WARNING: TRIGGER WARNING AT THE BEGINNING. SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.
Disclaimers: RWBY is owned by Roostertheeth and Monty Oum.
The echo of bullet firing from a semi-auto firearm. The whirl of the bullet passing close by. The sand in the breeze stinging the eyes. The smell of blood in the air. The color of blood mixing with the ground Earth and sand. The feeling of watching your brothers in arms die. The powerlessness to prevent it. The sharp pain penetrating your head. The darkness that wraps you up shutting off every sensation to the outside world. The craving of being held by that same darkness again. The white ceiling above as the darkness recedes.
Ruby Rose awoke just like any other morning, covered in a cold sweat. Dreaming of her units' demise and her unfortunate luck of not being able to join them. The dreams were particularly bad tonight. Every sensation was particularly powerful and vivid. More so than usual.
Ruby swung her legs off the side of the bed. Her feet made contact with the cool carpet below. Ruby walked towards the bathroom attached to her room. She wanted to take a hot shower to wash away the sweat. Maybe the warm water would relax her enough to stop the shaking too. Ruby turned on the water. As soon as the water was warm enough Ruby submerged her head into the water. The water was relaxing for a few moments. Ruby spaced out looking at the shower floor, the water running over her and the white noise that accompanied it sent Ruby deep in thought.
Thought was never a good thing. Her mind wondered to the battlefield. Richard, Alex, McCall, Tera, Jameson, Thompson. Her brothers and sisters. For nine months they were her family. Days in the field they protected each other, always had the others back. Then they were gone. A routine patrol gone way wrong. She even had to kill a couple kids, they couldn't have been older than 15. She was their leader it was her job. She had to, to save them. But, it was pointless. The inhuman atrocities she committed in the name of saving those next to her, all pointless. She couldn't save any of them she couldn't even die along side them like she should have. Pathetic.
Voices echoed in Ruby's head. Killer, fake, failure over and over they grew louder and louder and louder. Ruby covered her ears and collapsed in the shower.
"Stop! Please! Stop! I'm sorry!" Ruby thought to herself in an endless loop.
She was thankful the water masked the tears, but the white noise, the sound of water hitting ceramic was too loud, but the voices were louder.
"Im sorry. I'm so sorry everyone. Please forgive me. Make them stop. Make the voices stop." Ruby talked openly to herself.
"Please! Just leave me alone! I couldn't die then! Isn't that punishment enough!" Ruby was screaming, unable to push the voices out. Her cries turned to sobs. Ruby wept in the shower all alone until the door flew open almost coming off it's hinges.
"Ruby?! Oh my god!" Strong arms picked Ruby off the shower floor and pulled her into an embrace. Through tears Ruby could only make out long blonde hair and the smell of a campfire and a little sweat.
"Ya-Yang?" Ruby choked out through barely restrained sobs.
"It's ok Ruby. I've got you. I've got you." Yang picked up the towel on the counter and began covering Ruby up. Yang held Ruby, rocking back and forth with Ruby in her lap. It was all she could think of to comfort the wounded veteran. After a little while Ruby's sobs stopped, but the tears didn't. Yang could not brace for what Ruby was about to say.
"I want to die. I should've died. I failed. I don't deserve life." Ruby said emotionlessly as she was finally able to speak. Yang began to tear up.
"This is my fault. All of this. I didn't visit enough. Fuck. I rarely called her. I should've been there. I should've come to make sure she was ok after she got back." Yang internally berated herself for not taking care of her little sister.
"Ruby! Please don't say that. You're what little family I have left. Please, don't leave me alone. I love you. Dad loves you. We are so happy you came back. We are so lucky you're ok. Please don't throw the life dad and I love so much away." Yang's tears were now flowing freely. She pulled Ruby close as she cried on to the redhead's shoulder.
"I don't know what to do Yang. I can't let them go, I won't let them go." Ruby had finally calmed down enough to stand on her own.
"I've got to get ready for work now Yang. What are you even doing here?" Ruby said emotionlessly. Clearly masking her suffering.
"I came to visit. I wanted to surprise you so I talked your receptionist into giving me your extra room key." Yang admitted while wiping away her tears.
"Well, we can talk later. After work." Ruby got up to go get dressed.
Yang noticed that Ruby had left her phone on the bathroom countertop.
"Hey Rubes, who is it you're working for again?" Yang yelled from the bathroom.
"Ozpin, he's a CEO for a big pharma company." Ruby commented from behind the closed door.
Yang quickly picked up her sister's cell phone and searched through the contact list to find exactly who she was looking for. It wasn't hard. Ruby's only contacts were Yang, Father, Ozpin and someone name Weiss. Yang bookmarked her name to question Ruby for later.
Yang called Ozpin and waited for an answer.
"Ah. Ms. Rose. What do I owe the pleasure? You're not on duty for another hour." The voice on the other side of the line asked.
"Actually sir, this is her Sister Yang. Ruby is kind of dealing with some stuff. I found her crying in the shower this morning." Yang had said to Ozpin, hurt clearly present in her voice.
"Oh my. I'm sorry to hear that. I understand the circumstance so please, take as long as needed. She is my best guard, it'll be odd not having her around. I needed to talk to her today though. If you don't mind miss, would you please tell Ms. Rose to report to the Schnee Manor when she is able. I will let them know the circumstance. Her contract with me was negotiated to the youngest Schnee. She should know what I'm talking about." Ozpin said slightly dejected.
"I see. I'll let her know. And, sir?" Yang waited for Ozpin to answer.
"Yes miss?" The expected response.
"Thank you, for taking care of my sister. I know she really liked working for you." Yang smiled slightly as the words left her mouth.
"Oh no, it was my pleasure having someone like Ruby around. Give her my regards. I hope one day she can truly overcome the trauma she's experienced." Ozpin said with genuine concern and hope.
"Thank you. Me too." Yang replied as she hung up the phone.
Ruby pulled the bathroom door open to see Yang still on the floor with her phone. They locked eyes and moments of silence and stillness passed.
"Yang, what did you do?" Ruby asked while eyeing Yang suspiciously.
"I may or may not have called in for work for you." Yang put her hand up in defense of her actions.
"You what?!" Ruby practically screeched at Yang.
"Hey! You clearly need it, it's my responsibility to look after you. I AM your big sister after all." Yang fired back trying to justify her actions.
"Why the fuck start now?! You didn't bother to come see me for 3 years! You've only called once a year on my birthday since then! What makes you my sister?! Why would you suddenly start acting like it now?!" Ruby yelled in anger at her sister. Guilt sat clearly on Yang's face.
"I'm sorry. I know I should've been there. I feel guilty for leaving you so alone. It's just…. When you got back, when I saw you in that hospital bed, when I saw you break down after you got the news, I was so afraid. I was powerless to help my own sister. For the first time in my life I felt like I could only sit and do nothing. I thought the best I could do was give you space. Dad and I both thought that. After our phone call the other day I figured you sounded well enough. I thought you had gotten better. So, I decided to finally visit. To finally see the sister, I've missed for so long." Yang admitted with no small amount of guilt, finally seeing how wrong she and Tai were in handling the situation.
"Fine…. Stay as long as you like." Ruby admitted defeat.
Ruby would never let her know, but she missed Yang dearly. She craved the relationship they used to have before she left for the military.
"How about breakfast?" Yang asked as she nudged Ruby in the arm earning a small giggle from the younger girl.
"Fine, but you're cooking. As an apology for what you did." Ruby crossed her arms and walked out of the bathroom.
"Alright, fine with me." Yang said as she followed close behind.
As Yang was cooking small talk was exchanged. Mostly just sisters catching up on each other's lives. It was mostly just Yang talking non-stop about her wife, Blake. Ruby enjoyed listening. She liked having someone else around for a change. Instead of a TV on in the background she was actually having a conversation. Ruby was happy to not be greeted by silence and loneliness. By the end of the day, Ruby was happy Yang had decided to visit.
After a long day of hanging out, Yang decided to head back to her hotel. Ruby gave Yang approval to stay the night there, but there was no other bed and Yang didn't want to sleep on the couch. According to Yang, her puns had put her on the couch enough in her own household. Yang was willing to stay if Ruby thought she would need her, but Ruby insisted over and over that breakdowns like that morning were few and far between.
Yang left kind of early. As Ruby closed the door she was met with silence again. She quickly went to the counter and picked up her cigarettes. Ruby decided she wasn't feeling the balcony, so she headed down to the lobby and outside the apartment to smoke at ground level.
Ruby lit her cigarette and began to inhale. Drag after drag she felt like it truly calmed her nerves, even if only slightly. Ruby looked up at the sky looking for stars. She couldn't find any. The city lights of Seattle masked the vibrant sky too much. Ruby thought to herself that maybe visiting home wouldn't be a bad idea. She missed her Dad after all.
"Those are going to kill you, you know?" Ruby turned to see none other than the heiress from a few days ago, Weiss Schnee.
"Haha my sister thinks so too. What brings you to my neck of the woods Weiss?" Ruby asked curious about the heiress presence.
"Well, I came to check on you. Ozpin called and said you were going through something." Weiss said as she brushed loose hair out of her face and looked everywhere but at Ruby.
"I'm flattered a beauty like you would come all this way to see me, but why did Ozpin call you?" Ruby asked. Clearly surprised by Weiss's comment.
"Oh. I thought you knew." Weiss's tone became serious.
"Knew what?" Ruby asked eager to understand what was happening.
"Well. I talked Ozpin out of your contract. You're my personal bodyguard now. I figured if you can't come to me then I'll come to you. After the other day, I'm kind of afraid to be alone." Weiss said slightly embarrassed.
"Wait, you did what?" Ruby said shocked.
"You are my bodyguard now. You would've found out today if you had actually given me your phone number instead of that dumb note." Weiss said with a slight huff.
"Wow. I can't believe you actually went through with it. I'm impressed." Ruby complimented.
"Well, what can I say? You impressed me the other day." Weiss said. Ruby didn't miss it either. Clearly this was Weiss Schnee attempting to flirt.
"Mhm. You just had to come and see me, didn't you?" Ruby deadpanned and Weiss lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Fine. Weiss follow me. Come in and get to know me a little." Ruby playfully ordered as she tossed her cigarette on the ground and stomped out the embers.
"Thank you. I'm glad you see it my way." Weiss said as she proudly accomplished her mission.
"Trust me snowflake. You'll see it my way by the end of the night." Ruby looked Weiss in the eye while she licked her lips seductively.
For the next hour. Weiss Schnee could not look Ruby Rose in the eye. The whole time Weiss could only think about how much she truly might want that.
I have a lot of fun writing PTSD Ruby. R&R