Chapter 3-

She had pushed back all her appointments from that morning to later in the day, alongside asking Neo to come by her office a little later as well because she wanted to make sure she was alright.

She had put her glasses back on and hid her face, or at least part of it with her head and made sure to keep it that way.

Four minutes and thirty-three seconds later, her door opened and in walked Blake and Winter together, taking a seat in front of Ruby's desk.

"So…where should we start exactly?" Ruby asked the pair, glaring at them both.

"Um…depends, how much do you know?" Winter asked tentatively.

"I know Roman has escaped prison. I also know that Neo arrived at my office yesterday evening, in quite a bad way and she was in tears when I put her to bed." Ruby stated.

"Is Neo ok?" Blake asked immediately, worried about the woman.

"She's pregnant. Once I confirmed it for her, she burst into tears and I had calm her down. I have my hunch on how but I'll confirm that later. Currently, I want to know why you didn't tell me about Roman? Or about Neo looking for me, to the point she was begging you." Ruby said.

"You made it clear you wanted to be alone and away from anything from the past. We didn't think it was right." Winter said.

"You should have told me the first time she brought it up, just because I wanted to get away from it doesn't mean I won't help people in need…She's got bruises all over her body." Ruby said, revealing that last little bit of information at the end.

"Bruises? What?" Blake immediately asked.

"I'm not sure exactly, but she's got them all over her body. I have my hunches. Now, tell me about Roman. He escaped a month ago, correct?" Ruby asked, changing the topic.

"Yes, he escaped from the prison with help from some remaining White Fang members, we're unsure currently on why and the how. We're pretty sure they're all gone." Blake explained.

"There not, some are still around. I've had several attacks over the last five years I've been away. White Fang members, or ex members looking at some form of payback. But I digress, why wasn't I informed about his escape?" Ruby asked.

"We didn't want to worry you, and we thought you would be safe from him." Winter answered.

"I was the one who put him away, he'll hold some sort of grudge against me, it's clear to see." Ruby said, leaning on her desk. "When did Neo start acting weirdly?" Ruby asked.

"Um, I'd say two, three weeks ago, Why?" Winter answered, being the closest as she would normally be at Beacon.

"Right. Thank you. As long as Neo is happy I'll explain it to you tonight." Ruby said, smiling for the first time since the duo entered the room.

"Tonight? What's happening tonight?" Blake asked, confused about the situation.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. I'm taking you two and Neo out for dinner. It's not every day I get so many visitors." Ruby said, a devilish smirk on her face.

"Well, if that's all. We'll take out leave and see you tonight, text me the details?" Winter said.

"Of course, I'll see you tonight." Ruby replied, and as the pair left and the door closed. She let out a heavy sigh.

Buzzing her receptionist, she told her to send in the first patient for the day, ready to begin working as she was already an hour behind because of the interruption.

She finished all her appointments around three in the afternoon. Ruby had messaged Neo about an hour earlier to tell her that she can head down to the clinic so she could see her.

And then once she finished up her last patient for the day she told her receptionist that she could head home and told Neo to head right in.

She was setting up the equipment she needed, namely the ultrasound machine and a few other pieces of equipment that she had an idea she would need.

Hearing a knock on her door Ruby called out, "Come in." She called out, her back to the door.

Neo walked into the room shyly as she was unsure what to expect and a little worried at the same time. Taking a seat hesitantly she sat down and waited for Ruby to speak to her first.

"How are you doing?" Ruby asked as she stood behind her desk looking over the woman.

"I guess I'm alright. Slept fine, though you seemed to vanish this morning." Neo replied.

"Sorry about that, you were so peaceful sleeping I didn't want to wake you." Ruby replied a soft smile on her face.

"I guess. I started to have some…nightmares but they seemed to go quickly." Neo replied as she looked away from Ruby as she tried to work out how she was supposedly sleeping peacefully. Especially since she'd only had restless nights since everything started.

Ruby chose not to mention that she had asked for Ruby in her sleep, not sure how much to truly reveal just yet. "May I ask why that is?"

"Um...well I said that well, Roman escaped, didn't I?" Neo asked awkwardly.

"You did." Ruby said her tone measured.

"Well, I uh…I had a well. About a week after he escaped he…I was in Vale…by myself and well, he found me." Neo said quietly as her voice seemed to be betraying her as it wavered and Ruby could see the tears gathering in the woman's eyes.

Ruby seemed to just growl in response to that a sound that Neo would never associate with Ruby at all.

"What did he do?" Ruby growled out as she already had an idea.

Neo ducked her head to hide her tears that started to fall down her head and was surprised when she felt Ruby right next to her and hugging her sideways.

"It's alright…he's responsible for it all, isn't he?" Ruby asked softly as her tone was welcoming and calming to Neo.

Neo didn't trust her voice so instead chose to simply nod her head in response to Ruby's question and it didn't stop the tears from falling as she buried her face into Ruby's neck.

Ruby wrapped her arms around Neo as she easily pulled the much shorter girl into her lap and allowed her to simply bury her head into Ruby's neck and allowed the woman to cry.

Neither woman kept track of the time but even when Neo's tears ran out they continued to sit there for a while until Ruby finally spoke up.

"May I look at your wounds? And may I perform an ultrasound? If you don't want me to do that then I won't." Ruby softly as another wave of comfort seemed to hit Neo.

"It's ok…How do you want me?" Neo asked shakily, blushing as she realise just what she said.

Ruby smiled softly at Neo as she heard what she said and the whole double meaning. "Just lay down on the bed for me please, and if you can tell me where the…bruises are. I'll check them first." Ruby said.

Neo nodded as she wanted to avoid the conversation entirely after she had mistakenly said that so instead sat down on the bed and removed her shirt and trousers before laying on the bed in the room.

Ruby changed into her doctor mode as she walked over to Neo and examined the bruises covering her body and her face was a mask of indifference as she got some soothing oils and walked back to Neo.

"I'm going to touch your body now, I promise to be careful and not hurt you. Are you alright with me touching you?" Ruby asked as she picked her words carefully.

"I trust you." Neo whispered but Ruby heard her anyway.

Ruby nodded slowly as she brushed her hair behind her ear while removing her sunglasses from her eyes. Immediately Ruby's began to glow while she poured some oil into her hand and gently touched one of the bruises on Neo's neck.

Immediately Neo could feel the pain of the mark vanishing as the oil was rubbed into her neck while closing her eyes in the pleasure and relaxing hands on her.

After about a minute of time on the single bruise Ruby moved on to another on Neo's neck as she spent the same amount of time on it as before switching yet again.

Ruby continued this pattern of massaging each bruise. Her eyes grew sad as she noticed how some of them were just above Neo's bruises, looking almost like bite marks. On her arms were bruises clearly made by the rough grip from someone's hand. Ruby didn't need to guess whose.

As Ruby got lower and to Neo's legs she couldn't help but feel a stab of pain in her chest. All up-Neo's legs were bruises but the worse part of it all was when Ruby got closer to Neo's thighs and she could see the large purple bruises surrounding them.

Ruby growled again but managed to keep it quiet though Neo still heard her but kept quiet about it as she allowed Ruby to work on her bruises.

She was careful to avoid going too high with her hand but as she worked on Neo's upper thighs her knuckle brushed against Neo's more sensitive area.

Neo couldn't hide the moan that fell from her lips and she blushed bright red at the mistake she had made and turned away from Ruby's eyes as she was too scared to meet them.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to get so close but some of the bruises are quite bad the closer I get." Ruby explained softly with her tone full of comfort.

"It's…it's ok…I just…I wasn't expecting that." Neo replied as her voice was shaking as she spoke but she sounded scared.

"Still I apologise. I will be quick." Ruby said softly as she started to increase her motions and speed as her eyes started to glow even more and soon enough Ruby had finished and Neo was dressing.

"I'm sorry about that reaction." Neo said as she put her shirt on.

"It's fine. It's my fault for getting so close." Ruby answered back, "If you're feeling up to it Winter and Blake are meeting us for dinner tonight. If you don't want to then I'll tell them." Ruby said quickly.

"No I don't mind. Where are, we going?" Neo asked as she sounded sort of excited to go out with people.

"A restaurant in town we've been to before. It's quiet and no one truly knows us there so it's always nice to get away." Ruby explained as she gathered all her stuff together.

Neo smiled towards Ruby and the pair left the clinic together, Ruby locking up afterwards and both headed back to Ruby's place.

"What should I wear? I don't really have anything with me." Neo commented as she looked over the limited clothes she had with her.

"I'll take you out shopping tomorrow to get some more clothes. If you're going to be staying here, you'll need more." Ruby commented as she finished dressing herself and moved over to her closest to find something for Neo to wear.

"Thank you, I don't really know anywhere here to get stuff." Neo said in reply.

"There are a few shopping centres around though there aren't many." Ruby finished explaining as she walked over to Neo in the mirror.

Neo stared in the mirror as she took Ruby's outfit in. It was vastly different to what she wore for work.

It was a black shoulder strap dress with red blotches on the skirt part below the waist and had a laced-up chest part and as the dress moved down it was a little baggy to give Ruby the freedom of movement.

With the dress, Ruby wore small one inch heels alongside some light makeup which seemed to darken her eyes beneath her glasses and a light lipstick.

"Neo?" Ruby asked as it had been almost a minute since Neo had spoken.

"Oh sorry…it's just you're so dressed up." Neo replied in surprise at seeing Ruby dressed up.

"Do you like it?" Ruby asked, holding her skirt out a little and spinning around. "I normally dress up for going out and well, I got this a couple weeks ago, but haven't had a chance to wear it." Ruby replied as she smiled wide.

"You look beautiful." Neo said but blushed immediately afterwards in shock and turned around away from Ruby.

Ruby's rich laughter filled the room as she helped Neo finish getting ready, "Thank you." Ruby said and after a minute she said, "Right. Ready?" She asked.

"I am but how are we getting there? You can't drive a bike like that." Neo asked.

"Come with me." Ruby said smirking at the woman as she led her through the house and into a side door leading into a garage.

Inside was a large four by four but seemed rather old, it had written across the front, Defender written across it and on the back, was a badge saying Land Rover.

"This is my other car. It's helpful when I need to simply get around and carry stuff at the same time. I mainly use my bike for work." Ruby explained as she opened the door for Neo.

Neo climbed in easily and buckled in while Ruby went around the other side and started the engine and opened the garage door.

"I'll admit I didn't expect all of this from you." Neo stated.

"In what way?" Ruby asked as she pulled away and onto the road.

"The job for one, I just never really saw you as being a doctor." Neo added.

"Well it just felt natural. I want to help people and well, being in a small place like this a fully trained doctor means a lot to them and although I tend to specialise more with Pregnancy I do a mixture of treatments and well, if the person can't pay I treat them regardless." Ruby explained calmly.

"How did you get the training though? Last I knew you, you focused on being a Huntress and then got lost in all those files." Neo asked as she was confused at the sudden change.

"I had some help to get the training and to keep it all quiet. Only Blake, Winter and Ozpin and I guess now you know." Ruby said as she avoided a part of the topic.

Picking up on the subtle hint that it wasn't something Ruby was willing to discuss she changed the topic, "I see. And well I guess I didn't really expect that large training room in your house. Did it come with it?" Neo asked.

This seemed to relax Ruby a little more as she instead simply smiled at the question, "That house was actually built for me. I designed it and after a couple years I had the money to get it built. Before that I simply lived in a flat and had most of my stuff in storage." Ruby answered.

Neo was silent as she took in the information, it was clearly a lot of money to build all of that and if she could get that within a couple years Ruby must be rich but then again, she seemed very subtle and strict on what she brought. At least outside of her clinic.

Pulling into a parking space Neo switched back on as she realised they were outside the restaurant and once more in the blink of an eye Ruby was opening the door for Neo and offering her hand to help Neo get out, although not needed.

Neo smiled as she took the offered hand and walked with Ruby into the restaurant and although they weren't holding onto each other they were close to each other.

They were stopped by a waiter at the front of the restaurant and Ruby said there was a reservation under the name Belladonna and they were immediately taken away to the back where they spotted Blake and Winter already sitting down.

"Hello Neo, how are you?" Blake asked immediately as she knew Neo well since she stayed close to Beacon.

"I'm better. I want to apologise for the other day I wasn't in a good state." Neo said smiling apologetically towards the two women, remembering how she turned ended up at their house.

"It's fine. We understand and we're here if you ever want to talk." Winter replied with a soft almost knowing smile.

Neo turned to look at Ruby not even able to hide the hurt in her eyes as she thought Ruby had told the two women the reason for her going to Ruby and what they had discussed.

"Ruby didn't say anything. It's just, with the fact she knows about Roman's escape from you. Well we just guessed the two were linked but we don't know any more than that." Blake quickly explained as she spotted the look between the two.

"Oh." Neo stated as she was confused and the two women once more shared a look to convey her apology quickly.

"It's alright. So, drinks?" Ruby asked as she moved it along.

Winter and Blake got a bottle of wine between the two while Neo simply got a coke while Ruby went with water. Next, they ordered food before settling into comfortable conversation.

"So, Winter, how's it been going?" Neo asked as she took the attempt to settle into more comfortable conversation.

"It's been going alright. We're getting the final few members now and we've been taking down other criminals from the fighting as well. And I've already been offered a position at Beacon if I want once we've finished." Winter explained with a smile.

After the fighting, had finished or at least the main battles Winter headed up a task force set up to take down and capture all White Fang members that remained and anyone else that sided with Salam during the fighting.

But now it seemed like it was all wrapping up and would soon all be over which was a relief in and of itself.

"What about you Blake?" Ruby asked as she hadn't kept up with the two women as much.

"Slow but working with your…I mean Winter's mother has drastically helped speed some things up. But we're getting there." Blake said, her work in pushing Faunus rights through all the Kingdoms and making sure they were all equal was a lot of work but something Blake was passionate about doing.

"But what about you two? How has it been going with you?" Winter asked as she tried to cover up Blake's slip up.

Ruby and Neo shared a look between each other and Ruby gestured for Neo to speak up first. But these small acts weren't forgotten by Blake and Winter who picked up on them.

"I've taken a leave of absence from Beacon for the moment. I'm not sure how long yet but Ozpin has assured me that whenever I want to come back there will be a position open to me. Apparently having former Hunters and Huntresses as teachers makes it common for teachers to take time off from teaching to continue as a Hunter." Neo answered back but avoided her reason for leaving Beacon for a while.

"I'm not surprised as I'm sure staying in one place for a long time can be a little annoying and they want to get out again." Winter said in reply, "What about you Ruby? The clinic seems to be going well." Winter asked.

"I can't complain. I've always got work and patients though it seems to be more people who are pregnant which I'm slightly happy for, though there is one patient I'm worried about." Ruby explained calmly.

"Mia?" Blake asked knowingly.

"Yeah." Ruby replied confirming it.

"Who's Mia?" Neo asked as she was only confused by the seemingly private conversation.

A/N

Fuck me sideways, I don't make this easy for me to find stopping points do I? It's a bitch that I write in almost a continuous format but I find it better than writing it chapter by chapter.

Sorry for taking ages with this, I don't want to fall into a gap of where I have no stories to post if possible. Also, real life is kicking my ass a bit which is always fun.

So, my Mass Effect story is at forty-five thousand words now, and I say I'm about halfway through it. So, look out for some polls on some decisions I'd like some help with.

Not too much else to add, so I hope you enjoyed and hey, there's that little review button down the button, I always love hearing from you guys/girls. So until next time.