This fanfic is actually nearing the end, and I have been procrastinating. My friends know why.

She smells cookies baking in the kitchen, and she can hear the audible sound of a melodic voice floating through the halls. The child lifts her head from underneath the blanket and looks around, momentarily confused by the darkness enveloping her.

She scrambles to her feet and pulls the blanket off of her head in the process, she grins and runs out of her room as quickly as her little feet can carry her.

The smell of chocolate embraces her senses just before her foot slips and she slides across the floor, landing with a loud thud against the wall. Rubbing her head, she hears a light laugh and she looks to her side to see a woman grinning at her from the oven.

"Good morning, Ruby." She greets lovingly as the little girl climbs back to her fee to approach her, "Are you okay? Did you hit your head?"

The woman kneels down to examine her and she immediately protests, having been cut off from the freshly baked cookies laying on the counter. The smell was rich and mouthwatering. "Mommy!" She complains as she attempts to duck her mother's incoming hug. "No! I want cookies!"

"Not yet, sweetheart." Her mother giggles as she stands back up, using her mittens to move the tray before Ruby is able to climb up and grab a cookie. "Santa needs cookies too, remember?"

Ruby frowns at the woman with a pout. "No, he doesn't."

Summer giggles and pats the child's head affectionately, "Alright, tell you what, I'll give you one cookie if you sit down and wait patiently for breakfast-"

Her expression drops when there's a loud knock at the door, she sighs and moves away from Ruby. She looks back to her with unreadable eyes. "You be a good girl, okay, Ruby? Be nice."

The child quietly follows behind her mother and dread spreads through her small being, matching the anxiety quickly building up in Summer as she opens the door. Ruby is unable to see the person at the door, but she's aware of the annoyance and fear in her mother's eyes.

Summer clears her throat, "Anwir," she addresses a tall, brooding man as he steps into their home without waiting for an invite, "is there a problem?" He is wearing dark clothing, and his skin is milky white. There is a scar over his right eye, distorting his vision.

"You will address me as Gunslinger." He says with a deep voice, his voice lacking any sort of emotion. "You informed me that Harbinger's brat is here?"

Summer visibly bristles and Ruby moves behind the counter, untrusting of the man in their home. "Her name is Ruby," her words drip venom, "and she is my daughter."

Gunslinger doesn't flinch. "Where is the child?"

She remains quiet for a moment, glaring at him and searching his eyes for malicious intent. When he reaches for the gun attached to his side, Summer finally speaks. "Ruby, come here." The child moves from behind the counter and timidly approaches her mother, cowering underneath the dark gaze of the man before them.

"What do you want with her?"

The man frowns at Summer, his lip curls up into a sneer. "I believe she is old enough to begin her training."

"Training?" Summer sounds cautious and on edge. "Gunslinger, she is only five." Ruby moves to hide behind her mother's leg, not liking the look in the man's eyes, nor the expression on his face. "Wait until she is at least twelve, I beg of you…"

"She is the child of the two most wanted criminals in Remnant, she has the blood of the Organization's top two assassins in her." Gunslinger's voice is cool and collected. "I believe she will be just fine."

"Absolutely not." Summer stretches a hand out behind her, keeping Ruby shielded from him. "I don't want my five-year old daughter carrying around bombs!"

Gunslinger's expression morphs into a malicious smirk and he withdraws the weapon from his side, pointing the barrel at the young mother. "I don't believe you have a choice, Mamba. The child becomes one of us… And she will never escape alive."

[present]

"Wait, what d'ya mean she said I can't come into work today?" Ruby stares at her expression in the mirror, baffled. She straightens her sleeves and steps back to examine her full appearance. She's wearing a tuxedo, a black jacket draped comfortably over her shoulders and a bright white dress shirt standing out against the dark color. She wears matching black jeans and black shoes, and her hair is brushed back and silked with gel.

She nods in acceptance and picks her phone up off the counter, opening the door as Penny answers.

She sounds confused. "I do not know," Ruby steps into her bedroom and sets the phone up against her lamp, sitting down to put her shoes on, "after you went home last night, five guys came inside and started asking about you. Your boss was frightened, so she told me to inform you not to come to work today."

Now, she knows what this was about.

Of course they were behind her inability to return to work today…

She would never escape the mafia.

Yang had called in for a favor again, and Ruby accepted that she would never fully escape the mafia's grasp and agreed to accompany them. They'll be joining one of the older platoons, led by a man who addressed himself as Spite, he bore a heavy resemblance to Ace.

Ruby lets out a sigh. She doesn't have Weiss anymore, so what was the point of even trying to escape? To create a better life for herself? No chance… They'll always be on her tail. Now that it seems that she may have been fired without being informed about it, she may have to resort to servicing again.

Her eyes wander towards the single framed picture she had on her desk and her heart forms a weight in her chest. A photo on one of her first dates with Weiss, Neptune had taken it for them; Ruby was balancing a berry on her nose and Weiss watched her from the background, affection and adoration twinkling in her eyes, mixed in with a bit of exasperation and amusement.

"Ruby?"

She looks back towards her phone and sets the picture face-down, hearing a faint noise coming from the other end of the phone that sounded like something crashing. "I'm here, what happened?" She answers after a moment, swallowing the frustration of abandonment and strolling towards the other side of the room to put her shoes on. Penny doesn't reply. "Penny?"

The line had been cut as if she'd lost service. Ruby's brows pull together as she slips her shoe on, hopping over to the device and checking her mobile network. Well, she still had full bars. Shrugging, she clicks her phone off and slides it into the pocket of her suit. As she brushes her hair back again, taking one last glance in the mirror, she strolls out of the bedroom.

Ruby seats herself on the couch and picks her computer up, running her index finger over the mousepad. Her lip quirks up and her brows pull together when she sees a new icon at the corner of her screen, announcing that the app has finished downloading.

She opens it and glances to ensure that she is still connected to her apartment's internet, her app offers her a full list of activities being sent through.

Rapidly changing numbers capture her attention and her eyes flicker towards an IP that appears to be more active, she immediately shuts off her location and connects it to her apartment building's internet. She spends a few minutes navigating through her internet provider's system and googling her apartment building's IP address, searching for something that will lead her back to the area she will obtain old footage from. There is a secure folder.

She logs into the terminal, activating her VPN and opens it in suspicion that it is the location she's looking for.

Finding the information needed, she exits the tab and jots down the pin, she accesses the secure folder and a terminal labeled "File Transfer" appears on her screen. 'You were quick, Blake.' After finding the needed footage, she downloads it to the USB she'd connected to her computer earlier this morning and logs out, deleting the app and disconnects from her private network.

A knock comes at the door and she quickly opens her browser page, concealing the app and turning her computer away. She scurries off the couch and approaches the door, clearing her throat and shaking off the jittery nerves attached to her body.

Ruby opens the door and her heart plummets when her eyes meet with a pair of familiar blue.

"Weiss…" She whispers under her breath as her throat and chest tighten up.

"Ruby." Weiss greets her warmly, she makes no move to enter the room. "I… I came to talk."

She wants to trust her, but a small voice in the back of her head reminded her of the abandonment she'd felt. The look in the older woman's eyes was genuine, but then again, she'd thought Weiss' love for her was real, too. She couldn't be fooled again. She wasn't that naive.

Ruby sighs and her grip tightens on the doorframe. "If ya here to break up, you're sorta kinda too late… I took the hint." She turns away from her, ready to close the door.

Weiss' eyes widen incredulously and she shakes her head, appalled. She's quick to stop the door with her hand firm on the wood. "What? No! I just want to talk." She doesn't believe her. She doesn't want to. This situation was all too familiar. "Wait," Weiss places a hand on the door to keep it from shutting, "Ruby, I'm sorry…"

The brunette glances back at Weiss with a stoic expression, "About what?" She asks, her voice lacking any sort of emotion. She doesn't want to be hurt again.

"My father found out." Weiss answers reluctantly, "He threatened to..." She hesitates, "He threatened to hurt you if I didn't obey him."

Frustration stings at Ruby like a thousand bees, she runs a hand through her hair, letting out a stressed sigh before finally meeting Weiss' eyes calmly. "That man can't do jackshit." Weiss looks at her, unsure. "The biggest threat he's got is his words, unless he has some kinda ally with the Organization, which I highly doubt because his power-hungry ass wouldn't be of use to them."

Weiss chuckles weakly at the insult, "Well, I didn't know. I just didn't want to take a chance." She wrings her hands, "He was also monitoring my calls and my text messages, so if I responded or answered in any way, I was afraid of what he'd do…"

Ruby stays quiet for a minute, noticing the fear behind her girlfriend's eyes. Her mind returns to Weiss' reaction only a few days ago, the complete, utter terror in her eyes when Ruby's fist soared past her. Despite knowing she wouldn't harm her, she still reacted like that and buried the situation almost immediately.

There was always a bit of fear and uncertainty in her voice whenever she mentioned her father. Sure, she was strong. But something had happened to destroy her ability to stand up to him… He'd hurt her. "You were afraid of what he'd do to you?"

The woman clears her throat, "I suppose you can say that…" She shakes her head and Ruby frowns when she changes the subject. "Anyway, I'm sorry I ignored you, Ruby," she was avoiding the topic again, "I really wanted to respond, I did… I felt terrible for not even opening your messages or answering your calls." Her words die down to a whisper. "I'm so sorry... Especially with how I kicked you out. You must've thought I was using you..."

She was right, but her previous service was a job. There was a difference.

There were no romantic feelings involved in what they did, Ruby never allowed them to touch her in any sort of way as she never felt any emotional bond towards them. She satisfied them, took her money, and left. When she was with Weiss, that was a whole different story.

Ruby feels hurt twinge inside her chest upon seeing the tears in the woman's eyes. She's holding back, her trembling hands and shaky voice was evidence of that; Weiss' hands turned into fists.

"I know that's…" Weiss isn't even looking at her now. "I know that's what those women did to you…" Weiss' voice is laced with pain. "I-I know that they used you… That-that they didn't care about how you felt. I made you think the same thing..."

Wait, was she comparing herself to them? Unacceptable.

"I wouldn't blame you for hating me…"

Hate her? She could never. She resented her for abandoning her the way she did, but now that she understood why…

Perhaps she was the one who overreacted. Weiss rarely spoke of her life at the manor and never mentioned her family, what did she expect? If her so-called family was good to her, then she wouldn't have had a problem talking about them.

Ruby even already had an idea of what her father was like beforehand, his sort of activity was common talk when she was being trained. Her co-workers were always mentioning how amatuer he was, saying that his money is the only reason he hasn't been arrested.

She sighs. She wouldn't put physical abuse past him, either.

"Weiss."

The mentioned woman looks at her and becomes considerably more tense, it was almost as if she was looking past Ruby instead of directly at her. "I'm sorry… I took this way outta proportion."

"W-what?" Weiss murmurs in befuddlement, "But I didn't-"

She cuts her off, raising a hand to silence her and her brows pulling together when the woman momentarily flinches. "You're not to blame, Weiss… You were being manipulated through fear. I should've trusted you," Ruby says quietly and softly as an attempt not to frighten her, she lets out a strained laugh, "I suppose I'm more like Yang than I thought. Probably got abandonment issues."

Weiss' voice is barely higher than a whisper. She's not looking at her down, hiding her eyes behind her messy bangs, her words crack; "I didn't want to abandon you..."

"I know, and technically you didn't…" Ruby moves to face her and tilts her chin up so that she can look at her. "Look at me, Snowpea." Weiss' eyes met hers upon hearing her nickname, the softness in her face was back. It was vague, but it was there. "Now that I know what actually happened… I don't blame you. I'm sorry for being upset."

"You don't…?" She asks with a puzzled voice.

"Not a bit." Ruby smiles at her, thankful she's gotten her attention. "Like I said, I shoulda trusted you… But I jumped to conclusions and assumed the worst…"

She was hurt by previous events, such as her mother's death, never meeting her father, and her Uncle's sudden disappearance. Her life after Qrow died wasn't all that great either… She never took a moment to just grieve.

Now, it was catching up with her. And she was still running.

"I did the same thing a long time ago." Weiss mutters quietly, "I suppose we don't know each other as well as we thought."

Ruby just hums in acknowledgement. All she could hear was the deafening silence ringing in her ears.

Weiss suddenly laughs and Ruby's heart skipped a beat, reeling her back to her senses. She hasn't heard her laugh in days. It was one of her most favorite sounds in the world. "Well," it's almost like a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders just judging by the sound of her voice, "I guess we're both at fault, huh?"

"Guess so." Ruby whispers in awe. "We have a lot to learn about each other, and about bein' in a relationship," she looks at her, meeting her eyes. "Not like either one of us had a good life to know what love looks like."

"We can always try again." Weiss suggests.

Ruby smiles. "I'd like that."

Weiss seems to deflate and the tension around her dissolves. The heiress sighs and she moves towards her, Ruby is briefly taken aback when she wraps her arms around her, securing her in a soft embrace with her head on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby tenderly lets her hands fall to Weiss' waist, puzzled, but not complaining.

"Thank you," Weiss' voice is quiet, relieved, "I didn't want to lose you, too."

"...Whaddya mean?" Ruby asks in perplexity.

Before Weiss can respond, her phone begins to vibrate and she extracts herself from the hug to answer it. Her hand tightens around the small device, "It's Whitley." She says carefully, "I told him to call or text me when Father will be on his way back from his meeting…"

"Wait, you snuck out?"

Weiss chuckles a little. "It's not hard when you have a Daddy's Boy twin brother to look out for you." She turns to leave, "Klein is waiting for me outside. Can I see you tonight?"

Ruby nods as Weiss exits the apartment, "And Ruby?" She looks at her again and the heiress' eyes brighten. She's practically glowing. "Ich liebe dich." With that, she breaks into a run.

Ruby's brow twitches. "Wait!" She yells out the door, probably startling her neighbors, "What's that mean?! And who's Klein?!"

They are each other's first relationship, their "talk it out and make up" is gonna be a little wonky, but they're both willing to make it work.