Previously on Because Why Not?…
Ruby and Weiss arrive at White Castle with Weiss's mood deteriorating by the minute until she's all but checked out of her surroundings as she is bound to a wheelchair due to her slow and painful recovery.
After escaping from an invitation to afternoon tea, Ruby meets Weiss's family butler who seems to be more of a father figure than Weiss's own father.
Exhausted from the trip and more activity than her recovering body can handle, Weiss goes to sleep with Ruby gently cuddling her.
Ruby muses about Weiss's attitude until she's interrupted by Weiss's father who wishes to speak with her. She's expecting to be kicked out for her relationship with Weiss when Mr. Schnee reveals that he not only supports them, but that Weiss should not find out that he holds that stance.
"Lift those legs higher!" Ruby cheered as she spotted Weiss in the gym.
It had been four days already, and as was normal even with the impairment of aura blockers, Weiss's body was healing at an alarmingly fast rate. What this meant was that she needed to build her muscle back up to avoid a bad heal - according to the doctors. Unfortunately, that was a painful process of tearing muscle only to have it heal itself minutes later. It was a process Ruby had thankfully only needed once when she'd suffered a bad fall from a play structure as a child and broken her arm badly. But now Weiss had to experience it, and the problem was her torso. Altogether, Ruby felt like the bad guy as she watched Weiss grimace at the pain as she forced her muscles to obey her command.
"Ah!" Weiss gasped as she pulled her right knee to a straight ninety degrees.
"Hold it there!" Ruby ordered as she carefully inspected the strain on the sutures Weiss still had holding the surgical wound together. The bandage had been removed the previous day as it had mostly finished healing. "Okay, try for ten more degrees!"
"Fuck you!" Weiss swore as she nevertheless attempted to lift her leg higher.
"That's what I'm hoping for." Ruby spoke plainly, causing Weiss's face to flush even redder than it had been and the next moment she had lost her balance and was stumbling into Ruby's arms.
"Ruby, how many times do I have to tell you not to say things like that here? Anyone might come in!" Weiss whispered urgently, the fear in her eyes obvious.
"And how many times do I have to tell you that I love you and I only want for you to get better?" Ruby asked rhetorically, making the girl in her arms turn her head away stubbornly. "The only way you get better is to push through this part. And trust me, I know it sucks, but that's how it is. I wish I could do something, but this is about it."
"That doesn't make it less painful." Weiss shot back as she resumed her position at the poles that she'd been using to balance.
"I know, but I figure if you can take your anger out by kicking me in the head by tomorrow, it'll all be worth it, no?" Ruby replied sarcastically. "So get 'em both to a hundred and ten, and then we'll call it quits for today."
"You sure know how to bribe a girl." Weiss deadpanned as she shook her head and once more braced herself for the ripping pain of lifting her leg.
"Then how about a reward when you're done?" Ruby stepped in and helped her partner raise her leg, simply supporting it until Weiss stopped moving. Ruby looked at the pained expression on her girlfriend's face and nodded encouragingly as she slowly pushed Weiss's leg higher.
"Ah…" Weiss hissed as she gripped the bar she was holding tighter. Her other hand shot out to Ruby's shoulder and held her still for a moment as she adjusted to the pain.
"Weiss, if it's too much we can stop." Ruby offered, starting to be concerned about how much pain her partner seemed to be in.
"No. Keep going." Weiss almost barked as she visibly fought down the pain. "All the way."
"I'm not sure that's a good-"
"Do it." Weiss ordered, cutting Ruby off as she started to pull Ruby closer. Ruby was forced to move Weiss's leg upward and over her shoulder as she approached. Weiss kept pulling her leg up until her knee came to her own chest and slowly breathed out as the constant pulling slowly eased.
A few minutes later, the pattern repeated with her other leg, Ruby once again supporting her until she had finished stretching it to where she'd been able to before. Her arms followed, with Ruby helping provide resistance for her muscles as she continued to stretch in every imaginable way.
The room was silent as they worked, Weiss only occasionally hissing as she fought through each new wave of pain, or Ruby giving the occasional direction as they followed the checklist the doctor had given them. Ruby hadn't expected Weiss to be in so much pain and she felt bad for essentially forcing her to go faster than the prescribed program which would only have Weiss back in fighting condition in a month at best according to the doctor's estimates.
Weiss, on the other hand, knew she was pushing her luck with the type of exercise she was doing. She could feel her wound, even mostly healed, protest against her as she struggled to get her core back into shape with a sort of imaginary sit-up. She felt the muscles tense and cry out but she pushed as far as she could before resting flat until the pain subsided somewhat. Weiss was no stranger to getting injuries, but this time something was off. She pushed that thought back for the moment and looked to Ruby who had been diligently holding her feet for some time now, and Weiss finally noticed the sad look on her face. Weiss felt a wave of exhaustion hit her and once again realized she'd need to rest before she'd be able to recover any more.
"Help me up." Weiss said, reaching her arms out to her partner. It was surprisingly easy to stand up with only a bit of help from Ruby, but Weiss supposed it could be that she'd pay for her temporary recovery later on. She quickly sat down in the wheelchair that she slowly started wheeling to the door with Ruby in tow.
"Are you sure you don't want me to push you?" Ruby offered again, even though she'd been turned down on the same offer six times already since they woke up.
"No." Weiss answered as she let herself roll to a stop before turning the chair slightly and her head the rest of the way so she could look at her girlfriend. "Sorry, I just need to do this myself or I'll feel completely useless. You understand, right?"
"I guess… I just don't like seeing you like this." Ruby sighed as she took Weiss's outstretched hand in her own and kissed it gently before Weiss returned the gesture. This sort of action from Weiss was new, but not unappreciated. Ruby didn't miss Weiss's blush as she let go of her and started back down the hall.
"Could you go fetch Klein? We'll need him to drive, but tell him it's to pick up a dress order. It's a sort of code we have." Weiss explained as she continued rolling toward the main foyer where they'd first arrived. "He should be near our room at this time."
"Okay, I'll be back." Ruby walked ahead quickly before darting back to let a ghost of a kiss brush her partner's cheek. "Bye."
"Just get out of here, dolt!" Weiss swatted at the air that had burst into rose petals as Ruby sped away. Weiss found herself laughing lightly at the trail of red that now lined her otherwise colourless path to the foyer.
It took only three minutes for her to enter into the grand room, just as Ruby came walking back from the west wing. They met as they reached the front door, exchanging slight nods as Ruby moved around Weiss's chair.
"He said he'd get the order ready as soon as possible." Ruby informed Weiss as she opened the door to let Weiss out.
"Perfect. Can you push me to the road? I'm feeling a bit tired. He'll be there in a minute or two." Weiss replied to Ruby as they quickly passed the statues and pillars lining the walk now that Ruby was helping her.
"So… where are we going?" Ruby asked curiously as she reached the road.
"Not here." Weiss whispered almost too quietly for Ruby to hear as she glanced up past Ruby for a moment before turning her gaze back to her partner and speaking louder. "You'll need a respectable outfit if you want to attend the ball with me."
Ruby smiled with understanding as she glanced up where Weiss had looked. Just above them was a small black irregularity on the nearby pillar. Normally you'd expect it to be just a trick of the light but the way Weiss had spoken up made Ruby realize it was actually a very small camera. Whether or not it could hear was another question but she supposed it was safer not to risk it.
She hadn't told Weiss about her impromptu meeting with her father that first evening, but each hour that passed seemed to make her want to confess as if she'd done something wrong. It made her realize how long it had been since she'd purposely kept a secret from her partner. Well, other than her feelings which she'd originally thought to be one-sided. Her last large secret had been about her mom. Rather the fact that her mother had passed away in the line of duty. And now this secret that she had to keep from Weiss, that even she didn't know was making her feel guilty. The more she thought about it, the more stupid it sounded as she had realized that she didn't even know what the secret was.
"Earth to Ruby?" Weiss asked as she pulled on her partner's sleeve. "Anyone home? It's time to go."
"Huh?" Ruby snapped back from her thoughts and blinked to find Weiss already on her unsteady feet as she started crossing to the vehicle. Each step seemed more sure than the last and Ruby quickly linked her arm with her partner's to ensure the short walk went well.
Klein loaded the chair into the trunk with amazing speed and was back behind the wheel of the black SUV before Ruby had entered behind Weiss. No sooner had Ruby shut the door than Klein sped away, back into the city of Atlas.
"Where to today, Miss?" He asked after taking a few turns at random and stopping in front of a small shopping center.
"Dr. Pain. I believe he's still where he was last time." Weiss replied. "While we're there, see if you can find a restaurant that's not too busy and out of the way."
"As you wish." Klein spoke as he pulled back into the sparse traffic.
"Who's Dr. Pain?" Ruby asked cautiously. If the name was any indication, either he specialized in treating pain, or he created it.
"He's a faunus doctor with an interesting semblance. I've seen him on occasion in the past for a second opinion after one of father's doctors decided to declare me unfit to return to Beacon." Weiss explained. "He was furious at the start of our second year, and that's because he'd thought I'd gone to Atlas Academy where he'd transferred me. He didn't know I'd been cleared by Dr. Pain to return to Beacon and that I'd informed Ozpin about the situation beforehand and transferred back."
"That's what that was all about?" Ruby asked in surprise as she recalled the incidents. "He sent a small army after you!"
"And they were beaten by two girls and Jaune… how sad… I just felt a little bad for Goodwitch having to fix the wall afterwards." Weiss looked over at Ruby before they both started laughing at the memory of shocked looks on the faces of the men as they were knocked down by Yang and thrown by Ruby faster than a blender turning food to paste. Blake and Weiss had just watched while sipping their respective cups of tea during a break between studying for a review exam. Jaune had heard a commotion and knocked the last man out by accident as he opened their door while the man was attempting to retreat. "But I trust Dr. Pain more than that surgeon. I'm hoping he might have a better solution to get me fighting again. I've never been injured like this before, but I don't see why I'm in so much pain when my aura should be absorbing some of it. Even with the blockers."
"Well, let's hope for the best then." Ruby replied as she looked out the window at the buildings rolling slowly past. "So what was with the secrecy back at the manor?"
"Mr. Schnee has a bad habit of interfering with young Miss. It seems that interference becomes more difficult if you don't have adequate information on who you need to bribe." Klein replied from the front seat. "Your stop is coming up, by the way."
"Thanks, I'll send you a message when we're done." Weiss said as Klein stopped in the parking lane at a red light. Weiss opened her door and carefully stepped out onto the sidewalk as Ruby followed, once again taking Weiss's arm as the two started walking back down the empty walkway. Weiss led Ruby into a small clinic that looked very run-down with it's solid wood door's paint peeling back terribly.
Inside was about as big a contrast as you could imagine. Silver everything, from floor to ceiling reflected diffused reflections back at the pair as they approached the desk. The young girl who Weiss thought to be too young to be legally working looked up before going wide eyed. She asked the pair to wait a moment and she ran into the back room. Weiss and Ruby listened as her panicking voice came through the door to the staff room before a deeper rumble silenced her.
When the door opened, a large man with a very round jaw appeared. He was built like a tank with muscles bigger than Ruby was used to seeing, but his dark green eyes had an almost calming effect. Large ram horns sprouted from either side of his head and curled around his ears like earrings, his crew style haircut doing nothing to hide his faunus heritage.
"Weiss, it's been a while. How's Beacon treating you?" He asked in a deep voice Ruby decided was friendly enough for someone with the last name Pain.
"Beacon's fine, but my last mission was rough." Weiss replied as she slowly moved around the counter toward the doctor. She had barely gone two steps when the man's eyes snapped open.
"You, girl, keep hold of her other side." He ordered Ruby with a point before grabbing Weiss's other shoulder. "Follow me."
The two followed him into a room with a magnetic imaging unit. He helped Weiss onto the bed and Weiss handed Ruby her jewelry.
"Any other metal? No? Good." Dr. Pain nodded as he started the scanner up.
The room fell to the relative silence of the magnetic humming as Weiss was examined.
"This wound looks like it's barely scabbed over. When did it happen?" He asked no one in particular.
"About a week ago. She was treated by-"
"Don't care. I see what they've done, and thankfully I'll be able to fix it. Butchers, all of them med-school bastards!" He cursed as he punched a button on the machine and walked off as the bed slowly pulled Weiss back out of the massive magnets. They heard a door slam and his bark of a shout echo around the entrance of the office before he stormed back through the door.
"What's the issue, Doctor?" Weiss asked as Ruby helped her back to her feet.
"You've got a bad heal on your abdominal muscles. It could cause permanent damage if it continues to heal that way." He spoke as he ripped a sheet of paper off the side of the machine and walked out, holding the door for the two girls to follow.
"What sort of damage?" Ruby asked, already frightened by the prospect that Weiss might not have been out of the woods after all.
"Permanent pain, inability to turn the upper body, the list goes on. In short, extremely early retirement as a huntress." He replied, slightly more kindly. "I don't believe we've met before."
"Ruby Rose." Ruby replied, trying to keep her concerns for Weiss out of her head.
"I go by Dr. Pain. I'm a ram faunus, but I might just be the best surgeon on Remnant, and the only one in this city with the balls to help Weiss right now." He led them into another room as the girl they'd seen before left a tray of silver instruments on a table. "Alright, so what I plan to do is technically considered a malpractice in Atlas law, but that's the only thing that'll set you right again. I'm going to sever your muscle and re-set it in the proper place, then I'll use my semblance and your aura to heal it. Alright with that? Sound fun?"
"Not particularly, but do it." Weiss replied but nodded nevertheless.
"Good. Take this." He spoke as he handed Weiss a cord of leather. "And just one thing before I start, did they stick you on any medications?"
"Aura-blockers." Ruby supplied a bottle she'd carried for Weiss in case their trip went longer than she'd expected.
"Of course…" He sighed as he took the bottle in his hand. He then tossed it into a trash bin and went to one of his cupboards and started rummaging around. "You'll need something to counteract that drug if you're going to survive this procedure… ah, here it is. I'll be injecting it directly to an artery so it reaches your heart quickly. The good thing is, it'll numb the pain a little."
Weiss nodded and looked at Ruby for a moment as she made up her mind.
"Ruby… I don't want you to see this, but if you don't want to go, I won't make you." Weiss said carefully. "It's probably going to hurt but if the doctor says so, it needs to be done."
"I'm not leaving you Weiss." Ruby replied stubbornly.
"Alright, but you better have a stomach for this otherwise you'll be cleaning up your own mess." Dr. Pain spoke seriously. He injected Weiss with a needle and she gasped as he pushed her flat to the table as he started placing restraints on her arms and legs. He took the strip of leather from Weiss's hand and shoved it into her mouth. Before turning and picking up a thin blade. He pushed Weiss's top up to reveal her stomach where the sutures were still holding her wound shut. "Ruby, turn around for a moment. You won't like this."
Ruby looked at Weiss as the doctor cleaned Weiss's stomach around the sutures quickly and efficiently. Weiss nodded slightly and Ruby turned, reaching back and taking hold of Weiss's hand.
"Alright, this is gonna hurt a lot."
Pain. Nothing but pain could be felt and Ruby wondered how it was possible that her fingers could have such an effect on her as Weiss crushed them in her palm. Weiss's grunts from behind her were muffled screams that the leather blocked. But Ruby knew better than to turn around at the moment.
After a minute, Weiss lessened her grip as her panting for breath replaced her screams. The sound of a cloth could be heard over her shoulder, and Ruby chanced a glance back.
Dr. Pain was cleaning the remaining blood from a wound that seemed to no longer exist. Four of the stitches had been removed and the skin looked to be almost glowing
"Looks good. Only three rounds left. You still good to go?" He asked Weiss as he took another clean knife from his cart.
Ruby wasn't quick enough to turn around and this time watched as he sunk the blade deep into Weiss's skin and dragged it through stitches while pulling them out and allowing blood to pool in the wound. He dropped the knife onto the other used blade before placing his bare hands over either side of the wound. Ruby watched as a faint blue glow spread from his skin to Weiss's and her aura shone white as muscle rebuilt itself within the wound, connecting in a way that left the remaining part of the wound looking crooked and strained. The blood that wasn't absorbed by the repairing muscle trickled out across Weiss's slight abdominals before a towel caught it. The entire time, Weiss did nothing but pant, her initial screams of pain not returning.
"Looks great so far." Dr. Pain commented as he inspected his work. He picked up a light and shone it into Weiss's eyes as he took her pulse and wrapped a band around her arm. He worked at taking readings for a moment, mumbling to himself before he nodded and turned back to Ruby. "She's a bit out of it at the moment. I'll do the last two cuts together to speed things up, but her aura isn't replenishing fast enough. I'll need to use some of yours."
"Okay…" Ruby raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Just stay close to me. If we don't close the wound I open, she could bleed out in moments. An artery runs through the area." He explained seriously, sending a shiver down Ruby's spine.
He took a third knife from his tray and proceeded to slice the rest of the stitches open. Weiss's skin split open wide, the blood pooling and leaking out of the wound at an alarming rate as the doctor discarded his knife and grabbed Ruby's hand.
"Don't fall over." He said as he placed Ruby's hand beneath his own on Weiss's stomach. His other hand rested atop the other half of the wound and once again, it started to mend before her eyes. Ruby looked on as the wound finished stitching itself closed and felt her aura drop steadily to danger levels.
A lightheaded sensation welled up inside Ruby as she struggled to maintain her balance with the world spinning around her. All she could see was Weiss and the blood that had poured from her wound.
As sudden as it had begun, the spinning stopped and the doctor had released her and was now cleaning the skin around the sudden operation. Ruby took a moment to gather her bearings as Weiss's heavy breath echoed in the room. The doctor pulled the strip of leather from Weiss's mouth after massaging her jaw for a moment.
"Good as new. Or at least close enough." Dr. Pain announced as he tossed the strip into a basket on the tray and pushed the entire trolley away. "Now, both of you take a few minutes to rest and get your bearings. I'll be back to see how everything worked out. Don't move too much until then."
The door slammed and Ruby found herself looking back at Weiss. She smiled slightly through a wince as she gently touched her stomach that was still exposed.
"That looked like it hurt." Ruby mumbled, not really knowing what to say, and not entirely sure Weiss was fully conscious.
"Dolt." Was the quiet response Weiss breathed, but a smile slowly stretched her face. "Are you okay?"
"I'm more worried about you. Are you okay?" Ruby countered, jumping to help as Weiss made to sit up.
"I'm not completely sure, but I think I feel better than when I came in." Weiss said as she pushed Ruby's hands away and grabbed her arm instead. She pulled herself up with a slight grimace and flattened her shirt after checking to make sure the blood had been cleaned.
"Weiss, are you sure?" Ruby grabbed hold of Weiss so she would meet her eyes. Weiss blushed as she noticed the proximity and slowly nodded.
"I'm fine." Weiss reassured her partner before leaning in to touch their lips briefly. "Dr. Pain really is a fine doctor. I wouldn't have come here if I thought he'd harm me."
"Okay." Ruby nodded. "So what now?"
"Now, you take a seat and I talk to you a bit. Fill out some paperwork, you know." Dr. Pain said as he opened the door and held it for the girls.
Ruby watched Weiss carefully as she released her and walked out of the room. Ruby had to admit that Weiss seemed to look much better as she walked than she had before the impromptu surgery, though it still bothered her how quickly everything had gone when it had taken so long for anyone to so much as tell her that Weiss would be okay at the hospital.
"Sit down and give me a moment." Dr. Pain ordered the two as he let them into a comfortable looking office. He passed them as they sat on a pair of firm chairs, and pulled a file from the cabinets that lined the room.
He remained quiet as he worked, pulling new forms from his desk as he sat down and clipping them into the file he'd pulled from the cabinet. He simply wrote out line after line of notes that were far too illegible for either girl to make out before he closed the file and once again bent to pull another paper from his desk.
"I'll give you a prescription for aura boosters. Healing you took basically all the aura you two had, plus a fair bit of my own, so these will tide you over." He said as he gave Weiss the paper. "Of course, a home-cooked meal would do the same thing, so whatever you feel like doing. Just rest for a day or so and you should continue your normal training as much as possible once you feel rested."
"So I can start tomorrow if I wish?" Weiss asked, sitting up a bit straighter as she anticipated the doctor's response.
"Okay, Ruby. Keep her in bed for today and tomorrow. And then you can decide if she needs to rest a third day as well." He said with a mite of exasperation at Weiss.
"Sure thing." Ruby nodded, finally getting used to the type of person the doctor was. It wasn't that he was bad or rash, just that he didn't seem to convey his ideas to others. Actually, Ruby thought it might be because she could be the same way as he was at times. And she often was even after she'd been working on being more verbal over her years at beacon.
"Great. Now, anything else a problem?" He asked with a wave of his pen. He then turned his attention to Ruby and pointed at her while catching his pen firmly in his fist. "Or with you?"
"No sir!" Ruby reported as Weiss shook her head.
"Then get outta here." He said as he stood and made to open the door.
"Thanks Doctor." Weiss said as she passed, Ruby echoing her girlfriend as she passed into the chromed waiting room.
Weiss looked to Ruby and took her hand as they left, walking slowly down the block as she called Klein.
"Hello Klien…. It went well. So, where did you find for pizza?" She asked into her scroll with a smile to Ruby. Ruby blushed and looked down, knowing full well that Weiss knew her just a little bit too well.