RWBY A Third Rose

Chapter 2

New Home

A/N: Wow, I honestly didn't expect this story to gain this many views in such a short period of time, thank you all for taking an interest.

Also just a quick FYI, some you reading this chapter may feel that Cinder is acting a little bit OOC but –and I'm all but certain that most of you probably already know why this is but I'll explain anyways- that's because she hasn't become the monster (and boring one-dimensional character) we see in canon. Right now what we're dealing with is an abused little girl who has been severely traumatized.

Please Read and Review.

-Atlas, Military Hospital-

To say that General James Ironwood was surprised to have Summer call her so urgently over scroll would be accurate. To find out that the reason for said call was an emergency medivac off of the roof of the Glass Unicorn was another thing entirely. Nonetheless he immediately gave the go-ahead for a medivac as he knew that Summer wouldn't ask for something like this unless it was absolutely vital.

Of all the things he could have expected though, this certainly wasn't one of them. Summer had apparently been waiting on the top of the Glass Unicorn with an unconscious ten-year old in her arms. She was insistent on getting the girl to the nearest hospital as quickly as the Manta could get her there. The closest one of course being the military hospital.

Currently Ironwood was in the medical ward, looking through the window and into the room that the young girl that Summer had brought was now resting in. To his left was Summer herself who looked more than just a little bit distraught. Ironwood had known Summer for a while, -ever since she and the rest of team STRQ had been brought in on Ozpin's group in fact- and hadn't seen her this out of sorts since she and the others found out about Salem.

The girl was still unconscious and had a team of medical staff looking her over. One of them was taking notes on a clipboard and the more the doctor wrote the more upset he looked. Eventually he finished writing on his clipboard and walked out of the room with an expression of barely suppressed anger on his face.

The instant he was outside of the door he headed straight for the General and the Huntress. The instant that he was close enough Summer asked "Is she all right?"

The doctor let out a bated breath and said "She'll live, that's for certain, and she should be able to recover. However I have some serious questions to ask her caregivers as will the police when I inform them on the amount of abuse this poor girl has been put through."

While Summer had been expecting this, hell she had seen it, but she still had trouble reconciling it. How anyone could be so cruel to a child was beyond her understanding. "What do you mean?" Ironwood asked.

The doctor hesitated a moment, as if drawing on some hidden fount of strength in order to answer that question "Where do I even start?" he all but muttered "The girl has been subject to multiple electric shocks over a long period. I'd say at least several months but possibly even a year. Each shock delivered through a device that was around her neck, there's actually some scarring on her neck and it will probably remain there for the rest of her life. We'll need to run more tests after she's awakened but there is a likely possibility that that she may have nerve damage."

Summer's eyes widened in horror and disgust at the doctor's words even as he continued on, "There are also more than just a few signs of malnutrition. She's very underweight for her age and there isn't enough fat or muscle in her body, she's not skin and bones yet but she's getting pretty close. There are also a number of cuts and bruises over her body-"

"SHE WAS BEATEN?!" Summer all but shrieked. Honestly she shouldn't have been surprised given what she had seen in the hotel but it was still heart wrenching to hear. She noticed that Ironwood and the doctor were giving her stern looks and Summer had the decency to look a little sheepish at her own outburst, "S-sorry."

"Most of them don't seem to have come from a direct beating, or at least not the conventional kind. I'd wager that someone threw things at her and most of them weren't very soft."

At that Ironwood frowned and stroked his chin. Summer noticed and turned to her colleague "James what are you thinking?" she asked.

Ironwood let out a sigh and said "I remember hearing that the 'Madame' of the hotel had two daughters…" he trailed off, and let the implication sink in. The horror and disgust that Summer had felt ever since rescuing that poor girl continued to grow as she felt as though she had just been punched repeatedly in the stomach. How could anyone –let alone children– be so cruel?!

"James you can't let that woman get away with this!" she all but yelled. The General held out his arms in a placating fashion, "The police have already been informed and they are running a full investigation into the matter."

While she wanted to feel some relief, Summer wasn't a fool, she knew how easy it was for those in power to avoid the consequences of their actions. Of course with all this evidence, it was unlikely that the Madame would ever manage to get out of this one but there was more than a chance that she could mitigate the charges against her.

Summer pushed those thoughts from her mind when she reminded herself that there were more important things to be concerned about. Mainly the young abused girl that was resting in the room that seemed to be waking up.

The instant that Cinder's golden yellow eyes opened she found herself in a strange place with people in white coats that were observing her. Immediately her eyes widened and her head whipped around at each of the individuals. One of them held up his hands in a placating fashion, apparently hoping to keep her calm. Unfortunately that seemed to only cause the young girl to panic as she scrambled off of the bed as quickly as she could with a scream. The startled doctors were taken aback by the reaction even as Cinder tried desperately to find a way out of the room.

"Please, we're trying to help you, but you need to calm down." One of them said trying to keep her from hurting herself while trying to escape. Cinder backed up towards the wall, stumbling over the equipment tray that was positioned near her bed and collapsing onto her behind. The tray clattered to the floor with a loud crash and Cinder began to scramble backwards into the wall, her eyes were darting back and forth from the doctors to the exit.

Cinder's eyes widened further when she saw the door leading out of the room open and was about to jump up and make a run for it when she saw the huntress from earlier, tears started to form in her eyes as questions filled her mind. Why had this huntress saved her? Cinder had stolen her weapon so why would she even care? No one had ever cared about her before, so why would anyone start now?

She must have decided to punish Cinder herself!

Upon that realization Cinder scrambled backwards even further to the point where even after she felt herself back up against the wall and even then she still tried to continue in her efforts to go through the wall. She held out her hands to show that she wasn't a threat but Cinder wouldn't be fooled. While she knew that she could try to run around her and out the door she was too paralyzed with fear and immediately curled up and closed her eyes, attempting to shield herself from the blows that were doubtlessly going to rain down upon her.

She knew it was pointless –it always was- but she managed to utter out "P-please don't h-h-hurt me."

Strangely that never happened, instead of the expected beating, Cinder cautiously opened one of her eyes and saw the woman crouched down, her arms in a non-threatening display and she looked sad. "Do you remember me?" she asked.

"Yes," Cinder stated. The woman gave a kind smile and said "I'm glad. My name is Summer Rose. What's yours?"

"C-Cinder."

The woman's smile never abated as she continued "'Cinder,' that's a pretty name."

Cinder didn't know how to respond to that. No one had ever said that her name was pretty before, she looked down in embarrassment before bluntly asking "When are you going to start hurting me?"

Summer seemed shocked and heartbroken by that question. There was also something else, something that Cinder had never seen before on anyone's face; or at least not on one that was aimed at her. "Why would I do that?" she asked, seemingly dismayed at the mere suggestion of hurting her.

"I-I stole y-your weapon, anyone else I met would have beaten me for it already and the Madame…" she trailed off as her hands instinctively went to her neck, only to find that the shock collar she had been fitted with was no longer there. Her eyes widened as tears began to stream down her face almost freely now. "I took it off, for the same reason I helped you when that horrible woman was tormenting you. I wasn't going to do nothing while a child was suffering."

"M'not a child." Cinder muttered.

Summer looked at her with a sad smile on her face and was somewhat reminded of her eldest daughter Yang. She kept insisting that she wasn't just a 'little kid' anymore and was a big girl, despite the fact that she was only six years old at the moment. It was obvious to her that this girl had never really had a chance to actually be a child. Summer felt her heart drop into her stomach at the thought.

Slowly the Huntress reached out for the girl, even if the girl started to recoil at the approaching hand "Cinder, I promise that I won't hurt you, and I won't let anyone else hurt you either."

Cinder was skeptical about that but, now that she thought about it, the Huntress probably wouldn't punish Cinder with all those witnesses around, so she was probably safe for the time being. Reluctantly Cinder reached back and clasped her hand with the Huntress, who helped her off of the floor. The Huntress had what looked like a compassionate look on her face but it was more than likely a farce due to there being witnesses.

The girl's fears didn't abate even as Summer tried to reassure her that they were doctors and that they were there to help her but she was cooperating, if only to avoid an even worse punishment later. It was so obvious that Summer's heart dropped into her stomach and she had to fight back the tears that were threatening to overtake her. Had anyone ever shown her any love, or compassion in her life? Or was it nothing but pain and suffering?

It was at that point that she knew she had to do something to help the poor girl, anything.

She made a note to call her husband and inform him of the situation and ask him what he thought of a potential new guest staying at their home.

'I have to save her.'

-General Ironwood's Office, sometime later-

Ironwood was going over the reports that he had managed to glean from the police who had already started to investigate the Glass Unicorn, as well as bring in the 'Madame' for questioning. While the investigation was still in its infancy, there was already a lot of damning evidence against the hotel's manager. While were only a handful of witnesses to the abuse that Cinder underwent –mostly staff members that kept quiet under threat of losing their jobs- there was more than enough forensic evidence that corroborated the girl's claims.

The Madame however remained belligerent during her time with the police, claiming that the Huntress had attacked her and abducted her adopted daughter. It wasn't until she had been confronted with overwhelming evidence that she had demanded a lawyer and refused to say anything else the entire time. Though it didn't' matter how incredible a lawyer she had, no one could possibly deny the mountain of evidence that was growing by the hour.

Hell, word had already leaked to the media and they were all over the police precinct as well as the hotel itself, trying to get themselves a good story for their viewers. It wasn't until a press conference was promised by law enforcement that they finally calmed down.

Ironwood wouldn't deny that Summer had done the right thing but it was obvious that she had still made one hell of a mess that he and the judicial system would have to clean up after. Still though, he couldn't blame her for what she did. Hell if put in her position he might have found himself doing something similar.

The General continued to go over the paperwork for another few minutes before his intercom gave a beep and one of his staffers call in "General, sir, a Summer Rose wishes to speak with you urgently…she's very insistent."

Ironwood pushed the talk button on the intercom and simply said "Send her in, Lieutenant."

Not even a second afterwards the doors leading into Ironwood's office all but flew open and Summer Rose herself walked in at a brisk pace, so much so that she may have been running. Ironwood resisted the urge to cock an eyebrow at the display lest he start to look like Oz –Qrow would never let him live it down if he did if he found out- and instead asked "You wanted to see me?"

Summer nodded, walking closer "Yes, I wanted to discuss some things regarding Cinder."

Ironwood had more than just an inkling that was going to be the case and gestured for the Silver-Eyed Huntress to have a seat. Summer sat down and Ironwood asked "What did you want to know?"

"What's going to happen to her?"

The General knew that was coming. While he hadn't worked with Summer as much as Ozpin did, he knew full well –this little event being the perfect example- was that she always did what she thought was the right thing, period. While that was a commendable attitude in a huntress, especially one like Mrs. Rose, other times it could be a little difficult. He had a feeling that she wouldn't like the answer he was about to give.

"It's more than likely that she'll reenter the foster system, and be given to another family at some point. Then there's the fact that she will likely need to testify at the Madame's trial, assuming she doesn't try to make a plea deal with the courts."

Summer had apparently been expecting that and had a look of utter determination on her face "Sir you and I both know that sending her into the foster system is a mistake. She already came from a similar 'system' and that sent her straight to the Madame and to just send her back into that..." she trailed off.

Ironwood could more than understand Summer's concerns, hell he was a foster kid himself and it while he got lucky with a decent enough family, there were a LOT of others that weren't. The head of Atlas' armed forces looked at the Huntress and let out a sigh "What would you suggest then Summer?"

At this Summer seemed a little bit sheepish, "Well I was thinking that I could watch over her while I searched for a loving family that would take her in. I already spoke with Tai on the matter and he seemed to be open to it."

Once again Ironwood was only just barely unable to avoid cocking an eyebrow. It was legal in both Atlas and Vale for a temporary guardian to be appointed or if they volunteered (though they would need to be vetted first). Of course it was much more common for the temporary guardian to be from the same Kingdom as the child in question but it wasn't unheard of.

Still though, it probably would be for the best for that kid to be as far away as possible from Atlas for the time being, the media would be hounding her for a good story and she was clearly traumatized by her experiences in that hotel. A media circus was the last thing that the poor girl needed.

"If you're going to go through with this, I strongly suggest getting the girl to talk to a good therapist. It's obvious the girl needs one."

Summer looked saddened by the reminder of what the girl had likely gone through and said "Don't worry, I know a good one on Patch."

Well, at least things seemed to be working out a little.

-Airship en-route to Vale a few days later-

For Cinder, things didn't seem to be working out. When the Huntress had come back later after the doctors were done looking her over, and asked if she wanted to stay with her and her family for a while, Cinder almost said "no." But then realized that if she refused that she would be punished for it. Sure, Summer promised that she wouldn't hurt her and hadn't done anything yet, and had even saved her from the Madame but Cinder was sure that she would eventually. Everyone always did.

Currently she was in an airship that was heading to Vale and had a seat right next to the aisle while Miss Rose took the window seat and seemed content to look out and enjoy the view while the airship took the long flight to Vale. At least she seemed content to enjoy the view and ignore her for the first few minutes, and then she decided to speak to her, with that same caring smile that she had shown while she was in the hospital. "So, Cinder have you ever been to Vale before?" She asked.

Cinder shook her head "No." She said simply, not sure what else she should say to the woman. Summer tilted her head and asked "Can I tell you about Vale?"

The ten year old girl shrugged. Summer smiled and proceeded to explain "Well, the weather is a lot warmer than it is in Atlas, that's for sure, and the people on Patch, that's an island just off the coast are all very nice. Especially the people you'll be living with until we can find you a good home."

That made Cinder even more nervous. Summer hadn't mentioned any kind of chores the entire way to Vale or the discipline she'd have to deal with if she didn't do them right. She also hadn't given her anything suspicious like the 'necklace' that the Madame had given her when she had first arrived at the Glass Unicorn but she figured it was only a matter of time before something like that happened.

"So, the first person you need to know about is my husband, Taiyang. He's a teacher at Signal Academy and a big goofball. Then there's Qrow, he's my brother-in-law, he's a big showoff and does drink a bit but he's fun to hang out with in his own weird way."

Summer's expression took on an even more beaming expression, "Then there are my daughters." She said and Cinder found herself holding her breath as memories of her past experiences with the Madame's daughters flashed through her mind. Summer noticed this and that same caring expression that she had on her face that she had whenever Cinder looked as though she was nervous, anxious or just plain terrified.

"Don't worry, they're both very nice girls and are actually a few years younger than you are. Yang, my eldest is only six and my youngest is named Ruby, she turned four just a few months ago. Even though they're so young, they both have so much energy in them. Yang's my little firecracker, she's fiery, strong, vocal and she knows it too. Ruby is sweet, kind and full of love to everyone she meets."

Cinder still wasn't sure how to feel about that, the last 'sisters' she lived with did nothing but hurt her every chance they got. Sure Summer was trying to convince her that it would be different but Cinder doubted it. In fact Cinder was all but sure that the woman would drop the act sooner or later. She also wouldn't stop gushing over her daughters throughout the rest of the flight.

Eventually the airship finally set down and from there the two headed from the large airship to a smaller one which took them to patch.

The entire time Cinder's anxiety only grew as they got closer and closer to their destination, until at last they were finally there.

The home that they had come to was more like a cabin, a decently sized two story cabin. It was obviously different than the Glass Unicorn that was for sure. Sure she hadn't been expecting another enormous building like that but it wasn't quite this.

As they neared the front door to the house, Cinder felt the temperature start to lower and the wind itself seemed to be getting colder. Sure it was early fall but still, why was it so chilly all of the sudden? That and the winds were starting to pick up a little bit more than normal.

The door slammed open, almost causing Cinder to jump. However she didn't have any time to recover as two blurs, one red and the other yellow, rushed forwards and slammed right into Summer Rose, all the while they yelled one simple word at the top of their lungs "MAMA!"

When Cinder finally got a decent look at the two, the first thing she noticed was how different each of them looked. One was almost a carbon copy of Summer, only much, much younger while the other was slightly older than the other with blonde hair and lavender eyes.

The two were bombarding Summer with questions regarding her trip to Atlas and while they were coming out rapid fire, at least the blonde was easier to understand, the younger one on the other hand…

"HowwasAtlasmama?Doesthecityreallyfly?Wasitcold?Didyoumakesnowmenthere?" The words that were coming out of the Summer's youngest were coming out so quickly that Cinder was honestly shocked that any human being could talk that fast, let alone understand a word of it.

However Summer seemed to have had no real trouble in understanding her youngest "I'll tell you all about Atlas in a little bit sweety, but I just got home and you need to slow down when you speak."

Cinder just continued to watch the scene with complete and utter awe. She couldn't remember the last time she had witnessed something like this in her life. Even at the Glass Unicorn there hadn't really been any interactions that were quite like this and when she had been living at the so-called 'orphanage' back in Mistral, well…there weren't any opportunities to witness something like that given the circumstances.

The slightly older blonde with pig tails looked over at Cinder and pointed "Who's that mama?"

"It's rude to point Yang," Summer said even as her daughter mumbled an apology. "This is Cinder, she'll be staying with us for a while, so I want the two of you to be nice to her alright?"

The two girls gave a "yes mommy," before turning to their new guest. Cinder felt more than just a little put on the spot. The pair looked at the new guest with differing expressions. Yang seemed curious while Ruby was the very definition of enthusiasm. The four-year-old immediately rushed over to Cinder in almost a blink of an eye and grabbed Cinder's hand shaking it up and down so fast that it was a wonder that it simply didn't pop off.

"Hi Cinder! I'm Ruby, and this is my big sis Yang! Will you be our new friend while you're here?!" She stated and at least this time she was able to speak in a way that Cinder was able to understand. For a few seconds Cinder was dumbfounded by the little girl's energy and blinked one or two times before absentmindedly nodding.

Ruby's reaction was immediate as it was predictable. She immediately gave a happy "YAAAY!" and proceeded to engulf Cinder in a hug that the older girl found was actually tighter than would have been normal for someone of Ruby's size. Not wanting to be left out Yang quickly joined in saying "Group hug!"

Cinder blinked and then looked back up at Summer, not sure what she should do. Strangely enough Summer had a wide smile on her face and was taking pictures with her scroll as she cooed at them. Her mouth opened but no words came out, and was unable to truly comprehend what was going on at the moment.

She wasn't what she should do either. Should she return the hugs? Push the two away? What?!

Fortunately for Cinder she didn't have to do anything as a muscular man with blonde hair and tanned skin came to her rescue "Ruby, Yang I think that Cinder wants to stop hugging for right now."

Neither of the sisters seemed to really understand "But hugs are good daddy."

The pair's father gave a good natured chuckle "That they are but let's give Cinder some space, this is all new to her and we should give her a little time to get used to it. So why don't you let go for now?"

Both girls seemed reluctant to let go of their new guest but did as their father asked of them. Much to Cinder's relief.

The girl was then led inside by the girls and their parents, and Cinder was led into what she would come to call the first days with her true family.

To be continued

A/N: I know it's not a very long chapter and we didn't get to see much of Ruby and Yang but don't worry they'll have more presence next chapter.