Alright, so after further evaluation, I've decided to hold off on the STRQ flashback scene until later. I don't remember the username, but thank you for suggesting that I wait until after the escape, it helped me a lot in making a final decision. So, after 2 long years, I finally have a new chapter for you! I'm sorry about the long wait, but I promise you it'll be worth it! And again, if you have any suggestions regarding things that may or may not happen, feel free to let me know!

Well, this had been an unexpected call. It had been ages since she had last spoken to the two mothers currently classified as MIA and deceased respectfully. Or at least, that's what it felt like to Winter, considering what her job was; basically torturing children to give them special abilities much like super powers. She herself had undergone the procedure when she was younger, choosing to become one of the nurses at the hospital to help all the other children through the painful injections they received almost daily. Though, it had been left unmentioned to the media that Winter had been a patient.

But all that aside, getting a call from Summer and Raven was rather unexpected, especially since it had come through on her work phone. She told them to use her personal number.

"Hi Winter! How are you?" Summer could be heard loud and clear on the other end of the line, her attitude as chipper as usual.

"I'm doing alright, a bit stressed, but nothing I can't handle," Winter replied honestly, but should she mention the news about Ruby?

"That's good, and you're on speaker so Raven can hear you too!" Summer added, though Winter already figured that much. "How are our girls? Are they doing alright?"

"They're fine, however, they seem rather stressed," Winter explained honestly. "It's actually the same reason that I'm feeling stressed myself."

"What happened? Was there an attack?" Raven asked.

"No, but I do have concerns regarding my father's choices of staff."

"Winter, stop being vague and get to the point, tell us what's going on," Raven replied impatiently.

"I hear you loud and clear," Winter half sighed, but continued, the silence on the other end tense with unease. "Ruby's doctor, Amy Valore, is taking a vacation next month for three weeks, and my father's bright idea was to temporarily put a doctor from that shady hospital in her place."

"He WHAT?" Both women exclaimed in sync.

"I tried speaking to him about it last night and he refuses to back down on the matter, so I'm afraid there's not much that I can do," Winter explained solemnly. "Ruby is terrified, and Yang, as well as many others, are very upset with this decision. But until we see what this doctor does, I am unable to take any of Doctor Valore's patients under my wing."

"This is awful! Raven, we need to go over there right now! Our baby's in trouble!" Summer was very stressed at this point, and Winter could tell that she'd been hiding some previously.

"I know you're worried Sum, and I am as well, but we cannot act on our own. If we go out into public, it would cause an uproar. We have to be stealthy and patient," Raven replied, but with just as much worry in her tone.

Winter could almost feel the frustration on their end of the line, but she did have a silver lining for them...if this plan of hers even worked out in the end.

"There's no need to fret too much; I do have a plan in mind," hopefully that would ease their worries.

"Really? You mean it?" Summer asked, very hopeful at the idea of a plan to get her child out of this dreaded place.

"Yes, but I'll forgo letting you in on the details for the time being," Winter replied. "I'd like to write it down in its full details for myself before I go giving it to anyone else."

Well, excluding Weiss, because her becoming friends with the others might be what might make or break this idea. She had no doubt that Ruby's group of friends were excellent planners, but it would be easier for them if they had two Schnees on their side.

"But-"

"Take your time, but we would greatly appreciate it if you could have this plan executed by the time that new doctor arrives," Raven interrupted whatever plead Summer had; she trusted Winter, after all, she had been taking care of Ruby for a few years now.

"I'll do my best," was all Winter could give them for right now.

In the meantime, all she could do was catch up with them about other things before Ruby's appointment. Hopefully Weiss would be able to join in Ruby's friend group.

Today was the day, the day that Ruby would be able to talk to Winter. She was hyped, so much so that she didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night, but still enough to get through the day. She'd been up since at least seven in the morning, and she wasn't typically awake until at least eleven or noon. Well, she supposed it wasn't all that bad, her appointment was at ten...which was half an hour from now. Wow, had she really been that deep in thought? She shook her head. At least she'd eaten already, she'd been worried she would forget. What should she do in the mean time? Read? No, she'd get too distracted and end up late.

"Whatcha thinkin' about this time sis?" Yang tried to make her presence known as least startling as possible, as she didn't want her sister going to this appointment upset.

Though, Ruby still jolted a little bit. She took a breath before she spoke up.

"Thanks for not scaring me very much this time," Ruby smiled at her sister. "And I still have a little bit of time before I need to go to Doctor Schnee's office, so I was trying to figure out what I could do to pass the time."

"Don't you just call her Winter most of the time?" Yang knew this was off topic, but she was curious to know.

"Well, yeah, but I get in trouble when there's another doctor around to hear it."

"Screw them, you know her better than they do, probably."

"Yeah, well, I don't like getting in trouble, they always have this scary look in their eyes when they warn me."

"I'll beat 'em up for lookin' at you like that," Yang's tone dropped.

"It's fine sis, I know not to say Doctor Schnee's first name around them, so it shouldn't happen anymore."

Yang sighed.

"Alright, if you say so, but if it does happen again, I'll knock 'em to the ground."

"Heard loud and clear Yang."

"Anyway, it's time for my testing, so I should probably head over before I get yelled at for being late, see ya later Rubes."

"Bye Yang," Ruby waved at her as she took off.

She looked at the clock. Just twenty more minutes. Twenty more minutes until she'd get answers. She was ready.

And so the time had finally come. Ruby had made her way to Winter's office, a determined look in her eyes. She knocked on the door, getting an answer only seconds later. Winter chuckled when she saw Ruby's expression.

"My, that's quite the look in your eyes; much more confident than usual are we?" Winter asked, letting Ruby into the room.

"I have my reasons," Ruby smiled as she entered the room, only to find that the two of them weren't alone.

She looked at this new face with confusion before looking to Winter.

"U-um, Winter, who's this?"

"You dolt, you don't remember me?" This new girl seemed rather offended.

"Weiss, remember what I told you," Winter warned.

"Yes Winter," Weiss sighed.

Wait a minute, did she say 'Weiss?' Ruby's head whipped to look at this girl. Oh yeah, she did look familiar. The silvery white hair and the height similarity. This was definitely the girl she'd run into a few days ago. Ruby's confidence was suddenly drained, her face flushed with embarrassment. Even though she had an apology prepared, she just wasn't ready for the confrontation. She fumbled over her words as she tried to speak.

"I...um...yeah...I remember you now...I ran...into you..." she was internally smacking herself for her poor performance.

"Yes, that was me, but you weren't entirely at fault," Weiss replied. "I hadn't realized you had just gotten done with testing, and I should've been paying more attention to my surroundings as well."

"I...what?" Ruby was even more confused now; wasn't this the girl who had yelled at her? "Uh, I...was gonna apologize to you...I should've been paying attention too...it's just...really hard after testing..."

"Understandable, and I accept your apology," Weiss gave her a small smile.

"I, um, accept yours too," Ruby replied, not really knowing how to react to all of this.

Had Weiss come here just to apologize? Ruby had been partially in the wrong for not paying attention after all. But hey, at least this was better than constantly being at each other's throats.

"Alright, now that that's over with, Ruby, shall we get on with your check up?" Winter chimed in after staying quiet for this small conversation.

"Huh? Oh...uh, yeah," her attention went to Winter now, until she remembered one of the things she'd wanted to do. "Er, one last thing!"

Neither Schnee girl could get in a word as Ruby rushed forward and gave Weiss a hug, leaving both the others in surprise.

"I...what are...what are you doing?!" Weiss' face was flushed as she asked her question.

"A friend of mine...she likes to, um, do her research," Ruby explained, "and when I asked about you...she said your dad put you through testing. I just...I felt bad..."

Both Winter and Weiss were shocked at this revelation. Winter because a patient had somehow acquired that knowledge, which meant it was likely easily accessible. This meant her father's staff were even more horrid at their job than she thought. Weiss had been shocked because not only had Ruby just apologized, she'd given her a hug for her father's awful decision. Someone other than her sister cared.

"Ruby, which one of your friends acquired such a fact?" Winter inquired, knowing full well who it likely was.

"Uh..." Ruby pulled away from the hug and averted her gaze, thinking maybe she'd said too much.

"Neither of you are going to get in trouble, as I'll be keeping this to myself," Winter explained. "I'm merely curious as to who it was."

"It...it was Blake," Ruby answered hesitantly.

"I figured as much," Winter smirked. "Such a smart girl she is, maybe we could put that to use."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Let's get through this check up first, alright?" Winter made sure the door was closed before she said anything more. "I'll tell you as soon as we're finished."

As antsy as Ruby was about it, she just nodded, because at least she'd know soon. It looked like Weiss was staying for this too, she guessed. Maybe it had to do with what Winter had to say to her. For now, she hopped up onto the hospital bed, her legs dangling off the edge.

"So, Dr. Valore says you were able to break the record of your top speed," yup, she always got right to it. "Were there any sort of side effects?"

"Not really, I just couldn't keep that new speed up for a very long amount of time. I think it only lasted a few seconds," she wasn't entirely sure, everything was kind of hazy afterwards; she barely remembered getting up onto the bed for her shot.

"I see, in that case, we'll keep you at that speed until you're able to tolerate it better," Winter grabbed her clipboard and jotted some notes down. "Any problems with your shot?"

"Other than the usual pain, no," Ruby couldn't help but shudder thinking about it, making a little noise in the process.

"Good, good," Winter nodded in approval, though now was the hard part.

Typically she'd end the appointment with a 'keep it up' and 'see you soon,' but this time was different. Weiss felt the mood change, but Ruby seemed oblivious, just looking rather confused.

"So, uh, anything else then?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Yes, actually, there's a matter of importance that I must discuss with you," Winter was surprised that Weiss hadn't spoken up yet.

"I...what..." it took a few seconds before it clicked in her head. "Is, um, this about Dr. Valore's vacation?"

"Yes, and typically I wouldn't be allowed to share any information regarding your temporary doctor, but this time is quite drastically different," Winter explained.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked worriedly now.

"To put it lightly, our father," she made sure to gesture to Weiss, "hired someone from our rival hospital for the job."

"Um...?" Ruby was more confused at this statement.

"Our rival hospital hires doctors with a worse standing than the ones here, meaning they're twice as terrible to their patients," Weiss finally spoke up.

"...Oh," Ruby's voice cracked, her worst fear coming to life.

"I know it's a lot to take in, and it's likely something you've been fearing," Winter placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "but it's something I feel that you need to know so that you can prepare yourself accordingly."

Ruby could only nod, not really knowing how to respond. She was glad Winter had told her, but she was scared out of her mind knowing what was to come.

"Her name is Cinder Fall, but of course you'd be calling her Doctor Fall," Weiss explained in a soft voice. "We aren't able to confirm any of the awful things she's done, so there's not a whole lot we can do, but we can tell you some rumors."

"All we know is that she's likely physically abused and mentally scarred her patients," Winter added. "I'm doing my best to look into each individual case to see what she might pull."

"I...don't know...how to...what..." Ruby was speechless; how was she supposed to react? Mostly scared with so many unknowns right now.

"This must be a lot to take in," Winter sighed, knowing no matter how lightly she tried to put it, this would still be the outcome. "However, there is a silver lining to all this."

"...What?" This got Ruby's attention, enough to snap her out of her fears for a moment.

"Winter has a plan," Weiss put shortly, as Winter would probably explain it better.

"A plan? What kind of plan?" There wasn't much they'd be able to do.

"An escape plan," she'd known their parents tried all those years ago, but they'd still failed. However, she felt this time would be different.

"I dunno Winter, we've all been thinking about it for a while, but we still can't come up with a good one without someone getting hurt," Ruby felt uncertain about this.

"That's why I'll be helping you," Winter smirked, "and so will Weiss."

Well, that made sense at least, help from a doctor would certainly help, and Ruby knew that Weiss probably wanted out of here. So she just nodded for the time being to let Winter explain.

"Remind me what semblances your friends have first, as out of all of you, you're the only one I really keep track of."

"Oh, uh," Ruby had to think for a moment, there were a lot, "The more damage Yang takes, the stronger she gets, and so far she's been able to break the world's strongest metal. Blake can make clones of herself, um, Pyrrha can control metal stuff. Ren just told us that his is masking emotions, and Nora gets stronger with electricity."

"What about Jaune?" Winter asked.

"Late bloomer or something, he still doesn't have one," Ruby explained.

"I see, alright, when I was planning before, I had forgotten some of the semblances, but now I can complete my thoughts," Winter replied.

"So, what do you fully have in mind then Winter?" Weiss asked.

"I'm going to write it down, as occasionally the walls have ears," she looked to the door where she could see a couple other doctors walk by.

Both Ruby and Weiss nodded as Winter wrote the plan down. It took a few minutes, but it got done, and Winter handed to sheet to Ruby so that she could read it.

First, Weiss will need to join your group of friends, as if she joins later, they'll likely doubt that they can trust her since she's a Schnee. Over time they should learn to trust her. However, we will want this to happen by next month, as that's when I plan to execute this plan.

Secondly, use Blake's ability to gather information; the shift rotation of the doctors roaming the halls during the day. We will need to know how long it takes them to switch. Have her especially take notice at night, as that's when there are less staff in the building.

Thirdly, when the time comes to execute the plan, we will make use of Nora. We will give her a small electric shock, and during a shift change, have her mess with all control panels regarding security. This will turn of the security cameras, walls to traps escapees, and all other forms of security other than the staff hired by my father.

Before any of this, however, between shift changes, we will use Pyrrha. We'll decide on one certain route we will want to take out of the building. On that route, we will have Pyrrha bend the sliding walls slightly, trapping them where they are and rendering them useless even if they were to get the power back on quickly.

The moment we go through with this plan, we will utilize Blake once more, having her make clones to trick the guards into places we won't actually be going to, hopefully lessening the load on the way out.

If need be, our fighters will be Ruby and Yang. Ruby is able to move fast enough to knock any opponents down at close range, and perhaps even render their senses useless out of pure shock at the sudden fast wind blowing past them. Yang will be able to utilize her her strength, but I will require she not kill anyone in the process.

I'm still working out where Ren's semblance will happen to come in handy, but if you have any ideas, please feel free to speak your mind.

Now, the route we'll pick out will have to lead to an elevator, as I know a way out through the basement that's safe. We'll have to use Pyrrha's semblance to send us down, however, if the power is not back on by the time we reach the elevator.

I'm sure you're wondering what happens if we run into someone who has a weapon.

The doctors aren't equipped with anything other than their tools, including myself, so Pyrrha can easily handle that. Guns may be harder. Bullets are made of metal material, but they could potentially cause an explosion if squeezed by Pyrrha's semblance. I'd say we could likely rely on Ruby to knock them off of their feet before they can react. For tasers, put Nora in the way, as they won't harm her.

Oh, and don't worry, I do have a place we can go to when we escape. If anyone has any questions when you tell them of this plan, have them come straight to me.

That was a lot to take in, but it was easy to understand. Ruby nodded as she read through the plan once more to be sure she had it all. Weiss had even made her way over to read it herself. She too had nodded as she looked it over.

"I wouldn't know how to include a emotion-masking power myself," Weiss said aloud, and Ruby couldn't help but agree.

"It's a good plan though, but when should I tell everyone?" Ruby asked.

"Let Weiss integrate into your group for now, and in a week's time or so, that's when you should tell them," Winter explained.

Ruby took a breath and looked to the older Schnee with determination.

"Okay, I understand."

"Good. Now, I've set it up so that Weiss will stay in the room next to yours, which I understand was Ren's room, but I feel this would be for the best," Winter explained.

"Alrighty, let's go then Weiss, I'll show you the way there," she gave her new companion a smile.

"I'll keep you updated Winter," Weiss said to her sister before taking off with Ruby.

After both girls were gone, Winter looked down at the notes Doctor Valore had given her.

"A recent blood test shows something new sparking inside of her, perhaps a second semblance? Only time will tell at this point."

After showing Weiss to her room, the silvery haired girl stated that she'd like some time to herself to adjust to the new setting. Ruby understood and left her to her own devices before taking off to find her sister and Blake. It didn't take very long to find them, as they always kinda just chilled in the lounge when there was nothing else to do. Yang immediately perked up and waved at her little sister.

"Hey sis! How was the check up?" She asked as Ruby walked over.

"It went pretty good. Doctor Schnee said I'll be staying at my new speed for a little while before I increase it again, but otherwise everything is good," Ruby gave a thumbs up.

"Well that's good to hear, did you get any updates on that new doctor?" Yang asked, a certain edge to her voice that made Ruby not want to say anything.

"I..." Ruby averted her gaze, her voice getting much softer. "Looks like we were right to be afraid..."

At this, Yang's eyes went red, and Blake's eyes narrowed.

"I'm going to kill him..." Yang growled, "and it will be a slow and painful death..."

Meanwhile, at Beacon, Winter had already given an update call to Summer and Raven, as she did say she wanted a full plan written out before she said anything to anyone. And now she had a full plan written out. However, Summer couldn't help but worry. This plan was indeed risky. It was practically the same as when they tried it, and even though they had a bigger team, it meant a bigger risk to get caught, especially if someone fell behind. And what if they were to get separated?

"Raven, I'm worried, what if this doesn't work?" She finally voiced her concerns.

"I'm not a fan of this plan myself. It's the same plan we executed all those years ago, so I have some doubts myself," Raven stared at the wall.

"Do you think we could help them at all? Maybe Ozpin could send a team in..." Summer trailed off, wondering if that was a good plan at all.

"No, if we sent former patients over there, it would be twice as suspicious and increase the risk further."

"What can we do then?"

"Trust that our daughters can power through this challenge and get through it by themselves. Seeing us can be their reward for a job well done."

Summer just hoped that they could power through. For now, she'd just have to trust that Raven was right. She just wondered if her own emotions could power through all this hardship. But as she moved her gaze from looking out at the stars to looking at her lover, she realized just how tense Raven was, and how frustrated the usually stoic woman looked. That's when an idea clicked for Summer. She finally had it figured out.

"Love, I have an idea!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"I keep telling you we can't do much, what do you think you have?" Raven asked with a frustrated sigh.

"Winter said they'd be getting out through the basement! And she said the structure of the building hasn't changed much since we were there," Summer explained.

"What are you getting at exactly?" Raven seemed intrigued now.

"You're bonded to Yang through your semblance, what if we have Winter give us a call when they reach the basement? We could use your portals to get everyone through!" Summer explained.

"That sounds absolutely ridiculous, however, plausible," Raven hummed in thought. "We'll contact Winter again tomorrow since it's getting late. For now, rest."

Maybe they could help out after all.

I tried to make it semi long to make up for the long wait, but this was all I could push out for the time being, even though it's pretty short! I hope it looks okay, and if there are any inconsistencies, please let me know! I'm very happy to be back in action!