Another chapter only 24 hours later! Am I writing these too fast? Probably.
It was suggested to me not to use such an omnipresent narrator, so I decided to let Weiss behind the wheel on this one, as a sort of experiment in style. She was already going to play a big role in this part, so she'll be giving the perspective for most of the chapter.
2. Cold Hard Steel
The following week was hard on all of them. Any attempts to force Ruby back to reality were either fruitless or merely temporary solutions, and the redhead would be back at the workshop in a flash. In all honesty, Weiss couldn't take it anymore.
Homework was the only thing keeping her mind focused, and even the heiress knew that wasn't healthy. Still, if she didn't keep busy, her thoughts would start to drift back to her partner, working herself till exhaustion in that tiny and lonely room. She understood why, but it bothered her nonetheless, as would've been expected. Deep down she did not deserve the title of Ice Queen, even if only a handful of people knew that.
The other teammates were really not helping either. Yang would spend all spare time she had in the gym, whacking furiously at the punching bags, trying to vent all the frustration building inside her. As much as she would've enjoyed the company, Weiss preferred letting the brawler do her thing, especially after the last sparring practice, that warranted Cardin a trip to infirmary after Yang completely lost all control and beat him senseless, until Glynda managed to restrain her, long after his aura had completely depleted.
Blake on the other hand, appeared to take a much different approach to the problem at hand. Between the long hours she spent looking after Yang, making sure she didn't burn down the entire building, and the time she quietly sat at the dorm reading, she didn't look the least bit affected by her leader's condition. It was all a bust, and Weiss knew it. She was pretending nothing was wrong, fleeing from issues was what the faunus did best, she had said it herself, but a fleeting concern was still noticeable in her eyes each night when the team decided to go to rest. If denial was her way of dealing with the pain, the white-haired girl was not about to ruin that in order to soothe her own.
Team JNPR were helping in any way they could, covering for them when things got worse and giving a hand with school assignments, but she didn't feel ready to open up to them. Trust was slow and difficult for the Schnee huntress, and as much as she wanted to, showing weakness was another pain altogether.
Simply put, she felt alone. Normally she would've had Ruby to help her through it, their relationship had certainly evolved a great deal since the initiation. The hooded girl's warmth and energetic personality had become a welcome presence in her life, even if she would've never said so directly, still hiding under the guise of cold and emotionless. Not that she could fool her partner, but it remained as a sort of gag between them. But without her friend, she had no company but the void of her emotions.
And Oum be dammed if she didn't miss that blabbering fool.
As she reached the door of the storage room, Weiss realized she was visibly shaking. She stopped for a second, trying to calm the nerves before entering the red-hood's quarters. The team had a non-verbal agreement to have one of them check in with Ruby every few hours, bringing her food, keeping her company, and making sure her mood hadn't taken a turn for the worse, pushing her over the edge.
"Damnit Weiss, get it together" she thought to herself, trying to bury her feelings under a smile. Slowly, she reached for the door and let herself in, ignoring the acute pain in her chest at the sight before her.
Ruby was leaning over her mechanical project, wrench in hand. Her face looked pale, small bags under her focused eyes. It was a strange sight, that the little girl could look small and frail, but at the same time bearing a tired look that aged her a few years. Weiss did not dare to look at her figure, fearing finding her to have lost weight in the midst of this crisis.
Her hair seemed to glisten a little under the lamp. Apparently Yang had been successful in her plan to drag her to the shower earlier, hopefully without the use of force.
Penny certainly looked better, all limbs properly attached, and most breaches fixed. It was almost as if she was sucking the life out of Ruby, restoring herself at the cost of the dedicated friend, even if her body still remained motionless.
"Hey Ruby…" she said in a gentle tone, approaching the workstation. The redhead gave her a tired smile to acknowledge her presence, but did not turn away from her endeavor.
"Ren made you pancakes. Nora didn't even try to eat them. They're worried about you." She lay the plate down at the edge of the table, within reach of the repairwoman, but not so close as to impose them on her "I'm worried about you…"
She generally wouldn't have been so blunt, but it had been a harsh couple of days, and she needed her partner back.
Ruby finally stopped what she was doing, facing her companion, her beautiful silver eyes filled with panic.
"I'm so close, Weiss! I fixed most power leaks and replaced all the damaged parts. I even designed an upper layer of skin, to shield her against electricity. But…" her vision clouded, trying to fight back the tears, but, alas, it was too much and the youngster broke down "…it's impossible, I can't do it!"
The fencer swallowed hard, clenching her fists to stop herself from joining her friend in tears. She considered embracing her, offering physical comfort, but succumbing to emotions wouldn't help either of them right now. Instead, a different idea flourished into her mind. She stood up straight, and, against all odds, managed to silence the screaming agony inside her and force a determined expression on her face.
"What do you mean, you can't do it? You've been at this for says, you can't give up now! I won't let you!" her voice came out a little more loudly than intended, almost yelling at the speedster, but it provoked the intended effect. The short-haired student looked up in shock, no longer crying, unsure of what was happening.
"There'd be better be a good explanation for this! What kind of task are you facing that not even the great mechanic Ruby Rose can accomplish? Oh come on, spill it!" She demanded impatiently with a stern look at her partner, who was still regaining her composure. After wiping the tears off and breathing deeply, she spoke, at long last.
"That's just it. I'm a mechanic, not a computer engineer. I can make the body functional again, but her damages go all the way to her circuits, and I can't fix that. I don't know how to." A chuckle came back as a response "Hum, Weiss, what are you doing?"
"That's it? Damnit Ruby, this is what you get for trying to rely on no one but yourself." Her words reached the red-hood, but only a confused glance replied back. She promptly pushed the team leader off her seat and claimed it as her own. "Let me have a look."
They were both still for a few minutes, Weiss tinkering with the machine, and Ruby evidently surprised at what was going on before her, as well as slightly concerned about someone else touching her work.
After a while, the heiress flipped a switch and a jolt of energy was sent through the metallic corpse, causing the legs to move. She turned, with a victorious smile in her lips, and wide unbelieving eyes stared back at her. There was a spark in that glare, and the white-haired girl's grin widened further, fueled by the indescribable feeling of having just restored hope to the heart of her teammate.
"What the… How did you do that?" The girl practically jumped, even though her muscles weren't strong enough for such drastic movement.
"Ruby, what do computers run on? Dust, you dolt. My father's company doesn't just mine it, most applications were invented by our Resource and Development department." Doubt was plastered all across the squad mate's face, so she felt obliged to proceed.
"Okay, there may have been a tech guy I used to flirt with." She embarrassedly turned away from the other girl and towards the robotic corpse, a rose tint creeping towards her cheeks. "It was mostly to upset my father, I had no interesting in him. Still, he taught me a thing or two."
She jumped when she felt the redhead hugging her from behind, completely dropping her focused expression when a soft head leaned to quietly rest on her shoulder. Physical contact still made her flinch, not being used to it, but it was Ruby after all, so she made no attempt to break it off. It took all her willpower to concentrate back on the task in front of her, despite the distractingly comfortable warmth emanating from the team leader's embrace.
They stayed like this until Weiss was finally satisfied with her work. All parts were now mostly functional, despite the android still being shut down. Her motion to stand up provoked Ruby to step away, and, to her great surprise, smile back at her roommate.
"I think I've done all, I can." She started to fill the mechanic in on what had been happening. "Luckily her central processing unit was still undamaged, so her primary functions weren't erased. I ran her through a program the Schnee Corporation kindly sent me, - you totally owe one, by the way - so she'll be running updates through the dustnet. She should be good to go in the morning."
"Thank you, Weiss." The hooded figure was almost at the verge of tears again, but this time a grateful smile graced her gentle features.
"Well, it's late anyway, I think I'm heading back to the dorm. You coming?"
"I'm just going to apply some finishing touches, I'll be there in a bit." The speedster radiated despite her evident tiredness.
The heiress nodded and walked to the door, but was stopped by the sound of her name.
"Weiss?" She turned to see what her partner wanted "Thanks again."
"All right, you dunce, I heard you the first time" She replied with a mocking smirk, and walked out the room.
Despite not being accompanied, the trip back to the dorm did not feel lonely at all. She was still grinning when she opened the door.
"Well, what's gotten you so happy all of a sudden?" Yang asked, absolutely puzzled.
Ruby never did make it back to their room that night. When she finished the final repairs, her body ached all over, and her mind had all but abandoned her, so going elsewhere was out of question.
Instead, she crawled near Penny's now whole body, and cuddled against her chest. It was cold and hard steel, but she was barely awake to notice, neither did she care, dozing off instantly. She also did not notice, a few hours later, the pair of metallic arms that slowly wrapped around her.
I seriously had to stop myself from writing "She also did not notice, a few hours later, a pair of metallic arms slowly wrapping around her until it was too late." That would've been an entirely different fic...
On a more serious note, I kinda like the way this chapter ended. I had planned another 2 chapters for this, but if it stopped here it wouldn't be a bad finale.
Let me know what you guys think, if the new style was good (or noticeable at all) and if I should keep going. And thanks to those who favorited, followed and reviewed.