"So, Miss Schnee, as you might be aware there was a video posted publicly on the CCT during your kidnapping. Can you remember that happening during your captivity?"

Weiss shook her head silently, her hair falling back in front of her eyes. Of course she had seen the video, everyone had, it wasn't hard to miss. News outlets, articles, newspapers, it seemed like any kind of media had a picture of it plastered on the front page, leading to links and links of reposts. Once she'd gotten her scroll back she had felt a sick twist of curiosity in her stomach to research the whole ordeal. The video wasn't up for more than five minutes, but it was enough time for people to make copies and post it across gossip sites. She'd watched it more than once, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't find the experience in her memories.

It was strange how human memories worked. No matter how hard she tried to pinpoint that exact moment, it wouldn't stick. It was like trying to navigate a maze that you had built on your own accord, but with no map, no help, and no idea where the entry or exit was. She was just placed in the center of it and told to escape by retracing her steps. She recognized blurry shapes and could almost feel words leaving her lips at some point. She could remember the horrible searing pain that had spilled across her entire body after the first injection. She could almost feel a ghost of the rawness in her throat from all of her screaming, though it was one of the first things her aura had managed to heal. The rest of her body though… It was taking much longer. On some days, Weiss could move around in her bed, while others - like today - she could barely even move her arms to get a drink.

"That's natural, don't worry," the lady said, scribbling some notes down on her notepad, "It's called Post-traumatic amnesia, or in other words, it's your brain trying to protect you from yourself." Weiss wasn't surprised at all, her tired gaze locked on her bandaged hands and the slight splotchy blood stains on them. The therapist sighed, "Do you remember anything at all? Working through the pieces you know now can help you later when your PTA passes."

Weiss closed her eyes, sifting through the darkness. She could recognise disjointed fragments of memories, but there was one peculiar memory, one that almost didn't fit in with the rest of her own. There was a voice, younger than her own, that haunted her mind like a geist. Weiss knew that it was linked to the name Marion, yet she couldn't understand why. She'd tried to find a source that covered her rescue, to see if anyone named Marion had been rescued with her, or if perhaps she'd been found in the laboratories. Nothing, no student profiles, no workers profiles, nothing. The name was simply attached to Weiss and Weiss only. Despite that, the voice made Weiss's chest crumple in guilt, and she had a terrible pulling feeling that something had gone wrong with Marion.

"At your own pace, of course," the woman said softly, tucking a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "Pulling forcefully at your memories while you still suffer with PTA may make the memories take longer to resurface."

Weiss relented, opening her eyes with a wince as a headache began to form, blood roaring in her ears like jet engines, "I can't remember anything, there's nothing else to say. I'm sorry..."

"That's quite alright, Miss Schnee," The therapist let out one final dejected sigh, glancing at the clock on her scroll. She clipped her pen back onto her clipboard and stood up, patting down her clothes again. Weiss looked up at the hustle. "Well, we're out of time for today anyway. If anything comes to you, please don't hesitate to let me know. You have my number."

Weiss pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded, leaning back into the oversized pillows behind her gently. Despite their softness, her back ached in protest, causing Weiss to slowly descend back, "Thank you, I will."

The lady bowed her head, making her way to the door. Weiss didn't look up until she heard the affirmative lock of her hospital door, finally leaving her alone with her thoughts and the constant beep of her heart rate monitor again. She let out a long, hollow sigh, looking down and pulling thick bandages back off her wrist to look at the new pink scarring there.

Usually aura would help lessen the chances of scarring, especially with unlocked and trained aura like her own, but according to the surgeons, her aura had been negated using some kind of drug while she was kidnapped, and the dosage had been incorrect. The tiny piece of aura she had now was only a fraction of her fully unlocked aura. The remaining aura was her body's natural immunity trying to save itself from withdrawals, but she was on medication to help with that. It was something that would recover in time with therapy, alongside her muscle's strength and other functions that had suffered.

She hated that she had become such a burden to these people. She couldn't even walk around by herself anymore, the muscles in her legs weakened from her prolonged period being suspended in the air. She was a cripple, all of her pride and independence as a Schnee that she had fought for had been stripped away from her in a single week.

She hated it.

Weiss gulped down the lump in her throat, grounding herself with a deep breath and reaching for her scroll. She needed to distract herself from those kinds of thoughts, the pain in her chest would increase tenfold with them. The professors had been kind enough to post the notes from their lectures online for her to read through during her hospital visit, however they had not made it mandatory. The only real assignment work they'd given her was to read through some of the more crucial notes that would be required for the finals this year. Weiss had already worked through these notes, and was simply recycling and rereading what she had access to. It got boring very quickly, especially considering how she was due to remain under hospital supervision for another month at least.

She groaned at the thought, turning on the blue screen. It reopened onto an article she had been reading about herself that had been published that morning. The cover picture was of her sister's airship on the roof of the hospital, with Winter, Ruby and several medics rushing her into the building. Weiss narrowed her eyes at it.

Vultures.

She quickly scrolled past that, returning to where she had been:

'...Weiss Schnee is believed to have been kidnapped by the terrorist group The White Fang, led by Sienna Khan, who is believed to be working in tandem with the wanted criminal Roman Torchwick, where she was inhumanely tortured for five days straight. A five-minute video of her abusers was posted on the CCTV on Tuesday morning, showing Weiss hanging from chains as a White Fang member made demands towards Jacques Schnee, CEO of Schnee Dust Company Ltd., who is currently under fire for the working conditions for the faunus in SDC mines. Her rescuers were members of her own team, Team RWBY, who ignored school rules to rescue her during Storm Berel and stormed an undercover White Fang base alongside the prestigious Team CFVY. Weiss Schnee underwent an 8 hour surgery once she arrived at Vale National Hospital. Fortunately it is understood that she is currently in a stable condition. We asked one of the head doctors in Vale National Hospital about the situation. They said:

"Miss Schnee is currently in the hands of several of the most renowned doctors and surgeons available. She is in a stable condition and will continue to be monitored extensively for several weeks. Despite her current stable condition, due to the nature of her injuries, there is a concerning chance that her condition may drastically change."

Jacques Schnee, CEO of Schnee Dust Company Ltd. and father of Weiss, made a public announcement on television last night regarding his daughter's capture. "My daughter was a victim of a crime. The monsters that helped in the kidnapping of my daughter shall be severely punished for their crimes."

Live updates of this story will be provided here at…'

Weiss closed the page, a feeling of tightness closing around her chest as she stared at the blank scroll screen. She didn't hate the media - she was quite used to their obsessive behavior around her and her family - but they were merciless sometimes. She didn't want all of Remnant to know about what had happened, because she had a sick feeling they would lead Torchwick straight back to her to finish the job. It was no secret where Weiss was hospitalized, and it didn't take much for a terrorist organisation to 'tie off loose ends'.

Her hand buzzed with the sound of an incoming notification to her scroll, urging Weiss to look down. A new message from Ruby appeared at the top of the long list of others, adding to the unopened pile of three others. Weiss watched it as the screen faded to dimmer light, before tapping on the notification.

RUBY ROSE (COOKIE MONSTER) ONLINE

RUBY 14:22

'Heya Weisssss'

RUBY 14:54

'If you need anything i'm here'

RUBY 15:14

'How are you feeling? I can come visit if you want'

Weiss rolled her eyes, letting her scroll drop to her side without an answer to Ruby's messages. She loved Ruby, she did, but she could be a bit much a lot of the time. Weiss's scroll was constantly beeping from notifications, with most of them being from either the RWBY team chat or from Ruby herself. Her unending pool of energy was too much for Weiss's tired mind, and she wasn't exactly eager for Ruby to tackle and hug her again any time soon.

Weiss still didn't even know how to feel about their… date.

Or at least the pieces she remembered. The missing chunks of her memory extended to a few minutes before, too. What remained there was confusing. She remembered standing with Ruby beside the lake and lamenting on how disappointed her father would be with her if she was romantically involved with her partner. Then, Ruby said something to her, and later the two of them were incredibly, incredibly close to each other. Weiss remembered sensations, a warm rush crawling down her neck, the intense smell of roses that filled her every sense. For a beat, all she knew was Ruby. She was everything, all her senses, latched onto her and hungry, leading her… somewhere.

And then, nothing. A silence in her memory, like it had just been wiped away. She didn't remember being jumped, but she knew they had been, nothing tangible came to her grasp when she reached for it. It was incredibly frustrating.

But that didn't change the nature of Ruby's intentions to even invite her out. It was sudden, and if Weiss remembered correctly (which in hindsight, wasn't likely) Ruby had struggled with even asking her, which was strange. Ruby had asked the entire team out on 'team bonding' activities without much of an issue, and she never had an issue dragging Weiss out on her 'partner bonding' training sessions. What made this different?

The thing was, Weiss knew that she knew what had made it different, but did the gods really did grant her any mercy? The blurry mush of shapes and senses she felt before they were jumped was the key, but until it cleared, she'd be stuck wondering what had happened between them.

A second beep from her scroll turned her vision towards the screen again, this time displaying a notification from Winter. Weiss physically perked up, opening the message. If anything could cheer her up, it was talking to her sister.

SISTER (WINTER SCHNEE) ONLINE

SISTER 15:17

'I'm coming to visit you. Is now a good time?'

A smile blossomed on Weiss's face, looking to the door as if Winter would walk through it on que. When it didn't move, Weiss typed out a response:

WEISS 15:17

'Now is perfect.'

SISTER 15:17

'I'll be up in a moment. Sign in for visitation is required.'

Weiss huffed a half laugh at her sister's wording. Always so formal.

WEISS 15:17

'Ok.'

Five minutes later, Weiss's reading was interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. She lowered her scroll and cautiously sat up, wincing at the tightness of her skin as she stretched beneath her hospital gown, "Come in."

The door pulled open, and as expected, Winter appeared behind. She smiled over at Weiss as she closed it behind her quietly, striding over with all the professionalism of an Atlas Official before taking a seat beside her sister. Weiss felt her eyes gazing upon the bandages on her arms and neck, and saw the hurt and guilt that flickered in her eyes. Weiss pulled her arms closer to her.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, looking away from the bandaging on her skin and to Weiss's eyes. Weiss's smile faltered into a small frown, looking away from Winter in shame.

"I'm getting better," she said softly, "The therapist was here only ten minutes ago."

"Oh? How did that go?"

Weiss took a deep breath carefully, the pain in her chest still present despite the high dosage of painkillers and aura multipliers she was on, "Well, she said I have post-traumatic amnesia, which is… positively delightful."

Winter's gaze softened with worry at the news, "I see. Did she say you will recover your memories?"

Weiss let out her sigh, balling her fist until she could feel her nails digging into her palm, "I don't… want to remember, if I'm being honest."

Weiss heard Winter shuffling closer, her gloved hand reaching in and unballing Weiss's fist with her fingers. Weiss flinched slightly at first, a quiet gasp breaking through her breath. Even still, Winter held on.

"Weiss, I can't even imagine what you've been through, but you can't keep it to yourself," she said softly. Weiss looked away in guilt. She knew Winter was right, but she didn't like the concept of having to tell people what happened to her. To have to relive what happened to anyone who's curiosity would get the better of them.

Winter sensed this, and continued, "You don't have to tell me, or your team, but please try to be open with your therapist. They have-"

"My best interest at heart," Weiss interrupted, her shoulders slouching, "I know, Winter."

Winter watched her carefully for another minute, before releasing Weiss's hand and sitting back straight. She reached for her scroll on her hip, bringing back the memories of the article to Weiss. She wondered if Winter had read them, or if she had contributed to a few. Doubtful, she had been busy with the investigations.

"I do bring news," Winter said from her scroll, peaking Weiss's attention, "The… condition… you've been diagnosed with. We may have found somewhat of a cure."

"So it's a condition now?" Weiss sneered.

"It's far more than Dust poisoning, Weiss, you know that." Winter retorted, meeting Weiss's stare. "If it was dust poisoning, you would already be cleared of it and sent home." Weiss moved her glare away, locking to her hands again. She gripped her scroll tightly.

"So, what? The medication they have me on isn't working?" She grumbled again.

"Weiss, you have purified dust particles in your entire system. I saw the scans, it's not…" Winter debated her words as Weiss's eyes locked to her, "It's not normal. You have physical dust clumping beneath your skin, in your blood- You're lucky you're even alive- those animals- they-"

Winter stopped as her voice cracked, her head lowering to the floor as she pinched her eyes. Weiss watched on in astonishment. She'd never seen Winter openly cry before, especially not in front of Weiss. She knew Winter had cried, of course she had, but it was usually hidden away from public sight. Alone. Seeing her so open, and watching as streaks slipped down Winter's cheek made her freeze.

Winter sniffed, sitting back straight. Now that Weiss looked for it, there were signs of exhaustion and previous tears on Winter. Black bags under her eyes hidden beneath a thin layer of skin foundation, bloodshot eyes. She didn't look like she was an Atlesian Commander anymore, now she looked like the older sister who was terrified of their father, who'd keep Weiss close to her as their parents screamed terrors long into the night. "Winter…?"

"Apologies," Winter croaked, tucking hair back behind her ear as she recovered herself, "Like I was saying, whatever they did to you, I had never seen before. With purified dust especially. It's an entirely new situation, but we found something at some of the labs where you were... kept." Weiss knew the word 'experimented' had lingered on Winter's tongue for a breath, but she was somewhat relieved she hadn't uttered it. "Scientists are trying to reverse engineer a cure for whatever is going on in your body."

Weiss watched her sister with an ache in her heart, rubbing her arm self consciously, "How long will that take?"

"We have some of the best minds in Remnant working to get it, so hopefully not too long," Winter said, "Until then, though, you'll probably have to go through a few procedures to get the dust build-up removed."

"More surgeries," Weiss groaned, "Great."

"Not too many," Winter said softly. She shuffled closer again, "You know I'm always one call away if you need me."

Weiss nodded, "I know, Winter. Thank you."

Winter's eyes softened in response, slowly glancing to the cards that were draped across the end of Weiss's bed. Her gaze softened at the sight. Weiss followed her sister's gaze, and let out a breathy laugh as she realised what Winter was looking at. "Ruby brings me cards every time she visits, from people in Beacon." Weiss looked at them with a weird fire glowing in her chest. There were cards of all kinds there, modest ones, colourful ones, and the one from Yang that said 'Feel PET-ter soon!' with a picture of a corgi plastered on the front of it. "I think three of them are from Ruby just because she thought the pictures were cute."

Winter chuckled slightly, "I see. Ruby is quite the girl, isn't she?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes slightly at the idea of the conversation that was about to come up, suspicious of her sister's intentions, "Yeah. You got to meet her during everything, right?"

"I did," Winter hummed, "She was... extremely concerned for you."

Weiss sank back into her bed, her back slowly going into a full spasm, "She's very... openly emotional. She can be a bit much sometimes."

"I see." Winter looked at the cards again, "What of your other team members? Blake and Yang, was it?"

"Yeah, yeah that's them," Weiss sighed. Something comfortable sat in her chest as she talked about her team, something like pride. An honor to be telling her sister about her found family. "Blake's very quiet. It took her a week to actually hold a conversation with us for more than five minutes." Weiss chuckled at the memory. "And Yang, well…"

Winter tilted her head slightly, but Weiss was still smiling, "She's just an annoying brute. Always telling horrible jokes at the worst time and making flirty jokes that I never know how to respond to." Winter cocked a brow, "But it wouldn't be the same without her, even though I have to lower my brain cell count to understand her 'memes' sometimes."

"Memes?" Winter echoed. Weiss shrugged her shoulders.

"Internet jokes, apparently."

"Ah."

"Ruby's strange, though," Weiss continued, her earlier trail of thought returning to her, "She's so eager to put her own life before others, but she's childish. Her hopes and dreams are all akin to that of fairy tales."

"You were with her the day you were kidnapped?" Winter said carefully, quietly, almost like she was afraid to bring up the topic. Weiss didn't particularly want to either.

"I… I believe so, but I can't be certain," Weiss lied, "It's one of the things I can't… remember."

"Of course," Winter replied, quickly receding the question, sensing the discomfort in her sister's words. Weiss was thankful for her awareness.

"Thank you," Weiss said quietly, feeling the buzz of her scroll in her hand. She looked down as her screen lit up with another message from Ruby, adding to the unanswered pile.

RUBY 15:32

'We're gonna come visit in a few hours, Blake n Yang went to go get books'

"Excuse me for a minute," Weiss said, opening the keypad on her scroll. Winter bowed her head in response.

WEISS 15:33

'Alright. Winter is with me now, though, so I apologise for slow responses.'

RUBY 15:34

'Winter's there? Say hi for me!'

Weiss chuckled warmly, closing her scroll screen, "Ruby said hello."

.

The Library was quiet today. Beacon Library was modestly big, especially considering it was one of the most prestigious schools. It consisted of three floors, each separated sections of history books, fictional stories, and old, old texts and archived reports. The third floor was strictly used for communications, fully decked out with communication consoles up to the newest standard. Some students lazily drifted in the halls, all older than Blake and Yang. Anybody who recognised the pair would probably be asking why the second years weren't training with the rest of their team, preparing for the Vytal festival that would be arriving soon.

Luckily for them, none of them questioned it either.

Blake hid amongst the shadows of the bookshelves, dwarfed by their towering height. She reached amongst the spines and pulled out a book that caught her attention. 'The Purest: A theory on the existence of purified elements'. A book on pure dust, and likely a book trying to decipher the effects of it. Blake quickly pushed it back into the gap she took it from. They all had too much of an experience with pure dust recently. The idea of holding the book left an itchy feeling in her palm.

"So, what book did Weiss want again?" Yang asked over Blake's shoulder, her hands tied and leaning against the back of her head. Her school coat was removed and tied around her, leaving her in her almost too tight shirt, her ribbon loose and her top two buttons undone to reveal her chest. Blake lifted her hand, revealing the book they'd come for.

"Waking the Tiger?" Yang read, leaning closer to Blake's hands.

"It's a book on traumatic recovery," She explained, continuing her own search through a selection of books, "I think it helps with peace of mind."

Yang leaned back again, her eyes scanning the thick shelves of book spines, thick and thin. Some of them were familiar to her, quotes that Weiss had given her once upon a time flashing in her mind. Some just seemed silly to her, like, 'Dust: Uses in Food' made her chuckle. She'd tried using fire dust to cook an egg once by cracking a thick crystal and half and trying to fry it.

The egg had just gone up in smoke.

"Sooo," Yang looked back down at her smaller partner, her eyes focused on her bow over her ears, "If we have the book, why are we still in here? Ruby won't wait much longer."

Blake stood tall on her toes and grabbed a book, examining the cover with curiosity, "I was looking for this, but I got it, so we can leave."

Yang, now curious, leaned over Blake's shoulder again. "'Demon's Desire', huh? Blake Belladonna! Have you no shame?"

Blake leaned back with a smug look in her eyes, glancing at the exposed skin on Yang's chest, "Speak for yourself, Miss half naked."

Yang let out a dramatic gasp as they began to leave the maze of tall bookshelves, heading towards the digital scanners to scan the books out, "I am not half naked, I'm simply enjoying the breeze."

Blake snorted, and Yang's heart stopped in her chest as the feline looked back with warm eyes, "You could at least wait until we got back to the dorm."

"Oh yeah, then I could be fully naked!"

Yang didn't miss how Blake's face turned redder than Ruby's cape, the small flecks of black fur on the faunus's neck lifting. Nor did she miss the elbow that dug into her ribs and winded her.

"Shut up!"

Yang let out a hearty laugh, full of joy and fun. Blake couldn't help as her obnoxious partner's aura spread to her, infecting her own face with a grin of her own.

"I thought your 'secret' lab was supposed to be a secret."

Blake stopped like a statue, her cat ears beneath her bow twitching to attention as a hushed voice caught her attention. Her bow swivelled as she tried to relocate the sound, and the source. A sinking feeling hooked her gut like a fishing pole and tugged. Yang took several more paces before she noticed Blake's sudden stop. She turned, clearly unaware of the situation.

"You coming? I could always just get naked back here, y'know. Not like anybody is looking for books on…" she turned to the nearest shelf and read the first book title she saw, "... relative theory…"

"Shh," Blake ordered, lifting her head and craning her neck. Yang quickly noticed the change in attitude and shuffled closer, taking quiet steps as her arms dropped from the back of her head.

"What?" She whispered. Blake held up a finger, telling her to wait for a second.

"I told you you couldn't trust him- Roman is a goddamn con artist-"

Yang and Blake immediately met each other's wide eyes in alarm, both suddenly alert and tense. Blake scooted closer to the bookshelf where the speaker stood on the opposite side, crouching down low. Yang joined her, straining her hearing. Blake carefully lifted her bow half off her ears so that she could hear clearer.

This wasn't right.

"Uncle- she's alive- yes, she's alive! They're going to figure it out- No, she's in the hospital."

"Is he talking about…?" Yang whispered quietly. It certainly sounded like he was talking about Weiss. Something that Roman was involved with that ended with a girl in the hospital? That was too many coincidences to be an accident. Blake knew that.

"Sounds like it," Blake agreed, looking at the bookshelf they were hiding against. They weren't very far from the end. "We need to confront them."

"Uh, hell yeah we do," Yang whispered harshly, grinding her fist into her palm. She stood straight and started to strut towards the end of the bookshelf. Blake watched as she walked, immediately feeling remorse for the unfortunate victim that'd meet the other end.

"Okay- okay I have to go- I'm not even supposed to be out of class, I'm only talking to you because if anyone finds out- yeah. Yeah, okay. Bye."

Blake stood with the person as he put the scroll away. He looked up and groaned loudly, looking toward the bookshelf. Blake met his gaze with her own through the gaps, and she watched as panic suddenly shot to the forefront of his gaze. They moved quickly, pivoting on their heels and taking heavy steps towards the exit.

Straight into Yang.

And straight off of Yang.

The pillar of a woman didn't dare move, her hair practically alight in a flame as she stared down the scrambled body on the ground. Yang had already been pissed off at the idea of a student, someone who probably knew Weiss from Beacon, but upon seeing who had fallen and scrambled away from her feet, a bonfire lit up inside her..

"Cardin."

The boy beneath her squirmed as Yang's eyes turned a violent shade of red, smoke starting to spill from her mouth. Yang was lucky she rooted herself to the ground, or else there'd be a murder in the library.

How poetic.

"Mind explaining what we just heard?" Blake asked sharply, appearing from behind Cardin with her bow covering her ears again. The boy met her gaze for a second, turned back to look at Yang, and slowly stood to his feet. He dusted off his legs, cleared his throat, and turned to face Blake with a stoneface.

"None of your business," He grunted, pressing out his chest. Blake's ears flattened beneath her bow, eyes thinning to threaten the sharpness of blades. Yang took another step forth, closing the gap between Blake and trapping the leader of Team CRDL between them.

"It's plenty of our business," she growled back, "Why were you talking about Roman Torchwick in the back of the library? Who were you talking to?"

"And who were you talking about?" Blake joined, folding her arms in mirror to Yang, "Because it sounded like you were talking about Weiss."

Cardin, as bulky as he was, looked small between the two women. His bravado cracked and shattered like glass under the pressure, his head bowing and looking away like a guilty child. Blake could see his mind racing to try and cover himself, his hands clenching and unclenching by his sides and his feet shifting. Yang was physically steaming, her hair glowing in the dim light of the library and her eyes lit red to match. Blake hadn't even seen Grimm on the opposite end of that kind of stare, and if she was being honest with herself, it was freaking her out. She could see Yang physically tense and holding herself back in her mind, but all it took was one single wrong twitch from the boy in front of her for Yang to snap.

"I don't have to tell you shit," Cardin snarled, turning away from Blake and shoving past Yang, grinding off her shoulder as he did, "Out of my way, blondie."

Blake felt the intense wave of heat from her partner as the comment, and watched as Yang's jaw clenched as her muscles tensed tight beneath her skin. The blonde looked to Blake for guidance.

Blake debated going after the boy for a heartbeat, her eyes fixated on his body getting smaller as he fled. They wouldn't get anything by attacking him in the open, they'd more likely get expelled before they figured out what Cardin was hiding. They'd just have to watch from the shadows. Cardin wasn't bright, clearly, he'd proven that a minute ago. It wouldn't be hard, and as long as they got evidence of some kind, they'd be able to beat him up legally.

After a tense few seconds, Yang finally let out a sigh, as the library doors shut abruptly behind them.