"Okay Blake, watch carefully." Ruby looked to her faunus associate with a warm smile before turning back to a young man sitting on an exam bed. The boy was tin and tanned from long exposure in the sun and his clothes were worn and tattered. He was a walk in to the clinic on referral apparently.

"Okay, so you inject that under his skin?" Blake blinked as she looked down at his arm hovering just above which was a needle held in Ruby's gloved hands.

"That's right." The doctor gave a firm nod before pressing the needle into his arm, injecting its contents just beneath the man's skin before very quickly covering it with a sterile bandage. "Come back in one week, if you've been infected with TB we'll know in a few days. It's important that you don't itch it okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Doc, I got it, no scratching." He nodded, looking down at the site of the injection. "I really appreciate what you're doing, knowing I can't pay you right now."

"Think nothing of it, your work required you to get this done since you're just coming out of a homeless shelter. You can't get blood from a stone, once you're back on your feet and have your life settled, I may come to you for a favor in return, then we'll call it even." Ruby gave him a smiling wink as she discarded the spent needle.

"Will do Doc and thank you, between the physical and this thing in my arm, the recommendations you've written for me and pulling whatever magic strings you pulled to get me that interview, what you've done means a lot." The young man extended his hand out, his face stoic but grateful.

"This is a big deal for you, the warehouse you'll be working for pays really well. You stay clean this time, you work hard and you'll make a great life for yourself. I have no doubt about that." With a softer, warmer smile she shook his hand, never once breaking contact with his dark brown eyes. "Good luck."

"I'll make you proud Doc Rose." With one last firm shake of his hand on hers he parted from Ruby, grabbing his worn out jacket before turning to the door to leave the exam room.

"Oh I have no doubt about that either." There it was, that devious, smug grin, that smirk that was slowly conquering the world. However, as Blake looked from the man's eyes to Ruby's, she saw in those shining silvers that the grin which was normally dark and frightening held an entirely different essence. That smile was entirely for the young man, excitement at the life he could build with his own hands and at the strength it took to pull himself up from a low point. She admired him.

"See ya later and thanks again." Ruby watched with pride as he left the door with a strength and conviction in his step, the clarity that came with seizing your own future.

"He seems happy." She didn't even mean to mutter those words out loud but she didn't really care, Blake just smiled fondly at the door the man had left from, feeling a warmth of having done something good filling her chest.

"He's got a long road ahead of him but he'll be alright, he's serious this time." With a satisfied sigh she slid her hands into her lab coats pockets, turning to Blake, her assistant still looking happily at the door. She knew the look in those amber eyes, she was proud of the work she had done. It's a special thing, knowing that you've made someone's life better. I think she's coming to understand just what we're really about.

"You did good today, you know?" Ruby nudged her assistant with her shoulder, snapping her out of her happy stupor.

"I- I didn't do much." A blush… she blushed, looking shyly away from Ruby who merely gawked at her with wide eyes, her brain screeching to a halt as she stared at her now rosy cheeks.

"You did though!" Ruby blurted out in a desperate attempt to get her mind running again. "I mean, you've been so devoted to studying and you're learning incredibly fast. You're so smart and dedicated, you have a really bright future in this if you chose to stay."

"Ruby…" Blake's eyes shifted from embarassed to surprised to dejected and guilt in a matter of seconds before her gaze fell from the doctor. She didn't need to see to know the look Ruby's eyes held; desperate, pleading and fearfully hopeful. All of which felt like they would tear Blake's already conflicted heart to pieces.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be pushing you. I just really see so much potential in you and you have such a strong desire to do good. I know you've seen a lot of the harm we can do and I'm sorry you got such a strong taste of it so early but you've also seen that we really do help people!" Ruby's voice was strained, her heart opening up, just a crack, letting her true feelings show as she fought against the tears that clouded her eyes and the fear that strangled her heart.

"There are things I need to do, good things, but to do them, I need to do a lot of bad, people will get hurt along the way but I think in time, you'll see that it was all worth it, all for something precious and so hard to grasp." A gentle touch, a soft warm hand enclosing around Blake's, lifting it up and cradling it in its warmth stole Blake's heart from the storm that raged within it, finally bringing her eyes up to meet Ruby's once again.

"There's darkness all around us… and I've invited it in. I'm stronger there, in the darkness I can do something that I've been told for my entire life is impossible. I want you to stay and see a miracle happen Blake." Tenderly and lovingly Ruby stroked Blake's hand with her fingertips, looking up with hope into the faunus' eyes. "I want you by my side."

"I don't know if I can stay…" She said that but… she couldn't bring herself to break from the warm and loving touch. "I want to believe that you're not really the person I saw in that room, that you were just doing what you had to do. I just- I just think that you enjoy having this life, I think you're intoxicated by the power you have. I think you're walking down a dark path and I don't feel right following you… it can't be right."

"You keep saying right and wrong… but what it is that you really want Blake?" In her hand she could feel Blake flinch at her question, recoiling from the impact of the doctor's words as her eyes grew wide.

"Do you want what's right… or do you want to be happy?" Slowly and reluctantly Ruby pulled one hand from Blake's, leaving her other hand holding hers tight as she reached up, delicately brushing aside loose strands of hair as she caressed the faunus' soft, hot cheek. "There's nothing wrong with choosing what makes you happy, Blake. You've had a rough life, it's all over your face. You've fought for what you believed in, now I think you deserve what you truly want, whatever that may be."

"Come on, let's go take a break, you don't have to answer it now but I hope you choose what you want… and I hope what you really want is to stay with us." It took every ounce of strength Ruby had to force herself to pull away from Blake's silky soft hand, her fingers lingering for every millimeter they could get until cool air replaced the feeling of warm skin… and her hands fell back weakly to her side. She couldn't bare to look at the faunus for another moment and, without waiting for a response, she walked out the door, leaving Blake behind. Concealed by the opaque glass door between them, Ruby took a long, shaky breath before wiping the tears from her eyes.

She'll stay… won't she? Gritting her teeth and giving a vigorous shake to her head Ruby forced herself back into her calm, cold composure, stepping forward just as Blake carefully opened to door… but Ruby couldn't bear to look back at her.

"You look like a mess Red." A familiar voice spoke with an amused tone in his voice, stealing both Ruby and Blake's attention as they looked up to a man with orange hair and emerald green eyes, a cane in one hand and his other fixed firmly around the neck of glass bottle wearing a smile almost as cocksure as the one wore by his ice cream themed companion. "You should be celebrating, good thing I decided to drop by with some very, very nice champagne."

"Roman, Neo, it's good to see you." In an instant, in the presence of company, Ruby sealed up with small part of her heart she had opened for Blake with layers of cold steel. "I guess you heard the good news?"

"Yeah, it seems a certain someone is now the new CEO of Slate Corp and the ghost owner of Sandalwood Pharmaceuticals agreed to sell their company to the Slate for an extremely low price. It would also seem that the same certain someone was buying up massive amounts of stock through dummy accounts and shell companies in the short time between our little job and you taking over and turning the stock value around and skyrocketing it with a massive deal with the military. You've been a busy girl." Roman laughed, setting the bottle on the front counter.

"Yes, everything has been going exactly as I've planned it." With a smirk Ruby approached them, Blake following close behind, her mind still trapped in her earlier conversation with her boss about her future.

"Just how much are you worth now Doc? From what I hear, you made a killing in profit from the increased value of stocks alone." He was enjoying this, it was like he was getting so close to a roaring fire just to feel the heat. Behind Roman, Neo placed down four fine wine glasses, her smile never faltering as she took up her companion's side.

"Hmm, that's difficult to answer." Ruby hummed as she walked up the the counter, Torchwick moving the bottle away as she reached for a glass, holding it out for him to pour the drink as she continued. "If we count all of my legal assets and my companies, it's about three-hundred billion Lien. If we count my underground assets it's more like five-hundred billion. However, if we're just talking about my personal wealth, it's only hovering around one-point-four billion Lien."

Everyone in the room was stunned. Even Neo's trademark grin faded and Roman nearly dropped the bottle at the sheer scale of the numbers she spoke so casually of. Ruby shrugging while describing her own wealth, a fortune that very, very few in the entire world had and that many more would kill to have, yet… she shrugged, as though it were meager and trite. Roman wasn't sure whether to be outraged, impressed or terrified of the way the doctor spoke of money that could easily change the world in so many ways should she desire any outcome.

"That's… quite a lot." Was all he could think to say as he finished pouring her glass.

"I suppose." She shrugged again, eliciting a soft, resigned laugh from Roman. "Blake, come drink with us. This is our victory party, but just one glass, we still have a clinic to run."

"S-sure…" Blake stammered, her mind still trying to wrap itself around the titanic numbers that Ruby had thrown out while simultaneously grappling with the question posed to her by her boss that she still wasn't sure she had an answer for.

"Come on Kitten, we don't bite… well, Neo does but only if you're into that sort of- ouch!" He was brought to an abrupt stop by the blunt tip of Neo's umbrella hitting him the the back of the head.

"Don't mind them Blake, they're weird but they're very good friends of mine." Her smile was once again warm and inviting as she held her hand up to Blake, her caring gaze holding steady as she waited for the faunus to reciprocate the gesture.

"I guess a drink does sound nice." She gave up with a soft huff and a smile, placing her hand in Ruby's and letting the small but surprisingly strong woman pull her forward into their little group where Neo already had a glass waiting for her in her hand.

"That's the spirit!" Ruby beamed, once again having to force herself to let go of Blake's hand as she took a sip of her fine champagne.

"Is that a pun? Yang would be proud." With a teasing chuckle Roman partook in his drink with Neo sipping hers in a more refined manner by his side.

"You both know about Yang?" Blake's surprise let the words leave her mouth before she even thought them through, immediately heating up her cheeks and tightening her chest with worry as she looked over to Ruby, hoping not to see those sparkling silver eyes dulled with sadness.

"Of course they do." Ruby said simply, her smile unfading.

"Heh, Neo and I have know little Red for a lot longer than you or Thistle. What's it been? Eight years now? Back then you were just a kid with big dreams and no idea what to do to get them." He leaned against the counter, tapping the tip of his cane against the tiled floors, grinning as he reminisced.

"Yep, and you two were the ones the corrupted me to the dark side." Pointing her finger at them as she held her glass Ruby's voice grew at once playful and woeful, a snort of laughter escaping her.

"Yeah, like you needed to be corrupted. All you needed was a little push in the wrong direction, all the money didn't hurt. Kitten, did you know that I financed Ruby all the way through medical school?" He turned his emerald gaze to Blake who was slowly sipping away at her drink, caught off guard by the sudden attention.

"Really? Why? I mean, I know medical school can't be cheap." Blake was genuinely curious but it made sense after she thought about it. She's built up a half trillion Lien empire with a personal worth of nearly a billion and a half Lien, she must have made some powerful connections early on. She's only twenty-seven, she wasn't born into money like Weiss Schnee, she clawed her way up, you can see it in her eyes, she's fought for everything. I think… I think this gives me a much better idea of just who Ruby is as a person.

"Oh it cost quite a bit, but little Red was resourceful and had a knack for doing dirty work after she got used to it. You should have seen her at first, the first time she did something that went against what she thought was right, she cried for over a week straight, nearly failed out of med school before even beginning. Still, there was that one thing that always motivated her and once she saw what she got in return… well, she adapted pretty quickly to her situation." Roman proudly raised his glass to her. Back then, he could never have imagined just how far she'd come.

"So you abandoned your morals for what you wanted… that's the choice you had to make?" Her tone was soft and absent as she stared vacantly into her glass, swirling around the light amber liquid inside.

"Some things are more important than our beliefs on right and wrong. Once I realized that… it got a lot easier." It wasn't even a hard admission for her to make and that alone bit into her heart with bitter resignation.

"I see…" What else could she say? She wasn't even sure how she felt about that… but one thing kept replaying over and over again in her mind. I've fought for what I believed in, now I deserve what I truly want. That's what she said… so then, what do I want?

"Ruby, you've got patients here to see you." All attention was taken, much to Blake's relief, to a young woman standing in the doorway up the few steps the led to the entrance, her head of apple red hair peeking out.

"Oh? Who is it?" Ruby tilted her head, it was very unlike Thistle to announce a patient's arrival or to sound so uneasy.

"Well…" Thistle strained her voice, trying her best to hide her anxiety as she held the door open, stepping back to allow whoever was behind it through.

Then, Ruby's eyes grew wide and suddenly shimmered with life as she watched a figure walk down the stairs. It was a woman, a tall and beautiful woman with long red hair and emerald green eyes clad in red and gold armor. The woman's heels clicked against the concrete steps as she descended with a soft but genuine smile on her lips.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby's heart began to beat just a little bit faster and her expression lit up with happiness as she watched Pyrrha step onto the floor… but her expression cooling to a more wistful smile as a man in white and gold armor over a black long sleeve top followed behind her, his eyes a deep blue and his hair blonde and long, tied into a ponytail. "Jaune… it's good to see you both."

"It's good to see you too Ruby." Pyrrha beamed brightly with Jaune stepping beside her, putting his arm around her and holding her close as he smile amiable at the doctor.

"I think I'm gonna go Red, Huntsmen and Huntresses, they leave a bad taste in my mouth." His grin held but his green eyes were soft with worry and compassion as he gulped down the rest of his drink before handing the glass to Neo and grabbing the bottle.

"I understand, thanks for coming by Roman, we can pick this up later if you want." Carefully placing her glass down on the counter beside them she walked over to him, putting her arms around the larger man and giving him a warm and very tight hug.

"See you around Kid." With his cane still in his hand he did his best to return the caring gesture, hoping to give some comfort to Ruby as he wrapped his arm around her back. "Good luck."

"Thank you." She pulled away, her head leaving his firm, muscular chest, giving room for Neo to jump in, more enthusiastically and with much more intense worry in her eyes she threw herself at Ruby, holding the taller girl in a protective embrace. "Thank you too Neo, I'll see you both soon."

"We'll give you some space." It took Roman placing his hand on Neo's shoulder to get her to separate from the doctor, even if reluctantly so. The two criminals took their leave, walking right past Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Torchwick." Pyrrha all but growled bitterly as they walked by.

"Chick Magnet." He smirked, tipping his hat while Neo stuck her tongue out at the Huntress before following along after Roman up the stairs, leaving Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby and Blake in uncomfortable silence as Thistle descended into the clinic looking more than immensely worried.

"I don't know why you let that guy in here." Jaune spat with an angry huff.

"Pyrrha knows how I run my business Jaune, I don't turn anyone away." Her usually vibrant eyes were forlorn and dull as she stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"Yeah, he definitely looked sick." Blake was taken back by the anger in his voice while Thistle walked up calmly but defiantly between them.

"Is there a reason you're here? I mean, not that it's not great to see you again but it's been years, is something wrong?" Ruby's gaze was squarely on Pyrrha the entire time she spoke.

"Actually… there is a reason." Pyrrha beamed, brimming with excitement as she looked up to Jaune and then back to Ruby. "I'm pregnant!"

"That's wonderful!" Ruby smiled wide and happily, to anyone else she seemed genuinely happy for them, but Blake's sensitive ears weren't fooled, she could hear the very subtle strain in her voice as she spoke.

"Yeah, it is." Finally, Jaune's hostility melted away as he looked lovingly into Pyrrha's eyes. "I want to make sure my wife and child are taken care of and Pyrrha insists that you're the best doctor we could get so…"

"So you want me to do pre and post natal care?" Ruby was just as excited as she needed to be, just as amiable as she wanted to be and just as enthusiastic as she could be.

"And deliver the baby, if you wouldn't mind." Pyrrha grinned sheepishly, holding on close to Jaune.

"Of course, I'd love to! But hey, if the baby comes out with silver eyes don't blame me." This time, she directed her joke very, very intently at Jaune, making direct and unfailing eye contact with him as she grinned smugly his way.

"Ruby!" Pyrrha giggled, giving the doctor a playful nudge on her shoulder as her cheeks tinted pink.

"You-"

"Have you been to another doctor yet? Let me write you a prescription for folic acid and do some bloodwork, we want to make sure you and your baby get the best care possible." Ruby very decisively cut Jaune off, her eyes sparkling again as she looked up at Pyrrha.

"Whatever you think we need." She was so agreeable but Blake could practically taste the tension in the room and she knew that Thistle was feeling it too. The faunus had to wonder if Pyrrha knew what was going on or if she was oblivious to it.

"Perfect! Blake, you're going to help me, just watch and learn and I'll show you how to run basic blood work in the lab later okay?" She didn't even look away from Pyrrha for one moment.

"Yeah, sure." Blake felt… she wasn't sure what she felt. It was subtle, barely there but comfortable and unpleasant enough to bother her. She had a vague idea of what she could be feeling as Ruby very blatantly fawned over the newcomer. I can't be… jealous… can I?

"Come on, the exam rooms are right this way. Your husband can come too if he must." Blake could practically see her smoldering just under the surface as she led the three of them into the exam room.

I guess that's her… the one that got away.


"Alright, one more vial and we'll be all set." Ruby said softly and comfortingly as she grabbed a vacuum vial wrapped in a membrane of plastic on the top before bringing it into place in the needle that stuck out from Pyrrha's vein. The vial slid into place and the long, double sided needle stabbed into it, releasing the vacuum seal and allowing it to suck out the vital fluid from Pyrrha's viens. Even through her gloved hands and the plastic container Ruby could feel the warmth of Pyrrha's blood, the pressure of it rushing into the vial as crimson filled it to the brim.

"There, all done." She said in a cheerful, singsong voice as she removed the vial, passing it over to Blake for labeling. Ruby grabbed a patch of clean gauze from the tray beside her before sliding out the long needle from her patient's vein and immediately covering the puncture with the gauze, grabbing another two for good measure before wrapping a bandage around it, stopping the bleeding with the pressure.

"You sure took a lot." Jaune was clearly doing his very best to hide his disdain for the doctor.

"Yeah well, this is Pyrrha we're talking about. I know I wouldn't want anything to happen to her." In the instant that Pyrrha wasn't watching either of them, the two exchanged a very dangerous and angry glare, immediately becoming placid when she looked back at them.

"Ruby's the best there is. Don't worry, we couldn't be in better hands." Pyrrha looked to Ruby thankfully as she stood up, the Huntress having the utmost faith in her former lover and her capacity as a physician.

"I'm going to have you scheduled to come back in a couple weeks for an ultrasound and some more blood work." The doctor's eyes became as hard as steel and burned with protective conviction as she looked up at the Huntress. "I'll take care of you."

"I know you will Ruby…" For the first time since she had arrived, her warmth faded from her expression, replaced with guilt and sadness.

"Come on, we should get going." He held Pyrrha gently by her arm, spinning her around as he put his other arm behind her back, pulling her in before closing the gap between them. Their lips met and Pyrrha practically melted in his arms, her breaths quickening as she held him around his waist. By the time they parted, Pyrrha was huffing for breath with a hungry and playful smile on her lips.

"That sounds good." Pyrrha smirked, pressing up as close as she could to him… before they walked out of the exam room with their prescriptions and each other.

"Ruby…" Thistle's voice was uncharacteristically soft and compassionate as she walked in, giving one last look to the couple as they walked up the stairs to the exit.

"I'm fine." Ruby growled, her head hung low and her bangs obscuring her eyes that burned with pain and anger.

"That was her… I'm sorry Ruby." Blake reached out from behind Ruby, she could feel the young doctor's heart breaking, all she could offer was a gentle, loving touch… but Ruby moved away.

"Get back to work, both of you." With a dark, barely suppressed snarl Ruby stormed out, walking towards the back of the clinic, leaving her employees to worry about her alone.

"Where is she going?" At that moment, all the faunus could think about was Ruby and how utterly broken she looked.

"Where she always goes to blow off steam… the morgue."


"Set timer…. Start!"

Beep!

Her scroll began counting up and she burst into action. The morgue was as cold as a fridge but Ruby had trained herself after intense practice to keep surgically still even in the cold. The lines were drawn on the corps' chest, his face already bisected laterally down the middle, the skin hanging down like flaps on both sides leaving the inner muscular and vascular workings of the face intact.

She was unparalleled with a scalpel, slicing down from collarbone to the base of the sternum, severing the thin skin that covered the muscle, fat and vasculature underneath. With a second sweep of the absurdly sharp blade Ruby severed the muscles and ligaments holding them together, slicing through the fat and muscle with ease, only having to go over the tougher tendons once more before the muscle fell apart, leaving the red, pink and white tissue exposed.

With that complete Ruby grabbed for her surgical saw, placing it firmly at the top of her long incision. The blade whirled, digging in and cutting through the bones of his ribcage as though they were cardboard, fragments of pulped bone spread out of the way of the saw as she felt the mass of bone shift and begin to give way as it was cleaved in two.

Now it's time to spread the ribs apart. Laying down the saw she grabbed a metal, mechanical spreader, jamming its mandibles into the thin crevice she created in the sternum. The hydraulics did their work, effortlessly pulling apart the ribs with a distinctive sound and the few remaining connections snapped from the pressure. In the man's body she could feel the ribcage shifting in ways that she imagined would have hurt quite a lot to someone who was alive and awake. With the bones out of the way, the organs were exposed, largely filled by the pleura of the lungs, but she had access to the part she needed… the heart.

Ruby reached in carefully with her scalpel, avoiding the lungs before making a very small stab into the heart, piercing through the pericardium and cutting straight into the cardiac muscle in the right ventricle. Okay… now the fun part begins.

Ruby spread aside the lungs, reaching her knife back into the chest cavity, this time more precisely cutting, stripping away the pericardium, revealing the true structure of the human heart. It was mostly red and pale at some parts and was an incredibly intricate machine that kept all complex macroscopic organisms alive. In a blur she grabbed for the thread and needle and dived in, sewing shut the stab to the heart, counting each second, estimating blood loss and in her mind, running through everything she would do if this were a live patient, over and over and over again.

"Stop timer!" Ruby commanded to her scroll as she resealed the pericardium encasing the heart.

Ding!

It's pretty hard to feel cold when you're trying to beat the clock. She giggled to herself looking over to the timer. Not bad, nearly beat my personal best again.

"Um… can I come in." A soft, nervous voice spoke up from the doorway.

"Blake, hey. Yeah, come in, I just finished stitching a cardiac laceration. I um… I wanted to talk to you anyway. Why don't you scrub in, get suited up and we can talk." Ruby's smile was softened with relief as she put down her tools.

"I've already scrubbed up, you always remind me when coming back in the OR, or lab, I figured it was the same for the morgue." With a small grin on her lips she walked in and put on a blue surgical suit and gloves, covering her from head to ankle and her fingers sheathed in gloves.

"So… what did you think of Pyrrha?" Ruby asked as she nonchalantly leaned with her elbows propped up against the corpse' belly.

"Honestly, I don't think I liked her. I can't be sure if she knew what was going on but she wasn't helping. I don't like how angry you got." Blake knew how much Pyrrha meant to Ruby and that insulting her might be treading on dangerously thin ice, but Ruby deserved the truth.

"Yeah, she knew what was going on. She was just trying to keep things from escalating but by the end, she was just trying to teach me a lesson. She belongs to him now, that was her way of telling me to let go and stop taking my frustration about our breakup out on her husband." Even though she was still smiling Ruby's eyes held a deep and consuming sadness, more potent than anything Blake had ever seen in the young doctor.

"I don't think that's fair." Feeling more bold and more angry now knowing that Pyrrha knew exactly what she was doing to Ruby, she stated her feelings more openly and fervently. "She shouldn't come to you for help and then shove what you lost in your face."

"I know you're right Blake… but I can't be mad at her. I love her." Ruby's voice was so soft and so, so painful, coming out as little more than a whisper as she looked into the corpse below her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's alright. I appreciate you being honest with me. Thistle likes to just do whatever she thinks will make me happy but you don't say things just to make me feel better. I like that about you." For just a moment, her entire visage brightened with happiness as she spoke of Blake and Thistle… but settled back into sorrow as she continued.

"You know, I loved her almost instantly. Our first date she was just so bright and stunning, she was patient with me, she was gentle and she was beyond caring. It was only six months but by that point I was so convinced that she was the one that I- heh-heh, I actually bought a ring to propose. I was ready to spend the rest of my life with her… and then Jaune came back into her life. They had broken up before we met and then he just showed up with a grand gesture of his undying love. She left me for him, like it was nothing… I loved her with all my heart and she chose him. It's pathetic I know… but I still have the ring I was going to give to her." The bitterness in her laugh and the self hatred in her eyes hurt Blake all the way down to her core, more than she would have expected… so much more.

"You didn't deserve that." It took all the restraint she had to stop herself from shouting as her blood boiled. "You don't need to hold onto that, you're too good for her."

"Yeah but I- I can't get over her." A long, soft sigh escaped her lips, her silver eyes shimmering with tears that she frantically tried to blink away until a small, fragile and hopeful smile formed from her lips. "At least… I'm not there yet… but maybe soon."

"You have people that care about you Ruby, people that love you. If you don't look up from the past, you may be too late to see what's been right in front of you." Yang's words reverberated in Blake's mind, ringing only more true every time she saw Ruby struggling to get past what she had lost.

"I know… I hope that those people will stay around… I don't think it will be too much longer before I'm finally ready to look up." A heart clad in ice and iron was being opened up without her desire or consent, but Blake was pushing through it all, merely by being herself. No… it won't be long now.

"Hey, have you ever held a human heart?" Ruby perked up, changing the subject at at breakneck speeds, her eyes lighting up with enthusiasm and amusement as Blake looked taken aback.

"Um… no?" Now she was getting concerned. She wasn't as squeamish as Thistle but she'd never held someone's organs in her hands before.

"It's quite an experience, come here, I'll show you how to take it out." She motioned with her head for Blake to approach and very, very hesitantly, her assistant did just that.

"This is what we look like on the inside huh?" Blake couldn't help but feel awe and wonder as she looked at the structures of the corpse, the shape of the lungs, the way they almost cradled the heart, the veins and arteries that spider-webbed throughout every organ. It's like a work of art…

"Yep! Don't worry, I'll go into excruciating details later once you've studied up some more but for now, I just want you to have this experience." She grinned, grabbing her scalpel. "Okay, cardiac muscle and connective tissue is pretty tough so it may take a couple to cuts to get it out neatly. First, we're gonna want to cut through the superior vena cava here on the right side, it brings deoxygenated blood to the right atrium of the heart."

Blake watched as Ruby sliced through the thick, muscular tube, it was surprisingly smooth and shiny on the inside and the knife made a dull sound as it severed every fiber that held it together. This is actually pretty fascinating, knowing that's what I look like, what Ruby looks like, Thistle, humans and faunus, we're just the same mess of organs on the inside.

"Okay, now the inferior vena cava right below it, then the aorta and lastly we have to sever the pulmonary artery." With three more cuts Ruby severed all major connections to the heart. "Let me just take it out of the pericardium for you, that's the sack that surrounds the heart."

"Here!" Ruby beamed, her gloves and gown soaked in stale blood but her bright sparkling eyes and warm smile juxtaposed what should have been something horrific as she handed over someone's heart she had ripped out of their chest.

"It's… small." Blake stared in wonder at the handful of muscle and tubes that she cradled in her cupped hands.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing right? It gives us all about two billion beats before it stops and then, it takes everything we are with it. After that, you're just a corpse, your memories, your personality, your love your hate your pain and pleasure, all rapidly decaying inside an oxygen starved brain. Under normal conditions, a life that could take nearly a century or more to build and accumulate will be snuffed out in under fifteen minutes." It should have been bleak, it should have been depressing… but all either of them found it was truly, absolutely incredible.

"Do you want to see how I saved your life?" Ruby smirked, already knowing the answer. She could see that spark of curiosity in those beautiful amber eyes. Blake was a lot like her.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Blake smiled, rubbing her thumb over the smooth surface of the heart once more before handing it over to Ruby, the corpse' blood staining her gloves.

"I thought so!" The doctor giggled happily, delight back in her eyes and her voice.

"You got shot in your right hepatic artery, that's right near your liver." Ruby reached over and grabbed a black marker on the tray beside her as she dropped the man's heart into a large metal bowl. Humming a happy tune she drew a line down the length of his torso down to his bellybutton and then, much to her assistant's surprise… Ruby handed her the scalpel. "Just cut down that line, nice and steady. You've got the skin, the then fat, then the abdominal sheath, muscles, connective tissue. You'll need to slice through all of it, don't worry if you have to repeat cuts."

"Are you sure it's okay that I do this?" Blake asked, holding the small but immensely sharp blade, looking down at the man's belly.

"Of course, I want you to know how to do this. Okay, so when we brought you in you were losing blood very, very fast from a nick in your artery. First thing I did was give you a unit of O-negative blood… my blood. O-negative is the universal donor, you could give my blood to anyone but that doesn't work in reverse." Ruby instructed as Blake gulped down her fear and began cutting along the line her boss had drawn. She was surprised at just how easily and smoothly it cut.

"Okay, now this is where you got shot." Ruby grabbed another scalpel as she pulled the sheet of skin back, giving it a few more cuts to pull it away, revealing the inner workings of the human body. Blake started at his intestines, his liver, his gallbladder. Everything had a place that it grew into just right, filling up the space inside a person as they develop in the womb.

"See that structure right there? That's the right hepatic artery and it got damaged right about… here." Ruby went and made a small cut with her knife to the specific artery. "Now, if you hadn't already lost too much blood for it to really matter I would need to suction out your blood to see what I was doing. You got very lucky, your intestines were perforated so this was the only major patch I had to make."

"Alright, so what did you do?" Blake's eyes were sharp and passionate, she was captivated. That look, that passion and that curiosity, it burned right into Ruby's heart, sending warmth and pride through her entire body. She never had someone to share her fascination and love with… And now… I do.

"So, first thing is we have to get a venous patch, I actually helped inven these when I was pre-med. Anyway, after I pulled out the bullet I grabbed the patch, needle and thread and started working. Watch closely, this stitching is what saved your life along with my invention." As Ruby instructed, Blake watched intently and closely, watching every loop and stitch, the way the artery moved, the way her hands flowed with the grace of an artist and the precision of a machine. After only a minute, the patch was stitched in and the bleeding would have been stopped.

"After that, I packed your wound and put in a shunt to drain fluid and then let your body and aura do the rest." Ruby looked into Blake's eyes, not even noticing the smile on her own lips as she lost herself on those sharp and glistening ambers.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Blake looked up after running over the layout of the body one more time. "You're so young but you're already one of the best in the world. It must have taken a lot of practice and dedication to get that far."

"Thanks!" She blushed, having to stop herself from rubbing the back of her head bashfully as she tended to do. However, the warmth and light in her heart was consumed by cold and isolating fear and pain… and it showed in her face.

"Is something wrong?" She knew Ruby well enough, the look she was wearing wasn't some trivial sadness, something in her heart was very wrong and she needed help.

"I- I need to tell you something… but I want to you promise not to leave until I've said and showed you everything you need to see and hear." Ruby's silver gaze fell, her heart heavy and her eyes dull as fear and apprehension took over.

"What is it?" A pang of fear gripped her chest, subtle and small but a deep and terribly dark sense of foreboding flowed through her veins like ice.

"Hold my hand and don't let go." Forcing herself to look up, to meet the gaze of the one she knew she was about to her, Ruby extended her hand and, although hesitantly, Blake took her hand in her own.

"What's going on? You're scaring me…" Her ears were pinned back and her chest felt tight but Ruby's solemn expression was as cold and woeful as ever.

"It's about this man." With a heavy sigh Ruby reached out with her free hand to his head, grabbing the flaps of skin and pulling them together… revealing his face. Instantly, she could feel Blake try to pull away.

"No… no… th-that's…" Blake's mouth went dry and her heart began to pound in her chest, her vision tunneled on the man's face.

"Yeah, this is him. Apparently the information we go from him for Cinder was good. She dropped him off here while we were dealing with Slate Corp." A wistful and weak smile formed on her lips but her eyes held only pain and heartbreak as she felt Blake's hand trembling in her grasp.

"Blake, I know this may seem cruel and wrong but what I do here, it's for something and like you've just seen, the skills I refine here save lives." Her voice was confident and passionate but her dull, broken eyes never changed. "Do you have any idea what kind of resources Cinder has at her disposal? Impressive resources and that's coming from me. I've done this for her and now she owes me a favor, her resources are mine and with her power I can do so many great things. I can do something that was said to be impossible… Blake, understand that I just-"

"You're a monster…" Cold… Ruby had never, never heard Blake's voice become so cold.

"Blake…"

"I- I need to go. I can't be here right now." With a weak jerk of her hand she broke free, stripping off her surgical clothes and throwing away her gloves she ran out of the morgue and all the while… Ruby just watched.

"That's right… and who could love a monster." She sighed softly, shaking her head as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You don't believe that for a second." An angry and entirely done with bullshit voice spoke up from the doorway Blake had run out of.

"What do you want Thistle?" With a quivering voice as fought to reign in her tears, trying to stem their flow to keep her bodyguard and closest friend from seeing her fall apart.

"You did that on purpose. I know you better than anyone else Ruby. It's no coincidence that you pull this the day Pyrrha shows up. She comes back into your life like an earthquake and brings back all of those feelings. You and I both know it, even if you don't want to admit it but you're afraid of the feelings you're getting for Blake." She looked beyond angry, her eyes burning with finality and passion.

"Shut up Thistle…" Ruby hissed as she took off her gown, struggling to undress from it through the haze of tears.

"If you can't let this go, if you can't move past Pyrrha and let people into your heart, you will lose everyone that loves you. You push Blake anymore and she will leave us… it might already be too late." Her heart was heavy and that only pissed her off more. I'm not here for Blake…

"Blake won't leave… she can't." The doctor growled, throwing away her blood stained gloves before pushing past Thistle who leaned against the doorway, drops still rolling down her cheeks. Blake can't leave… I don't want to push her away.

"Don't be so sure about that." Thistle whispered, her arms falling to her side as she turned to follow her boss, her friend and so much more. I just want you to be happy.