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Routine Maintenance

Beacon Academy

"Weiss! It's time!"

"Time for what?"

"Time for Penny's maintenance! What else?"

Ah right. Weiss wasn't quite sure why Ruby wanted her to be around while she really did all of the heavy work in making sure Penny's internal systems remained the same. It wasn't like she could help her out. Plus, given how often she looked at her she was more worried that she might end up being a distraction for Ruby.

"Are you sure you want me there?" Weiss asked, a little bit worried if Ruby had fully considered all the ramifications of such an activity.

"Yeah! It's just… I think it would help if she has someone to talk to while I do the heavy work. I gotta concentrate while I'm taking care of Penny, so I can't really do that." Ruby replied, her face falling as she said the words.

"I see. So, where are we going?"

"Nowhere! We'll be staying right here and waiting for Penny to come!" Ruby explained, bringing out a toolbox and a manual.

"Pietro sent that over to you?" Weiss asked, a little perplexed as to how it came over.

"Yeah! I think Penny might've let loose that I became her best friend." Ruby said, scratching her head in that same adorable manner.

"I wonder if she let loose the fact that you two are also dating." Weiss teased, immediately making Ruby blush. "Shh, you're secret's safe with me."

"Thank you."

Weiss hadn't really felt much about Penny. She did know that she was a good friend of Ruby's and also Ruby's other girlfriend. Strangely enough, once she had gotten over the words of her father, she found that she was oddly content with being in a polyamorous relationship over a single person.

While she had occasionally crossed paths with Penny, she had yet to properly meet her yet. She knew Penny was in many ways… quite special given her unique nature. And yet, there was so much about her that felt so… human. From her curiosity to her kind nature, to how she interacted with the world around her.

In some ways, she represented humanity at its finest. Creating, instead of tearing down. Helping, instead of hurting. It was… honestly something unique. Something… she was undoubtedly curious to explore.

As the door opened and took her immediately out of her thoughts however, Weiss decided to focus on greeting their visitor before letting herself get lost in her mind.

"SAL-U-TATIONS!"

Was the last thing she heard before suddenly being tackled hugged to the ground by something big, strong and somehow not too hard?

"Penny!" Ruby let out, immediately reciprocating the hug, before looking at Weiss who was still trying to turn around to face Penny.

"Girlfriend Ruby! How have you been in my absence?" Penny asked, grinning in that same adorable way she had always been.

"Doing well. Weiss's awesome at making me do my studies! And well… she's generally pretty awesome all around." Ruby said, making her redden up like a tomato.

"It's wonderful to see you Friend Weiss!" Penny said, unwrapping herself from the two of them, before shaking Weiss's hand. "Thank you for taking care of our Girlfriend!"

"Same-same to you Penny!" Weiss said, trying to get her bearings.

Being given genuine compliments was one of the many new things Weiss had begun to experience in Beacon. Every single time they got her. Not helping things was the fact that the people who doled them out the most were right now right next to her.

"So? When should we get started?" She asked, looking into Penny's big green eyes staring directly into hers.

"You okay if we start now Penny?" Ruby asked, pulling out the toolbox.

"Affirmative!" Penny said, before taking a seat on the bunk bed… right next to her.

"Uhmmm…"

"Girlfriend Ruby said that I might be more comfortable if I had someone to talk to as she wired around my internal systems. If that's alright with you Friend Weiss?" Penny said, taking Weiss's hands in her own.

"Su-Sure!" Weiss replied, her voice a little shaky from the close proximity.

Looking over to Ruby, she found her girlfriend carefully opening up Penny's body to start work on her internal systems.

"So…. what did you want to talk about?" Weiss began, blushing slightly.

"… I had not prepared something for this moment."

"Ah… I see."

As the moment of awkwardness between them dragged on for longer and longer, Weiss wondered if anything could take her out of her mortification, at least until Ruby whispered something into Penny's ear.

"Oh! I have something for us to talk about."

And so they talked and talked and talked. By the time she even noticed time passing, it had already been two hours and Ruby had finished. To celebrate, Penny offered a movie and before Weiss could decline Ruby had already hooked her in with her puppy dog eyes.

As the three of them settled together on the same bed, all wrapped in the most comfortable blanket Weiss could procure and with some of Ruby's favorite snacks, Weiss wondered just how she ended up here.

With two lovely people by her side, helping her enjoy life. Honestly, she might never figure it out. But maybe just maybe. The love of the people around her was enough.

Shade Academy

She didn't know how they all escaped. Hell, she didn't even understand how they got to Shade as Atlas fell… but they did. Unfortunately however, she was pretty sure that no one would ever be the same. While they had managed to remove the hack's self termination protocol thanks to Whitley's help, it still occasionally flared and disabled Penny's systems. After Ruby lost her eye defending Penny and Penny's internal robotics began to fall apart, Weiss came close to breaking down as she watched the loves of her life fall apart.

She couldn't deny the feeling of absolute terror and fear she felt, seeing Ruby and Penny near lifeless on the floor, holding onto each other as they tried to hold on for dear life. All over those damned powers. Eventually she had enough and decided the only solution was to cut their losses and escape. Using her glyphs and the last of her aura to summon her Arma Gigas she bought enough time for them all to escape.

By the time they had escaped to Vacuo, she had collapsed from all the stress, only being reunited with Penny and Ruby when she had woken up in a dorm with the two of them on either side. Ruby's eye was still all banged up and Penny was barely being held together but in that moment she couldn't care less about how they looked. All that mattered to them was they were still safe and more importantly with her.

As she felt Ruby's tears against her exposed skin or the warm sensation of Penny's hands behind her back holding her close, Weiss had never felt more relieved to know they were all okay. Wiping away Ruby's tears with one hand and bringing Penny as close as she could with her other, she helped calm all of them down. Words couldn't describe how much she missed the feeling of Penny's robotic skin against her own or the feeling of Ruby's lips against her own.

As she noticed a panel fall off from Penny's arm, making her glumly look away from both of them however, Weiss decided to do something the three of them hadn't done in a long while.

Taking up Penny's hands with her own, Weiss told Ruby. "Let's do some routine maintenance shall we?"

"What about the tools?"

"I… bzt… bzt… Father placed an emergency… compartment… if you can find it… bzt... bzt… you can use it." Penny said out brokenly, visibly in distress as she spoke.

"It's okay Penny, you don't need to speak now. We'll take care of it from here." Weiss said, looking directly into Penny's eyes.

Giving Ruby a reassuring look, she watched as Ruby went around and found the toolkit close to Penny's back. Looking at the slight expression of fear in Penny's eyes as Ruby got to work, Weiss squeezed a little harder before once again looking into Penny's eyes.

"I know… things are scary right now. And you probably won't be the same person you used to be… but I promise. Throughout it all, we will not leave your side. We'll stay by you till the very end." Weiss said, gently trying to reassure Penny as she cupped Penny's face with her hands. "For now… just rest."

As Penny silently nodded and once again took Weiss's hands, she allowed her girlfriend to recharge as Ruby carried on between. Passing a reassuring glance to Ruby, she was surprised to see Ruby's speed. Just a few minutes ago, Penny's internal robotics were visible and her panels were all horribly out of place. And yet in a few minutes, Ruby had already put them all back together in their proper place and was now finishing up with the top part of Penny's back.

As she attached the last few nuts and bolts together and nearly collapsed, Weiss picked her up and held her close.

"I...I.." Ruby said, her voice breaking as she sobbed.

"Shhh… it's okay. Cry all you want… we'll be here with you till the end." Weiss said, rubbing Ruby's back as she let her rest against Penny who had now started to warm them both up.

The last few months had probably been the hardest on not just her but Ruby as well. As the poor girl sobbed while clutching onto Weiss, she gave her the warmest hug she could, patting her back to reassure her that Weiss was still here. Penny was still here.

And they weren't going to forsake her for anything.