A/N: Hey guys, sorry for being late again. Coursework and procrastination are to blame.

Anyway, here it is. The newest chapter!

I don't want to talk too much here because that may spoil things.

So on with the chapter!

Please enjoy!

I don't own RT or RoosterTeeth.

Guilty Rose Chapter 21

Rose had called Glynda as soon as she was done treating the bear faunus' wounds. The professor came immediately with a bullhead to take the girls back and Ozpin to talk to the authorities.

Ozpin did his job perfectly. He 'spoke' to his students and informed the police that the infamous killer, The Face of Death showed up and attacked the White Fang, his unfortunate students and their civilian friend got caught up in the massacre.

Of course they gave a detailed description the killer. They couldn't forget the blood red eyes of the spider faunus they encountered. The fact that spider faunus almost never had red eyes escaped the human police.

After the questions were answered, team RWBY and their injured friend were riding a bullhead back to Beacon Academy from the docks in silence. Catatonic might bet the more apt description.

They were all still processing what had happened less than an hour ago.

Well, team RWBY was, Marron was just trying not to pass out from blood loss. She had to think about old and new machinations for bringing Adam down to accomplish this.

Blake, Weiss, and Yang all were still trying to wrap their heads around what they had witnessed. The carnage was nauseating to say the least. Poor Blake and her sensitive sense of smell couldn't keep her tuna dinner down when she woke up.

Yang, who had seen everything from start to finish, was also sick to her stomach. Not by what Rose did, not entirely, but by the fact that someone actually turned her sister into this killer.

Weiss on the other hand, didn't know what to think. She had been genuinely terrified until Yang pulled her aside and explained why Rose did it. At that point, Weiss hugged Rose and apologized for everything and refused to let go.

And that is how they arrived at the academy.

"Weiss, you can let go, I-I'm okay."

Rose grumbled at her partner as they were walking back to their dorm from the infirmary. She wasn't okay, but she was doing a good job hiding it for once.

"No, I will not. You may act like you're okay, but I know you're not."

The faunus was a little shocked, she had managed to suppress the guilt for the time being.

Rose sighed, she knew she wasn't getting out of this easily. Thus she had to pull something a little underhanded that Yang had taught her as a joke.

"If you don't let go, you'll have to join me in the shower. I may not get as sick as Blake with the smell of blood, but that doesn't mean I like it."

The heiress blushed wildly while Yang had a small smirk on her face. Humor was a good sign, or at least she thought so.

After Weiss let go, though there was some obvious hesitance, Rose went into the bathroom and started running the hot water and undressing. She stepped into the shower and immediately felt the hot water hit her. She sighed into the water as it began rinsing off the dried blood.

It wasn't long before her body went to autopilot and she lathered soap across her body while thinking on what happened.

She killed people again.

Maybe she was protecting her team, but she still slaughtered them.

The hot water masked the feeling, but tears were already starting to fall from her eyes.

"Every time I finally think I get away."

She clenched her jaw and fists.

"It's so frustrating. I'm trying, for the love of Oum I am. So why can't I stop killing people."

Rose wanted to cry out, but she didn't want her teammates to hear her. She's already caused them enough trouble.

It wasn't much longer until her vision blurred completely and she lost consciousness while her body finished her nightly ritual.

….

Rose found herself in her cage again.

She curled into the fetal position immediately and buried her face in her knees. She didn't want to see this dream. She was too exhausted to call out to the backs of her teammates and her mother. She couldn't bring herself to call out anymore.

It was at that moment that she heard a footstep.

The faunus' head shot up.

Maybe one of the figures was finally going to turn around.

Maybe she would finally be found and let out of the cage.

She could be free.

But, no.

Fate had to be cruel again.

She looked up to see her mother starting to walk away from the cage. It broke her heart. Rose raced to the bars. She didn't care how painful it was when her body slammed into the metal as she reached out for the white cloak.

"No, don't leave me mommy! I'm right here, just turn around!"

Another step was taken.

"Mommy! Find me! I'm right here in the cage!"

Another step.

"Mommy please, I don't want to be alone anymore."

Rose slid to the ground and sobbed lamely.

….

"Mommy please, I don't want to be alone anymore."

They all heard it.

Weiss, Blake, and Yang heard their team leader's cries and rushed to see what was wrong. What they found, broke their hearts.

Rose was still asleep and crying. The pained look on her face and her showed how terrible of a nightmare she must be having, but it was that single line that made things clear.

Ruby was still waiting to be found. She always had been.

Yang bit her lip nearly to the point of drawing blood. She already had her scroll in her hand, and thank Oum it was made for the huntress or it would have shattered already. She promised not to tell her stepmom about Rose, and Ozpin's fucking law was there to prevent her from telling anyone about the faunus' past.

Then it hit Yang.

"Mom!"

She promised not to tell her stepmom and not to reveal her past to anyone. Yang never promised to not call her mother to come visit the team, or that she wouldn't suggest that her mother bring Summer with her.

Yang knew that she'd still be betraying her sister's trust though. But she couldn't take it anymore, Rose herself said it. She needed to be found.

"Damn it all!"

Yang's outburst caught the her conscious teammates' attention and they watched as she brought her scroll to bear.

"What are you doing, Yang?"

"I'm calling my mother."

"You oaf, you promised her you wouldn't!"

"I'm calling my mother, remember, I promised not to call her mother."

Yang marched out of the dorm while she pulled up the contact she was looking for. Weiss and Blake followed her out.

"You know this won't go well."

"I know."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Because what choice do I have? You heard her! She's trapped in her past and has been waiting for twelve years to be found!"

All three looked at their dorm's door, silently apologizing for what they were about to do.

Yang tapped the call icon and brought the device to her ear. Each ring was more agonizing than the last. Finally, the line was picked up and there was an audible thump.

"Yang, do you have any idea how late it is? Somebody had better be dying or you found Ruby."

Yang couldn't help but nervously chuckle at that.

"Look, I just need you to grab Summer and teleport to me right now."

Raven seemed to have missed the chuckle in her grogginess.

"What's this about, Yang?"

Yang bit her lip again.

"I did."

Raven grumbled.

"You did what?"

Yang bit down a little harder.

"I found her."

There was a long pause. A very long pause.

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack. She's in the room I'm looking at right now. But I need you to teleport to me first."

"Why?"

"That's...not an easy question to answer. I just need to talk to you two first."

There was another pause, but it was obvious that her mother wasn't done talking, she was just finding the words to say.

"Do you want me to get Tai too?"

There was so much venom in her voice that Yang had to pause. It wasn't a long pause though, Yang already had an answer.

"No, my father made his choice."

"I see, give us a few minutes."

"Rae, who's that?"

Yang's jaw dropped. Her stepmother's sleepy voice rang proudly through the speaker of her scroll. And from the sound of it, there was no way she was more than a few feet from her mother.

"Mom?"

There was a pregnant silence on the line.

"I promise there is an explanation for this."

"Save it. Get dressed. She has been wait too damn long for this."

"Right."

The call was ended and Yang could only sigh with a myriad of emotions.

"So?"

"They'll be here in a few minutes."

"That's it?"

"Oh, it most certainly is not."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I have questions I'm not sure I want the answers to."

"Okay?"

….

"What was that about?"

Summer had woken up at the end of the phone with whoever Raven was talking to. Whoever it was said something to Raven that made all the blood drain from her face when Summer had spoken.

"Um...a lot."

"Okay? Care to elaborate?"

"The important parts are that was Yang...and she found Ruby."

"Come again?"

"Yang found Ruby."

Summer sat there and just processed that information.

"Ruby's found...is she okay?"

It wasn't the question she really wanted to ask, but it was the first question that came out.

"I don't know, Yang wants us to meet her now."

All the information finally processed in the recently awoken faunus' mind. Summer jumped out of bed and stood proudly in her underwear.

"Lets go then!"

"Whoa, we need to get dressed before we go anywhere."

Summer looked down to notice her attire and grumbled.

"Fine. But get a portal ready."

Raven would have found the other woman's antics funny in any other situation, but right now they couldn't afford to waste time.

Both women got dressed in what had to be record time. As soon as they were done, Raven opened a portal to Yang.

Once again, her portals were too slow. All either wanted was to see both their daughters safe and sound. It's all they've wanted for twelve long years.

Reality came into focus and the women found themselves in the last place they expected.

Beacon Academy wasn't the actual surprise. In fact, they expected to find themselves outside the infirmary.

But no, they found themselves in the hallway outside of team RWBY's dorm. And standing there, waiting for them was three of the four members. Each of them with a dark expression on their face.

"Girls? where's Ruby? Why are we outside your dorm anyway? Is she in the dorm?"

Summer tried to make her way to the door, but Yang stepped in front of her.

"Whoa, slow down, there's a reason I asked for you to teleport out here."

"What could possibly be so important that we can't just go and see her now?"

Summer tried to step around Yang, but this time Weiss stepped in with Blake preparing to step in too.

"Miss Rose, this is really important. Please calm down and listen to us. We're already breaking her trust, so we don't want to make things worse."

Summer stared into Weiss' abstinent eyes, finally she released a growling sigh. She knew the girls wouldn't be stopping her like this if it wasn't truly paramount to her seeing her daughter for the first time in years.

"Okay, what do you want to tell us?"

"Well, here's the thing-"

"Ruby is both the fourth member of team RWBY and the Guilty Rose."

Raven had been standing back this whole, while she was excited to see her youngest daughter up close for the first time, the whole situation wasn't adding up. She spoke when everything dawned on her.

"Yeah...hole in one, mom."

Summer's eyes went wide as things were adding up. Then she got nauseous, how many years ago had Raven brought news of the infamous killer. How long had they spent arguing about how they weren't Ruby.

"Oh, Oum."

Tears began streaming down Summer's face. A moment later she felt two strong arms around her shoulders.

"Sum, we didn't know it was her."

"You knew though...I'm the one who said it couldn't be her."

Raven gave the sobbing faunus a comforting squeeze before looking at her oldest daughter.

"When can we see her?"

Yang glanced between her mother and stepmother.

"In a moment, I just need to warn you. She's very defensive while she sleeps, like she pulls a knife...out of somewhere and will use it if you get too close."

"Okay, I can see how that's important, though it raises more questions. Anything else?"

The teens suddenly couldn't meet the women's eyes and shuffled nervously.

"Um, yeah. She only sleeps in a cover."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see."

….

Rose woke from her nightmare when the strangest thing happened. After a few steps, her mother's figure began to turn around and as soon as silver met silver, she woke.

Once her eyes opened, Rose found herself looking at the very real figure of a woman that looked exactly like her. A woman she knew to be her mother.

Panic rose in the faunus ' chest as her eyes darted around wildly, looking for an escape route.

"Ruby?"

That name set every instinct off. Rose activated her semblance in full and went for the nearest window. She was already on the ground and running before any one could do anything.

She didn't know where she was going, but she kept running.

Two minutes later, her body stopped and Rose found herself outside of Cin's dorm.

The faunus stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. Finally, she decided to knock.

Moments later the door opened to reveal Emerald. The girl looked shocked by the scene before her, but she recovered immediately.

"Merc. Get the fuck out. Cinder. Neo. Help."

"Why do I need to get out."

Emerald turned to glare at Mercury, which gave him a full view of Rose. He saw the girl who wearing nothing but a blanket and was still panicked. His expression showed understanding as he walked out.

This really got Cinder and Neo's attention and they bolted to the door to find the same sight.

"Rose! Come inside. Emerald, close and lock the door. Mercury, no one gets in, got it?"

"Got it."

"Yeah."

Cinder gently took hold of Rose and walked her to the bed. Dozens of scenarios were going through her mind, and none of them were good.

"What happened, Rose?"

Rose just stared at Cin for a moment, not sure what to say.

"She was there."

"Who was there? Is she the one that hurt you?"

Rose shook her head.

"She didn't hurt me...but she was there."

Cinder saw the turmoil clouding the girl's eyes. There was pain in them, but not one she recognized.

"Rose, I need you to tell me what happened. Clearly."

Rose took a deep breath and slowly released it.

"I woke up...and there was my mother...I think Yang called her."

Cinder couldn't help but sigh in relief that no one actually hurt Rose, but she something still had to be wrong if Rose showed up at her dorm.

"I thought you'd be happy to see her?"

Rose looked down before answering.

"I-I'm a monster and a killer now… I don't want her to see me."

Cinder pulled Rose into an embrace and held her there. It wasn't a tight embrace, but it did it's job.

"Rose...she finally found you. After all these years, you finally have the chance to be with your family again."

Rose stiffened in the embrace. Then, she slowly looked up.

"Mommy found me?"

It was barely above a whisper, but they all heard it.

"Mommy found me."

They all watched as each syllable affected the faunus. It was like watching an animal that had been caged and abused finally be set free.

Tears started streaming down Rose's face and a slight giggle escaped her lips. Relief flooded the room as they thought that the situation had been solved.

"Okay then, I'll let Weiss know you're here so your team can come get you."

"No!"

Rose's demeanor had devolved back into the panic and terror they saw just moments ago.

"Why not, Rose?"

The faunus struggled to calm herself again. After a minute, she succeeded but there was still a dark look on her features..

She looked at the ground again.

"I'm not ready to face her yet...can I just stay the night with you three? I'll be ready in the morning I promise."

Cinder smiled softly. She understood where the faunus was coming from.

"You take as long as you need, but I'm still telling Weiss you're okay."

Ruby wore the faintest of smiles now and nodded her agreement.

A/N: Oof that was a thing.

Before anyone asks. Yes, this was the plan all along, more or less.

Let's go back to the beginning of the chapter, I got a few points on every scene I'd like to cover.

So the first scene. I was talking to a reader/buddy of mine and he said that there wasn't much of a reaction to Rose killing those people. Well, there it is. Maybe it wasn't the big blow out it could have been, but I think I handled it well. Also, no, Marron will not become a student, she's too old (I've always imagined her 23 to 25 years old) and she still has a job to do.

Then the dream sequence, I thought that was a nice touch to add to the story. that's all I really have to say about it.

Finally, Yang calling Raven. This has literally been one of the first scenes I ever thought of for this story, right after Rose showing up to CMEN's (Still pronounced Crimson.)door. I changed the details a bit, I was gonna wait to reveal Raven and Summer's relationship to Yang, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I also added a detail to the story here to explain why Raven never bonded her semblance to Ruby. She could never get close enough to do it. There's more details to it, but they'll be revealed in good time.

Also, now Summer knows who her daughter is...good lord that was heartbreaking. Can you imagine what she felt like? Even I was getting upset writing it.

Alright last scene!

Rose and Summer finally meet! Only for Rose to jump out the window and run. Yeah. I did that. No, I don't regret it. I felt it was always the most natural course of action. Rose has been fighting seeing her family from the beginning, so this sudden encounter had to go poorly. And then Rose showing up at Cin's door. Yeah, that was another natural course of action in my eyes. I mean, how would you react in that situation? Also, while I didn't leave things in a cliffhanger, I know a lot of you will be happy about that, I will write a continuation of the scene for next chapter.

Alright, that should be everything.

As far as announcements go I don't have any for GR as such.

Mostly just that Romance/Hurt/Comfort story I mentioned a while back has been postponed.

I don't have anything else for sure now.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Please follow, fav, and review!