A/N: It always feels awkward writing those long winded explaining scenes but hopefully breaking it up with some fluff will help alleviate that while still revealing some of the more important plot points. Anyway, hope you guys like it.

They had been on the open water long enough for the sun to go down and Weiss to get tired of gripping the steering wheel as he tried not to think about her near-disastrous reunion with her father. Fortunately, Red had spent most of the day seat next to her, keeping her company as she poured over the files Weiss and Blake had found in Gregorovitch's safe.

The brunette had made remarks as she read, commenting on the various incriminating files she discovered ("Figures a guy like him would be in the bootleg vodka business." "Stalin could've learned a thing or two from how Gregorovitch treats his stooges."), and while it was painfully obvious Red was just trying to keep her mind occupied, Weiss was grateful nonetheless.

The stars were high in the sky when Antonio joined them in the small navigation cabin. "I think this is far enough. Don't you, nieta?"

Red simply nodded and stood up. "Weiss, let Ren take over. I'm gonna take a minute to talk to him and Nora then I'll meet you below deck."

Weiss did as told and followed Antonio down to the small communal area below deck where she met up with Blake, Pyrrha, and Yang. They had just sat down on the small couch hugging three of the walls when Red walked in behind them, files under one arm, computer under the other.

The tension was palpable as she quietly took a seat in one of the few chairs there and turned to look each of them in the eye. "Alright," she sighed, "A promise is a promise. So, if you have any questions, now would be the time to ask."

"I guess I'll start then," Yang announced after a moment of contemplation. Red nodded to her and she took a deep breath. "While I'd really like to ask about the mysterious priest you seem to be all buddy-buddy with, I gotta know, is our money safe?"

Red nodded. "It is now."

"How can you be so sure?" Pyrrha asked. "This all started because someone messed with your finances, and odds are, you're going to need funds for whatever crusade it is you're undertaking. How are you planning on protecting our war chest?"

"With these." Red replied, reaching into the bag at her feet, pulling out a small plastic box and tossing it to Yang.

The blonde raised an eyebrow as she turned it over in her hands. "Hard drives?"

"Yup. They're called strongboxes." Red explained. "They're specifically made for storing and encrypting bank information. The money is stored on them instead of in a bank, meaning they can't be hacked. I already took the liberty of storing each of your personal assets on different ones that Ren and Nora will take once we reach land and secure. That one has the hundred million we took from Augustus Schnee."

"Red, that's brilliant." Weiss exclaimed. "Is this what you've been doing?"

Red's cheeks reddened slightly at the praise. "Thanks. It's not all I've been doing, though."

"What have you been doing that was so important it warranted you faking your death, anyway?" Blake inquired.

"Among other things, I've been setting up defences." Red continued. "As soon as I learned that Adam knew who I was, I got to work going through my network of contacts with a fine-tooth comb, looking for leaks. That's how I found Yatsuhashi."

"Are you saying you knew that bastard would turn on us?" Yang demanded.

Red nodded. "I counted on it. I had seen that Coco had gotten a new partner and, after reading his file, I knew that his pride and his old criminal ties would make him a perfect mole for Adam. I just needed it to be on my terms. So, I taunted him a little, hacked his phone, and presented Coco and Tukson with a recording of him willfully agreeing to help Adam. I then wore a wire to the meeting and gave that to Coco with instructions to wait and watch her partner, turning him into our mole."

"So you planned on Adam calling you out on the fake plans?" Blake presumed.

"It was a double bluff." Pyrrha added.

"Sort of." Red replied. "I did plan on him calling me out, but he still got the plans."

"What? Why?" Weiss asked incredulously.

"Calm down, it was still part of the plan." Red acquiesced with a smile. "The only thing I didn't count on was how violently he would call my bluff." She turned to Blake and Yang, her eyes full of regret. "Again, I can't tell you how sorry I am for putting you in that position Blake."

Yang smiled softly and wrapped an arm around her girlfriend while Blake nodded with a smile of her own. "It's okay, Red. You were doing what you thought was right and I volunteered."

"If you were just going to give him the original plans anyway, why have Adam call you out in the first place?" Pyrrha asked.

"I needed him to think he had outsmarted me." Red replied. "That way he wouldn't be as inclined to look as closely at the plans I gave him."

"Why not?"

"So he wouldn't find the backdoor I wrote into the code for the microcontrollers."

"Does that mean you know what this thing's gonna be used for?" Yang inquired carefully.

"I had a hunch, but it wasn't until recently that I was certain."

"Certain of what?" Antonio followed up.

Red opened her laptop and placed it on the table between them so they could all read the headline she had left bookmarked on the screen.

Countries Line Up to be First Testers of Atlas Corporation's New Centralized Control System

Weiss raised her eyebrows curiously as she scanned the article. "Centralized Control System?"

"It's an operating control system that connects everything from infrastructure and power grids to traffic cameras and police databases" Red explained. "It's been tested in various major cities around the globe, but so far it hasn't been able to handle the power to run an entire country. With that battery, though, it'll be no problem."

"It says here that each city that introduced it has seen significant drops in everything from crime rates to traffic congestion." Pyrrha said as she read the article. "That could present some real issues for us."

"That's not even the half of it." Red nearly growled. "I looked into the Atlas Corporation, and it turns out that they're a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a shell company for a subsidiary…"

"Sis," Yang interrupted, "the point?"

Red nodded. "Right. Anyway, I did some digging and the Atlas Corporation is just one of many companies owned by one Augustus Schnee."

"Great." Weiss groaned. "So depending on who the highest bidder is, we won't be able to set foot in that country without him knowing."

"So, how does Torchwick fit into all this?" Blake asked.

"Well, the thing about this operating system is it's essentially an incredibly intelligent virus that transmits data from the infected sources to the central hub. The battery is less to power it, and more to regulate the power needed to run a computer that sophisticated. Anyway, what no one really knows is that the countries won't be paying to have the system set up, they'll be paying for a node to give them access to the data in their country."

"So Torchwick wanted to be one of the few with complete access?" Weiss concluded. "That can't be good."

"It gets worse." Pyrrha muttered, her eyes widening.

"Really? Because my father and madman having control of a global security system sounds pretty bad."

"It's more than a security system, Weiss." Antonio said gravely.

"What do you mean?"

Red sighed as she tried to explain it. "Think of it this way. The average person leaves a digital footprint of about three gigabytes. Normally that represents things like credit cards, medical records and reading habits, but once this thing is up and running –and it will be –that'll be nothing. The CCS will directly link personal data to physical systems used every day while massive data silos will track and sort every single moment of every person's digital life. They will have complete, unmitigated access to databases containing everything from what a person buys to the route they take to work. They will know how you think and they'll sell that information to the highest bidder who will use it to manipulate you to their own ends and to suit their own purposes."

"So what do we plan on doing?" Yang asked cautiously.

"Normally, I'd say we stop it. But," Red sighed and shook her head dejectedly. "At this point even if I didn't give Adam the plans, it would still be up and running by the end of the year. I didn't catch it fast enough."

"That's not your fault." Weiss said quietly as she put her hand on Red's arm. "We already knew that whatever my –whatever was used on me has been used on others to cover up their actions."

Red smiled and Weiss felt her heart clench at the sincere look of gratitude on her face. "Thanks."

"I think we've covered quite a bit for today." Antonio announced. "What say we take a break and continue this once we dock?"

They all nodded and went to stand up, when Yang finally exclaimed out of nowhere. "Alright, it's killing me. Who are you?" She pointed an accusatory finger at the older gentleman who merely smiled amusedly.

"Yang, calm down." Red began calmly.

"I'm her grandfather." Antonio finished bluntly.

*(OoO)*

"Abuello!" Ruby whined. "Couldn't you have at least tried to be a little tactful."

"Lo siento gatito." Antonio chuckled.

Ruby sighed and turned to look at each of the stunned faces sitting around her. "Antonio helped keep me alive before I met you, Pyrrha. He taught me how to fend for myself." She focused on Pyrrha now as she spoke. "You remember how I would disappear while you were away visiting family for the holidays?"

Pyrrha nodded. "It would sometimes take weeks after I got back to see you."

"Well, mi abuello is the one I went to visit. I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you, but Antonio was the first person who actually cared for me, and, I dunno, I felt like I had to protect him."

Ruby watched on baited breath as her sister processed what she had been told. She had anticipated a Yang-worthy explosion concerning how she kept such a big secret for so long, but instead, much to her surprise, the blonde merely turned quietly to face her grandfather.

"Is it true?" She whispered softly. "Did you take care of my sister when she was alone?"

Antonio stood up to look Yang proudly in the eye and nodded. "I found her in an alley near the train tracks in Florida." He paused and chuckled as a wave of nostalgia passed behind his eyes. "It took me two hours to realise she had taken my wallet, and by then we were sitting together in the back of a train cart with her pretending to sleep. She immediately started the waterworks, babbling about how sorry she was and how she couldn't help herself, begging me not to throw her out of a moving train."

Yang joined him in his laughter and the others smiled fondly while Ruby flushed with embarrassment. Once she calmed down, Yang stepped forward and wrapped him up in a crushing hug, burying her face in his broad chest. "Thank you." She murmured. "You don't know how much of a relief it is to hear she has someone like you looking out for her, even when she does something stupid, like blowing herself up."

Antonio smiled down at her and Ruby could see he was already becoming enamored with the blonde woman in his arms. The separated and he pulled out a gold necklace from his shirt with a man tied to a cross at the end. "Yang, the moment I met your sister, I knew she was a blessing sent to me to look after. I will extend to you the same promise I made to God in Heaven on that train so many years ago. I swear to you, even long after I am no longer breathing, you and your sister will always have someone to watch over and care for you in me."

At that point, Ruby couldn't contain her tears as she joined her sister and grandfather for a tender hug. They didn't pay attention to the others as they each stood up to leave and only separated when they heard the hatch slam shut.

"Anyway," Ruby cleared her throat, "I'm gonna keep looking through those files. I'll fill you guys in on the rest of what I've found tomorrow."

Antonio and Yang both nodded. "Alright. In the meantime, I think I'll have gramps here tell me any embarrassing stories about little Ruby before I met you."

"Oh, I have plenty of those." Antonio chuckled.

Ruby groaned and turned to head above deck, though she couldn't help but smile slightly at how well her family seemed to be getting along.

"They really love you, you know." She turned and found Weiss leaning against the guard rail, watching the stars. "It's nice. Seeing your family so close."

"It's not just my family."

Weiss smiled forlornly and seemed to subconsciously reach for her scar. "They're certainly a step up from whatever I had before."

"You know what I always found interesting?" Ruby asked as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the redhead's waist.

Weiss's smile finally reached her eyes. "What?"

"I always found it interesting how proverbs and sayings can completely change meanings over time."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Well, for instance," Ruby rested her chin on the shorter woman's shoulder. "You know the saying 'jack of all trades, master of none'?"

"Sure."

"Most people think it means if you don't focus on one discipline, you'll never do well. But not everyone knows that it actually means the opposite."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How so?"

"Well, originally, the saying was actually 'jack of all trades, master of none is better than master of one'. It means being equally good or average at a lot of things is better than being perfect at one thing and sucking at everything else. That's why I'm so good at what I do. Sure, Blake's a fantastic burglar, but she's not the greatest at conning people, and Yang may be your first choice to beat up or threaten someone, but if she had to hack a security system, she'd be screwed."

"But you can do all of that, right?"

Ruby nodded. "Maybe not always as well as them, but yeah. I love learning and developing new skills. It lets me deal with any problems that may arise. It also helps being a genius."

"Careful," Weiss teased. "Keep talking like that and you'll end up competing with your sister for most modest."

Ruby laughed at the barb and kissed her softly. "Just stating a fact, Princess." They were silent for several minutes, content simply to stand with each other and watch the starlight reflecting off the waves. "You wanna know another saying I'm pretty fond of?"

She waited for Weiss to hum her consent before continuing. "Have you ever heard the saying 'blood is thicker than water'?"

She felt the former heiress stiffen in her arms and nod. "I have. I was frequently reminded of where my loyalties were supposed to lie."

"Well, did you know that the actual saying is 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb'?" Weiss shook her head softly, unable to speak. "It means the relationships we form through choice are stronger than those formed by birth." She paused and tightened her grip as she felt Weiss's shoulders shake with barely contained sobs. "I'm sorry you were forced to face him again. And I'm sorry I almost made you go through it alone. But I want you to know, you don't him anything. Not now, not ever. He may be your father, but your real family –the one who cares for you and supports you –is right here on this boat."

She turned Weiss around in her arms and pressed their lips together softly, trying to convey all the emotion she was unable to put into words, before pulling her close as tears started to stream down the other woman's face. They stood there, holding each other as Weiss sobbed into her shoulder while Ruby ran a soothing hand over her back and whispered words of comfort in her ear. Eventually, Weiss calmed down enough to speak, though her voice was still rough from crying.

"As horrible as seeing him again was, it did make me realise something."

"What's that?"

"In a lifetime of pain and fear caused by that man, it was nothing compared to what I felt during those few hours I thought you were… Red, I've never felt as lost as I did then and if it turned out that something happened to you-"

"Ruby."

Weiss faltered as she was interrupted, trying to understand what Red had just told her. "I'm sorry?"

"Ruby Rose. It's my name." Weiss's eyes widened as she processed what she was hearing. "I know I said I would tell you when this was all said and done, but it's looking that's gonna be a long way from now and I don't want to wait that long. So," she took a deep breath and held out her hand, "hello Weiss, I'm…"

She was pulled her close and kissed her fiercely. Her lungs burned as she returned the gesture with fervor. Eventually, the need for air was too great and they separated, resting their foreheads together as the stared into each other's eyes. Ruby felt herself grin widely at the smile on Weiss's face. Both were still panting for oxygen when Weiss finally whispered to her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."