After the Storm

by Terkontar

The storm had passed and team RWBY left the grim clouds behind them, finally being able to take a breath, tend to their wounds and pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. And no matter what comes next, they'll brave this new dawn – together / Takes place after Salem's defeat, two years after the fall of Beacon. Mostly slowly burning Whiterose with some Bumblebee on the side.

16. The long, arduous road

Chapter XIV: The long, arduous road

The few blades of ghostly grass that grew in that accursed place were being trampled by the clawed paws of darkness. Five silhouettes woven out of colorful light darted about the field, respitelessly slaying the creatures of the night that crashed against them like a furious, howling sea that desired nothing but to extinguish their radiant glow. Despite their ceaseless efforts, the incandescent warriors were barely making a dent in the seemingly endless legions of soulless monsters that crowded both the land and the skies, and it appeared that for every beast they cut down, two more of its brethren entered the fray. Every time it seemed that the raging ocean of teeth and clawed limbs would finally swallow all the hope, a brief flash of pure, beautiful light would illuminate the battlefield like a lightning without a thunder, pushing back the monstrous tide and giving the fighters some breathing room before the army of dark would strike them again.

Weiss watched as her teammates, aided by Qrow and Oscar, battled for their lives. Though they fought bravely, their situation was clearly hopeless; without any serious capability of crowd control, the sheer exhaustion would soon take its toll, making them all unable to keep up with the neverending assault. The thought was driving Weiss furious, to a point that she wished she could just scream at the top of her lungs; seeing her friends struggle and being powerless to do anything about it, no torture seemed more cruel.

Space didn't appear to mean much in that strange realm of lights and shadows she felt she was a prisoner of. Her perception of it was... odd. Different from what she was used to. She was aware of just about everything that was happening around her, but even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to say whether the things she was seeing were happening close or far, in front or behind her – almost as if the position of things relative to her own self had lost all its meaning. She could move, or so she thought, but she could not perceive the action itself; in the end, she wasn't even sure if she was, though that seemed a far less pressing of an issue than the situation her team was in.

Unable to do anything of substance, Weiss simply followed the scarlet light of her partner. True to the moniker some had given her after Maria, the girl brought death wherever she went, cutting down beasts with her scythe as if they were wheat ripe for the harvest. She did so with the grace of a dancer that had an absolute control over their body, her moves quick, fluid and purposeful, each of her attacks smoothly flowing into the next. Weiss rarely had had the opportunity to appreciate the visual aspect of her dear friend's fighting style, but every time she had, she was absolutely fascinated; that time, with Ruby enshrouded in red glow, was not at all different.

In a strange, contradictory way, the heiress had never felt as close nor as far to Ruby as in that moment; somehow, she could feel the girl's grim determination, could sense the suffering and raw fury bubbling deep beneath... and yet, despite being so intimately aware of her friend's frame of mind, she couldn't join the fray, to fight by Ruby's side come hell, come high water, even if just for one last time.

While Weiss was thinking that to herself, Ruby was slowly cutting her way through a field of lesser Grimm, swinging her Crescent Rose in wide arcs meant to put some distance between herself and the beasts; every time a Grimm dared to set a foot inside the swath, it promptly lost both its limb and its life. None of her kills really mattered in the face of the horde that was upon them, but, considering her dire position, the girl was doing just fine, even finding enough time and clarity of mind to shout commands to the rest of her group. The group from which she was inching further and further away from...

Suddenly, all thoughts were pushed out of Weiss' mind by the sight of an alpha Beowolf throwing itself at Ruby from behind, completely unnoticed as the girl was busy fending off a rather large pack coming at her from the front. Seeing her best friend about to be blindsided but unable to do anything, the heiress let out a silent cry of terror for no one to hear, screaming without a voice with every fiber of her being. Ruby couldn't hear her, she knew, but that did not stop her from trying to reach out to the girl.

A mere heartbeat later it turned out that Weiss' fear was unnecessary, as the silver-eyed girl turned around just in time and presented the beast with the spearpoint at the rear end of her scythe's shaft. The beast howled in pain as it pounced straight onto the spike, sliding about three feet down the shaft before Ruby stopped it with a kick to the chest from going any further. Ducking under a sloppy swipe of a clawed paw aimed at her neck, Ruby ripped the spear from between the Beowolf's ribs. She brought her weapon around, in a single motion gutting some other Beowolf with the outer blade of her scythe and hitting the alpha over its head with the counterweight, knocking the Grimm so hard that it was brought down to all fours. Wasting no time, she spun Crescent Rose the other way, driving the point of the scythe blade squarely into the beast's sternum, with enough force to shatter a bone plate and lift the Beowolf off its feet, only to bring the alpha over her head and then slam it into the ground behind her, smashing the beast into a couple of its brethren.

The second it took the girl to take out the alpha was enough for the circle of Grimm to tighten around her like a noose, but just as the beasts increased the pressure, Ruby also upped her game, fighting with ferocity one would expect not from a single Huntress, but two. Many close calls took place in the moments that followed as Weiss contuinued to shout her warnings, only to see every time how Ruby somehow managed to pull through – be it with a sloppy, startled dodge in the very last moment, or by pulling off the nigh-impossible and actually parrying a strike she could not possibly have seen from behind. Eventually, the silver-eyed girl managed to cut her way back to her allies, retreating to the relative safety. There she remained for some time, fighting by her temmates' side and issuing commands... until she caught a glimpse of a woman walking amongst the Grimm – a black featureless silhouette, like a dark hole punched straight through the fabric of the universe – and her eyes flared up with a faint, silvery light.

---

Weiss groaned sleepily and clenched her eyelids shut in a vain attempt to stop the pesky daylight from offending her pupils, then, once that had proven ineffective, she turned onto her other side. Something seemed slightly off when some soft and light object brushed against her skin, but she paid it no mind, wanting nothing but to go back to sleep for just five more minutes. Sadly for the heiress, a familiar, enticing aroma hung low in the air she breathed, tempting her nostrils and rousing her from her groggy state, bringing to mind thoughts of breakfast and a sunny morning. As the smell continued to stir her awake, the memories of the previous night started coming back to her, eventually leading to a startling realization as to what it was that seemed off – the thing lying on top of Weiss in that moment was definitely too light and unrestrictive for it to be Ruby.

Propping herself up on her elbow, Weiss opened her eyes and looked around, only to find herself to be alone in the sunlit living room. That discovery alarmed her somewhat, but, noticing a mug of coffee waiting for her on the nearby coffee table, she calmed down a bit, letting out a soft sigh of relief; considering the thin whisps of steam still dancing above the cup, it must have been left there not that long ago. Next to it lied the remote, returned to its place after the poor thing had been flung across the room the previous night; the popcorn had also been taken care of, with not a single piece to be found anywhere in sight.

Pulling off the blanket Ruby had considerately left for her, the heiress sat up on the couch and reached for the mug, taking a few cautious sips, careful not to burn her tongue. The coffee was just to her liking, and very much appreciated – unlike Ruby, who would usually be wide awake in under a minute after leaving the bed, Weiss was not that great with mornings, needing a couple of minutes – and preferably a cup of coffee – to fully regain her bearings. Deciding against searching for her partner just yet, the heiress relaxed and enjoyed her drink, thinking back to the dream she had had that night.

It was... odd. And perhaps a little concerning, seeing how it was not the first time Weiss had had a dream like that. Just like on the anniversary night, it felt clearer than her usual dreams, having burned clearly into her memory and leaving her with a rather peculiar sense of déjà vu, as if she had already dreamt that exact same dream before. She was fairly sure she hadn't – that ghostly grass, the Grimm looking like black splotches of living darkness, and people represented by the glowing silhouettes the color of their Aura all seemed to be something she'd have remembered otherwise.

Weiss sighed, wrapping her fingers tighter around her mug. As strange as that dream might have been, it had been quite convincing. Probable. Maybe not in the sense of her actually being a powerless, disembodied spectator, but Ruby and the others struggling against the endless sea of Grimm certainly seemed like something that could realistically have happened. A pit grew inside her stomach as she thought of the hopeless battle her friends must've waged, and how she wasn't there to help them... just like in that dream, the heiress felt useless, and, somehow, the knowledge that they all had managed to survive without her help only stung her all the more. She remembered clearly how worried she had been in that dream, seeing time and time again how Ruby was about to get hit and being powerless to do anything to prevent it... but in the end, her assistance had miraculously turned out not to be needed. And it hurt, in a way.

To Weiss, those dreams seemed to be perfect visualisations of what she felt, of what she thought, and of what she feared; her being a disembodied spectator encapsulated very well how it felt like, not having been there for her team and learning of what had happened only after the fact. The guilt, the powerlessness, the uselessness... why her own brain had decided to torment her so, she did not know, but it was certainly covering all the bases. Perhaps it was trying to tell her something, but as to what it was, she had no idea.

She took another sip of her coffee. "Well. I might not have been there for her back then... but at least I'm here now." Then, thinking back to the last evening, the heiress scowled. "Not that it makes me feel any less powerless..."

Before she could start dwelling on the deeply unsettling experience of the previous night, a quiet, crunching sound coming from somewhere near roused her from her reverie, sparking her curiosity. She cast a sweeping glance across the room, then, seeing nothing of interest, she sat still and listened carefully. The noise repeated itself a few times in the moments that followed, ultimately leading Weiss to believe that it was coming from behind – or perhaps from below – the coffee table. Risking a guess, she leaned in and called out: "Zwei?"

She didn't have to wait long before the pup poked his head from below the table, looking at the heiress curiously with his beady eyes as he held a piece of popped corn in his teeth. After chewing on his treat for a moment, he barked at Weiss in a greeting.

Weiss patted the corgi on his head, giggling softly. "So, Ruby has missed some, huh? Enjoying your meal, I hope? Just don't eat too many."

As Zwei returned to munching on bits of popcorn still scattered in various nooks and crannies of the room, Weiss busied herself with finishing her coffee. Once that task was complete, she stood up and, with her mug in her hand, made her way towards the kitchen, having a sneaking suspicion that was where she would find her partner. Pushing the door open, she slipped inside, where she was immediately hit by the smell of fresh pancakes.

Proven correct in her earlier assumption, the heiress found herself face to face with Ruby, who turned away from her frying pan the moment Weiss set foot in the room; the girl smiled at the heiress, but she looked incredibly tired, as if the previous day's outburst had left her physically drained and she hadn't recovered from it just quite yet. "Morning, Weiss,"

Weiss smiled back at Ruby, hoping that her concern wasn't showing on her face too much. "Morning. Thanks for the coffee." Setting down her empty coffee mug, she took a seat at the table. "Have you been up for long?"

Having returned her attention to the stove, Ruby flipped a pancake onto its other side. She nodded. "A while. Zwei woke me up before dad came home, so I had just enough time to, y'know... clean up."

Feeling that the conversation was edging uncomfortably close to what Weiss feared was a rather touchy subject, the heiress jumped at the opportunity to steer their chat away from what had happened during their last movie night. "So Tai was working last night?"

Ruby chuckled softly. "Yes and no. He was working until late in the evening, then went out drinking with Port and Oobleck. Came back home, took shower, went to sleep." A moment of silence followed, after which Ruby let out a long, shaky breath and spoke up, touching upon the very subject Weiss hoped they could avoid. "Listen, about yesterday... I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I..."

"Ruby," Weiss cut in firmly, trying to sound as gentle as possible. Looking the girl in the eye, she mustered a smile, which she prayed looked at least remotely reassuring. It was clear that what the heiress had witnessed was gnawing on Ruby, that the girl felt the need to explain herself and apologize, but Weiss could not bear it - seeing her best friend blame herself for something that was outside her control was simply breaking her heart. "It's okay; I mean it. I'm here for you." Standing up, Weiss approached Ruby and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "That being said, I don't think you should wait till Blake's birthday with paying Doctor Glas a visit," she said softly, quietly hoping that her partner would not take her words the wrong way.

Ruby bit her lower lip and hung her head low, as if in shame. She remained silent for a while, but eventually nodded. "Yeah," she let out weakly, her voice merely a whisper.

Before long, the breakfast was served – a stack of delicious, extra fluffy pancakes of which even Ren, the unanonimous master of pancakes, would not be ashamed of. The time Ruby had spent under the man's tutelage clearly bore fruit, but Weiss' enjoyment of the meal was somewhat curbed by the nagging feeling that the food was also a part of her partner's apology, an offering to repay the heiress for the scare of the previous night; Ruby barely touched the food, but watched intently as Weiss took each bite, as if trying to make sure whether it was to her liking. For the most part, they ate in silence, and not of the comfortable kind; the few attempts at striking a conversation ultimately came to naught, with Ruby being unusually prone to short answers, after which she would once again retreat to her own little world. It was painfully obvious that something was troubling her, but whether it was the memory of the previous night or the upcoming visit to a therapist, Weiss did not know.

The instant Weiss put her plate away, Ruby stood up and reached towards it, but the heiress managed to persuade the girl into reluctantly letting her take care of the dishes. While Weiss left the last remaining pancake in the dog bowl and went on to start cleaning, the silver-eyed girl excused herself for a moment. Just when the heiress had put all the plates away and was about to wipe her hands dry, she heard Ruby come back from upstairs; the girl did not return to the kitchen, however, with the only indication of her whereabouts being the sound of a door opening somewhere in the house. Leaving the towel she was using next to the sink, Weiss followed the noise and went to the living room.

Not having to look for her partner for long, she found Ruby on the porch; leaning against the rail, the girl stood with a piece of shiny cardboard in one hand and her Scroll in the other, fiddling restlessly with Dr. Glas' business card while she waited for her call to be answered. Before long, the wait was over and Ruby's nervous voice poured into the living room.

"Um, hello. My name is Ruby Rose. I... I'd like to make an appointment with Doctor Glas. No, just... just for myself." With the door to the porch having been left wide open, Weiss could hear Ruby loudly and clearly, eavesdropping despite not having meant to; easily able to tell how uncomfortable the girl must be feeling just by listening to her, she fought down the temptation to go to her partner's side in that instant and to comfort her with a hug. Listening to the response, Ruby fell silent for a longer while, then, seemingly a bit taken by surprise, replied: "Um... yes, I'm free. Alright. Thank you." Shortly after that, the silver-eyed girl ended the call, breathing out a deep, relieved sigh, after which she leaned heavily on the railing and hid her head in her arms.

Seeing that Ruby was done with her call, Weiss gingerly stepped out onto the sunny porch. "How was it? When is your appointment?"

Lifting her head from the handrail, Ruby looked up at her white-haired friend. "Um... in, like, two hours or so?"

The heiress blinked, slightly taken aback. "What?! Aren't you usually supposed to wait, like, a week for an appointment with a therapist, if you're lucky?" she said, taking place by the handrail right next to Ruby.

"So I've heard? Preferential treatment for the Circle, I suppose."

"I guess..." Weiss conceded, having to admit that such explanation, although simple, did sound quite probable. The two of them let a few moments to pass in silence, but eventually the heiress looked at Ruby with a concerned frown and asked softly: "Hey, would you like me to come with you...?"

Letting her gaze fall to the ground, Ruby nodded meekly. "If you wouldn't mind, yes," she said in a quiet voice.

Heartbroken to see her best friend so vulnerable, Weiss wordlessly wrapped her arm around Ruby's neck and brought the girl close, enveloping the poor thing in a warm, loving embrace. "I wouldn't."

---

Having taken showers and made themselves presentable, the girls left the house. As they marched through the forest towards the town, Weiss, considering how little time it seemed they had to spare, suggested calling a cab, but her partner was quick to dismiss the idea – Dr. Glas' practice was located on Patch, and well within the walking distance from Ruby's home. Assured that they'd make it on time, the heiress caved in, and so they headed there on foot, with the silver-eyed girl leading her partner through the familiar, calm suburbs of the island.

They strolled down a long, slightly curved avenue lined with deciduous trees, whose red and golden leaves provided some shade for the occassional passersby. Dragging her feet along the paved walkway as if she unconsciously wanted to delay her arrival as much as she could, Ruby unhurriedly walked onwards, feeling on her back the concerned gaze of her partner, who lagged a couple of steps behind her. She wasn't sure what had created that gap – whether it was Weiss hoping to give her some space, or perhaps her own silent behavior pushing the white-haired girl away – and though she felt a little bit bad about it, she still welcomed the opportunity to think in peace.

Though it felt as if she had great many things weighing heavy on her mind, in reality there were only two: the meeting she was headed to... and Weiss. Sure, what had happened to Ruby the night prior was easily out there amongst the worst experiences of her life; it had been foreign, distrubing and scary, and had left her so drained that she still felt tired even after a night's sleep... but it had come to pass. As terrifying as it had been at the time of it happening, it had stung nowhere as much as the mere fact of it being seen by Weiss. Weiss, one of the few key people Ruby wanted to stay strong for, had seen her crumble – crumble so completely it had made the heiress cry. It was not to say that Ruby wasn't glad that Weiss had been there for her, but she felt terrible for the scare she had put her best friend through... and the damage Weiss' image of Ruby must've sustained. After all, to Ruby, there was only a handful of things worse than those pretty, blue eyes looking at her with pity.

Suddenly, Weiss called her name, bringing the silver-eyed girl back to the reality. "Ruby, I think it's here," she said, standing by the gate Ruby had just passed by, too preoccupied with her own thoughts to even notice it. Glancing at the number present on the bricky fence post, Ruby realized that the address checked out, with the shiny plaque which read 'Dr. Cordelia Glas, psychiatrist & therapist' proving beyond any doubt that they did, in fact, reach their destination.

They found themselves standing in front of a nice-looking, two-story building made of orange-hued brick, similar in shade to the ones making up the posts of the fence surrounding the perimeter. With short hedges lining the fence, flowerpots hanging below windowsills and a tiny, roofed porch the house seemed rather inviting at the first glance, but a discerning eye would soon notice the roller shutters lining the windows and a couple of cameras hidden here and there, one of which was built into an intercom; by Patch standards, the building was a small fortress, if a pretty one.

Ruby glanced at the screen of her Scroll, then showed it to Weiss, mustering a slightly triumphant smirk. "Told ya we'd be on time." Indeed, it appeared that the two of them arrived with at least ten minutes to spare. While Ruby might not have been too familiar with that neighborhood in particular, she had been living on that island all of her life, and thus knew most of the best routes.

"So, should we wait, or...?" Weiss asked, unsure how to proceed. To Ruby's slight amusement, the heiress, too, seemed nervous.

"Only if you want me to keel over from stress," Ruby muttered. Steeling her resolve with a deep breath, she made her way towards the intercom and pressed the button. At that moment, the time to stress over her upcoming visit seemed to be the very last thing she needed.

They expected that someone would pick up the call, but nothing of the sort happened – the gate simply unlocked with a soft, electrical buzz, shortly after which the front door to the house opened and a woman in her 30s came forth to welcome them. Her honey-coloured hair was tied in a neat bun, while her kind, blue eyes watched the girls from behind frameless eyeglasses.

The woman greeted them with a smile. "Miss Rose, Miss Schnee – welcome, welcome. Please, come in," she said, holding the door open for the two.

Ruby glanced nervously at the camera lens peeking at her from the intercom; the fact that the woman had recognized both of them on the camera feed without having ever met them gave her a bit of a pause, but she decided not to dwell on it too much, figuring that her team had gained enough notoriety not to need any introductions - especially Weiss, who had been rather well-known long before ever coming to Beacon. Pushing the gate open, she made her way through the front yard and, followed by Weiss, reluctantly entered the building, both of them giving their hostess awkward, polite smiles as they passed the woman by.

A mere few steps in, both of them stopped dead in their tracks, somewhat stunned by the sight they were greeted with and how... homey it all seemed; the place they found themselves in was more akin to a living room than a waiting room, bright and inviting, with its warm colours and comfy-looking armchairs being a far cry from what they'd expected. So much so, that both Weiss and Ruby got that awkward feeling of uncertainty one might experience when intruding upon someone else's house for the first time, not knowing how their host expects them to behave.

"Should we take off our shoes...?" Ruby asked, scratching her neck sheepishly.

Closing the door, the woman let out a short, soft laugh and shook her head; it seemed that she was getting that question a lot. "No need." She went on to offer each girl her hand, confirming their suspicions and identifying herself as Doctor Glas. With the introductions out of the way, she clasped her hands together and looked at her guests. "Now, would you like some green tea?"

Having taken their hostess up on the offer, the girls were left alone for a moment while the woman retreated to what they presumed was the kitchen. She returned not long afterwards, accompanied by a young, rather short woman with pale skin and bright brown hair that reached her shoulders, whom she introduced as Jasna, her assitant; the newcomer smiled at them politely over the tray with three teacups she was holding in her hands, getting two nods of acknowledgement in response.

Taking one of the cups from the tray, Dr. Glas offered it to Weiss, then looked at Ruby. "Miss Rose, please, come with me." The girl approached the woman obediently, and once Ruby was within Dr. Glas arm's reach, the woman turned her attention towards the heiress, smiling a bit apologetically. "It'll take some time so please, make yourself comfortable. Feel free to wait in the garden, if you'd like. Should you need anything, don't hesitate to ask my assistant."

Weiss simply nodded in reply. While such behaviour could possibly be considered a bit uncouth on her part, it was unlikely that being standoffish was her intention; rather, it was simply the fact that she was too distracted by all those slightly anxious glances the silver-eyed girl was sneaking in her direction to provide a proper response.

As she followed the therapist, Ruby silently wished that Weiss would accompany her... but a part of her wasn't sure if that would be such a good idea, not to mention that, unless she had read the room incorrectly, the offer didn't even seem to be on the table. As far as she could tell, Weiss seemed troubled by a similar dilemma, but neither of them spoke up; as such, she just continued on walking, head hung low and left hand tugging at her other sleeve, while Weiss watched quietly, smiling her best reassuring smile. As Ruby cast one last glance in her partner's direction, she saw Weiss mouth a silent 'I'll be waiting', right before losing her from sight.

Looking about the room, she discovered that it wasn't that dissimilar to the one she'd just left; sunlight seeped in through the wide windows, while warm, toned-down colours and brown accents surrounded her from every direction, with an occassional plant here and there providing a much welcome touch of green. Bookcases and cupboards lined the walls, while a nice coffee table stood in the middle of the room, with an armchair on one side and a chaise longue sofa on the other. A couple of paintings hung on the walls, along with Dr. Glas' PhD diploma and something that appeared to be the certificate of having graduated from Beacon.

Jasna, who was the first to enter the room, placed the teacup tray on the coffee table and then, having been thanked by Doctor Glas, promptly left the room. Once the door closed behind her, the blonde woman looked at Ruby and gestured towards the chaise longue, smiling encouragingly. "Please, take a seat."

Doing as she was asked, Ruby sat down, perching herself on the very edge of the mattress; unsure of what to do with her hands, she placed them both in her lap, lining them neatly with her legs. Once Doctor Glas took a seat in the armchair oposite to Ruby, the girl finally found her voice back. "Um... may I ask you for one thing before we begin?"

"Certainly."

"Just 'Ruby' is fine. Being called 'miss Rose' feels kinda awkward, and I'm uncomfortably close to a total freakout as it is," she said, finishing off with a short, nervous laugh.

"Very well, Ruby," Dr. Glas replied kindly, a soft, polite smile never leaving her lips. Nothing in her disposition suggested that she'd found Ruby's request odd or funny. "Before we get started, let's get one thing straight: while I won't pressure you today into telling me anything you're uncomfortable with sharing, it is of utmost importance that you answer my questions honestly; you may tell me as much, or as little, as you'd like, but please, do so without lying. Otherwise, I won't be able to help you, and will just end up wasting your time and ruining your afternoon." She had said that in a fairly lighthearted tone, but the way she looked Ruby straight in the eye made it clear for the girl that the woman was being serious. "Is that clear?"

"Yes," Ruby answered quietly with a small nod.

Doctor Glas seemed satisfied with that response, her gaze softening back into one that was kind and filled with what seemed to be amiable curiosity. Crossing her legs, the woman leaned back in her armchair and pressed her notebook against her thigh, pen in hand. "Splendid. So tell me, Ruby: what brings you to me?"

She was hesitant to speak at first, but the longer she talked, the easier it was for the words to flow freely from the bitter well of long-bottled up pain. Perhaps it was the fact that Glas was a perfect stranger and thus Ruby didn't care about the way the woman perceived her, or perhaps it was just her being tired of pretending; once she'd started, it was easier to just keep on going, to get it over with, driven by the desperate hope that the person in front of her would really help her. And so she told the Doctor of the cold hollows in her heart left in place of Penny and Pyrrha, and of Yang's broken body and once-broken spirit; how a part of her still blamed herself for those living nightmares, and how the poisonous what-ifs kept gnawing on her in the quiet before sleep. She spoke of her team's dissolvement and the time she had spent with team RNJR, of their hardships and the tensions that had arisen somewhere along the way; how she had nearly lost her uncle, who jumped in her defense, and how she had been hunted down like an animal because of a gift she hadn't even understood at the time. Her whole world had turned out to be a lie and she had found herself a pawn in the middle of an eternal, hopeless war she couldn't possibly have just turned away from... but it had not made the cruel truth any easier to swallow.

Wherever she had gone, death had never been far behind her, breathing down onto hers and her friends' necks and constantly reminding them of its presence; people had been dying around them, and they themselves all had had more close calls than she cared to count... but no matter how many times she'd seen that, those situations had never become any less jarring – especially when someone she was close to had gotten actually wounded. She remembered vividly the sight of Blake and Yang lying on the cold pavement the night Beacon fell, while Penny's dismembered body and Pyrrha's raspy dying breath still haunted her dreams. She remembered Qrow's delirious ramblings, and the night of Maria's sacrifice, when the old Huntress had given her life and died in the line of duty to save Atlas. She remembered her own two run-ins with death; the burning of her lungs and how terrified and powerless she had felt when trapped under the unrelenting ice; how quickly Tyrian had gone from cowering to going for the kill, and the murderous intent she had seen in his eyes when his blade had cut her skin. And, of course, she couldn't possibly have forgotten how she herself had killed; it'd be almost funny, to think that was where her innocent dream of protecting people as a Huntress had led her... if it wasn't so damn tragic.

But even considering all that, all of her pain and disillusionment, no memory seemed more harrowing than that of the pure anguish she had felt when she had been cradling her partner's bleeding out body in her arms. Back at the time, it seemed to be her ultimate, crushing defeat, end of the line at the road she'd paved for all of humanity with her own damned failures; her world had finally crumbled and she could no longer carry onward, her soul torn in twain. Weiss' survival was the miracle she had needed to muster the strength for that one, final push... and though the worst had come to pass, the memory of nearly having lost Weiss would likely never leave her, seared into her brain.

Those were the main reasons Ruby had presented Doctor Glas. She was tired, and had lost a lot... and she feared that somewhere along the way, she had also lost her own self. The Doctor had listened intently to everything the silver eyed-girl had had to say, taking occasional notes and not once interrupting the flow of the story until it seemed finished. She then recalled back certain parts of Ruby's report, asking her for elaboration; once those questions were answered, she turned her attention towards Ruby's family. And so the girl told her how her mother had gone to a hunt and disappeared, never to be found, and how her father had shut in after that, essentially leaving Ruby and Yang to fend for themselves; how he'd finally pulled himself together, and been the best dad she could've asked for ever since. She mentioned the drinking problem her uncle had had until relatively recently; how he'd always been there whenever she'd needed him, and how she'd always looked up to him despite his shortcomings. Finally, she spoke of Yang, of her unconditional love and sometimes overprotective nature, and how trying the few months following the fall of Beacon had been, how glad she was that the two of them had managed to patch things up between them.

When the silver-eyed girl reached for the now long-cold tea, Doctor Glas took it as a sign that Ruby had finished. "You've been through a lot, Ruby," she said softly. "But even considering all that, many people need a strong impulse to seek a professional's help out of their own volition. Is it true in your case? Did something happen recently that caused you to call me?"

Ruby turned her gaze towards the half-empty cup resting in her lap, watching silently how her reflection danced on the surface of the drink. She remained silent for a while, and Doctor Glas respectfully did not rush her; when she finally opened her mouth, she spoke slowly, as if still searching for the right way to phrase it. "Yesterday, Weiss and I were watching a horror movie. At first, it was just a normal movie night; the movie was good, we ate popcorn and had fun, until... until something just... came over me," she said quietly, stumbling for a bit with words towards the end. Rubbing the rim of the cup in her hands with her thumb, she continued in a quiet voice. "My heart started pounding, so much so that I could barely hear anything over my own damned pulse ringing in my ears. My vision got dark and blurry. I was hot, sweaty, started shaking, and it was as if I was gonna suffocate no matter how hard I breathed... as if there was barely any air left in the room." Taking a deep breath to steady herself, the girl mustered the strength to turn her silver eyes towards the woman sitting in the armchair in front of her. "I felt I was gonna die. The world was ending and I could do nothing but to sit paralyzed on my sofa, waiting for the impending doom, nauseous and tingling all over." As if having spent what little energy she'd had in her on maintaining the eye contact for that brief moment, Ruby once again let her gaze fall to her lap. Her shoulders slumped a bit – she herself didn't know whether it was simply her tired state, or perhaps the shame she felt in her heart. "I was scared out of my mind... I really don't know what I would've done if Weiss wasn't there. She was probably just as scared and clueless as I was... but she's saved me. Again."

"Do you have any idea what could've caused such reaction? Do you believe that it was random, or...?" Doctor Glas started to ask, but her voice trailed off – possibly because she had taken notice of Ruby nervously biting her lower lip. If so, she did nothing to urge the girl; she simply waited, letting Ruby dictate the pace at which she approached the matter.

"Actually..." Ruby started, averting her eyes from the disappointed stare of her own reflection and looking up at Doctor Glas. The blonde woman met her gaze without annoyance or judgement, patiently awaiting the girl's next words to resound inside the cozy, sunlit study. "I think I have a pretty good idea."

---

Having made herself comfortable in an armchair, Weiss was waiting for Ruby's therapy session to end. In an effort to pass time, she had tried reading, but had quickly given up on that, finding herself to be far too anxious to focus on the letters in front of her; instead, she had sought solace in music, as she was often wont to, which had proven a bit more effective – even if the lyrics of her favourite songs were all but flying into one ear and out of the other, the constant buzz of the background noise helped soothe her nerves somewhat... not that it could possibly push the image of her distressed friend beset with a barrage of uncomfortable questions completely out of her mind.

It'd been well over an hour – perhaps somewhere in the neighborhood of two – and Weiss was growing increasingly restless, to a point in which she had to consciously stop herself from getting off her armchair and starting to pace to and fro about the room. Most of that time the heiress had spent by her lonesome, not really engaging with Dr. Glas' assistant outside of asking for a refill of her tea; the woman, on her part, had left the white-haired girl alone, likely having noticed that Weiss wasn't in the most sociable of moods. While the two didn't interact much with one another, the heiress had been sneaking occassional glances in the woman's direction whenever she had passed through the room; something about her intrigued Weiss, though it had taken the girl a while to put a finger on the reason why – while she carried no visible weapons, the way she moved reminded Weiss of a Huntress. 'I suppose that just about everything is more than it seems when the Circle is involved, huh...' she had thought, sipping her tea.

Weiss had just finished her second cup when the door to the study opened, revealing Ruby being led outside by Dr. Glas; with her slumped shoulders and downcast eyes, the girl looked... spent, in more ways than one, and in a desperate need of a hug. The heiress all but leapt out of her seat as she darted towards her partner, wrapping the poor thing in her arms while Ruby burrowed her face in Weiss' collarbone. Before long, Ruby let go of the hem of Weiss' sweater and slowly pulled away, not looking the other girl in the eye while doing so. "I'm fine."

The weakness of her partner's voice caused a saddened frown to appear on Weiss' face, but she respected Ruby's underlying wish not to create a scene. Although it was painfully clear that the girl wanted nothing more but to finally leave that place, Weiss had a couple of pressing questions she hoped to get some answers for; silently praying that Ruby would forgive her the delay, the heiress turned towards Dr. Glas and spoke up. "A word, if I may? It will not take long," she said, adding the latter part mostly with her friend in mind.

"Certainly." Gently placing one hand on Ruby's shoulder, the woman gestured towards her assistant with the other. "Ruby, please, follow my assistant. She'll get you something to drink."

Weiss gave her partner's arm a soft squeeze and then saw the girl off as Ruby followed Jasna to the kitchen; after her friend had disappeared from her view, she turned towards the Doctor and accepted the silent invitation into the woman's study, where they could speak in private.

Dr. Glas stepped inside right after Weiss. The moment she heard the door close, the heiress got straight to the point. "May I ask you a few questions about Ruby?" she asked, giving the woman a pleading look.

The Doctor nodded to herself, as if Weiss had touched upon the very subject she'd expected her to. "Normally I'd have to refuse, but miss Rose has allowed me to impart to you what information I deem fit," she said, then smiled in a way that was open and encouraging. "Ask away."

Now that she had been granted permission, Weiss wasn't even sure how to phrase her question. "Has... has she told you about yesterday already?" Seeing the woman in front of her nod, she anxiously pressed on. "What happened to her?" She wanted to understand. To help. She remembered full well how woefully unprepared she'd been for what had happened the night prior - how powerless she'd felt when somebody she cared for so dearly had been suffering right in front of her eyes – and was desperate to learn anything that could possibly aid her, should such a situation occur again; not knowing how to act was the worst torture.

"I believe she's suffered from a panic attack," Doctor Glas said morosely, then, seeing Weiss' inquisitive stare, sighed softly and went on to elaborate. "You must've heard of the fight or flight response, correct? In reality, it should perhaps be more accurately called 'fight, flight or freeze'. During a panic attack, the brain 'misfires' in response to some stimuli, preparing the body for a danger that isn't there. Adrenaline levels go up. The person in question might experience nausea, faintness, hot or cold flashes, flashing vision, hyperventilation, chest pains, profuse sweating, have the sense of impending doom, and more, all of which are prone to cause anxiety and, in turn, lead to a positive feedback loop that may last for hours; in many cases, it's quite easy to mistake a panic attack for cardiac arrest. Needless to say, calling it an unpleasant experience for every party involved would be a most severe understatement."

Weiss bit her lower lip, feeling her heart sink to the ground at those words. Of the entire list, one thing in particular rang a bell in her head – the 'sense of impending doom', one which even she herself had somehow experienced the previous night. But, while it struck her as odd, there were more pressing questions lining up in her mind. "Is it going to happen again?"

The Doctor considered her answer for a moment, pushing her glasses up her nose. "It's hard to say, considering the fairly recent nature of the trauma. It's likely, but not certain; the next year or so will tell," she said. "For the time being I taught miss Rose a few techniques that may help her to calm down should any more attacks occur, but let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"What sort of techniques?"

"Such as trying to imagine a whiteboard, and then writing down on it the word 'safe', very, very slowly, over and over again." Taking notice of the slightly incredulous look she was given, Dr. Glas let out a soft chuckle. "I know it might sound odd, but such techniques do work for some; sadly, it's not a one-size-fits-all remedy. The understanding of what a panic attack is should help her, too."

Weiss nodded, letting her gaze to fall to the floor, then fell silent and started chewing on the inside of her cheek, mulling over what she'd heard. Eventually, she glanced up at the woman. "Is there something I can do to help?" she asked eventually, her voice ringing desperate even in her own ears.

One corner of the blonde woman's mouth rose up. "Just carry on being her friend. Sadly, friend support cannot replace the help of a professional therapist... but it can still make a world of difference," she said, smiling softly, before her face took on more serious of an expression. "If I may suggest one thing, however... please don't hesitate to lean on her for help if you ever need it. It might sound counterintuitive, considering how much she has on her own plate, but it's abundantly clear that you mean a lot to her, and that she feels indebted to you for helping her get through the hardships of the past year. She wants to repay the favor, and I believe it would be best to let her."

The heiress let out a barely audible, short laugh. "Really, it is her who has helped me. Helped us." She shook her head. "We all would have given up long time ago if it were not for her. Given up on the fighting, on Remnant... or even on living our own life the way we want to."

As Weiss turned her eyes towards the window to the garden, Dr. Glass gave the girl a long, knowing look; she could definitely tell that there was more than one story hidden behind the heiress' words, but did not press the subject. "Perhaps so, but objectivity doesn't mean much in the realm of feelings," the woman responded in a gentle voice. "Be it as it may, by 'saving her the worrying' you'd only distance her from yourself, and the feeling that she's too weak for you to lean on for support is the very last thing she needs at the moment."

Weiss nodded. "I understand," she said quietly, then once again faced the woman. "Will she be taking any medicine?"

"Not for the time being, no, but I'd like her to come and meet me every week from now on," Dr. Glas replied. "However, she's not the only one who's always welcome here; my door will always be open to you and the rest of your team, if you ever feel the need to come."

The heiress averted her eyes, not quite knowing how to react – she didn't like the underlying implication of those words, as it reminded her of the ugly truth, but at the same time she was not above admitting that she, too, had her own issues. At the very least, she could appreciate the seemingly genuine concern. "Thank you." Weiss looked towards the door and a tiny frown graced her face with its presence as her thoughts were drawn towards her silver-eyed friend. "Would it be okay if I kept accompanying her to her appointments?"

The woman followed the heiress' gaze. "I think she'd appreciate that. And you might want her to tag along, too, should you ever come to me as my patient – assuming she'd be willing." A while of silence followed after she'd said that; when Weiss did not speak up, Doctor Glas assumed the two of them were done and placed her hand on the doorknob, smiling softly. "Well then, shall we join Ruby?"

The heiress jolted, gesturing at the woman to hold on for just a second. "Just a moment, please. There is one more question I would like to ask." The Doctor did not take her hand off the door handle, but she did not turn it either, looking at Weiss with polite curiosity; seeing that she'd captured the woman's attention, the white-haired girl took a deep breath and carried on with the question that weighed heavy both on her mind and on her heart. "Did... did she tell you what Salem has done to her?"

For the briefest of moments, a strange, complex expression crossed Dr. Glas' face – the first display of any strong emotion Weiss had seen coming from the woman – only to disappear in a heartbeat, with the woman returning to her usual, gentle and collected self. But even then, she was no longer smiling.

The woman nodded, and though her face was composed, Weiss could see the sadness lingering in the blue eyes. "Yes, but it's something Ruby would rather tell you herself, when she's ready. She wants to tell you, and feels ashamed that she hasn't yet; please, be patient with her," she said. "I'd also advise against asking her about today's visit, at least for the next few days, unless she herself touches on the subject. First time at a therapist's can be... exhausting."

"I can imagine," Weiss agreed easily, taking one last glance around the room before returning her gaze to the blonde woman. "That was all," she said with a small bow of her head.

Having concluded her business with Doctor Glas, the heiress silently followed the woman out of the study. Although she hadn't gotten the answer for the question that troubled her the most, their chat had still given her a lot to think about. What seemed the most intruguing, however, had been the rare show of emotion on the Doctor's part, as brief as it might have been, and Weiss wondered what exactly was the expression she'd seen on the woman's face – anger, or perhaps repulsion? Whatever it had been, the thought was pushed out of her mind the moment Weiss marched into the kitchen and was reunited with her partner.

Seeing that Weiss had returned, Ruby hurriedly finished up her tea, thanked both hostesses and prepared to leave. Ruby and Weiss walked into the waiting room, with the two other women seeing them out; when the four of them came to a halt and it was the time to say their goodbyes, Ruby spoke up. "How much for the visit?" she asked, reaching for her wallet.

Dr. Glas jibbed at the offer of payment, waving her hand dismissively. "Oh, no, don't worry about that; the Circle takes care of my compensation," she explained. Then, her expression softened and she looked the young Huntress in the eye; when she spoke, her voice was gentle and calm. "I know that today has been hard for you, Ruby. You've just set your first steps on a long, arduous road... There will be times when you visit me and leave feeling worse rather than better. There will be days when you'll be tired, and think to yourself that there's no point in coming. But please, do come regardless. Let us both do our best, and I promise you it'll get better."

Ruby gave Doctor Glas a tired, weak smile; it was clearly forced, but she deserved some points for the effort. "Sure, doc. I'll try."

"Should anything happen, let me know immediately," the Doctor said, and the look the girls had been given made it clear that the woman's words were directed at the both of them. She smiled. "With that out of the way, I'll see you in a week."

Bidding their goodbyes, Ruby and Weiss left the building. The moment the iron gate closed behind them, Ruby shut her eyes and turned her face towards the sky, letting out a long, weary sigh.

Weiss shot her partner a concerned look, uncertain as to how to proceed. "So, um, is there something you'd like to do now...?"

"Go home, boot up some game and try to forget that today has ever happened," Ruby replied flatly, staring blankly ahead instead of looking at her partner. Then, not saying another word, she simply turned and started walking down the walkway; Weiss jogged after her without a single word of complaint, quickly catching up with the girl, and together they walked whence they'd come. Neither of them spoke while they were strolling through Patch, as Weiss could tell that Ruby had a lot on her mind and respected the girl's need of a moment for herself – with her hands tied, the worried heiress simply marched under autumn leaves by her partner's side, quietly hoping that simply being there for Ruby would suffice.

Before long, the two arrived at Ruby's house. Right after discarding her boots, the silver-eyed girl made a beeline for the couch and plopped down on it, then reached for the remote and turned on the TV. When Weiss circled the sofa and walked into Ruby's field of view, the younger girl cast a brief glance in her direction, then let her eyes fall to the floor.

"Look, Weiss... really sorry I'm being not that great of a host, again, but I just... I really can't deal today," she said, shoulders slumped and a deeply apologetic expression present on her face.

Weiss smiled reassuringly, somewhat touched that Ruby still cared in spite of all the things that undoubtedly weighed heavy on her mind in that moment. "That's fine. Take your time. I'll find something to do in the meantime."

Taking a sweeping glance about the room, she strolled up to the bookcase by the wall and began checking the titles she'd found there. An idle thought crossed her mind, sparking her curiosity – she had known for a long time that her partner used to like books, but, as Weiss' upbringing had hardly ever given her an opportunity for pleasure reading, the two of them had somehow never really talked about the subject at length, and now Weiss couldn't help but genuinely wonder what books Ruby was into. A strange, complex feeling bloomed in her chest; it was one more of those things about her partner she had next to no idea about - an irksome itch, a gap in knowledge she sincerely wanted to find a remedy for.

Taking notice that she could not hear any sounds from the TV which would suggest that Ruby was setting up the console, Weiss sensed her partner's guilty stare on her skin. Turning around, she asked: "Hey, would you have any recommendations? A favourite book, perhaps?" hoping that engaging Ruby in some way would make the girl feel at least a little bit better about the situation, all the while sating Weiss' own curiosity.

A tiny spark glinted in Ruby's eyes, breathing some life into the crestfallen girl. "Sure," she said and stood up from the couch, traces of the faintest of smiles present on her lips. She went on to recommend Weiss some of her beloved series and a couple of standalone novels, then handed the heiress a book she considered to be a good starting point. After that, Ruby rushed upstairs for her headphones, while Weiss made herself comfortable on the couch, sitting with her back against the armrest of the sofa and torso facing the stairs; once Ruby had returned, she plopped down right beside the heiress, booting up some game she had on her bucket list for the longest time. Weiss, on her part, started reading, and pretended not to watch her partner carefully over the book. The novel she had been given seemed to be quite in line with what Weiss had been expecting of Ruby, endearingly so – a tale of great evil and brave heroes, who, while flawed, would go to great lengths to protect the common folk.

Not a quarter of an hour had passed before they heard somebody coming down the stairs. The heavy, slow footsteps heralded the arrival of Tai, who came into the girls' view shortly thereafter, stifling a long yawn with one of his hands; visibly tired, the man didn't even notice the girls sitting on the couch until the moment Weiss called out to him.

"Good afternoon," she greeted the man.

Tai blinked and looked at the two, seemingly surprised; the girls hadn't been talking for a while and Ruby was gaming with her headphones on, so the house must've been pretty quiet when he had left his room, possibly having led him to believe that he was alone. "Oh, hi there, you two." It appeared that he was about to simply pass them by and head for the kitchen, but the moment his eyes started to draw away from his daughter, he stopped and looked at the girl once again, this time with visible concern. "Hey, Rubes... is everything alright?"

Ruby moved the headphones resting on her head, uncovering one of her ears. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," she said as if nothing had happened, in a manner so natural and convincing that Weiss felt legitimately unsettled; it served to show just how much practice in hiding her pain the girl must've had over the years – likely even before coming to Beacon.

As Ruby returned her attention to the TV, Tai continued to watch her, uncertain as to what to think, seemingly torn between trusting Ruby's genuinely impressive façade and his gut feeling. It seemed that he was about to ask her something, and Weiss, taking notice of that, stared the man in the eye and – ever so slightly – shook her head, praying that he'd take the hint.

It worked, shutting Tai up mere heartbeats before he spoke up. "Well, uh, alright then," the man said, scratching his head sheepishly, and the few-seconds long silence that had preceded those words made it sound all the more awkward. "So, guess I'll leave you two be and get started on dinner. Something you'd like?"

Ruby threw a brief glance in her dad's direction. "Anything's fine."

When the man's eyes turned towards the heiress, she smiled at him politely. "Same as Ruby. Thank you."

"Got it." With that, Tai headed for the kitchen, but stopped for a brief moment in the doorway to give the girls one last, concerned look before disappearing inside; if Ruby had noticed, it was impossible to tell, and Weiss decided not to comment on her partner's white lie from earlier.

Tai reappeared after about an hour, popping into the room only to tell the girls that the food was ready and they could help themselves whenever they'd like. Ruby and Weiss both took a break from their pastimes and went to the kitchen; to Weiss' surprise, they dined alone, as Ruby's father had already eaten and had gone to work in the garden with Zwei tagging along, perhaps thinking that it would be for the best to give the girls some space for the time being. Though she felt bad for him, the heiress appreciated his forethought.

Dinner went by without a hitch. Ruby's mood had improved noticeably since they'd arrived home, and the two of them even enjoyed a pleasant discussion over their meal on the part of the book Weiss had read thus far. Neither of them mentioned their visit to Dr. Glas, and they soon returned to the living room to once again busy themselves with killing the time. Once again sitting with her back to the armrest and front facing Ruby, Weiss continued to sneak occasional glances in her partner's direction, but, now that the girl seemed to be feeling a bit better, they were rarer and less concerned, and for the most part the heiress simply observed Ruby while she was gaming, finding her friend's reactions more interesting than the book - not that the book itself was not entertaining.

About two hours had passed rather uneventfully. Then, hearing a soft chuckle, Weiss once again pried her eyes away from the page in front of her and looked up at Ruby with interest; a self-satisfied grin was plastered over the girl's face, and Weiss, curious as to what had caused it, directed her eyes towards the TV screen. She did so just in time to see how one of the characters under Ruby's command cast some sort of a fire spell at one of the monsters that surrounded the party... which in turn kickstarted a chain reaction that essentially covered half of the battlefield in explosions. Ruby snorted with laughter rather loudly; whatever the girl had originally planned, Weiss had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't quite that. Or to that extent, anyways.

Noticing that her partner was watching her and smiling, Ruby took off her headphones; the movement caused a stray lock of hair to fall onto her forehead, which she promptly brushed away as she eyed the heiress curiously. "Sup?"

Weiss shook her head a bit. "Nothing. You just seem to be enjoying yourself."

"I suppose," Ruby conceded, laughing softly. After a moment, she glanced at the Scroll lying in her lap, which she had been using as a gamepad, then looked back at the heiress, a tiny grin blooming on her face as she offered the device to Weiss. "Wanna give it a shot?"

Weiss eyed the Scroll cautiously. She recalled that one time when Ruby and Yang had managed to talk her into playing some fighting game with them, which had unsurprisingly ended in Weiss' utter defeat; she had never picked a pad since, and had talked herself out of any and all attempts to convince her to try again. It was not that she had anything against videogames – they seemed to be rather entertaining, and seeing how quickly both Ruby and Yang had been able to respond to anything she'd thrown at them had convinced her beyond any doubt that there was more to it than just mindless mashing of the buttons that she'd employed. She simply felt that fighting games were not for her, and, considering that those had been pretty much the only type the siblings had been playing during their time at Beacon, she'd never had an opportunity to try anything else. The game Ruby was playing right then was certainly not a brawler, however, and now that the opportunity had presented itself, the heiress was quite intrigued.

After staring at the Scroll for so long that Ruby had started to lose hope, Weiss leaned in and took the pad from Ruby's hand; taking her legs off the couch, the heiress sat properly and slid a bookmark in-between the pages of the novel, then moved closer to Ruby, who beamed at her and promptly put the audio on the speakers. Facing the TV screen with a newfound resolve, Weiss asked: "So, what do I do?"

---

Blake woke up with a start, her eyes snapping open. She was lying on her side, facing a wardrobe in her room, while Yang's peaceful breathing tickled the skin on her neck. Moonlight seeped inside through the partially open blinds, creating silvery stripes of light on the paneled floor. The apartment was quiet – she could hear nothing but hers and her partner's breathing – and she knew that there was nothing to be alarmed about, but her heart was pounding in her chest and she knew she would not be granted sleep anytime soon. Exasperated, Blake let out a soft, resigned sigh into the darkness; yesterday, after having a long, serious talk with Yang about their relationship and their feelings, she'd slept better than she had for the longest time... but it appeared that another peaceful night was just too damned much to ask.

She gingerly freed herself from under Yang's arm and left the warmth of her bed, the pleasant coolness of the polished wood sending a shiver down her spine when her feet touched the floor. Standing up, she quietly walked over to the closet and slid it open, then put her hand into one of the pockets of her coat. Having pulled from there a small paper box, she took a spare blanket from the wardrobe and draped it over her shoulders, then unlocked the door to the balcony and quietly slipped outside.

Despite the blanket, the girl shuddered when the chilly air of the autumn night snuck under the sheet and made contact with the bare skin on her legs and forearms, causing goosebumps and leading her to wrap her makeshift cloak tighter around her form. Moon shone bright over the city of Vale as Blake approached the edge of the balcony and leaned against the railing, marveling at the view below. Vale slumbered peacefully beneath her feet, with the usual buzz of the night life being carried to her by the wind that tousled Blake's hair. Watching occasional cars traveling down the luminous arteries of the city, she opened the box she had taken from her coat and pulled out a single cigarette, which she then tried to lit with the lighter she had been storing in that same cigarette pack; it took her a couple of tries to get the flame going because of the wind, but she finally succeded. Letting out a puff of smoke, she went on to put the lighter back in its place, only to notice one more thing she'd put in that cigarette pack – a small piece of rigid, slick paper with something printed on it. Recognizing the object nigh immediately, Blake huffed in amusement and pulled it out, placing her remaining cigarettes on the railguard; the letters, though written in a fine print, were easily readable in the moonlight, especially to a Faunus: 'Dr. Cordelia Glas, psychiatrist & therapist'. Drawing on her cigarette with a slightly bitter smile, she congratulated her past self on the gift of forethought.

For the past year, the memory of killing Adam had been haunting her in her sleep. Those dreams, though relatively rare, were frequent enough to never let her truly leave the past behind, to never let the image of Adam's shocked face fade into the background of her mind. Sometimes, she'd relive their fight step by step, always coming to the same gruesome outcome, while other times – especially more recently – her mind would invent different scenarios; she'd killed him in Haven, in Atlas, and had seen Yang getting killed in her defense during the Fall of Beacon. She herself had died at his hand twice or so, while her other teammates had been tortured or maimed, and her family murdered in front of her eyes.

That night, she had been the one killing him; though the details had slowly begun to fade into oblivion, she remembered some sort of a crash – perhaps a bullhead being shot down – and that she'd found Adam outside the burning wreckage, coughing up blood. He had been sitting alone in ankle-deep snow... or rather, had been propped up in that position by the mangled steel beam that pierced his right lung at an angle. Still alive, but certainly dying. She stopped in front of him and watched the man for a while, then he'd said something to her, but she couldn't remember what it had been exactly; whatever it had been, the dream-Blake's demeanor had changed, and her hesitation subsided.

'Do you remember your promise, Adam? That you would destroy everything I love?' the girl had asked. 'You have succeded, if partially. You've managed to destroy one thing I've loved...' The consternation on Adam's face had turned to disbelief when the dream-Blake had lifted the hand holding Gambol Shroud and pressed the muzzle of her gun to his forehead. 'Yourself.'

She had pulled the trigger. Whether it had been out of mercy or out of spite, she did not know... and the thought scared her as she gazed from the balcony at the city lamps below.

She heard the door to the balcony open behind her, but did not turn around, knowing full well who that was. Feeling a bit guilty for having woken her partner up, Blake blew a puff of smoke into the night.

From the darkness came Yang's voice. "Not in the kissing mood, I see. Should've just told me so," the blonde said in a half-jest. While Yang had never done anything to explicitly forbid Blake from smoking, she would often express her disapproval with semi-serious remarks, and adamantly refused to give her girlfriend as little as a peck on the cheek if she could smell the cigarettes. Not that Blake could blame her.

The brunette laughed, flicking the ash from her cigarette. "Hey, it's not like I'm trying to make it a habit." What she said was true – she smoked rarely, and did so only to relieve stress; in her current pack, there was just enough free space to fit her lighter, and she'd bought it back when Salem had been still alive (though it was partially due to the fact that Yang had hidden her cigarettes after she'd burned through three in a row back when Weiss had been on life support, and that the Doctors discouraged Blake from smoking until her concussion would've healed). She didn't even like to smoke, but there was something calming about the action that helped her cool down and gather her thoughts – perhaps the steady, peaceful rhytm of inhaling and exhaling.

Yang approached the railing and took place next to her girlfriend, windward from Blake. Though the girl was clad in nothing but her tank top and shorts, the chilly breeze did not seem to be getting to her in the slightest. "Well, considering that you go for a smoke every time something is bothering you, isn't it kinda a habit?" Leaning against the rail, she looked Blake in the eye with visible concern. "What's wrong, Kitten?"

The Faunus didn't reply straightaway, holding the smoke in for a few moments before letting it out along with a small sigh. "I've dreamt of killing Adam again," she said quietly.

Yang's expression darkened a bit, a sympathetic frown showing up on her face. "What was it this time?"

As she held it in her hand that dangled off the ledge off the balcony, the tip of Blake's cigarette lit up in the darkness when a stronger gust of wind blew by; a few sparks flew off into the night, only to burn out and fade a mere heartbeat later. Looking into the distance, the girl spoke up: "An execution. Bullet to the head, with my gun pressed against his skull. He would've bled out anyway, but..." She shook her head and sighed again, then turned towards her girlfriend. "Hey, Yang... do you ever have any regrets about having killed Tyrian?"

Yang turned around and rested her back agaist the railing, looking up at the starless sky. She remained silent for a while, giving the question some serious thought. "No, but I've never known the guy. All that I did know was that he was a crazy psycho that had almost killed my uncle and was after my baby sister. It was a simple decision, if you could even deign it as such."

"'Deign?'" Blake parroted her playfully, giving the blonde a sideways look through her eyelashes.

"Oh shut it," Yang laughed, then once again turned serious. "He just flipped my momma bear switch, is what I meant. In any case, no, I've never regretted it; not now, and certainly not back then. Can't say I've felt anything, really, outside of wanting to protect Ruby. And to shred the fucker to pieces for stabbing my sis, I suppose."

Blake simply nodded, then fell quiet for a spell. "What about Ruby, then?" she asked eventually. "Do you think she has any regrets regarding Cinder?"

Looking at her girlfriend, she could swear she saw Yang shudder at the mention of that memory. Blake, too, remembered that night well. The hall their battle had taken place in had fallen silent in an instant, as if the world itself had gasped in shock at the sickening, wet squelch of cold steel penetrating flesh. Ruby and Cinder, surrounded by ruins, had been staring at one another, with the rogue Fall Maiden impaled onto Crescent Rose, 'kneeling' in front of the young Huntress; for a short while before Ruby had lowered her to the ground, Cinder's knees had been hovering a couple inches above the cracked floor as the woman had been hanging off the scythe like it was some sort of a gruesome meat hook. Tears had been trailing down Ruby's cheeks, but no mercy had been hiding in her silver eyes – just cold determination. The girl had said something to her nemesis – to that day Blake didn't know what, and had dared not to ask – then ripped the blade of her Crescent Rose from Cinder's stomach and spun on her spot in a pirouette of death, bringing her scythe down and beheading her opponent in a single, clean cut. The power of Fall Maiden, released from its usurper, flickered towards Ruby, enveloping her in incadescent, orange mist; it lasted for a second or two, before that faint light scattered and swirled towards the sky, leaving them alone amidst the ruins.

Though claiming that a creature of flesh and blood dying by Crescent Rose is not a pretty sight would be a most severe understatement, what had happened after was no less harrowing in Blake's memory. Ruby had just kind of... stood there over Cinder's body, and when Yang had rushed to her sister's side and asked her if she was okay, Ruby had simply replied 'no' and asked to just leave that place. Before they could exit the ruins of the building, the poor girl had thrown up, and when they had stopped by some fountain so she could wash off the gore, she would keep on frantically scrubbing her hands even though they had already been clean; she had been deaf to other people pointing that fact out, and it had gotten to a point that her teammates had been afraid she'd draw her own blood. She had stopped only when Weiss, heartbroken, had approached her partner and gently taken Ruby's hands in her own.

"No," Yang said quietly, but her voice was firm. "Her face back then was not one of regret." She sighed. "I think it's the fact that she killed a person that is bothering her, not that she killed Fall in particular. She'd wanted to become a Huntress to protect people, after all... and I think that a part of that dream had died along with Cinder. The spirit of that dream, anyway – the innocent, romanticized fantasy she'd had... does that make sense?"

Blake nodded, all too familiar with the fear of having lost your way. "It does."

Yang continued. "As for Weiss... I dunno. If anyone would know, it'd be Ruby, but I'm not sure whether the two of them have ever talked about it."

Blake hummed in acknowledgement to Yang's response, saying nothing more as she drew on her smoke. The two of them let their conversation fade into comfortable silence, standing on the dark balcony and simply enjoying each other's presence; words did not seem necessary. Some time had passed, and Blake was about to finish her cigarette when her ears twitched; as she followed the sound with her eyes, she discovered that Yang was scratching her prostethic arm, and the realization brought a tiny wrinkle between her eyebrows. "Arm acting up?"

Yang glanced at Blake, a bit embarassed that her girlfriend had noticed. "Yeah... it doesn't hurt at the moment, it's just... kinda like an itch you can't scratch, you know?" she said, looking at her bionic hand with a small dose of melancholy.

Blake frowned, directing her gaze at the business card she still held in her hand. She had known for a long time that Yang occasionally suffered from phantom pains, and though they were now relatively rare and fairly moderate in their severity – at least according to Yang – the Faunus felt a pang of guilt every time she would take notice; from what Blake had gathered, there were times when the blonde could feel her arm as if it was still there, just... oddly short and awkwardly positioned. An unpleasant shiver ran down Blake's spine as she tried to imagine the sensation and the cognitive dissonance it must cause; she couldn't help but feel bad for Yang, even though the blonde had told her time and time again not to worry about it.

"Thinking of paying that Doctor a visit?" she heard Yang ask, who apparently had noticed the card Blake had been staring at.

"I'm not sure yet. You?"

The blonde shrugged. "Seems like a smart thing to do, but I dunno. That said, Ruby will probably want us all to go after we return, anyway."

Blake giggled under her breath. "We have a wise sister."

"I know, right?" Yang agreed easily, laughter present in her voice. Having said that, the girl stared off wistfully into the distance, towards the lights dotting the isle of Patch and, as Blake pressumed, her home. "Wonder how those two dorks are doing."

Blake looked in that same direction, but could only discern the massive shape of Signal Academy, its walls illuminated by numerous spotlights. In truth, she shared her girlfriend's curiosity, though likely for different reasons; Yang was simply anxious about leaving her sister alone so shortly after everything that had happened, while Blake herself simply wondered what leaving Weiss and Ruby on their own for a week would lead to.

"Probably being so adorable together that they're giving us a run for our money," Blake said in a half-jest, hoping to cheer her girlfriend up a little.

Yang let out a short laugh, but it was as if her heart wasn't in it, mind still riddled with worry. "Right."

There was an old ashtray on a small table just off to Blake's side, likely left there by the previous residents of the penthouse. Having burned out her cigarette, the girl pressed the tip to the bottom of the tray to snuff it out; as Yang watched her girlfriend grinding out the cigarette, her lips curved into a tiny little smirk.

"Won't your mom kill you if she sees a fresh butt in that ashtray?" the blonde asked teasingly.

Blake froze instantly at those words, the twisting motion of her wrist stopping immediately. Stony-faced, she remained in that position for a second or two, only to grab the ashtray and dump all the ash off the balcony; setting the ashtray back in its place, she then took the stub of her cigarette and rushed to a nearby empty bin, tossing the butt inside. Yang, in the meanwhile, simply continued to snicker at the spectacle, most entertained by her partner's reaction to her half-serious question.

As she was dusting off her hands, Blake heard Yang speak up behind her back. "Hey, Blake... remember how I asked whether you wanted me to fill you in on the things you don't remember because of your concussion?" Hearing that, Blake stiffened a bit, then slowly turned around and met Yang's gaze; the blonde still stood with her back to the balcony railing, face serious, staring at Blake intently. The Faunus nodded, even though she had a feeling that her girlfriend didn't really need her to. "Want to do that now?"

Blake silently stepped to the edge of the balcony, retaking her place next to her girlfriend; resting her elbows on the railing, she looked Yang in the eye. "Yeah."

---

Much to Ruby's delight, Weiss, after overcoming the intial hurdles of a newbie gamer, found herself enjoying the game quite a lot, and, after about an hour, agreed easily to Ruby's suggestion to start the whole thing from the beginning and play together in co-op. And so, the two of them spent the rest of the day having a total blast, taking short breaks every now and then to grab a bite to eat or to get something to drink, playing well into the night and stopping only when the silver-eyed girl started getting too sleepy for her to continue. Moon was already high in the sky by the time Ruby turned off her console, her TV defaulting to some action flick that aired at that late hour.

The silver-eyed girl sat cross-legged on the couch, turned slightly towards her partner. Propping her chin in her hand, she looked at the heiress with a tiny smirk. "Didn't think you'd get so into it."

Weiss giggled at that, shutting her Scroll shut. "What can I say? Fighting games may not be my cup of tea, but this here – a turn-based RPG, was it? - this I can get behind. The story is actually interesting, and though I may be biased on the matter, I'd say that the different ways you can use elements to your advantage makes for a really satisfying experience."

Ruby let out a soft chuckle; Weiss had built her main character around elemental magic, as it was the playstyle she'd found herself liking the most during the time she had spent trying out the game solo. The choice had not surprised the younger girl in the slightest, and there was something inherently endearing about Weiss, her team's caster, playing an elementalist in a video game. It had been kinda cool to watch how quickly the heiress had slipped right into her role, and the two of them even managed to fall into their usual battle routine of Ruby taking care of the tactics and Weiss helping with the plan's execution. When the heiress had gotten a better hang of the game's mechanics, she'd started coming out with her own ideas, and their brainstorming had led to some truly hilarious shenanigans. Many laughs had been had, and at one point the girls had been so loud that Tai had come back from upstairs just to check what the hell the ruckus had been about. "Yeah, I've figured the combat would be right up your alley," Ruby said. Though sleepy, she was in a fairly good mood; it warmed her heart that she'd had an opportunity to bond with Weiss over one of her hobbies, and the whole experience had been made all the better by the fact that the heiress had also enjoyed herself in the process. "Hey, listen... thanks for putting up with me today. And sorry it had turned out this way."

Weiss simply smiled. "You have nothing to be sorry for. It's just good to see that you seem to be feeling better."

"Guess I am," Ruby agreed with a quiet laugh.

Weiss looked down onto the hands resting in her lap, as if there was something she wanted to say and was searching for the right words to do so; whatever it was, she seemed a bit apprehensive to broach the subject. Eventually, she managed to muster the courage. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking... how was it like, having a panic attack? The Doctor has told me what are the symptoms, but... I'm more interested in your personal experience." Hearing that question, Ruby let her gaze drop onto her lap as she pondered on the answer; Weiss, who must have taken that action as a sign of distress, was immediately alarmed, and quickly added: "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

Ruby shook her head. "No, that's fine." It really was – the attack was now little more than a pale memory in her mind, especially considering that she now had a decent grasp of what it actually had been; it was kind of like having been spooked by something in the darkness, only to see that very same thing in the broad daylight, able to recall your fear no longer experiencing it. It was not to say that another such attack would not be terrifying, but in hindsight it seemed somewhat... abstract, and Ruby found herself not really having any issues with talking about it for the second time that day – outside of her shame, perhaps. "Have you ever tilted your chair so far back that you fell over? Or slipped on ice?" Seeing a small nod, she continued. "Remember that 'oh no' moment between being completely fine and panicking, when you are just beginning to fall and the world kinda comes to a standstill for a heartbeat, and a realization hits you that you might break your neck and die when you hit the ground? It's kinda like that... except it keeps on going. Add nausea, pounding heart and the feeling as if you just couldn't get enough air no matter how deep you breathed, and you'll get the picture."

"Dust, Ruby... I'm so sor..."

Though Weiss likely meant that to be comforting, the tone of her voice cut into Ruby like knives. "Pleasestop," hurt, the girl snapped at the heiress, her eyes clenched shut as if to prevent any tears from rolling out. Weiss froze in the middle of her sentence as if slapped across her face, startled by the sudden reaction. "I answered because I want you to understand, not to pity me. You being there was the best thing about that whole ordeal... but also the worst. I don't know what I would've done without you, but I also don't know how to deal with the fact that you've seen me just... crumble like that, for no reason," she said quietly, then shook her head. She opened her eyes, but did not dare to look up to meet her partner's gaze, staring at her lap instead as she continued to speak. "I'm a mess, Weiss. You are my guest, and yet you are the one taking care of me, even right now. I feel pathetic, and I can't get out of my head the thought that I'm one slip up away from... I dunno, making you see me in a bad light? Or making you think that I'm a burden?" Ruby fumbled with her words, herself too confused by her own tangled up feelings to be easily able to explain them.

With her gaze downcast, Ruby saw how a slim hand entered her field of view and rested atop her own. "Why would I ever think that, silly?" Weiss asked softly, speaking with a faint hint of amusement that made it sound as if she considered the prospect to be preposterous. "Yes, it bothers me whenever I see you sad or hurting, but it's because I care, not because I think you're weak, or unreliable, or that you need my pity. I worry and feel for you, but that's because you're my friend, and as cheesy as it may sound, I just want you to smile. It's like you've said – we're all messed up, but we're in this together. Really, you'd have to do something much worse to make me turn away." She paused for a while, then huffed through her nose, as if something amusing had crossed her mind. "As for being your guest – honestly, I feel much more 'at home' here than I've ever felt at my own house. You're fine."

That got a tiny chuckle out of Ruby. "That's not a very high bar, is it," she replied, finally looking up at the heiress.

Weiss giggled, visibly glad that she'd managed to defuse the situation a bit. "No, but the point still stands – don't worry about it." She paused for a brief moment, letting her eyes fall into her lap. "Hey, would you mind if I asked you one more question?"

"Shoot."

"What helped you calm down in the end?" she asked. "Doctor Glas told me that a panic attack might last hours, but I'm pretty sure yours didn't last anywhere that long."

"Might, but not always does," Ruby pointed out, setting the record straight. "But yeah, I've wondered about that myself, and, honestly, I don't know. Might've been just the fact that I wasn't alone, or maybe it just went away on its own... but whenever I try to remember that time, the first thing that comes to mind is the sound of your heartbeat."

Weiss blinked a couple of times. "My heartbeat?"

Rubbing the side of her neck, Ruby glanced sheepishly to the side. "Yeah, I, um, kinda listened to it I suppose...? Can't really remember anything after that; I must've fallen asleep at some point," she said, and a while of awkward silence followed shortly thereafter. Desperate to break it, she let out an embarassed chuckle. "Well, that's... awkward."

"Yeah, a bit," Weiss admitted, laughing softly. "It's getting late. Shall we turn in for the night?"

"Sure," Ruby agreed with a tiny smile. Then, the moment Weiss got off the couch to go upstairs, the silver-eyed girl grabbed the heiress by her sleeve and stood up, pulling her friend into an embrace; she had chosen action over words, as no words would suffice to express the gratitude she felt towards the heiress in that moment, for sticking with Ruby through thick and thin, even in time of her weakness. "Thanks," she whispered.

The sudden hug surprised Weiss, but before long two lithe arms enveloped the small of Ruby's back, returning the embrace. "Anytime, Dolt."

---

Author's Note:

Bloody hell, another chapter sitting at over 15k words. And there I was, thinking that it'd be a shortie – HA! That said, it's taken me surprisingly little time to write – I've started writing that thing at the beginning of July, and it'd probably have taken me about a week less if not for the rescheduling mess that was the first of my retakes. Good news is, I've passed; the bad news is that I have two more retakes in September, so that'll eat into my free time quite significantly, but I hope I'll get at least one morechapter out by the end of September. After that, it's anyone's guess – I've got no idea what my workload is going to be like when uni starts again, but legends say that the third year of BA is pretty chill compared to the madness that were the last two years. Here's hoping.

Glad to finally put this chapter out for you to see; honestly, I've been starting to get sick of it, and there were times when I felt as if writing this one was a full-time, lol. Working on those long ones is tiring, lemme tell ya. I gotta say though, I did find myself oddly liking the part with Blake, dunno why.

So, again, plenty of things had happened this chapter, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Thanks to all of you for your time, for your follows, faves, and reviews; feel free to hit me up on Discord ( Terkontar#1181 ) if you'd like to chat, and I'll see you in the next (hopefully shorter) update!

Anonymous Guest: Contrary to the popular belief, I'm not an oracle, and the story has been around since late 2016; I've already mentioned Gambol Shroud on a couple of occasions, and while I do (kinda) follow the show and occasionally implement things that happened post-V4 into the story – assuming I can add them more or less seamlessly, and they'd benefit the plot – I'm not about to retcon that just because something had happened in V6. Besides, tools or weapons can be repaired or remade; it's broken people that are tricky to fix, and it's broken people I'm more interested in. Simply put, it doesn't really matter for the story whether GS had been broken in this timeline or not, and, considering how weapons in RWBY are one of the defining qualities of their owners, I dared not to alter any of them, much less to replace them. Besides, I personally doubt that Blake is going to get a completely new weapon come V7 – Gambol Shroud just seems too pivotal to her fighting style, and it is present in the official V7 promo poster (though it may not mean anything). You never know with RT, but giving Blake anything much different from her GS just doesn't make sense to me.