A/N: Sorry about the long abscense. Life really didn't let me be creative the last few months in regards of the story. Thank you for your patience. I hope to have more time the next few weeks to get some more chapters out.

Chapter 22

It was getting dark outside. For the millionth time, Ruby looked up at the grandfather clock in the living room. Her strong foot hammered a steady staccato into the floor, shaking the expensive drinking glasses in the cupboard on the other hand of the room.

Where was Weiss?

Sure, she said she didn't know when she would be back, but she also said she would call. It was now ten past eight, and still her scroll was silent. What if something happened to her?

She needed to call Yang, check in if Blake was home and Weiss may be with her. She had to know. With hasty steps she walked to her landline phone and dialed the number.

"Xiao-Long-Belladonna household," came Yang's voice.

"Hey, Yang, Ruby here. Listen, is Blake there?"

There was a short silence on Yang's end, not longer than maybe a second, but it told Ruby everything she needed to know before her sister even replied: "No. Isn't she still with Weiss?"

"I don't know," Ruby admitted. "She is not home yet, but I know Blake wanted to visit her at work. What if something happened?"

"Do you believe something could have?"

"Possibly? Maybe? I'm not sure. I fear they might have gotten themselves into trouble. Weiss said she would call me when she's on her way back, but she hasn't called yet!"

"So?" Yang asked. "She's still at work then. Have you called her?"

"Yes, of course! But she is not picking up. That's not like her." Ruby's voice almost broke.

"Sis, relax, okay? Let me call Blake real quick. I'll ask her where the two are, how does that sound?"

"Please, would you?"

Ruby could hear Yang walking into her living room. A little chime sounded out, the beeping of a digital number pad, and then came the ringing tone.

"Now we will know what's going on," said Yang, trying to calm her sister down.

But the tone still sounded.

And it kept going.

And going.

"Okay…," began Yang, "that is strange…"

"I'm telling you, Yang, something is not right here. What if they were found out and are now in danger?"

Ruby could hear Yang sigh out. "Okay, now you are making me nervous. Do you know why they wanted to meet up?"

She was taken aback. Looking at the phone in bewilderment, she carefully asked: "Blake didn't tell you?"

"Of course, she told me," Yang said. She sounded almost insulted. "I just want to make sure she told me everything. Blake has a habit of… withholding information until she got something solid or her article is in print. Old habits die hard."

"Apparently the two try to get dirt on Weiss' chairmen for something they did. I don't know what, though. All I know is that Weiss let Blake gain access to some highly confidential files."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Yang groaned. "Shit. That is concerning."

"And Weiss has her appointment tomorrow." Suddenly, Ruby gasped. "Oh, God, Yang, she is pregnant! What if something happened to the baby?"

Yang was again silent for a second. She seemed to consider her words carefully. "Listen, if they are not back by tomorrow morning, we will inform Winter, okay?"

God, Ruby wanted to protest. She just knew Weiss was in trouble. And she knew Yang was just as concerned about Blake… But she also knew that Yang's suggestion was reasonable. If she called the police or the military or whoever the fuck right now, they would tell her to wait, as well.

"Okay," she sighed out. "But I won't sleep tonight, I can tell you that."

"You and me both," responded Yang, concern evident in her voice.

Ruby was right. She didn't sleep at all this night. She was too tense for that. The minutes felt like hours, and when the hour struck 1 in the morning, she was fidgety and sweaty.

A light was passing over the windows. Ruby jumped out of the sofa and ran to the entrance door, hoping the car currently driving up to the garage to be her wife's.

It wasn't. She knew it the moment she paid closer attention to the headlights. Not the right shape, not the right color. Too bright. That wasn't Weiss coming home.

It was Winter and Qrow.

Ruby could feel her legs giving in under her, before the two even spoke up. She knew why they were here.

"We found Weiss' car," Winter began. There was hesitation in her voice, sadness. "It was involved in a collision."

Ruby couldn't fight the tears anymore. A wave of hot and cold washed over her as her vision blurred. She fell to the ground, mentally pleading to every god she could think of that Weiss was okay.

Qrow carefully approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go inside," he offered.

She tried desperately to regain her composure. She wanted to panic, to scream, to hit something, someone. But she knew it wouldn't bring her wife back. No, she needed to be strong, now more than ever.

She wiped a stray tear from her face. Her voice was shaky as she asked: "What happened?"

"Her car was rammed by another on an intersection," Winter began. "It seemed like it was deliberate. There were no skid marks or any other indication the car tried to break before impact."

Ruby let out a shaky breath. She steeled herself before asking: "What… what about Weiss?"

"Her car was empty. There was water and ice all over the intersection."

"She fought back," Ruby said. She felt a glimmer of hope taking root inside her heart.

"It seems like it, yes," Winter agreed. "However, that's all we know so far. We are still investigating what happened afterwards. She and the perpetrators just seem to have disappeared."

Ruby's mind ran wild. What if she was injured during the fight, and now collapsed somewhere, where no one would find her? What about the baby? Good God, what about the baby?

"Oh, one thing still puzzles us," Qrow added. "Maybe you can help us. From what we've deduced so far, she seemed to have a passenger. Do you know who - "

"BLAKE!" Ruby yelled out in panic. "Blake was with her in the car! I have to call Yang!"

She tried to make a beeline to the phone, but was blocked by Winter stepping in front of her. "Blake? Why would she…" The images from last time filled her mind. When she and Qrow interrupted their dinner. Blake was there. What was it they said? 'We know'. We. Her eyes widened in shock upon realizing. "No…," she whispered, then focused her attention back to Ruby. "You're telling me that Weiss pulled Blake into this shit?"

"Blake was the one who figured most of this mess out. I even want to say that she knows more than you."

Winter couldn't believe what she heard. Well, she could, she knew what Blake was capable of, but she didn't like to hear it. She combed her hand through her bangs and sighed out. "I have to inform the men at the scene."

Ruby stepped past Winter digging her scroll out. Tense, she dialed Yang's number again.

"Yeah," came Yang's voice from the other end of the line. Her voice sounded rough. She probably fell asleep, despite her claim to the contrary before.

"Weiss and Blake have been attacked!" Ruby blurted out.

"WHAT?"

Surprised by the sudden yell, Ruby quickly pulled the receiver from her ear. "Yes! Winter and Qrow are here right now. Weiss' car was in a collision, and there was a fight!"

A short silence was her answer. Ruby grew nervous. Maybe Yang collapsed from the shock? "Yang?"

"Tell Winter and Qrow to stay put. I'll be right there."

This time, it was Ruby's turn to reply with a confused: "What?"

"I'll be there in two minutes, tops!"

Ruby had no time to ask what she was talking about. Yang ended the call.

"How did she take it?"

Ruby turned around to Qrow standing behind her. "She said you two shouldn't leave. She'd be coming over."

Qrow gave her a confused look. "What does she mean by that? No airships go in the middle of the night. How does she expect to get here, tele…" His train of thoughts stopped dead in its tracks when he realized.

Ruby raised a puzzled eyebrow. Much like Weiss always did.

"Raven," explained Qrow.

"Oh, her portals."

Qrow gave her a nod, and with that, a tense silence fell over the house. Winter was outside, talking over her scroll with her men, so it were just Ruby and her uncle standing in the dimly lit corridor of her house, waiting impatiently for something to break the silence.

Ruby decided she would be the one to do it. "God, I hope Weiss and the baby are okay."

"I am certain they are," Qrow ensured. "We will do everything we can do find them."

"You better."

The door to the house opened again, and Winter returned. "Okay, my men are informed. They will scope out the surroundings and look for Weiss and Blake."

"Thank you."

Suddenly, the air in the room felt heavy. Ruby felt pressure on her body, like a big blanket covered her from head to toe. Before she could really grasp the feeling, there was a deep sudden sound, like a tiny implosion. And following it, in the middle of the hallway, a red portal opened.

Ruby pushed herself off the wall she was resting on. "There she is."

But it wasn't just Yang stepping out of the portal. She was the first one to exit it, face heavy with worry, but following her was Taiyang, in his arms Türkis, and finally Raven.

"What do we know about what happened?" Yang asked immediately after leaving the portal.

Ruby was about to answer, but Winter was faster: "Nothing substantial. Car crash, deliberate, Weiss fought back. That's all. My men are informed, they are looking for Weiss and Blake."

"Good," was Yang's short reply.

Raven approached Ruby, her face showing genuine concern. "If we can help in any way, just say the word."

"You can help," Yang interjected, "by taking care of Türkis. That's why I gave her to dad."

"And we will take good care of her, trust me," Taiyang agreed from behind Raven. The way he looked at his partner made it clear he was more talking to Raven than his daughter.

"Are you serious? You want us to do nothing?" Raven protested.

"Well, what could we do, then?" Taiyang replied. "Do you know where Weiss and Blake are; how to get to them?"

Raven decided not to answer, and instead just huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms. He had a point, she knew it.

"Don't worry, Mom. We can handle it."

There was a slight smile on Raven's face, her body poised as she answered Yang: "Of course you can, you are my daughter, after all."

"Okay, hold up!"

All eyes in the room were immediately drawn to the whitehaired Atlesian officer.

"None of you will do anything. This is a job for the Atlesian military, not you civilians. Any interference on your part and I will arrest you. Did I make myself clear?"

With hasty, angry steps did Ruby approach Winter. "I will not sit idly by and watch your troop of baboons fumble around in the hopes that they may stumble over her! Goddamnit, she is my wife!"

Winter stood her ground. Her ice blue eyes were fixed on Ruby's silver, her voice calm, strong, with immovable and demanding presence, as she replied: "And my sister."

And Ruby did something which surprised their onlookers: She took a slight step back. It was most likely involuntarily. Maybe Ruby didn't even realize she did it. But right now, the woman who killed Salem and slaughtered thousands of Grimm, who spat into the face of death and forced it to swallow, found her match.

"Now," Winter continued, "if you excuse us, Qrow and I need to get back to work."

"You are leaving already? I thought we were discussing plans on what to do", Yang protested.

Winter regarded her with a confused look. "We were only here to inform Ruby about what happened to Weiss, nothing more. I told you not to interfere."

As Winter walked towards the door without so much as another look, Qrow snaked his way past the group, nodded a hello towards his sister, and said to Ruby: "Sorry, kiddo, she is right. This is our job. Or rather, her job."

He walked past Winter and opened the entrance door for her. She gave him a warm smile as a thank you. Halfway through the door, she stopped. "Ruby?"

The calling of her name seemed to pull her out of her rigor. "Y…yes?"

"I will not rest until we find them save and sound. I will turn the entire continent on its head, if I have to. I will find them."

The silence after the two left and the door closed, was overwhelming. It was Yang, who broke the silence. "So, what now?"

The look on Ruby's face was one of raw determination, one Yang saw many times before, back in her time in team RWBY. "Now, we will save Weiss and Blake."