AN: An early Merry Christmas for everyone! I wanted very badly to make sure this was done by the 25th, and stayed up until 2:00 in the morning last night to wrap this one up. After such a long hiatus, I wanted it to be clear that I'm serious about returning to this story of mine, so here you go! Unfortunately not quite a real joyful chapter we're dealing with here, but I'll talk more about it in another Author's Note at the end of the chapter.

Read, enjoy, and please review!

What Comes For All Things

Ruby sat bolt upright in the quiet darkness, coming awake with a strangled cry, heart hammering in her chest, her body soaked with a cold sweat. She froze for a moment, trying to remember where she was as the residual terror of her nightmare slowly diminished. A panicked glance around the dark room revealed medical paraphernalia and a curtained off doorway that had light leaking underneath it, quiet conversations of those out in the hallway audible now that her breathing was steadying.

That's right.

She was still in the hospital.

She let out a deep, shuddering breath as she brought trembling hand up to her now short hair, wincing as the pain caught up with her conscious mind, that damned burning fire crawling up her right arm and across her shoulder before settling its barbs into the wounds on her face. Then she winced again as her stomach cramped sharply, and a new panic gripped her as she forced herself out of her bed as quickly as possible, gripping her IV pole with white knuckled hand as she shuffled into the bathroom, and just in time.

One of the side effects of the antibiotics she was on to prevent infection was diarrhea…

As she sat there doing her business, she couldn't help but feel a bit of very dark humor at her situation, such as it was. Not many stories of heroes that she had ever read went into the sordid details of recovery such as getting the runs because the antibiotics killed all types of bacteria in the body, including the good ones in the digestive tract. At least she hadn't soiled the bed this time…

At least physical therapy is working, she mused to herself. I'm getting much steadier on my feet. Maybe they'll let me walk around the unit today.

A rustle of fabric from the doorway to her room. "Miss Rose?" a voice called, voice pitched low so as to not disturb other patients.

"Here," she croaked in reply, wincing slightly at the sound of her voice. At least it now felt like she had swallowed sandpaper and not broken glass, though it was still very difficult to raise her voice at all.

The hospital aide swished back the curtain and walked into her room before sticking her head into the bathroom. "Miss Rose, you know the doctor doesn't want you to get out of bed completely by yourself yet," she chided gently, and Ruby glanced at the ID card that was clipped to the breast pocket of her scrubs. Asul. That was her name. "Why didn't you use your call bell?"

"Didn't have enough time," she grumbled, hand fisting in her hospital gown as she looked away from the other woman. "Didn't want to shit the bed again."

"We're concerned for your safety. What if you had fallen?"

And there was the anger again, rising up, seething, roiling. Asul had a point, why did she have to get so pissed at her?! She was just trying to do her job! But dammit, she wasn't helpless, and if only everyone would just stop treating her like she was! "I'm fine," she bit out, trying desperately to keep her anger reined in. "Not gonna fall, just leave me alone!"

And oh how she hated herself for that tiny little wince that betrayed Asul's hurt at her sharp words. Why was she so damn angry all the time? The littlest things would set her off, and it seemed like she had absolutely no control over it. A flutter of despairing fear under the roiling anger…what if this bitter shell of who she used to be was going to be who she was for the rest of her life? What if there was something permanently wrong with her? She couldn't help but think of all the different cases they had studied at Beacon in the more advanced first aid classes, a sickly twinge running through her as she recalled how really bad traumatic brain injuries had completely and permanently changed some people…had that happened to her?

She grit her teeth, fist tightening even further in her lap as she ducked her head, angry, desperate tears forming in the corner of her eye. Oh, God, please don't let that be true! Please just let this be because I'm in pain! I don't want to be this angry forever, please! "If I need your help, I'll pull the call bell," she whispered, still unable to look at Asul. "Please just leave me alone right now. I…I don't want to yell at you a-and it's so hard not to. Please."

She could feel Asul's presence for a long, tense moment, and then the hospital aide sighed, and stepped away, the swish of the door curtain marking her departure. Ruby let out a sobbing gasp as a hot tear ran down her cheek, and she wished so desperately that Weiss was there. She wasn't sure why, but Weiss's presence seemed like that one thing that actually calmed her down, but…

She leaned carefully forward on the toilet with a sniffle as she wiped away the tear, glancing into her room at the clock on the wall. Just past five in the morning. Two hours until shift change. Four hours until visiting hours. She cast a longing, wearied look at her bed. Not likely she'd be able to fall asleep again, either, not with the nightmares that had been cropping up in the past few days. Yet another bloody thing to be concerned about. And it was so frustrating that they weren't even about the attack that took her arm, but were instead composed of memories dredged up of the worst parts of her past…her mom's death, the attack on Beacon, some of the hunts she had been on that had gone really badly, all swirling together in a terrible miasma, especially when cruelly coupled with her dream self lacking her arm, further worsening the nightmares even more…no, there would be no more rest for her this morning. Perhaps she could ask the doctor for some meds to help with that.

Well, at least it didn't seem as though she was in immediate danger of soiling herself anymore. She cleaned up and then washed her hand as best she could before returning to the bed, where she knew she would be alone with her bitter, poisonous thoughts that were only exacerbated by that persistent, burning pain. Where was the nurse with those damned meds, amyway?! Settling into the bed with an agitated huff, she did take some small comfort in the fact that she hadn't needed to touch the call bell. Told you I could do it, she sniffed haughtily as she tried to relax as best she could. It was going to be a long four hours…

xxxXXXxxx

Just as she had feared, every minute had seemed to last a small eternity. Normally very energetic and used to being able to move about freely, but fairly constrained to her bed was practically torture, and one that she couldn't escape from. She got another dose of morphine at 6:00 and staff came by at 7:30 to see if she wanted a sponge bath, one she grudgingly agreed to, and only because it was their job. Had Yang or Blake asked the same thing…no, only Weiss. Only Weiss could see what lay underneath the bandages, only Weiss was allowed to touch her on her wounds. Breakfast was served at 8:00, and she was glad to see that her scrambled eggs, at least, weren't pureed. It wasn't much, but it was still something. Everything else on the tray was pureed, including the toast (what monster purees toast?!) but the drinks were less thickened than they had been. So there was some progress, even if that progress was minimal. But it was still something.

Finally nine o'clock rolled around, and it was only a few minutes past the hour when one of the aides knocked on her doorframe and opened her curtain, revealing Yang and Blake. For a moment, she was happy to see them, really, she was! But then her eye flicked down to see their hands joined, and then back up to see that happy, gentle glow on their faces that she had learned early on in their relationship meant they had had sex recently.

It was almost…interesting, how quickly it happened. A brief flare of happiness for the two of them, but any joy was almost immediately extinguished by an overwhelming sense of bitterness and fear. Was she ever going to find anyone who would want to bed her now that she was the way that she was? Weiss agreeing to help her with wound care and not finding her ugly was one thing…there was no way that someone so beautiful as Weiss would ever want to actually sleep with someone as scarred and damaged as Ruby. And she couldn't blame her…she'd merely have to be content with Weiss's friendship. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the jealous anger that followed her fear. Yang and Blake had each other, but she wouldn't ever have anyone because of an attack that she couldn't even remember!

If Yang noticed her sudden change in mood, she didn't reveal it in her exuberant greeting. "Hey, sis, sorry it took so long for me to come in and see you!" she said, full of bright, positive energy that just made Ruby want to stab her with her plastic fork, had she still had it from breakfast. Then Yang hugged her, and Ruby grudgingly accepted it, awkwardly patting Yang on the back, wincing as the move sent a fresh wave of pain crackling over her torso. Still, she was glad that she could at least take some small comfort in her sister's warm, soft embrace, though her heart twinged as she couldn't help but wish for Weiss's unique, calming scent and secure arms. Where was Weiss, anyway?

"You've been busy, I imagine," Ruby said as Yang pulled back. Meeting Blake's golden eyes with her silver one, she nodded a greeting. "Blake. Looking comfortable." And she was, both Yang and Blake dressed in well-worn street clothes, blue jeans and sturdy sneakers and hoodies and light jackets to protect against the morning's chill, Blake's hair done in a simple braid and pulled around to rest on her shoulder. Good, you aren't snapping at them. You've got this anger control. Just keep it together. "I, uh, I wanted to apologize, for yesterday. I didn't mean to snap at you, I just…" she drew off, uncertain how to word what was happening to her.

Blake nodded, her expression oddly sympathetic. "I intruded, I'm the one who should apologize." She paused, head tilted to the side. "Ruby…do you only want Weiss to help with your wounds for now?"

Yang scoffed. "Pfft, what? Nah, she totally-!"

"Yes, please," Ruby whispered, head bowed, and Yang spluttered to a stop, though Ruby couldn't force herself to look up to see how her sister was looking at her.

"But-!" Yang started, but there was a rustle of fabric, and her voice petered out into charged silence.

"It's okay, Ruby, when you're ready, we'll be here to help you, okay?" Blake said, her voice gentle, and Ruby felt relief flood through her, easing some of the anger that had built at Yang's protest. Why couldn't she see that this is what she wanted? Was that really so freaking hard to get?!

She took a steadying breath, looking up to meet their gazes, noting the calming hand Blake had on Yang's shoulder, the look of concern on Yang's face that didn't quite hide the annoyance that she had to be feeling after being brushed off like that. Well, that was just too darn bad, now wasn't it? Still…better to talk about something else. "So," she started as gently as her gravelly voice let her, "the explosion I saw out the window yesterday…Onyx?"

Yang snorted, finally relaxing as she crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes, the lilac flashing with red anger for a moment. "Yeah, Onyx. Unfortunately this time didn't go quite like the other times," she muttered, brow furrowing darkly.

"Oh?" Ruby asked as she carefully grabbed her Styrofoam cup of thickened water. What she wouldn't give for normal water! She took a sip, hating the texture of the water in her mouth, and swallowed quickly as Yang continued.

"Yeah, the fire department had some choice words with me, and I had some choice words with Onyx." She hesitated, biting her lip as she glanced at Blake, who shifted closer, giving Yang a supportive hug, and there was that damned flare of rage at their closeness! Why couldn't she just be happy for her sister and friend?! "I, uh, I decided that I'm going to close the bar for a while. I'll need to let everyone know later today, make some phone calls. I've got some money put away so it can be a paid furlough for a bit, and maybe some of the other bars and restaurants will need some extra hands until all this is figured out."

Ruby couldn't help but just stare at Yang. She loved her bar, and she was shutting it down? Then she blinked, processing it. No, it made sense. If the Crimson Claw could attack the Vale SDC Headquarters and hurt her…how much trouble would attacking the bar be? Or abducting some of the workers there, torturing them, killing them? "I see."

Yang shrugged, a lopsided, sad smile on her face. "Yeah, we've got to hash out the final details, but we figured that we'd start running out of Weiss's manor. Easy to defend, has a lot of resources and extra rooms to house any extra teams and members we can rope into this. We need a place of strength to strike back from."

"Makes sense," Ruby replied, the taste of ashes in her mouth as the pain started to grow definitely more pronounced. Where was the damn nurse?! "And enough room for one useless cripple when the time comes, too," she spat as she lifted the ugly stump, hating the brief look of disgust that flashed in her sister's eyes just as she reveled at it in a way that sickened her. Where did this bitter pleasure come from?!

But then Yang schooled her features before frowning indignantly. "What? No! You'd be able to help!"

"Oh really?" Ruby asked quietly, voice almost as cold as the arctic. "How?"

"Well…!" Yang started before immediately stopping, face growing red. "You could…uh…that is…"

"You could plan." Blake's voice was steely and firm. "You may have lost your arm and eye, but you always had a knack for strategizing. There is nothing stopping you from doing that."

Oh, how Ruby wished she could believe that. "No, Weiss was always good at that. What I was good at was reading the situation in the field and reacting to what the enemy was doing, directing the team to negate the threat as it was happening." She sat back in the bed, petulantly sucking at the water cup's straw, grimacing at the thickened liquid but swallowing anyway. Throat slightly soothed, she continued. "Hard to do that when I'm all holed up in Schnee Manor because I can't fucking fight."

Yang glowered at her. "Ruby, language!"

She slammed the cup down on her bedside tray, and by some small mercy it didn't break and spill water everywhere as she glared right back at Yang, breath suddenly coming quickly as though she had just run a mile. "I can use whatever goddamn language I want, Yang! I'm twenty-one years old, hurt and crippled as hell, useless as a fucking hedgehog in a condom factory, and you aren't my mother!"

Yang took one threatening step towards her, hand raised and eyes flashing red as her hair lit up, and for a moment Ruby almost wanted her to hit her. But then Yang stopped, glancing at Blake, who was watching them with wide, shocked eyes before she deliberately curled her hand into a fist and brought it to her side. "You're right," she hissed. "I'm not Summer. But I think that if she were here right now, she'd be absolutely disappointed in what you let this do to you. Ruby wouldn't let anything get her down, she would always keep fighting, no matter what! So maybe you should think about that for a second before you continue to push those who love you away!"

Ruby scoffed bitterly, looking to the side. Silence reigned, thick and uncomfortable, and she fidgeting for a moment, pain growing from a pervasive ache to an acute burning. "Where is that useless nurse with my morphine!" she snapped as she fumbled for her call bell, missing the suddenly concerned look that Blake and Yang shot each other as she hit the button. "Takes bloody forever, don't they care that I'm in pain in here?! It's supposed to be administered every three hours, where are they?!" She glowered through the glass doors at the nurse's station, but then paused, her frown going from angry to confused. There was a large group of people in somber clothes clustered around one of the other rooms further down the hall, and she could see staff going in and out of the room or pausing to talk with the gathering. "What's going on down there?" she asked, eye taking in the trays set with food and drink in the hallway just outside that room.

She noticed the look of relief at the chance of subject on Blake's face as she and Yang turned to look, and her rapidly waning anger was tempered by regret. Yet another thing to apologize for. Great. "We noticed that on the way in, actually. Not sure, we came up the other corridor and so didn't get a close look," Blake replied.

Yang tilted her head. "Weird, though, some of them look familiar, like I've seen them or a relative of theirs before." Then she stopped, face paling as realization dawned. "Oh. Oh, no."

Ruby frowned. "Yang? What's going on?"

Yang shrugged uneasily. "Just a hunch, but when I visited you before the hospital attack, I remember seeing another patient who…who wasn't doing so well. Those people kinda look like her. If I'm right…"

Almost as if on cue, the family started to leave, many of them crying, and all of them were visibly shaken and saddened. One of the older gentlemen spoke with one of the nurses for a moment before offering his hand to shake. He was the last to go. The three of them watched in silence as the aides appeared, starting down the hall and closing doors and drawing curtains closed after briefly speaking with the patients within. Before they reached Ruby's room, though, Ruby, Blake, and Yang spotted another aide appear with a shroud covered gurney, face somber as he made his way towards the now quiet room.

Then Marcia was at her door, knocking before entering. "I'm sorry for the wait, Miss Rose, but you might have to wait just a moment longer," she said as she closed the curtain behind her, blocking the view of the shroud covered gurney being directed into the room. "I can't go into much detail, but we really do ask that you be patient for maybe ten more minutes and-"

"No, take your time," Ruby cut her off. "Seriously, take as much time as is needed to…to give what respect is due." She shifted uncomfortably, the pain not diminishing in the slightest, but she could bear it. It wasn't as bad as it had been right when she first woke up, anyhow. These were the lies she told herself as the fire in her burnt flesh continued to grow, but how could she say otherwise when just down the hall…?

Marcia gave a grateful grin tinged with sadness as she quickly stepped over to reset her call bell. "Thank you, Miss Rose. I will be in shortly with your medicine, don't worry." And then she was gone, curtain swishing slightly behind her before the glass door swung closed with a final click.

They sat and stood there in silence for a moment before Yang spoke. "This place…it's not like the ER. If that patient had been here for a long time, it's very likely that all the staff here worked with her. They all know her and her family. They've bathed her, fed her, medicated her…tried to make her comfortable right up to the end." She sighed, holding herself, and Blake hugged her. "Man, I hate this place," she whispered, voice almost broken as Blake gently stroked her hair.

Ruby watched the two of them for a moment, uncertain of what she should say…if she could even say anything to make things better. They were all Huntresses, and intimately knew what came for all things in the end. Unavoidable, inescapable, as sure and inevitable as the passing of time. Beasts, men, the Faunus, the Grimm…even the mightiest of mountains succumbed to it. It would come for the sun one day, and even for the whole universe at some point in the far off future…and it had come for her and had almost succeeded, she recognized as she turned her head to look at her stump.

She was still angry, still bitter, still disgusted by the very sight of the amputation. She knew that she had a great deal of healing to go, and that it was a certainty that she'd have other outbursts. But this was her sister, she told herself as the tears gathered before dripping from her eye. "Yang," she croaked as she drew her legs up to her chest, "I'm so sorry, I just get so angry sometimes, and I can't stop myself from lashing out!" She buried her face into her knees as a sharp sob tore through her, and her good arm wrapped around her shins as her useless arm pressed against the side of her legs. "Yang, I'm so, so scared that I'm going to be like this for the rest of my life!"

The bed shifted, and two pairs of arms wrapped around her, and even through her slightly congested nose, she could smell the gentle, comforting scents of both lilacs and of old books as Yang and Blake held her.

"Ruby, we love you. Nothing is ever gonna change that, no wound can take away the fact that you are my sister, and you are never going to be just a useless cripple to me! You'll get better, you'll see!"

Ruby viciously buried the seed of resentment that sprouted at her sister's well intentioned lie. She did not mean anything bad about it, and possibly even believed it herself, and it wouldn't be fair for Ruby to attack her for it. Still…

Death had come for her and had missed by only the narrowest of margins, and she would likely forever be closer to it for however longer she might live. It had robbed her of the ability to fight, to Hunt, and left her with a body that would never be truly whole again, one that would always be more susceptible to damage, to infection, to further injury. Yang's words wouldn't change that, but she was right about one thing, Ruby acknowledged as her tears began to diminish.

She was loved. A sister's love from Yang. A father's and uncle's love from Tai Yang and Qrow. Platonic love from Blake, Penny, Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora, Ren…and Weiss, though she wished that she had tried to change Weiss's love for her to romantic before it had become too late…a thought to agonize over later, not now. After all, she was loved by her friends and her family as well as everyone she had ever helped out in the frontier or even within the kingdoms. Yang was right, her injuries wouldn't change that, she wouldn't let them.

Death might come for all things and in many forms, after all, but she wouldn't let it take her or her spirit, not yet! Counseling might help, perhaps some medicines to fight the anger that still roiled in her breast. But Death hadn't won, not yet, and wouldn't, not while she still fought! Letting out a shaking breath, she reached out, grasping Yang's hand. "Thank you," she whispered. And then, softer still: "I love you." Yes, she would start to really fight this deathly feeling in her soul. And how could she lose, with the ones who loved her supporting her every step of the difficult way. Face still hidden by her knees, she gave a watery smirk. You almost had to feel sorry for Death…

…it really had no chance, did it?

AN (the 2nd): So, this was one of the main scenes I had wanted to write since I started this story, so long ago. A bit of background. Throughout the time that I served as an EMT-B and as a Critical Care Technician on an ICU, I personally worked with 14 deceased persons (even more if you count running to the ER to help with CPR), two in the field while an EMT and twelve on the ICU. I'd like to think that I handled it pretty well, but what Yang says is the truth. We do get to know our patients, and losing some of them felt like losing family. One of the oddest things I've personally done is shave a dead man. When alive, he had always been very fastidious about his appearance and had a shave every day...until the end, when he had to be on oxygen 24/7 and then had to be intubated. It was impossible to shave him, a task that generally fell to the aides and critical care technicians such as me. So after he passed and the family left, I took it upon myself to shave his face because it's what he would have wanted.

No one told me to, and it wasn't on the list of things to do to prep the person for going to the morgue (washing their body, making sure they are on fresh sheets, the like) but I felt like it was the right thing to do. I didn't want to write this chapter from the POV of the hospital staff, of course, but from the eyes of another patient. I've always wondered what it was like for the other patients as we closed their doors and curtains as a final symbol of respect for the departed, giving them privacy as we made that final journey to the morgue. I think that they were aware of what was happening, so I hope I portrayed that correctly here.

So, yeah, I'm really sorry this chapter isn't cheerier, especially right before Christmas, but like I said, this is one of the scenes that I wanted to write when I first thought up this story, and is an important healing step for Ruby, giving her some perspective at a pivotal point of her recovery. All that said, I really hope you enjoyed it!