replied, smiling softly. She still remembered when they met, quite literally running into each other in the quad. Back then, she'd been short of temper and quick to tear others down, but somehow the woman hadn't even batted an eye, offering a chipper introduction and continuing to be nothing short of a ray of sunshine. "We haven't watched that in a while."

"You mean two weeks, four days, and three hours?"

"That's 'a while', Dear." Reluctantly, she got out of the bed, smoothing the thin blankets and giving her girlfriend another kiss. "And it'll be a while until we can watch it again. Maybe after you get discharged?"

"That sounds wonderful." She sighed deeply, content and happy, always wearing her heart on her sleeve. "Will I see you again before I go in?"

"I'm afraid not." Worry nipped at her heart- and perhaps she did have the tendency to obsess over the things she couldn't control- but she pushed it down and offered a reassuring smile. "But I'll be there when you wake up. Promise."

Penny hummed and laughed. "A Doctor's promise isn't the most reliable thing."

"Not always. But this time, it is." She went to the door, mindful that she needed to go prepare for her next surgery. "I love you, Penny."

"Love you, too." Her smile stretched wider. "Go save lives."

Weiss exited the room, drawing a steadying breath. Despite her love's attitude, every new surgery brought with it a bit more fear, and she understood by this point there could only be one cure.

She needed to talk to her sister.

She found Winter in one of the on call rooms, using one of the beds as a makeshift desk. Papers and scans spread out atop it, most of which she found immediately recognizable, and it mollified her somewhat that her sister would dedicating so much time to studying Penny's case.

"I'm surprised you didn't start looking for me earlier." The woman looked up briefly, peering over the top of her reading glasses before returning her attention to the post op notes from Penny's last surgery. "I'm ready to answer any question you have."

Weiss sat down on the opposite bed, reaching beneath her scrubs to finger the necklace she wore. Only two charms adorned the chain: the little golden apple Winter had given her upon graduating med school and the sugar plum fairy from Penny as a five year anniversary present. Counted from when they officially started dating, of course, which always led to a bit of debate, seeing as when Weiss actually asked and when Penny realized she asked had and finally answered. "Would I lose my medical license if I married Penny?"

A beat of silence.

"I stand corrected." Turning away from the files, her sister looked at her with a quirked brow, pushing aside the stubborn bangs that always fell into her eyes when she wasn't wearing her scrub cap. "There would be a fair few ethics reviews, you realize that of course? You'd be under investigation for at least a year, considering how long you've kept your relationship a secret, and the board might decide to fire you instead."

"I'm aware." Weiss looked at her sister, hoping she could understand. "I've built a reputation- both in the walls of this hospital and outside it- but that might not save me. This could very well end my career, and Penny's surgeries would likely fall to you."

"Some might still consider it an ethics violation." Winter hummed, rubbing at her chin. "But I know enough other surgeons who have comparable skill. I'm confident her care wouldn't suffer if you chose to reveal your relationship… but why now?"

"It's something Yang said… and it's been in the back of my mind for years now. Hiding our relationship serves a practical purpose but I can't continue pretending like it's the ideal scenario." She sighed, pressing her lips into a thin line. "I want to be open and honest with my friends about her. Tiptoeing around, hiding- it's not… what I want anymore."

"Have you discussed this with Penny?"

"To some extent. She's always said that whatever decision I make, she'll support."

"Color me surprised," she said, a hint of amusement in her tone. "I'll speak on your behalf, in the event you're called before the board. I'm sure the others will as well." A gesture towards the files. "Is there anything regarding today's procedure that you'd like to go over?"

"No. I trust you." Weiss put her face in her hands for a moment, dragging them down and trying to resist saying all the things pinging around her head. "Provided you're confident yourself."

"Absolutely. This isn't the worst case I've dealt with and your previous work is well documented. I don't foresee any surprises but I've done my best to prepare for any that might crop up." She paused, expression softening. "You do realize I understand the position you're in, correct? That you're not just a fellow surgeon or my sister; you're the loved one of a patient under my care."

Of course, she should know better than to try hiding anything from her sister. "… could you walk me through the procedure?"

A preposterous question, really; she'd helped develop the field, not to mention this procedure in particular. She knew every step without even glancing at a study or textbook, had performed it herself a fair few times.

But not on Penny, and not recently enough that she trusted her own hands when Winter had more practice.

"Absolutely." A small, reassuring smile. "I can be as thorough as you'd like."

So she listened intently as Winter explained every step, every consideration, all the possible side effects, and the therapy that would be in Penny's future. And though she knew every word before her sister said them, she listened intently, setting aside the part of her that was the Ice Queen, the doctor, the world renowned surgeon, and allowed herself, briefly, to just be Weiss, worrying after her girlfriend.

Weiss was wrist deep in her procedure when Yang entered, holding a mask over her face in lieu of scrubbing in fully. "Can I help you, Doctor Xiao Long?"

"Just came to relay a message, Doctor Schnee," the woman replied, a hint of a smile in her voice. "The other Doctor Schnee finished up her procedure. Your patient is now in recovery, no complications."

Her hands paused, eyes flicking up to meet lilac as relief crept through her. "Thank you for the update, Doctor Xiao Long. I'll stop by after this surgery."

Yang nodded, heading back out, and it took her a moment before she got back into the rhythm of her procedure, smiling under her mask the whole while.

In the wee hours of the morning, Weiss sat in her lover's room, listening to the steady beeping of the monitors. No deviations, no complications, and an easy rest that last well beyond what the drugs encouraged, but Penny always did sleep like a rock when given the chance. It brought a smile to her lips, having dozed off more than once while waiting for her to awaken, and coolly greeted the nurses and interns who'd stop by on their rounds to check up on the post-op patient. For every quizzical look she received, she felt herself nudged just a bit more firmly into her decision, because she shouldn't have to explain herself. Over ten years together, it should be without question that she'd stay by Penny's side until she woke up, but she couldn't fault anyone for not knowing the information she specifically withheld.

So she waited, quietly, and on occasion hummed parts of the Nutcracker ballet to herself to pass the time.

"I'd forgotten." Startled, she looked up to see bright green eyes opening and a smile directed her way. "A doctor's promise kept makes the unreliability more than worth it."

"Must the first words out of your mouth be teasing?"

"I was simply stating fact."

"Of course you were." Getting up from her chair, she went over to press a kiss to Penny's forehead, lightly cupping her face.

Obviously still groggy, the woman simply sighed contentedly. "Everything went well."

"How do you know that?"

"You wouldn't be this calm if it hadn't." Penny's lips quirked up into a smile. "I know you too well."

"Indeed you do." Leaning down, she drew her girlfriend into a sweet kiss. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Nothing I can think of now." A sigh. "Except… maybe a hug?"

Mindful of the wires and such, Weiss sat on the bed and pulled her girlfriend into a warm embrace. Then, she whispered, softly, that her love might hear. "I've been thinking about listing you as my emergency contact."

"Wouldn't that reveal our relationship?"

"That's the intent." Lightly, she carded her fingers through Penny's hair. "I'm tired of hiding and pretending."

"This could destroy your career."

"Then I'll find another one." The laugh that answered her curled her lips into a smile. "What?"

"I thought for sure it would take another month at least."

That made her frown. "Don't tell me you made a wager on how long it would take for me to go back on keeping our relationship a secret."

"Not exactly. It's just obviously taken a toll on you, more than you'd like to admit." Penny sighed, eyes closing briefly as she leaned into Weiss' touch. "Talking you out of it wouldn't have worked, so I tried a different approach: wait and see." She paused, both of them quiet as the sun began to rise, the barest hints shining through the hospital blinds. "Does this mean we can invite your doctor friends over for dinner?"

Weiss thought about that for a moment- Ruby and Blake playfully debating which specialty required more intensive study, Yang chiming in with her own thoughts, perhaps even Winter offering an opinion, and she'd like to think Coco and Velvet would accept an invitation too- and then nodded. "Yes, it does."

"Great! It'd be nice to cook for more than just us."

"Will you need-" The look in her girlfriend's eyes quite firmly reminded her that a kitchen had very little in common with an operating theater, at least as far as her skill set was concerned. "I can at least do the grocery shopping."

"That, you could." Penny's eyes glazed over in that way they did whenever her mind began to wander. "There's a recipe I've been meaning to try. When are you going to break the news?"

"After you've been discharged," Weiss said, settling herself and checking her watch. She had another three hours before her next round started; more than enough time for a nap. "If anyone asks, though, I suppose I'll tell them."

"I'm sure most of the staff will have questions when they find you curled up in bed with me."

"And they'll wisely not ask if it means waking me up." She closed her eyes, brushing another kiss against her girlfriend's cheek. "You could do with some more rest yourself."

"That's true." By the sound of her voice, she's already dropping back off to sleep. "Night, Sugar Plum."

Weiss managed to fall into a slightly deeper sleep this time around, though she roused whenever someone entered the room- just long enough to discourage any questions and rely on her reputation to win the argument. Of those who popped in, most were staff rounding on patients, but Winter stopped by the check up on them both. Yang, too, and she promised to relay the information- albeit sans names- to the others, so they wouldn't worry where she'd gone.

She looked forward to when she'd be able to talk about Penny openly. Even if it meant dealing with a neverending stream of questions from her fellow doctors and inquiries from their superiors, it would be nice to acknowledge their relationship in any capacity.

Hours later, just before she had to leave, she finally spoke the words that had been sneaking up on her the past few hours, a though she eventually conceded to reluctantly. "I never should've insisted we keep our relationship a secret."

"Yes, you should've." Penny, although still sleepy, managed to open her eyes enough to raise a brow. "Did you already forget what med school was like? Just being friends, people used to say you were only interested in cybernetics because of me. They doubted your ability then and you never would've built the reputation you have now without a little bit of deceit." Then her expression smoothed out. "Now, though, you have years of stellar surgeries and the acclaim of many. They'll try to undercut you and realize you're still Doctor Weiss Schnee, the Ice Queen."

Weiss chuckled. "And?"

"And my Sugar Plum."

"That's right. I love you, Penny, my sweet soldier." She leaned down and kissed her girlfriend, straightening up and stroking her cheek. "I'll be by to check on you when I can. Rest in the meantime, okay?"

"Okay."

Slipping out of the room, she offered a small smile to the nurses walking by and ignored their surprise. Perhaps she could stand to be a little less of the 'Ice Queen', while she still had a job, at least.