Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Edited by ToxicExotic


Chapter 69 - Just Like Him (Part 2)

Bastard blond, Winter growled internally as she stripped off her coat and threw it against her camp bed. Her quarters were not as large as the ones back in Atlas, but the space was enough for a bed and a table, upon which sat a mirror. Leaning into it, she inspected the new set of stitches she had received merely minutes ago. Her bottom lip had been split clean open and was already beginning to swell alongside the entire left portion of her face. Cursing that the blonde knew how to throw a punch, she lifted her hand and touched her jaw, sending a large wave of pain rushing through her body. Elm was right about it hurting like hell. The worst part though was that the cut along her nose had reopened.

Glancing back at her coat, she let out a tired sigh as her eyes found the clover pin on her lapel. She knew he'd be ashamed of how she'd acted, but what else was she supposed to do? Atlas was pretty much a warzone. After all she had done to protect it, it was falling apart at the seams and the fighting seemed endless. And the only people she was able to turn to were slowly breaking apart. After Ebi's death, Vine had retreated even further into his own head and barely spoke, while Bree had become more aggressive and confrontational, snapping at the slightest provocation. Elm had become more authoritative, trying her best to step up to what Clover had been before; but Marrow, who had always been so optimistic, had become more torn in his loyalties to both the military and their actions against the protests.

And all of those paled in comparison to the General. A man she admired and would follow until her final breath, but even she had to admit the man was looking more and more tired. No longer was he eating with his troops, no longer did he oversee drills, instead choosing to sit in his office with a worried look on his face; a look that worried even her. With the White Fang, the riots, and the council all against him, she knew the threat of martial law was looming ever closer.

Her friends, her mentor, her kingdom; they were all on the brink of destruction. And it was all because of her sister's actions. The Gods only knew what the hell she was thinking when she released such documents to the public. She had to have known how much damage they could do, she had to have known there would be such extreme consequences to so recklessly sharing what could easily be interpreted as a conspiracy between the Atlas council and the STC.

How could she have been so stupid? Her fist came down on the table, the metal lining of her glove protecting her from any harm.

"You want to tell me what that was all about?" Elm's boisterous voice said from the doorway.

Turning to look at the woman, she saw her friend leaning against the frame with a wet rag in her hand. Reaching out, she snatched the rag and slowly began wiping away the remaining blood from her chin and nose.

"None of your buthiness." She said coldly, not interested in receiving a lecture for doing her job; even if others had told her to leave it alone.

"Strange, because it sounded like you were interrogating your sister and her friend, despite James saying she wasn't at fault."

"Well James is wrong!"

"I agree, but orders are orders." Elm said and shook her head.

"Orderth won't make my sister realise her mistake."

"Again, I agree." The woman said, stepping into the room and holding her hand out. Despite Elm being one of her best friends, she still felt a rush of discomfort pulse through her at that action, but pushed it aside as she handed her the rag and stood up, barely even reaching the woman's chin. "But you can't use military assets to detain your sister when she isn't wanted for anything."

Winter looked away, but that only helped Elm get to the other side of her cheek. She knew the woman was right of course, she most certainly shouldn't have detained them, but she had lost herself in the moment.

"You don't think I understand how you feel?" Elm sighed. "I'm angry about Clover too, but your sister isn't to blame for that. And you definitely shouldn't treat her like a criminal for what she did."

Letting out a sigh, Winter shook her head and backed away from the woman. She knew Weiss wasn't to blame for what had happened to Clover, but that didn't mean she wasn't responsible for igniting the troubles in Atlas.

"I didn't intend to." She huffed and looked herself over in the small mirror, seeing that Elm had removed all of the blood.

"Yes, well I know how you are." Elm smirked. "There is a reason you and Hare butt heads so often. You both have good hearts, but you get in your own way. Something you should work on."

She scowled at the woman and rolled her eyes. While it wasn't a wrong description, it sucked to be told so by a woman she had seen struggle to fit through a door on more than one occasion.

"I miss when the only thing you would talk about was that rocket hammer."

"When all of this dies down, I'm definitely going to make it." The woman laughed, slinging the rag over her shoulder and walking towards the door.

"I will get a head start on your eulogy then."

"Make sure to mention my three gold medals." The woman said as she exited the room. "Need to make sure Hare remembers them one last time before I'm buried."

Winter winced as a small smile pulled at her lips, she shook her head and sat down on her bed. At least she still had one friend she could talk to. However, before she could lean back on her cot and relax for a couple of minutes before getting back to why she was in Atlas, she heard a scroll buzz in the pocket of her coat and reached over to pull the two devices she kept on her at all times free. Weiss' name was lit up on the personal device.

Had it been the other Scroll, she would have ignored it since she still wasn't in the best of moods, but she had sworn to always take a call on her personal device if she could. So with a sigh and her best attempt to keep herself composed, she accepted the call and raised the device to her ear.


"What?"

Winter's greeting was short and cold, exactly as Weiss had thought it would be. But she didn't care. She would endure all the shouting and scolding the woman had to offer if that made the woman more likely to help.

It had been nearly two hours since Yang had left. Two hours and she had yet to pick herself up from the floor. There wasn't really any reason to anyway, so what if she would be a little more comfortable while she cried. No, the floor suited her just fine.

"Talk or hang up, Weith. I'm busy fixing your me…"

"Sh-She left." Her voice was little more than a croak, and more tears spilled down her cheek as the words left her. "Yang left."

"What?"

The reply was much different to when she had answered the phone.

"She wa… gry I kept B-Bea… a secret from her." Weiss knew her words were getting lost as she choked them out, but it was the best she could do. "But I di... know wh-what to do becau… Ruby means every... to her and I didn't wa… lose her."

"Weiss." Winter's firm voice came through the scroll. "Calm yourself."

Her sister's comforting tone had returned, and it was because of that alone that Weiss was able to take deep breaths. Though they didn't stop the tears, they at least stopped her breath from coming out ragged.

"Good." Winter said after a minute. "Now, you said she left?"

"Y-Yes," She stuttered and swiped at her nose. "And I d-don't know if she'll come b-back."

"I can say with certainty she will."

"But what if she d-doesn't?" Weiss replied and let out a small sob. "She h-hates secrets and Ruby means more to her than anything and I s-screwed up her future. I can't l-lose her."

"And you won't." Winter replied with a tired sigh. "But, if you need me to put your mind to rest, I shall find her for you once I have finished inspection."

"Y-You will?"

"Yes." Winter's voice held an edge. "After all, I made her a promise, and I intend to keep it."

"Thank you." She whispered, despite the call having already ended.

Dropping her Scroll to the floor, she buried her head in her knees. Even after everything that had happened, Winter was still willing to help her, yet Weiss couldn't help but worry. The two women had had a falling out earlier that day, and if Weiss couldn't convince Yang to stay, could Winter really convince her girlfriend to come back?

All she could do was hope.


The cold wind of Argus breezed past Yang as she sat in a quiet corner of the city causing her to huddle her jacket around her a little tighter. She wasn't exactly sure where the spot was, since the four hours since leaving the hotel had been spent aimlessly walking around the city until night had fallen and her body had finally become too tired to walk anymore, but she quite liked the garden she had found. It was tiny, barely big enough for ten people and mainly consisting of a two-level fountain and a table with a bench. Directly behind her sat one of the huge cliffs that flanked the city, and in front of her was a small array of shops, the light that spilled through their windows the only reason she could see anything.

It was there that Yang had sat for the last hour, eyes closed on top of the table slowly sifting through her thoughts. For the first time in months, she had actually lost her temper. It was bad enough that she'd let the beast out of the cage she had tried so hard to keep it in, but afterwards she had let Weiss see it too instead of putting it back where it belonged. As angry as she was, she definitely should not have talked to Weiss like she did; especially after everything she had been through in the last twenty-four hours. However, even though she knew that, she had also meant what she had said.

Secrets had been the cause of some of the most painful things in her life. They were the reason she hadn't known about Raven and why she had been so angry with her dad after finding out. They were the reason she kept falling out with him, they were the reason she was no longer living at home, and why she was fighting with Blake. So many things in her life had been ruined because of people keeping secrets, and she wasn't about to let her future with Weiss be filled with them too. But even still, she knew practically shouting at the woman was hardly the best way to resolve their issues.

Letting out a small sigh at how badly she had handled the day, she dropped her head into her hands and ran her fingers through her hair. As she did, she heard a small clunk of something against wood and glanced up to see a paper cup had been placed on the bench in front of her.

"My attempt at a peathe offering." Said one of the few voices Yang really didn't want to hear.

Lifting her head, Yang saw Winter stood before her with a box in hand and looking considerably worse than the last time she had seen the woman. The side of her face she had punched earlier had swollen by a significant margin and her bottom lip was split open. Though she had calmed significantly since then, Yang still felt brow furrow and her nose pull into a sneer.

"Or an attempt to poison me." Yang replied apprehensively.

"Just coffee." Winter said, the swelling causing her to lisp her words a little. "I promithe."

Though Yang didn't trust the woman anymore, her body was so tired that the temptation of some kind of energy was just too much. Giving the woman a scowl, she reached out and picked up the cup, taking a long sip of the warm liquid inside.

"You sound stupid." She sneered when she was done, unable to help herself from rubbing it in.

"That tends to happen when you get punched in the face."

"You deserved it."

There was silence between them. Not caring enough to break it, Yang took another sip of the drink and grimaced. She'd never been the biggest fan of coffee, but it was better than nothing.

"Hard to argue with that." Winter sighed eventually, holding up the box. "Can I sit?"

"Do what you like." Yang shrugged noncommittally, though she did move backwards slightly.

She watched as Winter gave her a tiny nod and moved forward. Expecting the woman to use the bench, she was a little surprised when the elder Schnee sat on the table itself and placed the box both between them. Yang could already smell the delicious scent of whatever food was inside and heard her stomach rumble loudly. She didn't have to wait long however as Winter quickly pulled it open to reveal what looked to be incredibly greasy fries covered in gravy and cheese. It was definitely not something that she would have ever thought she would see a Schnee eating.

"Roman's fault." Winter shook her head and pulled one of the fries free. "He used to do all kinds of stupid things with fries. This was probably his best one though."

She placed the gravy laden potato into her mouth and winced slightly as she chewed, motioning with her hand towards the box. Just like with the coffee, Yang was hungry enough that her annoyance at Winter wasn't enough to stop her from reaching out and taking one herself. The flavour was incredible and only made her hungrier.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you." She grumbled as she reached out for another. "You're still an asshole."

Winter simply gave a slight nod of her head in return.

"I know it may not seem like it, Yang, but I do have my sister's best interests at heart."

"I don't see how hitting her is in her best interests." Yang glared coldly. "I've never smacked my sister, no matter what she did wrong."

Again, Winter gave a nod in response taking more fries and slowly chewing them. Daring a glance over to her, Yang saw some conflict in the older woman's eyes.

"You're right." Winter replied in an off voice. "As loathe as I am to admit it, I am my father's daughter. I was raised by his cruel hand, and it has helped shape me into what I am. I tried my best to keep that from Weiss while she was growing up, to make sure she turns out different, yet my way of doing so is just the same as his. Despite my best efforts to do things differently, sometimes the instinct is too strong."

"That's no excuse." Yang countered. "You know what it's like to be hit by someone who is supposed to love you. If you can't teach her without hitting her, then you shouldn't be teaching her at all."

"But if not me, then who else will?" She didn't miss the exhaustion in the woman's voice. "As much as I love my mother, she is too late to have any impact on Weiss. You have no idea how much I wish I could just be her sister, and not the one who has to punish her when she goes down the same path as our father."

Yang remembered what had been shouted at her earlier while she was pinned against the wall. How Winter had screamed about being unable to be a sister because she had to be the disciplinarian. She vaguely remembered saying something along the same line to Weiss ages ago; and on that matter alone, Yang could sympathise.

"I think I have a better idea than you think." Yang replied quietly, letting her guard down a little as her apprehension began to fade. With a groan, Yang unfolded her legs and turned so that she sat next to the specialist instead of facing her. "But Weiss is an adult now, and she doesn't need to be lectured anymore. It's about time you let her find her own way and trust that she can realise her mistakes."

"Except my biggest fear is that she won't realise them."

"Well…" Yang reached out and took a few more fries. "You don't have to worry about that. She was a mess after the attack on the mine."

Winter turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, her blue eyes locking onto lilac as she searched for the truth. More than happy to give it, Yang simply gave the woman a nod and put the fries into her mouth. They really did taste amazing.

"If you really want to just be her sister," She said with her mouth full. "Then you can be. Weiss is fine."

Winter was quiet for a full minute. Allowing her time to think, Yang watched a can roll slowly along the road. Even in the dark, she recognised the branding of a local magazine on its side. Apparently even an Atlas specialist was not immune to paparazzi; though she supposed that title was the only reason that they were not being swarmed. Finally though, after a while, Yang's attention was pulled back to the Schnee as the woman let out a sigh and reached for some food.

"I suppose you may be right." The woman said and shook her head. "Though after eight years, I have no idea how to do that."

"No idea on that one, though pretty sure this is a good first step." Yang shrugged and took another sip of the disgusting coffee. "Helping when she asks, instead of just jumping in and taking control." She glanced to the side. "She did call you, right?"

Winter looked like she was about to deny it, but seemed to think better of it and gave a nod. "She's worried you won't come back."

Yang let out a groan and threw the coffee into the nearby trash can. Just as she thought, she'd been far too harsh.

"Don't suppose she told you what happened at all?"

"I managed to make out bits and pieces." Winter replied, Yang not missing what that implied. "Something about a secret and your sister?"

"Ruby was aiming for Beacon this year," Yang explained dully. "And the only way she could go was with a scholarship..."

"Which Beacon is unable to give this year because of what was leaked."

"Exactly." Yang ran the non-greasy hand through her hair in frustration. "I don't get why she just didn't tell me! It's not like I would have blamed her."

Again, Winter was quiet, but Yang did see the woman shake her head out the corner of her eye. "Probably for the same reason every Schnee hides things. Our father."

Yang finally looked at the woman for the first time since her arrival and saw a distant look in her eyes. She'd seen that look in Raven's eyes in their first meeting, it was a look that said she was remembering something horrible. And though she wanted the explanation, she wasn't about to rush a painful memory from the woman.

"Me and my siblings have grown up under constant fear of our father's wrath. No matter what it was, we were expected to succeed or be punished. If we ever failed then it would cost our father, and then it would cost us. I can't even recall the amount of times father tore books from Weiss' room, or smashed Whitley's toys, or snapped my movies. So we learned that to keep the things we loved, we had to keep our mistakes a secret."

Winter pointed towards the edge of the city absentmindedly.

"You heard Weiss back there. Despite making a mistake leaking that document, she didn't come clean because she would lose the company. That's her instinct, all of our instincts. And it's not an easy thing to get past."

Winter stopped talking and Yang turned away from her, thinking of all the times Yang had kept important things from her; and things began to make a lot more sense. The fact that she might have to move back to Atlas had been hidden after Weiss had found out that Yang had broken up with Arslan because she couldn't do long distance. The fact she knew about Raven had been hidden after Weiss saw how she reacted to her dad hiding it from her. And even with Beacon, Weiss had been the one to encourage Ruby to go for it in the first place.

Letting out a sigh, she ran her finger through her hair again as she realised she had just done exactly what Weiss was worried about. She'd walked out and left, just as Weiss had feared. And she herself was all too familiar with that fear. Unfortunately though, that still presented more issues.

"So what exactly am I supposed to do?" Yang breathed miserably. "I can't do secrets anymore."

"So make it clear you won't." Winter said firmly, taking some of the few remaining fries and dipping them in some stray gravy. "Show her you won't stand for them."

"And if things don't change?"

"Then it's your right to do what you think is best." Winter said regretfully. "Even if that means ending a relationship that you don't see working."

Yang really hoped it wouldn't come to that. She still loved Weiss, so much that even thinking about breaking up with her made her feel hollow. But if the woman kept keeping secrets, Yang knew it would likely happen.

"Which, for the record, I hope doesn't happen."

Yang looked to the side, a little shocked by that admission after their earlier interaction. "You still like me after punching you?"

Winter let out a soft chuckle, though it quickly turned to a wince.

"If anything, it just made me like you more. It showed me that you will protect my sister."

"That's something I definitely will do." She affirmed with a nod. "But I will break your hand if you touch her like that again. You realise that, right?"

"I do." Winter grinned, stretching her arms as she stood up. "But I highly recommend you don't try such brutish tactics with my father. I may be willing to look past it, but he will have you in jail before the black eye even sets in."

"I'll keep that in mind." Yang replied. "Are you leaving?"

"Yes. I need to get back to base. I would rather not leave finding whoever called in the bomb threat against my sister to Mistral's police force." Winter sighed with a scowl. "Not with how incompetent they can be."

"And here I thought you were just here to shout at her."

Winter shook her head. "Believe it or not, even with everything happening, my sister's safety is my top priority."

Yang did believe it, because Ruby was hers. No matter how stupid or unimportant it was, Yang knew she would set aside everything to help her.

"Well, you sticking around for a little at least? Pretty sure you demanded we have dinner last time we spoke."

"Unfortunately not this time." Winter said and buttoned up her coat. "As soon as I catch whoever was foolish enough to threaten my sister, I am headed back to Atlas."

"Fair enough." She gave a nod. "Next time then, I guess."

"I'll let you both know when I am in town." Winter said and held out her hand, which Yang promptly took. "Hopefully the next time I am in town we won't end up punching each other."

It was Yang's turn to chuckle as she remembered the last time Winter had been in town they had spent some time training together. Fighting really did seem to be their thing.

"Maybe. Wouldn't count on it though."

Winter gave her a smile as their hands parted. Despite everything that had happened between them that day, as angry as she had been earlier, she couldn't help but be grateful that the air had been cleared. After all, Winter was the person Weiss loved the most, and for them to be on the outs would hardly be healthy for her relationship with the heiress. So giving the woman a nod, which was returned, she watched the elder Schnee turn and walk back to the road. After a couple of seconds, she disappeared from view and Yang collapsed back on the table with a sigh.

With how cold it was getting, she knew she should be heading back to the hotel soon. But still not quite sure what she would say when she did, Yang decided to at least finish the fries Winter had left behind while she thought about it.


Weiss' head turned quickly to the side as the door opened, the thin line of light from the hallways splitting through the darkness she'd been sitting in all night. Though she had tried to turn the television on, the noise and the light had just given her a headache, so it had quickly turned off in favour of silence. In truth, she wasn't exactly sure how long it had been since Yang left. She knew it had been daylight outside when she did, she knew it must have been a few hours; but how many? She couldn't say.

Thankfully though, the familiar head of shining blond hair walked into the room, and Weiss felt her spirits raise immediately. After an entire night of worrying that her girlfriend wouldn't return, seeing her walk back through the door was enough of a relief that Weiss instantly jumped off the couch to greet her.

The woman looked just as tired as Weiss felt. Her shoulders were slumped and dark bags were under her eyes. Her arms pulled meekly at the jacket she was wearing, and when it finally came off, she merely dropped it on the table beside the door. Though she wanted to rush in and embrace her to show how happy she was that she had returned, there was an air of apprehension around her that told Weiss she shouldn't.

"You came back." She croaked, her voice still sore from all the crying she had done that night.

"I did." Yang yawned. "And I'm very tired, so please just let me say what I have to say, and then we can go to bed. Okay?"

If Yang was still willing for them to go to bed together, that had to mean she wasn't breaking up with her. That was more than enough for her, so she gave a quiet nod and let Yang take her time with what she had to say.

"I don't like secrets, Weiss." Yang said after a couple of seconds, her fingers idly playing with each other. "I can deal with work coming first, I could even deal with it if you said you wanted to wait another month to tell your dad about us; but I won't put up with secrets. And if you insist on keeping them, then this relationship isn't going to work because I won't be sticking around so that you can keep lying to me."

Weiss had expected as much. Hell, she had expected worse. Yang was right, she shouldn't have to put up with secrets, and Weiss knew she shouldn't be keeping them.

"It's not like I'm expecting you to tell me everything." The blonde continued, her voice a little softer. "Work, your family, all of that stuff is your business and you can tell me whenever; but when it comes to us or my family, I don't want you to keep me in the dark. You tell me straight away. No waiting, no trying to find the right time; you just tell me. Got it?"

"I do." Weiss replied quickly, wanting to make sure Yang knew she was listening. "I don't want to lose you, so no more secrets. I promise."

Yang watched her carefully, and Weiss did her best to make sure she could see just how serious she was. Yang was one of, if not the best, things in her life, and she never wanted that to end. Thankfully, Yang seemed to be satisfied with her answer, and gave a small nod. Seeing it as permission, she finally rushed in and threw her arms around her. The few seconds that the hug wasn't returned felt like an eternity, but Yang's arms eventually wrapped around her back and pulled her in close.

"Good." Yang breathed, pressing a light kiss against the top of her head. "Now can we please go to bed? It's been a long ass day, and I really just want to sleep."

Despite her head being buried in Yang's chest, she gave the woman a brief nod, feeling the moisture of her tears wipe along her face. The day had been awful, full of shouting and pain and confusion, but at least she would be ending it where she knew she belonged. In the arms of the woman she loved. A woman she was determined to keep, no matter what she had to do to make sure that happened.


A/N

Hello all. So that was two-parter, huh?

All joking aside, for the first part, I really wanted to finally bring to light the issues each character has that I have been building for a while. Weiss' constant secrecy, Yang's anger and over-protectiveness, Winter's tendency to be cold or cruel. I wanted to finally bring to light each of their destructive tenancies and make you question each of them. It was very much a chapter you were not supposed to enjoy xD

Then, in the second part, I wanted to wind it down and dissect them a little, while also showing the consequences of those issues. I promise, this chapter is not the end of those consequences, and there is more to come, so I hope you at least liked this enough to look forward to that.

There were also A LOT of smaller things in these two chapters. So many smaller callbacks and references to earlier chapters, and I'm interested to see how many you lot have spotted xD I little hint. Winter has a few, but Yang and Weiss also have a fair amount too.

But anyway that's it from me. Hopefully you enjoyed this two-parter from a writing standpoint at least. And I apologise profusely for not capitalizing on this chapter being the 69th, it makes me sad too but you know... timelines ;-; Regardless of that though, I hope you are all doing well and I will see you in 2 weeks.

Chapter 70 - Aweburn Fletch will be up on the 15th of October.

Reviews

timrocks99, SoyBrain, Zoro50, and jm4reader. Thank you so much to all your kind words, and for enjoying the series :D