She felt something gentle dust across her cheeks and slide over her eyelids. Ruby was drawn from the darkness and stirred into a serene feeling of comfort. She exhaled slowly and tried to lose herself in the feeling. There was a warmth around her that was so inviting and welcome—there were no worries, no fears. Just this calm and it was the only place she could ever want to be.

Deep in the back of her mind, she wondered if this was the afterlife. Had she died? Why did she feel so unburdened? That feeling continued to stroke across her face and it was a pull that seemed to drag her slowly away from this serenity. She wanted to fight it, to stay here where it was safe, but the touches became more and more real and Ruby couldn't stop herself from giving into them.

It's okay, Ruby. You'll be okay.

She heard a voice she barely recognized but something about it drew tears to her eyes. It was like finding a piece of herself she had lost decades ago. All Ruby wanted was to capture that voice and this feeling and lose herself in it.

Suddenly, something brushed against her cheek and the stillness was gone. Now there was nothing but darkness and emptiness that had consumed her for so long. She was alone again, afraid and lost. This wasn't peace, this was terror. This was the same hell she had been living in for as long as she could remember.

"Why are you crying?" Another voice, this one easily recognized. It was comforting yet almost upset.

Weiss.

That feeling continued to brush along her cheek and she gravitated towards it. The more she did, the more the feelings along her skin increased.

"Hey…are you waking up? Ruby…if you can hear me, open your eyes."

Her breathing increased—she thought her eyes were open. Where was she? Ruby took a few deep breaths, willing her body to move, her mind to react and find it's way through the dark.

She pushed forward, trying to attach herself to the contact against her cheek and use it to draw herself out.

Finally, she saw a light and leapt into it with all she had. A moment later, her eyes were blinded by a painful white light and she heard a gasp next to her.

"Ruby! You're awake!"

It took her a moment to adjust to the surroundings, but she slowly made out a florescent light hanging above her. She was staring up at a blank white ceiling and as her body started to wake up, it felt heavy and sore.

"Ruby?" Again her name was called and she turned her head slightly towards it.

That's when she saw Weiss sitting beside her. Weiss looked so tired—her hair was hanging untied across her back and into her face. Her once bright and blue eyes were a little greyer but she still wore a smile. There were tear streaks on her cheeks and her bottom lip was shaking just a bit.

"Weiss." Ruby tried but her throat ached at the attempt. She coughed once and it was a huge mistake. She felt like her stomach was being torn out from the inside and cried out in pain.

"Easy," Weiss chided gently. "Don't…do anything. Just…hang on and I'll go get a doctor." Weiss moved to stand but Ruby kept a grip on the hand that was holding her own.

"Please…don't go," she rasped out as best she could.

Weiss gave her a pleading look. "I have to, they need to check on you, Ruby. I am not qualified." Weiss leaned down and placed her lips on Ruby's forehead, a second later she moved to kiss Ruby's temple and then her cheek. She moved to her nose and the side of her mouth before kissing her carefully on the lips. When she finally pulled away, Weiss smiled. "I promise I will be back in seconds. I just need to find someone to check over you."

The comfort of Weiss' presence was overwhelming and Ruby found herself crying again but she relinquished her hold on her partner's hand and nodded.

Lingering for just a second, Weiss stepped away and practically ran out of the room.

Ruby didn't remember how she ended up here. She was standing in the forest, surrounded by soldiers and waiting for that…thing to come and find her. Then Blake was there and she got hurt, there was fighting and then…nothing.

Blake. Panic set in at the thought that something might have happened to Blake because of her. It was, without question, her absolute worst nightmare and on instinct, Ruby tried to sit up.

It was a massive mistake and she cried out in pain at the sharp pain in her stomach.

"Ruby! I told you not to move!" Weiss cried and Ruby heard a few pairs of footsteps racing into the room.

The pain was crushing and she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. It bubbled in her mouth and started to spill from her lips, but she was on her back so the bulk of it poured down her throat.

This only made her cough more and start to choke.

"Oh Shit!" Someone shouted and suddenly there were hands on her. "Roll her over, she needs to get this out!"

"Ruby!" Weiss cried again as Ruby was turned onto her side by everyone in the room. Someone tucked a towel under her head and she let everything pour out of her mouth onto it. It burned in the back of her throat and spilled from her nose like liquid fire.

By the time she finished, Ruby was fighting to stay awake and very carefully, they rolled her onto her back and started fussing over her. She nodded when they asked if she could understand them and squeezed the nurses hand when prompted.

Meanwhile, Weiss had wet a cloth down and was gently cleaning her face.

She felt miserable. She wanted to go back to that quiet place she'd been before, where the world wasn't like this. Where she wasn't afraid or in pain.

"We're going to increase your medication, Ruby. It should help in a few minutes." The doctor, an older man with the shapeliest beard she had ever seen, told her with a smile and she again nodded.

"I need…water."

"Of course!" Weiss growled and Ruby realized it was at herself. "Get her water, Weiss, you dunce." She grumbled to herself before stomping away. A moment later, she placed a hand under Ruby's head to tilt it upward. "Easy," Weiss said before easing the bottle towards her. "Is this okay?" She asked the doctor as Ruby was nearly in reach of the precious substance.

"Small amounts, give her time to swallow."

Weiss nodded dutifully before returning to her task.

When the cool water touched her lips, it was like some kind of liquid magic. She felt it splash around inside of her mouth and wash away the awful taste. The first swallow was hard, but after a few breaths, she got her second fill and greedily took as much as she could. A sigh of content escaped her when she finished and Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Better?" She asked and Ruby nodded. "Good."

She wasn't sure if it was from the medication or just pure exhausting, but her body started to feel heavy. At the same time, it seemed to relax just enough that she didn't feel like she was being torn to pieces.

"Go and get her father." Weiss all but demanded to one of the nurses who scurried out of the room.

Ruby wanted to tell Weiss to be nice, but she really really wanted to see her dad.

Once the doctor finished checking her over and started writing on his chart, she squeezed Weiss' hand. "Blake," she whispered in an attempt not to hurt her throat. "Is she okay?"

"She's okay, a pain in the butt to keep on bed rest, but she's fine." Closing her eyes, Ruby felt the tears coming and let them fall. The last thing she remembered was Blake jumping in front of her and if something had happened to her she would never forgive herself. "I'm so mad at you, Ruby." Weiss said in a very gentle tone. She felt a pair of lips press against her forehead and she opened her eyes to find Weiss inches away from her. "You…I—" Weiss sighed and shook her head. Whatever she was going to say died in her throat.

"Did you stop it?" Ruby asked, almost afraid of the answer.

However, when Weiss nodded, Ruby felt a weight lift off of her. "It's here. Locked away, you're safe." Her tone was not at all victorious. "We'll discuss it when you're feeling better."

"Weiss—"

"We'll discuss it when you're feeling better, okay?" She firmly repeated and Ruby could only nod. She knew that was not an argument she could win and honestly, she didn't want to upset Weiss and have her leave.

"Alright Ms. Rose." The doctor spoke up and Ruby slowly moved her head to look at him. "We're going to let you rest. All we can do for now is keep your pain regulated and let our healers tend to your wounds. They'll be arriving in a few hours for your first session. Your body is very sensitive right now, so we'll be taking it slow. You're going to be here for a while so don't let it get into your head that you'll be out in the field any time soon. You've got a bit of a road ahead of you."

He was being blunt, and Ruby appreciated it but at the same time she knew it would suck. Right now she didn't feel like going anywhere—but in a few days, a few weeks, she'd be miserable. Her body wasn't built for bed rest. She needed to be active, to be doing something and this was going to be torture.

"Oh she's going to be getting plenty of rest, you can bet on that." Weiss said and Ruby was met with determined blue eyes. "There will be no arguments, Ruby Rose." It was hard to think up any kind of argument when Weiss was stroking her hair the way she was.

"Ruby!" Taiyang burst through the door and she watched him nearly trip over his own two feet before stumbling to her bedside and cupping her face in his hands. "You're awake, oh honey…look at you."

Weiss had climbed off the bed and dropped Ruby's hand. She glanced over to see Weiss with her hands behind her back, looking away shyly. As tough as Weiss could be with most people, the presence of her girlfriend's father turned her into a timid teenager.

"Hey dad," Ruby said, giving her father her full attention. "I'm sorry." She said it because she knew what this must have been like for him. He'd lost so much and after everything with Yang and now nearly losing her own life—she knew it wasn't fair to him.

When he carefully nestled her in an awkward hug, she closed her eyes and soaked up the comforting feeling. Reaching up, she laid her hand across his back.

"I'm just glad you're okay. I've seen my girls hurt way too much for one lifetime." He pulled away a bit and smiled at her. "You're so brave, kid. Your mom would be so proud of you."

That one got to her and she had to fight back the tears. So much of what Ruby did was to make her mom proud. Recently, she couldn't help but think that she'd fallen short in pretty much every way imaginable.

At some point, Weiss had slipped out of the room and when Ruby glanced to where she'd been at, she frowned at her absence.

When she looked back at her dad, he raised one of his eyebrows. "She's been in here a lot, you know? Like…every day."

"Yeah?" Ruby couldn't help but enjoy hearing about Weiss' fussing over her.

"Yes, and she'd yell at me if I stuck around too long and didn't eat or sleep. Then she'd get your uncle or your sister to team up on me and make me leave."

Weiss was taking care of her father, her family. The same girl who used to act as though she didn't want to do anything for anyone

A huge smile broke across her face. "She's great."

"How great?" His eyes narrowed. "Exactly how great is she, to you?"

Ruby winced a bit. "Uh…super great?"

He studied her—his head tilting and at one point he glanced to the door where Ruby could see that Weiss was merely standing outside waiting.

"She's a Schnee, you know?" He glanced back at her with a hint of a smirk and Ruby could only nod.

"I know."

"Huh," He refocused on her and grinned. "I always hoped one of my daughters would marry rich."

"Dad!" The shout made her wound hurt but she couldn't help but smile. She hadn't felt comfortable talking to her dad like this since they'd been reunited. It was almost perfect. "Where's Yang?"

"Being extremely difficult." He said before sitting down in a seat next to her. "She's with some of the specialists getting herself fitted for a new arm. She has surgery scheduled to clean everything up."

Ruby couldn't begin to express how glad she was to hear that. "I hope she comes to see me before she does."

"Oh I'm sure she will, she's been here most of the time. Between her and Blake, your girlfriend—" she glared at him and he chuckled. "Your uncle and that blonde boy, you've had a steady stream of visitors."

"Jaune is here?"

Taiyang nodded before taking off his shoe and lobbing it softly at the door. Ruby watched it smash against the frame and Weiss jumped in the window outside before turning around furiously. Her father smiled before waving her to come back inside.

Weiss huffed slightly before recomposing herself and opening the door.

"Can you grab my shoe, Ms. Schnee?"

It took her a moment, but Weiss scowled at the offending shoe before cautiously picking it up. Ruby was torn between laughing at Weiss or being angry at her dad for teasing the poor girl.

As she handed it over to him, he smiled and thanked her.

She nodded once before stepping around to the other side of Ruby's bed where she'd been when Ruby woke up.

"It smells of vomit over here," she said but sits down nonetheless.

Ruby frowned at Weiss—suddenly deciding to join in on the teasing. "I'm sorry, Weiss." She pouted and watched her partner fidget and cross her arms.

"It's fine. You've just gone through severe trauma, so I suppose I can let it slide."

When Weiss seemed to relent and give her a small smile, Taiyang started laughing again. "Okay, I totally see it now. I'm okay with this."

Weiss seemed even more confused. "I'm beg your pardon?"

"You're dating my daughter." Weiss went even paler, something Ruby didn't think was possible. "And while I can't say I ever saw it coming, you've been working your ass off to make sure she's taken care of, while also helping out Yang and Blake and everyone else. You're a good kid, Weiss."

Though Weiss still seemed horrified, her cheeks turned from pale to a bright shade of red and she looked away.

"Th—thank you, sir." Weiss tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and found the courage to look his way again. "Your daughter…both of them, as a matter of fact, have done a lot for me as well. I care about them both."

"Glad to hear it. Though I hope you're only kissing one of them."

"Daaaaaaaad."

The next time Ruby woke up, she was surrounded in darkness. It was late and she'd assured everyone that she was fine and they should all get some rest. It had been a constant stream of people coming in and out to see her.

Blake was wheeled in by Yang and Jaune seemed so glad to see her. She was happy to see him too and it was only awkward for a little while when the two of them exchanged a very long, very personal hug.

They had shared so much time together that none of the others could really understand. The things that they had gone through were hard to explain properly. Still, everyone seemed to respect their moment. Even Weiss who was the first one to speak up and stop their hug when it lingered a bit too long.

Ruby could only smile at her—seeing Weiss jealous was fairly endearing. Especially when she was the object of that jealousy.

It had only been a day and Ruby was already feeling restless. She wanted to talk to Weiss about the thing that had chased her but there was never any time and Weiss didn't seem all that interested in handing over the details.

She was just glad to know it was locked away. For as distant as Weiss seemed to bring it up, she never seemed worried it was a risk anymore. Whatever had happened was good enough to ease any fear of them being attacked.

Still, that safety didn't slow down the hundreds of questions in her mind.

Just as Ruby was about to try and fall back asleep, she heard the gentle sound of her door opening and tensed. Some fragile part of her mind could only imagine it was the beast coming for her. All the calm and fear was a lie and this was going to be her end.

Instead she saw Weiss backpedal slowly into the room and take extra care in shutting the door as quietly as she could.

Ruby couldn't resist. "Hey!" She called out and Weiss jumped with a squeal before turning quickly.

"Ruby Rose!" She chided and Ruby felt her heart soar. So many silly little things about Weiss made her smile. Even when she was in trouble. "Why are you not sleeping?!"

"Why are you not sleeping?"

With a huff, contemplated the light switch for a moment but must have decided the darkness was more suitable. The lights from the few machines attached to Ruby lit up the room enough that they could see one another and Ruby thought the lighting made them feel more isolated from the rest of the world.

Instead, Weiss shuffled over to the bed, her chin held up in defiance all the while she sat down on the edge of the bed with a glare.

"It's quite cold in this base and Winter has kicked me out of her room so I was forced to stay in the upper barracks."

"Aren't the upper barracks pretty fancy?"

Weiss scoffed. "They're barbaric."

"They each have their own bathrooms right?"

"Yes but there's no bathtub, just a nook in the corner for showering and the water pressure is absolutely worthless." Ruby knew well enough to know that this was mostly a show Weiss put on from time to time. She played her role well enough and while these things probably did bother her—she was aware enough to know they were silly. "Also the beds are too big."

Ruby smiled and draped a hand over Weiss' leg. "I missed you too."

"I never said—" Weiss started but the sentence died with a sigh and she scooted a bit more onto the bed. "This is ridiculous. You've been back in my life for no more than a week and already I am reliant on your presence. It's quite pathetic, really." Her tone was lighthearted and Ruby started to run her hand up and down Weiss' side.

"Well it makes me feel like a million lien. It's nice to be needed."

Another shift and suddenly Weiss was able to look at her better. The glow of the heart monitor hit her face just right that Ruby could see Weiss' eyes watching her. She swallowed thickly and Ruby felt her hand be sandwiched together. "You are needed; you know that right? I can't have you risking you life all the time."

"Well now that we've captured that thing that was after me I can stop running, right? I mean—things are better now. Except this hole in my stomach, but that'll get better too." Weiss nodded, but she didn't smile and she certainly didn't look as relieved as Ruby had hoped she would be. "What's wrong?"

Weiss reached up and gently ran the back of her hand over Ruby's cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," Ruby shrugged and smiled at the look Weiss gave her. "I'm loaded with pain medication and my dad brought me chocolate chip cookies and milk for dinner. I've had worse days."

"You're severely wounded." Weiss deadpanned.

Ruby could only smirk. "Chocolate…chip…cookies—for dinner!"

Despite the glower she wore, Weiss was fighting back a smile and Ruby was glad for it. "You're such a child. I cannot believe I've fallen for someone like you. I, Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, smitten with a cookie devouring scythe wielder from the slums of Patch."

"Hey, Patch is beautiful and I've seen you attack a bag of cookies after a bad day so don't give me that."

As carefully as she could, Weiss maneuvered so she could lay down next to Ruby. She didn't touch her, though Ruby wouldn't have minded, but eventually Weiss had fit her lithe frame onto the bed next to her partner and rolled to her side.

"These pillows are atrocious." She said as she adjusted it slightly under Ruby's head before borrowing a small corner. Again Weiss started dancing her fingertips across Ruby's face and she was suddenly having trouble keeping her eyes open.

"Thank you for taking care of my sister, Weiss. I know the money doesn't matter to you but what you're doing for her means a lot to me."

Weiss sighed and her breath tickled Ruby's neck. It was such a simple sensation but it drove Ruby wild. Never before had air on her skin done so much to her. She bit back whatever sound was threatening to escape and felt Weiss' hand still on her cheek.

"We'll need everyone for whatever might come. Yang is very important to our team, to our cause." Weiss was silent for a moment and Ruby looked over at her to find blue eyes staring at her. "She's important to you…and I."

A wave of affection for Weiss washed over her and Ruby laid her head to the side to rest against Weiss'. It felt so nice to not be alone anymore. As hard as it was for Ruby to be comfortable with her father or even Yang, it was almost effortless with Weiss.

"Didn't you say you had something you were going to tell me? About the monster?"

Weiss stiffened next to her for a moment but relaxed a moment later and Ruby felt her hand being squeezed. "It will keep until tomorrow."

Ruby was incredibly curious about the beast. Though she'd grown up with a fascination of Grimm and monsters, she had never encountered one like that before or even read about anything similar.

"You said it was locked up and well guarded?"

Weiss nodded against her. "I promise, you're safe—we're all safe. It's just…more complicated than we expected."

"How so?" Ruby was pressing and she knew Weiss didn't want to keep this going, but her curiosity was far too strong.

"Ruby, it's very late. We both need rest."

She fought to hold her tongue but she just needed to know more. She wanted to know what it looked like, how big it really was or if the tranquilizers worked as well as they'd hoped.

Ruby hoped there was room for at least more question. "How did you stop it? I was a bit, uh, incapacitated." She tried to make a joke and it fell flat. Weiss pulled away from her just a bit.

"Ruby…"

"Weiss, I appreciate you so much because you don't treat me like a kid. Please don't start now. This thing chased me all over Remnant—I deserve to know some things."

"You're in no condition right now, when you're better—"

Ruby cut her off. "In no condition to hear about what happened? Weiss this information is not going to hurt me."

"You're wrong!" Weiss raised her voice and made Ruby jump. "I'm sorry…but as I said, it's complicated."

"Weiss,"

Her partner sighed again and Ruby remained silent and waited. Eventually, Weiss pushed up on an elbow and looked down at Ruby. "It's Pyrrha."

The name itself, in this context, made Ruby think that she might have misheard. It didn't sound right; it didn't fit—why would Weiss bring Pyrrha up now?

"I don't understand."

This seemed to frustrate her. "The monster that was chasing you, Ruby it's Pyrrha Nikos."

She let the words wash over her for a moment. Of all the things she had expected Weiss to say, this was not it at all. She thought of how chaotic the last few days had been. She had been unconscious. Blake was hurt and Yang was dealing with potential arm surgery. It made sense that Weiss would be doing everything she could to make sure things continued to run smoothly.

Which would mean—

"When's the last time you slept?"

That was the wrong thing to say. "Ruby! I am not delirious! I know what I saw!"

Ruby frowned. "And you saw…Pyrrha?"

"Yes!"

Again Ruby began searching for something to say. The truth was, she didn't believe it. There was no way it could be Pyrrha Nikos. For one, it was a Grimm. Blackened and strong skin, solid armor that had felt like its own entity. It moved too fast, even for as exceptional as Pyrrha had been.

"Weiss I—it can't be Pyrrha. It's a monster. I fought it over a dozen times and I…" she swallowed sharply and shook away the visions that flooded her mind. "I watched Pyrrha die. I remember everything about it and she was turned to dust right in front of me. There was nothing left of her."

"Ruby I'm telling you what I saw. It was her. It's her face and her hair…something is wrong with her, obviously she's not really Pyrrha but it looks just like her. It is her. I would never make something like this up."

She couldn't deny that—Weiss was never one to tell any kind of extravagant lie like this. If she was saying it, Weiss truly believed she'd seen Pyrrha Nikos.

Even if Ruby couldn't bring herself to believe it was true.

"Then I want to see her." It was the only solution Ruby could think of.

Weiss immediately seemed affronted. "You're severely injured and on bed rest. Absolutely not."

"If it really is Pyrrha then I want to see her, Weiss."

"Ruby you're not well."

Weiss' stubborn armor was fracturing. "I want to believe you, Weiss. But I can't wrap my head around it. Pyrrha? It…she…the thing tried to kill me, and Jaune, countless times. It killed innocent people. Can you see Pyrrha doing that?"

"I told you it wasn't really her, it's just…her body or…something. I don't know! I'm only telling you what I saw, Ruby."

Taking a deep breath, Ruby pushed up on her elbows and started to sit. Weiss immediately reacted and tried to lay her back down. "Ruby! You're—"

"Weiss, I'm going to go see Pyrrha. I can sit, I just can't really walk or…get out of bed or anything."

"You wish for me to carry you to where it's being contained?"

Ruby couldn't help but smile at the image of Weiss trying to carry her. She would never underestimate her partner, but there was really no way. "Of course not, but I could probably sit in a wheelchair or something."

"You have a hole in your stomach." Weiss spoke very slowly and Ruby rolled her eyes.

"I know that, but it's been treated and I feel okay."

"Because you are loaded with pain medication!"

Ruby shrugged. "Exactly!"

Weiss rose up from the bed, their nice moment completely gone. Ruby felt a little guilty, it was obvious that Weiss was tired and if this Pyrrha thing wasn't true than Weiss was beyond tired. Still, Ruby knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she confronted it.

"We cannot simply go to where it's being contained and stride in. I may be a Schnee, but I'm not military."

"No," Ruby prepared herself for what was coming. "But I know a Schnee who is."

Based on the look of horror on Weiss' face, Ruby was pretty sure she'd broken her.

As far as bad decisions go, Ruby had made plenty. But deciding that she was ready to sit in a wheelchair and let Weiss push her through a base to find Winter was undoubtedly one of the worst.

It wasn't so much that she was in pain, the medication was doing fine and her stomach had gone through rigorous healing, but Weiss was a terrible driver. They'd hit four corners so far and got stuck on the smallest lip leading up to the elevator. Weiss grumbled and cursed as she tried to hoist the chair up an inch to make it over and when she did, she acted as though she'd just run a marathon.

"I cannot believe you talked me into this, Ruby Rose. You are insufferable."

Given that it was the middle of the night, Ruby was tired and when Weiss put a hand on her shoulder as the elevator started going up, Ruby laid her head on it. "I just want to see what you saw. If you say it's…Pyrrha, then I need to know." In no way did Ruby expect to see Pyrrha Nikos in this containment area, but she only hoped she could help convince Weiss it wasn't either so they could both sleep.

No, Pyrrha Nikos was gone—Ruby had seen it with her own two eyes and then those eyes did something she could never explain or duplicate since. That was one of her most hated mysteries—what was she? What had she done that day on the tower? Nobody would tell her and even when she'd tried to make her eyes do…something, it only ever led to the worst headache in history and strange looks from anyone around her.

When the elevator dinged again, Ruby stared out at the narrow hallway and one door at the very end. This was not going to end well but Winter was the only one with access to the facility that could get them in this late at night.

Despite her reservations, Weiss settled in behind Ruby and pushed her to the door. "I should have grabbed my cloak." Ruby said with a shiver.

"Hang on," Weiss stopped pushing and began rustling behind her. Ruby tried to look back but couldn't see well enough. Eventually, Weiss came around in front of her, jacket now removed and wearing only a sleeveless white top. It was such a small change in attire but Ruby found herself staring at the newly exposed shoulders. Carefully, Weiss laid the jacket on top of her, cautious of her wound. "Are you in any pain?" Ruby shook her head, unable to speak as Weiss touched her. "Would you tell me if you were?"

Slowly, Ruby dragged her gaze up to meet Weiss'. "I would," she said, not entirely sure if it was the truth. She was so used to Yang or her father going above and beyond to protect her that it had become second nature to make up things to give herself more freedom.

With an accepting nod, Weiss moved in front of Ruby to the door. Her butt now right at eye level, Ruby refused to stare and closed her eyes.

The sound of three sharp knocks drew her eyes open and Weiss had very quickly moved back behind her. Ruby glanced up at her girlfriend with a scowl. "Are you using me as a shield?"

"Most certainly. This was your idea."

Before Ruby could counter, the sounds of footsteps approaching the door silenced her. She focused in front of her and felt Weiss flinched when the door flew open.

In front of them now stood the towering presence of Winter Schnee. Except she looked different. Her hair was down, flowing over her face and shoulders. She was wearing a white tank top and extremely short shorts.

If Ruby were being honest, she looked…pretty hot.

Stop it, Ruby. You're just high on pain medication or…

"What are you two doing here?" Winter's voice was raspy with sleep, which Ruby also found attractive. Until she realized those angry blue eyes were staring right at her.

"Oh, I uh…well Weiss had told me that—"

"Weiss!" Winter barked, suddenly alert of the situation. "Why is she out of bed? She's only recently had surgery and not nearly enough healing sessions to be roaming around the hallways at this hour!"

Weiss started to stammer. "I—w-well you see…she was insistent after I mentioned Pyrrha—"

"Weiss," Winter sighed this time and ran a slow hand through her hair. "We've had this discussion. That is not Pyrrha Nikos."

Ruby winced, more confirmation that Weiss was seeing things, which would only upset Weiss more.

"Winter, I have to show Ruby. We're already out of bed, we're already here. Would it really be so bad to take us?"

"Your…friend," she glared at Ruby who sank into the chair as far as she could. "Could reopen her wound or do more damage to herself. She appears to be quite reckless and you enabling her is not helping."

"Winter…please?" Weiss begged and Ruby realized she'd never heard that much desperation in Weiss' voice before.

As she watched the eldest Schnee daughter, she saw her take a deep breath and hastily shut the door in their faces.

"Umm…" Ruby looked up at Weiss who was shaking her head and then back to the door. She could hear a few sounds coming from inside but for the most part it seemed like they'd been told no—rather rudely in fact.

Then, what could have only been a minute later, the door opened again and Winter stood in full uniform and aggressively tying her hair up.

"What?" Ruby murmured. "How?"

"Come then, if you are going to be so insistent about this then let's get it over with."

Winter stomped passed them and Weiss quickly started to push Ruby again to follow.

Once the reached the elevator again, the air was tense. Winter, despite being in full uniform, still looked like she was ready to kill the next person to speak to her. Ruby kept her mouth shut, knowing she'd already pushed both Schnee girls far too much tonight.

"Days ago you were nearly dead and now my sister is pushing you around in a wheelchair." Winter cast a glance at Weiss. "You could reopen her stitches—they're still fresh. There are a thousand things that could go wrong, all for this fantasy—"

"Winter!" Weiss cut her off. "It is not a fantasy, and I was careful with Ruby. She'll be okay…my aura is connected to her, I can handle anything that might happen—which it won't."

Winter shook her head and looked away as the elevator reached the desired floor.

The trek was long and it was hard for Weiss to keep pace with Winter—her boots clipping quickly across the concrete. The air in this part of the base was chilly and somewhat unsettling. There was very little light and at this hour it made navigating quite hard. There were only a few dim lights strung from the high ceiling and to their right was a tall railing that overlooked an area below that Ruby couldn't see.

Eventually, they reached a ramp that Weiss carefully guided Ruby down and beyond that was a heavily guarded door that Winter stopped at and began pressing numbers into a screen. She then placed her entire hand on the screen and Ruby watched the green light shimmer across it, going up and down. A loud beep followed and the latch opened.

"Ten minutes," Winter said to one of the guards pointedly.

"Yes ma'am." He returned with a salute and Winter waved Weiss forward and she started pushing again.

This hallway was much different—very narrow and extremely bright. The walls were white and empty of any design or change.

In the distance, Ruby could see another door, this one was made of metal and had four heavily armed guards standing in front of it. They quickly stepped to the side as Winter approached and she moved to the intimidating door and was once again met with a screen that needed a code and a handprint.

She quickly unlocked the new levels of security and reached for the handle of the door.

It unlatched with a burst of air, it was sealed extremely tight and strong burst of cold air hit them. Ruby was suddenly very grateful for Weiss' jacket draped over her.

Once the air cleared, Ruby could see into the room and was met with a sheet of extremely thick glass. Beyond that was a wide open room and one lone figure chained to the floor and lying on it's side.

It was the beast, and from this distance all she could see was human skin marked with black streaks and deep scars that covered it's entire body.

Her heart started to beat faster with every breath she took. It was obvious that this was not a Grimm, but there was something very Grimm-like about it.

"Weiss…can we get closer?"

Ruby asked Weiss but looked to Winter who merely gestured for them to approach—she was clearly not worried about it attacking them, so Weiss moved Ruby closer to the glass.

She stared intensely at the beast lying on the ground. It was chained by the wrist, waist and around the neck. There was a tube stuck in it's back that led up through the cage into a large machine - Ruby could only assume that was how they kept it sedated.

Without the armor it looked so much smaller.

A small part of her almost felt sorry for it, seeing it in this state. She knew what it had done, been witness so some of the tragedy that had been left in it's wake—in it's chase for her.

Still, as unsettling as it was to see—she still did not see Pyrrha.

"Weiss—I don't—"

Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of something crashing hard against the glass and clattering across the concrete floor.

"Weiss!" Winter screamed and Ruby watched a metal dumpster roll away, dented from the impact. Weiss had picked it up and thrown it at the glass. "What in the world has gotten into you?! What are you—"

A clattering of chains silenced Winter and Ruby turned to see that the beast had stirred, pushing up on it's hands, trying to stand against the restraint of it's shackles.

"Push more tranquilizer!" A guard shouted.

"No!" Weiss cried out. "Not yet, let Ruby see her!"

Ruby was scared, watching this thing stand up—she was terrified and in no position to fight. The glass was thick, it had easily absorbed Weiss' trash can throw, but this was a monster she'd failed to stop a dozen times. This glass, this base could not contain it.

She watched it stand and turn it's head…that's when the mass of red hair came into view. It was messy and dirty, but the red shone through regardless and the more of it's face was revealed, the harder Ruby's heart pounded.

It locked eyes with her and she saw the most painfully familiar color of green staring back at her. Ruby's breath caught in her throat—she felt like she was choking.

Suddenly it was moving towards her, the shackles tightening as it pulled and struggled. It had seen her, it wanted her.

However, from this position now, she could see that it wasn't a "it" at all.

"No," her voice broke as though a nightmare was played out right in front of her.

"Ruby I'm sorry," Weiss whispered, suddenly close to her ear—an arm around her shoulder. "I wish I was wrong."

Winter's silence was deafening and she seemed as in shock as Ruby was. Clearly they had not let it move around this much since they'd captured it.

For Ruby, all she could see was those eyes and that hair and the friend she'd watched die thousands of times in her dreams. She was suffocating on the fear and heartbreak tearing inside of her, she needed to be away from this place.

"Weiss…please—I can't—"

No other explanation was needed and Winter was screaming at her guards to sedate it.

Her.

As Weiss backed her out of the room, she watched the sedative settle in and saw Pyrrha fall to her knees, still staring at Ruby, before she sagged against her restraints and fell over.