Ruby and Velvet made their way to the cafeterias to meet with Yang. Seeing the strangely colored girl unnerved Ruby, but the hunters were fighting back the Grimm and the White Fang with the help of the Atlesian Knights. The citizens were even staring to feel hopeful and positive, which in itself is a strong weapon against the Grimm. The tide was turning, there were even murmurs that Cinder, the person who started all this, was dead.

Beacon was still burning, however, and a few White Fang soldiers seemed to be of the 'never take me alive' mindset. Ruby had to find Yang. Velvet wasn't going to let Ruby out of her sight amongst the leftovers of this madness. They finally tracked the blonde down, who was fighting a bull faunus in a long coat as Blake watched close by, injured. This man wasn't just fighting to go down fighting. He was fighting as if he could still win if he just fought hard enough.

Ruby watched the vicious conflict, and didn't like what she saw. The faunus sheathed his blade, and Yang took the opening. But his smile told Ruby it was a trap of some kind, and her sister was falling for it. The young leader rushed forward in a cyclone of rose petals, aiming straight for the faunus. Blindsided by a solid, black and red wind, the bull's energy shot that could have cut clean through flesh and bone was knocked off target. Velvet had to jump back and away from the fight to avoid the debris.

"Ruby!?" Yang shouted. She looked back at the damage Adam's attack did. "Thanks…"

And so the one-on-one between Ruby and Adam began. Ruby knew she wouldn't usually be prepared for a fight against such a skilled opponent. But the bull man was clearly tired, after recently fighting and just using a powerful attack. Ruby was actually given an advantage in the fight, and after a few minutes trading blows Adam was disarmed. Ruby brought Crescent Rose's blade around his neck.

Adam spoke between labored breaths. "Going to kill me, little girl?"

"No," Ruby told him, folding Crescent Rose, "you're going to prison."

"Go ahead, be the hero. Heroes only exist in fairy tales. Mercy only ends in tragedy." He goaded. Ruby ignored him and let the Knights close in to cuff him. Velvet found the new battlefield in time to see this exchange and gave a smile for Ruby's good heart. She also saw Adam move, quicker than she thought the bull man had left in him. He dashed for his blade, took aim, and threw it at Ruby's exposed back as she walked away.

Yang saw it too, and moved to save her sister. She jumped to knock the sword out of the air before it reached Ruby. Yang over calculated, however, moving a bit too quickly through the air. Ruby turned in time to see Yang be impaled by Adam's sword. She crumpled to the ground, and Ruby dropped to her knees next to her, screaming her name. Adam laughed.

"See what I mean, girl! This is your reward for playing the he-" he was cut off by an enraged punch from Blake, and knocked out cold. Blake and Velvet approached the sisters on the ground.

"Aw shit Ruby… after you went and saved me… I knew payback was a bitch, but repayment?" Yang joked.

"Yang, don't joke about this!" Ruby yelled. "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't planning on getting impaled. Well, not until the after party, if you know what I mean." Yang laughed and coughed a few times.

"Yang… you're jokes still suck…" Ruby told her.

"Why break tradition now?" Yang looked her little sister in the eyes. "I love you, Rubes."

Ruby began to cry. "I love you too, Yang. Just hold on, okay? Yang? Yang!?" Her sister fell quiet.

Blake was shocked. Adam did this… Adam killed her… Velvet placed a consoling hand on her girlfriends shoulder. Yang coughed. Ruby's eyes shot open, burning with determination. She recalled something she heard about while helping Velvet study for her second year classes. The young girl pulled Adam's sword out of her older sister, dug her fingers into the wound and began to channel her aura.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Blake asked.

"Ruby! What are you thinking!?" Velvet's question had a lot more emotion to it. She recognized what her young girlfriend was attempting, and also knew just how dangerous it could be. Ruby started to repeat the aura unlocking chant and the two faunus could see her aura manifest. Yang's began to flicker on as well, and the yellow and red glows began to merge.

"Aura-Link" Velvet explained the concept to Blake. "She's trying to share her aura with Yang's. She's hoping to give her enough to heal even a fatal wound."

Blake looked over at her friend with surprise. "Do you think it will work?"

"There have been dozens of recorded attempts at Aura-Link for fatal injuries." Velvet told her. "And only three of those were successful. But it's too late to stop her, their auras are already merged." Blake turned back to Ruby and Yang with a horrified look. What happens if she fails? Unfortunately, she would learn that first-hand.

At first, it seemed to be working. Velvet was even hopeful that Ruby just might pull it off. What happened next can only be explained as both Ruby and Yang's auras turning on the younger sister and electrocuting her. They stayed linked for ten entire seconds while Ruby shuddered, until an energy shockwave separated the two girls and threw Ruby several feet from her sister.

Velvet ran to her girlfriend's side and dropped next to her, lifting the younger girl into her arms. Thankfully, Ruby was still breathing. But death was just one of the many possible consequences, and in Velvet's opinion, one of the kinder ones. Blake was still frozen, by both her injury and the events that just unfolded before her. She looked at the nearly closed wound from Adam's sword on Yang's abdomen, and witnessed the blonde brawler's last breath.

What they knew was already enough for tears. What they didn't know, not yet anyway, was what happened inside Ruby Rose. They didn't know about Yang's aura and semblance, and how they nested themselves indelicately within Ruby's own aura. They didn't know what it would do to the young girl's mind.


Reaper woke in a cold sweat. She hated re-experiencing that night in her dreams. Yang's death truly was the beginning of the end, the lynchpin that caused RWBY's devastation. After all, if she hadn't died, Ruby wouldn't have tried the Aura-Link, the consequences of which made her directly responsible for whatever sadness her friends might be feeling at this moment. I should have killed Adam. Heroes only exist in fairy tales. Mercy only ends in tragedy.

Reaper stood and made her way into the decrepit house's living room. The trio had run all the way back to Vale, spending the night in this shell to hide. It wasn't a glamorous start to her new life, but Reaper understood that conditions in the field on hunter missions weren't much better. Least, at the moment, she had a roof. Reaper saw Torchwick smoking his cigar and thinking.

"That thing stinks by the way." Reaper told him. "I'm sure Neo would agree, if she spoke."

"Oh, she has made her displeasure known, don't worry Red." Torchwick responded.

"Since you're the experienced career criminal, I figured it would be smart to follow your lead, for now." Reaper informed him.

"It is smart." He said.

"But let me make something clear. I'm not a lackey, not a foot soldier, not a mindless goon of yours." Reaper explained. "I'll follow you into a heist, but not if it means walking off a cliff or into custody. Got it?"

Roman laughed. "Standing down, but making you're authority known. You certainly are a survivor. Don't worry, I hear you loud and clear. Whether as an ally or an asset, you are far too valuable to let go." Reaper nodded and backed off, noting Neo's entrance into the room. "Look, Red," Torchwick called back Reaper's attention, "The gothic schoolgirl chic is cute, but far too familiar. If you don't want your old school buddies learning of your new life, you need a new outfit."

"It doesn't matter anyway." Reaper replied. "That girl I fought knew me. She was the sister to 'one of my old school buddies'."

The master criminal put forward a newspaper. "First tip of a successful criminal career: Read the news every morning. You never know what you will learn, good or bad."

"Funny, Weiss said the same thing about running a good business." Reaper noted.

"Well, what we do, or rather will do, is a business, however illicit." Roman reasoned.

Looking over the paper, Reaper would call what she read bittersweet. She still felt guilty that she sent Weiss's sister into a coma, but at least she was alive. The fact that Winter was both alive and unable to identify her even made her smile. "What about all the cameras?" she realized.

"Neo and I wrecked the security console while you were… taking care of the pests." Torchwick explained. "So, if there are no more slip ups, we have until the girl wakes up, if she ever does, before your friends discover your new leaf. Now!" Roman clapped his hands, demanding the girls' full attention. "I've been out of the game for a full year. I don't quite have the pull I used too, especially since no one knows I'm out yet. Atlas is being unsurprisingly hush-hush about a muck-up on their most expensive warship. So, we're going to have to ask for work until we build back up a rep. Which means Junior's Club."

Neo nodded and Reaper groaned. "Looks like I'm going to need that new outfit."

"Know the place?" Torchwick asked.

"Kind of. My friends know it as a place to get information. Better safe than sorry." Reaper felt her black scroll buzz.

'That outfit looks a little too 'Ruby' anyway.' Neo messaged. 'I'll be back with a new wardrobe.' The colorful girl then left and returned sometime later with clothing that was likely shoplifted. The ensemble were entirely black, with a tank top, sleeveless large-button coat that looked like something Weiss would wear if it were white, form fitting pants, buckle boots, and elbow length leather gloves. Neo had also managed to get her hands on a large hooded cloak (black as well, of course) that would drag on the floor if someone Reaper's height wore it.

Once she put the clothing on, Neo shot her another text. 'Now you're 'Reaper'.' The colorful girl had also taken some hairbands. Reaper's hair had grown in a year, and while the bands couldn't yet help her bangs, she still pulled the rest of her hair into a small pony-tail. She looked into a mirror, and had to agree with Neo. She didn't just look like 'Reaper', she felt like 'Reaper' in this outfit. Reaper, the career criminal. Reaper, the killer.

She tested a few vicious smiles before finding one to settle on. She had already decided to play this part, to become this person. She might as well learn to enjoy it. Not that she'll start killing innocent civilians if she could avoid it. That's a rule she wanted to hold onto. Reapers only take someone when their time is up, after all. She also didn't let Neo throw out her old cloak. It was still precious to her, and while it would be foolish to wear it, she wouldn't abandon it. She elected to tuck it under her new one until she had a safe place to store it.

Finally ready to leave, the criminal trio left for Junior's Club.


It took two weeks before Weiss could get to Winter's side. She had to wait until the school year officially ended before she could leave for Atlas. Blake accompanied her, of course. She wasn't letting her girlfriend go alone. While Blake felt a measure of guilt from once being in the White Fang, and Velvet was romantically involved with Ruby, Weiss had always managed to detach herself from these events. She had to be strong for Blake, and she finished her grieving quickly.

But this one was too personal, and the heiress finally broke down. Blake sucked it up and decided she had to be the strong one this time. Weiss had been a strong leg to stand on, but now it was faltering. Blake knew she had to return the favor, not for the favor's sake, but for Weiss's. Blake truly did love this girl. The whole flight to Atlas, Weiss cried into Blake's lap. Blake assumed they weren't just for her sister, but for all the sadness she had held back to stay strong. The floodgate was open, and it was all pouring out.

Right onto Blake's pants, but that's okay.

That was the first week. After arriving in Atlas, it took another week to get the hospital to allow Blake inside. It frustrated Weiss beyond belief, and while Blake insisted she should just go see her sister, Weiss refused. It wasn't until the heiress told her faunus girlfriend she needed Blake to be there with her that cat girl relented. Finally, Weiss's father entered the room she and Blake shared to give her the news.

The second he stepped inside, his eyes darted to Blake. It was a wakeup call when a grief ridden Weiss ran to a faunus instead of her father. He didn't want to lose his daughter, and eventually met with Blake. They had come to an understanding. They hated each other, but they both loved Weiss. For her sake, they would settle for disliking each other and tolerating the other's presence quietly. Weiss chalked it up to a win.

"Weiss dear, the hospital has agreed to an arrangement." He told her.

"Really?" Weiss's cracked voice was full of hope. "What exactly?"

"As long and she is with you, they will allow her presence. She must also wear her bow, to avoid upsetting any of the patients." He answered.

Blake wriggled her ears. She hadn't worn her bow in a long time, and promised Yang at her funeral she would live open from then on. Not as though she didn't anticipate needing for visiting Atlesian high society, but the thought of returning to it still made her uncomfortable. Weiss opened her mouth to argue. "Weiss, I'm fine with it." Blake interrupted, "You need to see your sister, and now I can be there with you. It will only be for the day." Weiss was starting to hate these half-victories, but her girlfriend was right. It was about time she saw Winter.

Ears properly contained, security finally let Blake inside. Luckily Winter didn't need life support, but she still slumbered away with a soft beeping from the heart monitor. Ironwood was in the room as well, and looked up to see Weiss and Blake enter. "Hello girls. You must be Weiss." He addressed the heiress.

"Mr. Ironwood." Weiss offered a polite nod before looking over her sister. "Sir, is there anything you can tell me?" she eventually asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Ironwood stood to leave.

"It's her sister!" Blake shot at him. Her bow irritating her ears weren't helping her mood.

"It's an ongoing military investigation. If you were graduated huntresses, you might be able to twist my arm, but legally, you are still civilians. Even if you do have military training. I cannot share any information." Ironwood spoke professionally, reaching for the door. He stopped just before the knob and sighed. He locked the door and returned to the young girls. "I'm only going to do this because I have great trust and respect for the Schnees. What I tell you does not leave this room, understood? Not even your other friends at Beacon will know you know this."

Both girls nodded, allowing Ironwood to continue. "The truth is, we know nothing. Only an army could have possibly survived an assault on my ship. But the evidence of their entry and escape suggest a small team. It's confusing us all, and the only living human who saw anything cannot speak." He looked over Winter.

"Cameras?" Weiss asked.

"Disabled. No intact android got a clear video shot." Ironwood answered.

"What about the prisoners?" Weiss asked next.

Ironwood eyed the two girls, gauging just how much he should tell. "Torchwick is the escapee. The two fatalities were Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. They were the only prisoners held on my ship."

"The news said they were executed by the intuders?" Blake inquired this time.

"Ms. Schnee is troubled enough, I'm sure she doesn't need the gory details." Ironwood resisted.

"It's fine. Maybe there's a clue there." Weiss told him.

"There isn't." He persisted. Again, he soon sighed and relented. "Sustrai was thrown from her cell and beheaded. Black was shot through the glass of his cell, he never left it. We can't tell what kind of weapon was used. It was obviously custom- made. We've combed the ship three times. The only person who holds any tangible evidence is Winter. We won't know what she knows until she wakes up."

"If she wakes up…" Weiss wept.

Ironwood dropped his gaze. "I'll… leave you to it." He told them, leaving the room.