Set post v8, I guess sometime while they're still on the island. Based vaguely on a certain scene from the second Maximum Ride book. Content warning for swearing, mentions of suicidal ideation, mentions of blood and injury, and mentions of canonical character deaths. I usually try to avoid swearing in most of my fics but I felt it was necessary for this particular scenario. Enjoy!
"What the hell was that?"
Both Weiss and Blake wince at the obvious fury in Yang's voice. Usually, she only reserves that kind of ire for people that hurt her friends and family, or for anyone who tries to touch her hair. It's the one and only warning they'll get that they're in for a world of hurt. It's enough to send anyone smart enough running for their lives.
But this time, the target of her anger doesn't even flinch. Ruby just keeps staring dully down at the dirt, as if the sand under her feet holds all the secrets of the world. Bruised and battered and bleeding, she's certainly seen better days, but if she's in any pain, she hardly seems to even notice.
"Well?" Yang demands when her sister remains silent. "What the hell was your plan?"
Ruby declines to respond yet again. "Here," Blake whispers, tearing off a strip of cloth and pressing it into the younger girl's hand. "That cut on your head looks pretty bad. We should probably have Jaune look at it when we get back, but for now we can at least try to stop the bleeding."
There's no verbal response, but to Blake's relief Ruby does take the makeshift bandage and clasps it to the gash on her forehead. Her motions are stilted and jerky, almost mechanical. Lifeless. With her face ghostly pale and blood crusted in her hair and dripping down her face she looks—
Dead.
This is bad. Sure, Ruby and Yang have their fair share of arguments; they are sisters, after all. But she's never seen Yang this angry at their leader before. And usually, Ruby fights back. She never just sits there and takes it. Blake exchanges a quick glance with Weiss, biting her lip when the other girl doesn't seem to know what to do either.
"I was doing my job," Ruby mutters, finally deciding to speak up. Her gaze remains firmly fixed on her feet. "You know, being the leader. Fighting off Grimm. That's what huntresses do, right?"
Her response doesn't seem to dull the flames of Yang's anger at all. If anything, she just seems even more furious. "Running in blindly without a plan, without your teammates backing you up, isn't doing your job," Yang snaps, looming over her sister in a way that would have anyone else cowering. Ruby doesn't react. "That's not being a leader, that's just being stupid! You could have gotten yourself killed if we hadn't gotten to you in time!" Her voice cracks in the middle of that last sentence, and she swipes furiously at her eyes.
Ruby mumbles something in response, but it's so quiet that no one can quite make out what she's saying. "Speak up already," Yang demands, already back to masking her fear with anger.
"I said, so what," Ruby mutters, voice just loud enough that they can hear her. "It's not like it matters."
"Of course it matters!" Yang snaps back immediately, worry winning out over rage. "Don't talk like that!"
Ruby laughs, but it's not a happy sound. She sounds—exhausted, and slightly hysterical. "Everyone dies. Mom died and Pyrrha died and Penny's dead now, too. Again. And we're fighting a war that we can't win, and now we're stuck somewhere with no idea how to get home." She brings her hands up to cover her face, muffling her next few words even further. "It's useless. We're all going to die anyway, so what's the point of worrying about it anymore? Of worrying about anything?"
Yang, for her part, seems to be struck speechless. "That—that's not—you can't seriously be saying that!" she sputters, the flames of her anger doused by utter confusion.
"Ruby?" Weiss says her partner's name tentatively, her eyes wide with fear and confusion. "Ruby, you're scaring me."
There's a sinking feeling in Blake's stomach, a deep, gnawing sense of dread that's been lurking at the back of her mind ever since Jaune had told them about what happened to Penny—and Ruby had hardly blinked, instead moving on like nothing was wrong. She'd known, vaguely, that this was going to come back to bite them later (more like come back to explode in their faces).
Of course, later would end up being now, right after Ruby nearly got herself killed by the Grimm they were fighting and they're all at the end of their ropes, as stressed out and exhausted as they could possibly be. Naturally.
"Ruby," Blake begins carefully, trying to sound concerned without sounding angry or disappointed. She doesn't want to push the younger girl any further over the edge. "We're worried about you. Please, just talk to us. Tell us what's wrong."
For a moment, everything is quiet. Then—
"What's wrong?" Ruby bursts out, her voice taking on a hysterical note again. "Everything! Really it's more like what isn't wrong, if you think about it." She cuts herself off with a giggle, but it's not her usual happy, contagious, bubbly laughter. Instead, it's high-pitched and chilling and more than a little unnerving.
Blake hesitates, uncertain. When the laughter doesn't stop, Yang rears back and slaps her sister across the face, hard. "Cut that out, already, geez!" she snaps, ignoring her partner's glare.
Ruby stops giggling right away—but her laughter is quickly replaced with loud sobs as she buries her face in her hands and tries to shrink in on herself. "I—I'm sorry," she manages to choke out. "I—I'm just so tired and I'm scared and I just want to go home and stop for a while." She trails off to almost a whisper as Blake sits down beside her and wraps an arm around her trembling shoulders.
"And I tried to just smile through it and keep going and be strong for you guys but things just keep happening and with what happened to mom and now Penny is gone again—" She lets herself trail off. "It's just too much. I can't keep doing this." She practically whispers the last part, as if ashamed to admit it out loud.
Yang plops down on Ruby's other side with a heavy sigh, tugging her sister into her side. "Jeez, Ruby, please just talk to us next time instead of trying to get yourself killed first." She keeps her tone light, but Blake can see that her free hand, the one not resting on Ruby's shoulder, is shaking slightly. "We want to help you, Rubes, but we can't do that if you won't let us in."
Ruby nods, scrubbing at her eyes with the back on one hand. It doesn't really make a difference, since her face is already red and streaked with tears,, but at least she's stopped sobbing. "I'm sorry," she mumbles hoarsely, sniffling. "I was just—"
"You better be apologizing for nearly getting yourself killed, and not for being a human person with emotions, Ruby," Weiss scolds lightly as she crouches in front of her partner. "And you don't have to always be strong for us. We want to help you. Let us be strong for you for a chance."
"I'll try," Ruby murmurs in response, her shoulders slumping exhaustedly. Although the bleeding from her head has stopped, she's still an injured mess.
"We should probably get back to camp," Blake announces quietly. "Get you cleaned up properly, Ruby. You took quite a beating back there."
"Good plan," Yang agrees, scooping Ruby into her arms in one smooth motion, ignoring her sister's protests. "You're way too light," she tells her sister. "You need to eat more. Have you been eating at all? Or sleeping?"
They can't fix everything for Ruby, and they certainly can't change what happened to Penny or Summer or Pyrrha or any of the others that they've lost, but at least they can be there to help her through the worst of it.
Thank you for reading! Please comment and leave kudos if you liked it.
