Chapter 11

It had now been 2 weeks since the Fall of Cinder and the Reclaimation of Beacon. The dead were buried, but the recovery was far from over. Weiss, Ruby, and Blake were in the medbay at Beacon, their recovery being checked up on, Yang being released earlier that day. Doctor Crimson, a long time friend of Cieryl, was checking on an unconscious Velvet, with Yatsu sitting next to her, holding her hand. Fox had been missing since the Battle of Beacon ended, Rumor had it that he took off, unable to come to terms with Coco's death. Cieryl sat nearby, Doctor Crimson moving to him and starting to fuss over him.

"I don't know, Cieryl! Stop asking me over and over! I don't know how you came know more about your semblance than I do!" She said, still fussing.

"It makes no sense. I remember being dead. I remember being with Her. I rememberWILLING myself to come back!" Cieryl said

"That makes absolutely no sense! It simply doesn't, Cieryl! Hold out your arm! I need to run more tests on your blood!" she said, poking him with another needle.
"I'll analyze this immediately and get back to you." She said bluntly -

Nora and Ren sat with Jaune in the JNPR dorm room. Nora's chest covered in bandages and Ren sporting a new scar across his face. Jaune was gone, something within him died with Pyrrha. He just emotionlessly stared at her bed, still not quite grasping that he would never see his best friend again. All Ren and Nora could do was pick up the pieces of the broken team.
Nora sat rubbing Jaune's back while Ren paced around the room, silent as always. They heard a door and Ren looked through the peephole to see Yang, almost knocking on the door, and instead, turning to walk down the hallway. Yang and Jaune had broken up due to Jaune's emotional state, which Yang understood. She was worried about him, but accepted that now wasn't the time for a relationship. Yangmarched down the hallway, bumping into Neo along the way, the mute girl deciding to follow the blonde brawler to the medbay. When they arrived, Dr. Crimson was staring into a microscope, several machines whirring next to her , conducting tests.

"Hey sis, hey Uncle!" Yang said, glad to see Ruby and Cieryl recovering nicely.

"Hey Yang!" they replied in unison. Dr. Crimson suddenly stood and walked over to Ruby.

"Miss Rose, would you be so kind as to give me another blood sample?" she asked politely.

"What for, Doc?" Ruby inquired, holding out her arm.

"Just checking for infections, dear." She replied, poking Ruby and returning to the microscope. After a few moments, she called Cieryl over. "Cieryl, come here please." She said Cieryl walked over and she pointed at the microscope

"What is it?" He asked.

"Well," she whispered. "I was running tests on Miss Rose when I found some irregularities..." She continued "So I compared her blood sample and DNA to another's blood"

"Okay? I don't see why you need to tell me this." Cieryl said pointedly

"Well, even though she isn't one... Ruby has faunus genes. To be specific... Wolf Faunus genes." Cieryl's eyes widened.

"It's... It's not possible..." he whispered.

"Cieryl, I compared her blood... to yours moments ago." She adjusted her glasses and looked Cieryl dead in the eye

"Ruby Rose... is your daughter, Cieryl."
-

Cieryl couldn't comprehend what was just said to him

"I don't think I heard you correctly, doc. Run that by me one more time?"

"I said... Ruby Rose is your daughter." Dr. Crimson repeated.

Cieryl looked at Ruby over his shoulder, watching her happily chatting with her teammates. "Run the tests again."

"I've ran them six times, Cieryl. The DNA doesn't lie."

"But how? I never slept... with..." his voice trailed off as a memory passed through his mind, something he didn't realize was there...
-

"I can't believe we massacred all those Alpha Nevermores today! That was INCREDIBLE!" Qrow said drunkenly

"No Joke!" Taiyang shouted, wobbling in his seat and raising a bottle.

Summer smiled drunkenly and cheered "We deserve this! Those damn things never stood a chance!" She jeered happily, giving Cieryl a flirty smile, a look which Cieryl returned, having consumed more alcohol than all 3 of them put together. As Taiyang and Qrow passed out, Summer took Cieryl's hand and led him to the bedroom. She tossed him onto the bed, closed the door, and they sank in between the silken sheets
-

"What. The. Hell. HOW DID I NOT REMEMBER THIS?" Cieryl screamed, drawing the attention of everyone in the medbay, and waking Velvet in the process.
Cieryl rubbed his eyes. "I... I can't believe I did that with her..."

"Isn't that what you wanted, Cieryl?" Dr Crimson asked.

"I wanted to spend my life with her. Not sleep with her while we were drunk...God I feel like a shitty person. I can't believe Ruby is... my daughter..." he said a little too loudly, and turned as he heard a glass shatter. All eyes were on him, followed by a room full of surprised gasps.

"W-what?" Ruby stammered, eyes wide

"What did you just say..." Yang said. "What did you just say about Ruby..."

Blake and Weiss just looked at each other, clearly too shocked to speak.

Yatsu wasnt showing any change in emotion, and Velvet had a hand clamped to her mouth, her ears twitching.

"Ruby... you're my... you're my daughter..." Cieryl choked out.

"That's what I thought you said." Yang stated, and stormed out of the room, hair ablaze.

"You said.. you said you were never with my mom..." Ruby said, teary eyed. "YOU LIED TO ME!"

"I didn't even remember it until now, Ruby! I swear!" Cieryl pleaded

"I don't care what the tests say... You will NEVER be my dad!" Ruby said harshly Cieryl was taken aback.

"I... I never... I didn't..." Cieryl couldn't find the words. He stood and walked out in shame, Blake giving him a sad look as he left