Disclaimer: Nope. Still have no ownership over it.

Road to the End

By: athrunzala

06: Night Out II

"We need to stop his bleeding!"

"Get him in here!"

The shouts of the medical technicians all ran together after a while. There was no way around it, as they were treating a patient who had only been field dressed. Out in the main hall, the group who had brought him in was waiting nervously.

~Earlier, at the concert venue~

Weiss called for her driver, telling him to place a lining of some sort on the back seat. When he had asked why, she didn't say, other than to tell him that she would take responsibility for explaining it later. Hanging up, she turned to Ruby.

"Why come back now?"

"Well..."

"Whatever. We don't have time."

Ren, Nora, Jaune, and Qrow arrived shortly before the car, and the martial artist immediately went to work, applying a field dressing as best he could, only asking that Weiss hand over her bolero to him to use as a pressure bandage, apologizing for ruining the garment as he did so.

Ruby watched as her partner removed the jacket, which she had never seen her without in her all white ensemble. In the low light, Weiss' skin almost glowed. Her shoulders revealing that she was far more slender in build than the younger girl had previously thought. She had to shake her head to clear the thoughts away.

Their former professor was nearly bleeding out, and here her mind was wandering, imagining things that she didn't want to think about happening.

"Ruby!"

The scythe user shook her head once more, bringing the real word back into focus. Weiss was looking irritated, and with good reason. The car was there, and Dante was loaded into the back, with Nora assisting Ren in keeping pressure on the site of the injuries.

"Sorry, Weiss."

"Don't apologize! Just get in, you dolt!"

After a year of not hearing it, the sound of Weiss' usual insult to her was soothing. Calming. Shaking her head once more, the young Huntress got into the vehicle and closed the door.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm taking us all to my house."

"Your..."

"...house."

Ruby and Qrow both slightly paled at this. From what Ruby knew, Weiss didn't like it there, but it was probably the best course of action. As for Qrow, he had other reasons for not wanting to be there, but he was helping his niece out, so he was going to stick it out, for better or worse.

The vehicle sped through the streets, the driver not wasting time, having seen the man they loaded into the back. He knew that time was imperative. As they neared the front gates of the mansion, he slowed slightly to allow the large metal barricade to open, then sped through once the gap was wide enough.

A small team of medics met them at the front door, unloaded Dante onto a stretcher and took him inside, followed by Ren. The rest walked inside quickly, while Weiss and Ruby took some time, the younger girl being in awe at the size of the building.

"Ruby? You coming?"

"Yeah... Big house..."

"It is."

The heiress rubbed her arms, the sleeveless dress not doing anything to stop the cool breeze that was blowing. She stopped when she felt a weight on her shoulders. Looking down, she saw Ruby's cloak was there.

"Ruby..."

"It'll block the wind. I have sleeves, so I don't need it as much."

"Once we are inside, you can have it back. I... I can't keep this."

"Whatever you wanna do, Weiss."

The pair then began the walk back up to the house, entering and joining their friends in waiting in the foyer. They were all silent, which confused Weiss for a moment until a voice broke the silence.

"Weiss!"

She looked up to see her father, his commanding form standing in the door to his study, his white suit framing his silhouette, making him look like the various depictions of angels that were in fantasy stories. However, his voice gave him away to being a stern disciplinarian, all business with very little humor.

"Good evening, father."

"Do not feed me that, child." His retort to her attempt at smoothing things over causing the heiress to flinch. "Why is this rabble here."

He then noticed Qrow's presence.

"Especially him."

"These are former classmates of mine."

"Right. From that "school" you used to attend."

"And they saved my life tonight."

"I'm sure that they did. If you are lying, I can confirm this, you know."

"I am certain. You can call up Atlas Academy and ask for the log recordings for Cameras BA-221 and CL-224. Those covered the route I exited from."

"Fine. For now, you may all wait in the sitting room. I shall return with a decision on whether or not to evict you all from my home once I have seen the tapes."

He then turned and closed the doors to his study, which, while thick, weren't soundproof. They could hear his demand for the security footage from the cameras that Weiss mentioned.

"Follow me, please." Weiss' changed attitude was evident in her voice.

"Weiss..."

"He's... always been like that. Since mom..." the heiress trailed off.

"Weiss..."

"It's fine, Ruby. I just... I miss her. She was always able to cheer him up."

"Yeah. Sounds like what Taiyang went through," Qrow's statement was a knife. Weiss had never asked Ruby about her mother, and Yang had never spoken of it to her. She looked over at Ruby, whose own expression was suddenly depressed.

"Ruby... I..."

"Weiss, you didn't know. I... I wasn't old enough to really understand it when it happened."

They entered the sitting room, which was magnificently decorated in various tones of white and silver, with mahogany accents that were set with gold inlay. The ceiling was painted a stark white, which only served to make the room look larger than it was. Over the mantle of the fireplace on the back wall hung a painting that showed a man who liked like Weiss' father, but he was smiling. Standing next to him was a young girl with the same snow white hair, and a woman holding an infant was seated on the other side.

Of course, Weiss caught Ruby staring.

"That was made when I was still a baby. That is Winter up there... and... my..."

"Your mom?" Ruby completed the sentence, noticing the tears forming in Weiss' eyes. While the younger girl couldn't remember much of her mother, it was obvious that her former partner did.

"Weiss... I'm sorry... I didn't..."

"It's okay, Ruby. Oh!" Weiss reached up and removed Ruby's cloak, returning it to the younger girl. "I said I would give it back once we were inside."

"Thanks, Weiss. It looked good on you, though."

"Ruby... Let's just... take a seat."

Weiss offered a seat to everybody before sitting down next to Ruby.

As they sat in silence, the heiress looked over at her former partner. Either it was the lower light of the room, or the dancing shadows from the fireplace, but she couldn't stop staring at the girl. She would, of course, catch herself doing so, and then quickly look away.

Ren and Nora were both seated, with the orange haired girl leaning on the taller male, a contented look on her face that was only there when he was around. Everybody else saw it, but if Ren did, the taller human was oblivious to its effects.

Jaune was sitting nervously with his thumbs going around fast enough to bore through solid granite, and Qrow was leaning on the far wall, which bore no decorations, occasionally sipping from his flask. He could see what was going on between his niece and the heiress, but he wasn't about to open his mouth and jeopardize it. If anything was needed between them, this chance to just be together, even if surrounded by friends, was it.

After about 30 minutes, the doors to the sitting room opened again, and Weiss' father entered, his face finally visible. He looked to be in either his late 40's or early 50's, with a white moustache that sat perfectly trimmed and cared for above his upper lip. The sharp lines of his three-piece suit matched to his chiseled face, his eyes dulled from the stresses of running a world wide corporation.

He looked around the room and Jaune sat up straight, sweat all but pouring down his face. Weiss and Ruby looked over at him Nora snapped to attention as well, but still stayed close to Ren, who had remained, unflinching in the face of having to find lodging for the night.

"I have seen the tapes my daughter mentioned," he began, his voice set in a tone that gave off an air of negativity. "And I have decided that you all may stay. Her words were true. I apologize for my cold tone earlier."

Weiss perked up at these words.

"Thank you, father."

"Weiss, please. This is how it is. Your leader," he glared in Qrow's direction, "can explain everything in the morning."

"Hold on a moment," Qrow wasn't about to take the fall for something he wasn't behind. "I'm not the "leader" here. She is."

All eyes were now on Ruby, who shrank down in her seat.

"Very well, then. In the morning, we shall discuss things," the Fortune 500 CEO said as he turned and exited the room.