Part 4 | cycle | 3, 869 words
Post-Season 2. There will be spoilers to some degree. Updated 13/06/2015 for some mild corrections.
. . .
Of course, where the president of Schnee Dust was concerned, no wedding could happen without a hiccup or two.
Red cloak fluttered in the air.
"This is the absolute worst idea you've ever had, Ruby Rose!" the white-haired woman hissed at her.
"Weiss, you say that every time..."
"And what do you think that implies about every idea you've ever had?"
The president of Schnee Dust had one arm tight around her partner's waist as she leapt from glyph to glyph that formed mid-air...away from the destruction behind them.
A nervous chuckle.
"But it worked!" was the defensive response, even as Ruby spied Blake slowly approaching them, a hand pressed to the mic fixed by the ear as the faunus spoke into it. "They can't chase us anymore."
There was, she noted guiltily, fury in Blake's usually calm amber eyes - and she had a feeling it was because she got whisked away by White Fang goons in a moment of carelessness.
It was an event that culminated with a calm and glacial Weiss entering the warehouse alone to meet them as demanded. Unarmed.
And it was the second time in her entire life that she had been so terrified. That was when she tripled her efforts to get out of the aura bindings that leashed her down, because she would be damned if she let Weiss do this.
"By creating a typhoon that brought down the entire roof?" Weiss asked through gritted teeth as she brought them to the ground.
...In retrospect, she probably did overdo it a little.
Breaking the cuffs had taken a lot out of her, and then decimating the building took even more. That was why Weiss had to be the one to pull her out of there as opposed to her escaping by herself.
Ruby smiled thinly. "They tried to hurt you. Besides, I gave them enough time to get out before they could get crushed."
Something dark and vicious was giving its approval in her mind at the thought of giving them a taste of what they deserved.
The grip that Weiss had on her waist tightened - but for whatever reason, her partner didn't seem inclined to respond to what she said.
Short dark hair ruffled with the wind, and silver eyes glanced back - only to squint at white and black garbed men who had surrounded the broken building, the Schnee symbol prominent on their sleeves and backs. "Your people are in battle with them, Weiss."
"I know." A curt, unreadable voice.
"Shouldn't we help?"
"No." The hand around her waist left then. "Blake has it handled. Do not join them, Ruby."
Ruby's gaze turned to see Weiss already moving to meet the faunus mid-way, a tense and set expression on her face.
Despite the exhaustion that she could feel draping over her shoulders like a dead weight, she kept pace - the icy note in her partner's voice was warning her not to push her luck, and it was probably for the better that she heeded it anyway.
Plus, Blake's men seemed to be handling the stragglers that escaped the warehouse well enough.
Said head of security was, also, assessing them both for injuries. But thankfully, though there were some cuts, scratches and probably a few nasty bruises that would form on Ruby by tomorrow, there was nothing life-threatening.
"When I said try to create a distraction," the faunus's voice was bone-dry, and most definitely directed at Ruby. "I didn't mean bring down the entire warehouse."
The leader of team RWBY couldn't really help the sheepish shuffling of her feet. "It worked?" she said meekly.
An aggrieved sigh from Weiss and a small, wry grin from Blake was the response.
"They roughed you up a little," Blake said then, looking mostly relieved but still concerned. "I'm taking you for a check up at the hospital."
A nod to Weiss - who was noticeably dusty but otherwise seemingly unharmed. "You too."
The president scowled, clearly not in the mood to be coddled. "You are not my keeper."
"I'm your bodyguard first, and head of security second. Your safety is my priority, Weiss." Blake paused. "And if you come along, Ruby won't have an excuse."
The scowl grew, but the point was made. Weiss didn't argue further.
"It's nothing major," Ruby mumbled despite feeling the strain and faint throbbing on her arms, wrists, cheek and stomach. Besides, the White Fang had been using her as bait, so they stopped short of seriously harming her. "And - "
"Don't even try, Ruby." Weiss cut in with a warning, deep tension still lining her shoulders, voice still icy and sharp.
She deflated.
Her partner was still wound up tightly over the entire fiasco, and Ruby knew there really wasn't much she could do about it right now. The curt words and not-quite-vocal anger had been quite telling in describing just how upset Weiss was over the entire incident.
A loud, furious Weiss could be calmed down with the right approach.
But a quiet Weiss with scarily cold rage so clearly simmering just beneath the skin?
Blake's hand reached out to squeeze Ruby's shoulder lightly.
"It won't take long." There was an understanding and sympathetic look in those amber eyes. "I'll take us home right after that."
She sighed. "Okay."
. . .
"Hey."
Silent as a ghost, Blake materialized by her side, settling down next to her in the waiting room of the hospital.
Weiss couldn't even muster the energy to be surprised, let alone be bothered to look up from where she sat, eyes still fixed on the scroll as she tapped at the panel.
"What is it?"
"The place is secured. I think we can rest a little easier now."
One of the multiple knots that had formed on her shoulders untangled itself.
"Right."
"All good with the doctor? You are out earlier than I expected."
She huffed. "I wasn't injured to begin with."
A nod. "Ruby should be out soon. I went over to have a look just now - aside from some scratches, cuts and bruises, she seems to have been left unharmed."
"Ah." Weiss didn't know what else to say to that.
Another few knots untangled themselves.
Still she tried to focus on the report she was reading. Considering all the things that she had shoved to the backburner when the entire fiasco came up, she would need to do a lot of catching up.
No better time than now, while they were waiting for Ruby to be done with her check up.
A book seemed to have somehow materialized in Blake's hands, already flipped open to a page with a yellow bookmark.
She swiped at the scroll again, opening another report to look through - this one was about experimentation on healing properties in dust, a project headed by Director Estheim himself.
Silence reigned in the room.
It was, quite frankly, too quiet even for her taste.
"Did you manage to get ahold of Yang?" Weiss asked then, one finger scrolling through the content on her device. The blonde had been underground (doing who-knows-what investigation) when the entire thing happened, and that had made it hard to get in contact.
"I did." A page was turned. "She's waiting at home."
"You managed to calm her down?"
"Wasn't too hard."
She wasn't too surprised. It likely helped that Ruby was relatively unharmed for the most part, and that the issue had come to a close before Yang actually found out about it. Had neither been the case… well.
It was probably for the better that Yang hadn't found out about it till it was over anyway.
Weiss was going to have to re-read the report by Estheim later. She was having a hard time focusing, and this was a project that needed more than her current ability to concentrate.
She bookmarked it and swiped to another report in an attempt to better distract herself.
"Yang asked how you were doing, too."
"I'm fine."
"Hmm."
Despite herself, she glanced up to look at her faunus teammate properly.
"What did you tell her?" Weiss asked suspiciously.
The corner of Blake's lips turned up. "That you are being yourself," was the vague response.
The white-haired woman scowled, but didn't bother to find out what that meant exactly. Knowing these two, one who was openly cheeky and the other deviously so when the mood struck, it was probably for the better of her sanity that Weiss didn't know anyway.
"...And what did she say to that?"
"She said to watch you and not let you 'fall over to the dark side'."
Her scowl deepened. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, you are brooding and feeling guilty even though Ruby's fine, aren't you?"
"I don't brood," she denied sullenly, more than a little disgruntled.
She was also more than a little tempted to say that was exactly what Blake used to do a few years ago, so the faunus really did not have sufficient moral high ground to call her out on it.
However, years of having spent time together with her team - with Blake - was more than effective in holding her tongue back before she could say something she would truly regret, regardless of how exhausted she was at the moment.
"If you say so," her teammate responded easily. "Try telling Yang that later if you like."
Weiss really had to suppress the urge to growl at the other. But rather than arguing further - because she rarely got anywhere when it came to arguments involving herself - the dust-wielder opted to turn back to her scroll instead.
Blake, for her part, didn't seem to mind being ignored. The faunus seemed content to stay where she was and read in silence, but was very pointedly not leaving her side.
Her teammate was letting her do whatever she want, brooding included.
Just not by herself.
She had to redouble her efforts to not let the emotions she had reigned in so tightly unravel themselves.
. . .
Rapid knocks on the door.
Deliberately ignoring them, Weiss continued to focus on the main holographic monitor, reading through the report just sent to her. Around the table, floating screens of all sizes continued to glow with automatically scrolling information that she hadn't bothered to check at all.
Across the room, the knob on the door was being twisted open slowly.
A hesitant head with red-tipped black hair poked in.
"Weiss?"
She continued to tap at the monitor, typing out a response.
"Go to sleep, Ruby," she said without looking up. "You need to rest."
"...I'm fine."
Soft footsteps padded towards her.
She sighed, eyes closing momentarily. She didn't remember saying her partner could enter. Perhaps she should have locked the door?
But no, that would just raise alarm bells because she never made it a habit to lock her study when she was inside. Her teammates had a tendency to waltz in and out of her study whenever they wanted to be a nuisance.
The more traditional-minded on her board would have likely expressed their outrage at such disrespect. Yet, in the privacy of her own mind, Weiss could admit she probably would have ignored them if it ever came to that.
After all, this wasn't the Schnee Mansion.
It was home.
And her teammates knew better than to disturb her if she was in the middle of something important. Or at least Blake (and occasionally Ruby) did, and that was usually enough to prevent unnecessary interruptions.
But clearly, her partner didn't think now was such an occasion.
"What are you doing?" Ruby asked, hovering by the side of her chair.
"Surely," she said dryly, still tapping at her monitor. "that would be obvious?"
"Oh…"
Silence. For whatever reason, her partner seemed disinclined to speak, but Weiss could feel the thoughtful stare fixed on her.
She attempted to focus on the report, but that stare.
After a minute of struggling with her own patience, she caved with a deep, exasperated sigh. "Do you need something, Ruby?"
"...Yeah."
"What?" More tapping.
A pause.
"Will you look at me?"
Her hand stilled for a second - half a second - before it resumed its tapping on the holographic display.
"What kind of question is that?" Dismissive words. "I've looked at you plenty over the years - and now isn't really the time to request funny things from me, Ruby. I'm busy."
The younger woman grumbled something under her breath.
"Weiss," her partner sighed in exasperation, "you can be so silly sometimes."
She twitched. Her, silly? When Ruby was the one asking silly questions?
"What - "
Ruby reached over to tap at her monitor - promptly saving the files and sending it to sleep as the holographic screens above her desk faded. Then, unceremoniously, she sat on the table, set her hands on the armrests of Weiss's ridiculously big chair, and swiftly dragged it to properly face her.
And then she lifted both her legs to comfortably rest by the sides of the seat.
The closeness of their proximity forced the white-haired woman to lean back against the chair fully, not that the movement did anything particularly useful.
It, well, did help in providing sufficient space for them to look at each other properly.
But not so much in letting her leave without actually shoving Ruby away.
Weiss was trapped.
Their gazes met, silver and blue.
A long time ago, Weiss would have shouted at Ruby at the sudden - if not rude - action that brought them uncomfortably close together.
Now, she merely arched an aristocratic brow. "Since when did you become a brute?"
Ruby, with stray bandages and plasters on her face and hands while dressed in pajamas, squinted back at her in disapproval. It was a decidedly hilarious attempt at looking stern when her partner was clearly struggling not to pout, not that Weiss was going to tell.
"Since we came back from the hospital, when, you know, my partner started to ignore me."
"That's - " her mouth closed. "I wasn't ignoring you." Not intentionally.
Puffed out cheeks. "You could barely even look at me just now."
"What are you talking about?" The frustration was bleeding into her voice. "I am looking at you right now."
"Only because I made you look."
"That's not even the point." Weiss would know; she thrived on logical reasoning.
Ruby's head tilted.
"No?"
Silence.
"What do you want, Ruby?" she asked finally, not at all in the mood to begin another ridiculous argument with her partner that she was certain would begin if she argued back.
A crooked grin settled itself on the younger woman's features, the stray plaster covering a scab stretching with it. "I need you to not blame yourself."
She scowled. "What did Blake tell you?"
"She didn't tell me anything." The smile grew, part wry, part knowing, part exasperated. "We just know you, Weiss."
Her hands crossed. "I dragged you into this mess. I have the responsibility of making sure you get out of this unscathed."
"No, you don't." The words were firm. "I made you bring me in, remember?"
Her brows drew together, cataloguing the bandages scattered all over the younger woman again. "You cannot seriously tell me that you were not bothered by the fact that White Fang got their hands on you. It should have been me."
"We both knew these things could happen," Ruby said, still calm.
Her teeth clenched. "Be that as it may - "
"You said yourself that they no longer seemed to care whether it's human or faunus they go after."
"Yes, but - "
"I've had worse injuries than this, too, and not by White Fang."
"That's besides the point and - "
"A grimm could just as easily maul me one day, and it wouldn't be your fault, you know."
"They tortured you!" Weiss snapped at last, shoulders tense.
Silence.
For a second, her partner looked as if she was caught off guard. And then it was replaced with real, genuine sadness and compassion that made her want to look away.
She had to force herself to maintain eye contact.
"Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out?" she hissed. "You said all they did was beat you up, but I know the signs, Ruby. I know."
A ghost-like pain ran through her frame like a burning brand.
Her hands shook.
She curled them into tight fists.
A person does not get clean cuts from being beaten up, much less a long, thin slice along the neck.
No, this wasn't just torture.
This was revenge. Hatred.
Against her. Against the Schnee. Not Ruby. Her.
"I - " She breathed in deeply. "It should have been me."
Something flickered in silver eyes at her words.
And suddenly - something in Ruby's demeanor changed.
It was the look of a predator, a seasoned huntress - a dangerous being with deadly speed and skills. The hesitation and sadness that was prominent in that gaze a moment ago was no longer there, and in its place, anger.
Fury that was directed at her.
Ruby leaned in closer by a fraction, the grip she had on the armrests going white. If she had Yang's strength, the wood would have cracked.
"You walked into that warehouse unarmed," came the calm and deadly quiet words. "You were going to give them what they wanted. For me. You were about to let them gut you."
This close, with only centimeters between their faces, Weiss could see hints of wild, violent anger burning in gunmetal eyes; it brought everything about Ruby into sharp focus, perhaps even more so because she realized that the majority of that rage wasn't directed at her - it was at White Fang.
It made her heart ache to see that.
Her partner was often so cheerful, even during those times when she had the role of a leader to play. Rarely was she ever like this, and perhaps… perhaps that was why those words felt so devastating.
Then, abruptly, the anger vanished, and another crooked smile took its place on Ruby's features.
Their foreheads touched.
She tensed. Ruby had always been entirely too touchy feely and affectionate and she just… wasn't.
"You didn't fail me," the younger woman said softly. "If anything, if you'd gotten hurt or died… I would be the one who'd failed you."
There was a flicker of haunting vulnerability in silver eyes, reminding her of a time when she had been hurt so badly that it had sent her partner into mindless, boiling rage.
It was enough to make Weiss sag back into her seat and want to run a frustrated hand down her face. "Ruby, that's not - "
"I get it." Hands reached over to bring her close. "You want to protect me. But it's the same for me too, you know."
Now, was that not the irony of this situation?
She sighed, letting Ruby hug her despite her misgivings, and letting her partner's warmth soothe the mixture of trembling rage, guilt and icy fear that had settled in her veins for the entire day. Most had tapered down somewhat by the time they got back from the hospital, but…
Weiss knew those were feelings that would linger in her for a long time to come like a persistent phantom.
"Plus," her partner continued, "they barely even started when you guys came. I won't even scar or anything - you heard what the doctor said."
She felt more tired than she should be. Her eyes closed.
Ruby nuzzled into her white hair, sighing - in relief? - too.
"I'm so glad you're safe," the younger woman mumbled.
She wanted to bark out an incredulous laugh. Ruby was the one injured and yet her concern was directed at Weiss?
"You," she muttered into the crook of her partner's neck, completely resigned, "are impossible."
Ruby just squeezed with a soft chuckle.
Weiss allowed it, but only briefly, before she untangled herself from her partner's grip.
She looked up at the younger woman again, only for her gaze to stray to the bandages and plasters once more, as well as the specks of red and blue-black bruises that were slowly forming.
Despite herself, her hand reached out to brush against the plaster on the cheek.
"Does it still hurt?"
Ruby brightened, leaning into the touch.
"Nope! I'm fine."
Her touch lingered for a moment longer before moving to the bandage on the neck, pressing down with deliberate pressure. The younger woman stiffened - unable to suppress the small flinch of pain - and caught her hand immediately.
Weiss couldn't help but smile at that - a touch sad, maybe a little peeved and amused both, but mostly weary and resigned.
"You are such a liar, Ruby Rose."
Her hand was squeezed gently, and Ruby didn't quite look all that sincerely repentant with a grin that was altogether frustratingly adorable and sheepish and infuriating.
"You love me anyway, partner."
The little imp. When did she get so cheeky?
She tugged her hand out of that grasp and responded by flicking Ruby on the forehead.
"Ow!"
"Go to sleep before I strangle you, dolt."
Her partner sulked, rubbing at the sore spot. "What did I do?"
Aside from scaring her half to death, making her emotionally shaky, and then carelessly doing things that bewildered her terribly when she was already confused by her own feelings?
Absolutely nothing.
Right.
She dragged out a long, slow breath.
"You have made your point," Weiss said instead, if a bit wryly. "You should sleep now. Doctor's orders, if you recall. Please get off my table."
The other seemed to contemplate it for a moment. "Are you going to sleep?"
"Soon. I just need to sort out the report I was reading and a few other things - " a pointed look, "items that I likely would have finished earlier if you had not turned off my monitor and disturbed me."
Ruby blew into the air, causing loose strands of black hair to fly up. She didn't look apologetic over the entire affair at all.
"You and your few other things - Weiss, the last time you said that, you were here the entire night."
"I'm backlogged. And no, it shouldn't take the entire night - "
"You said that last time too."
Blue eyes narrowed.
Ruby stared back stubbornly.
Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You are not going to leave me alone till I get out of this room, are you?"
"Nope."
Silence.
Then, with another aggravated sigh, she caved.
"...Fine."
It was far too much effort to argue with Ruby when she had that willful pout on her face, and deep down, Weiss knew it would be just a matter of time before she surrendered to her partner's continued wheedling if she had argued.
And Ruby, being the little monster that she was, cheered.
. . .
A/N - I have no idea if aura cuffs or something like that exists/will exist canonically in RWBY. But I'm going to assume it will. And Ruby… she created a mini-typhoon that cracked the wall in Beacon's canteen at age fifteen. She's going to be deadlier at twenty-one, I imagine.
I also remember thinking I had a few other things to say about this chapter… but the past week had been entirely too hectic, and I can't remember them anymore. Ehh. Oh well.
Okay, I do remember one. There's a small, funny continuation from the last scene of this part that I couldn't resist writing but eventually scrapped… I seriously considered making it canon (to this fic), but eventually decided against it. You can find it on tumblr, if you're interested, but otherwise no biggie.
Thanks to Astarael00 for beta-ing. Feedback as always are much appreciated, and thanks for reading!