I would like to start this by apologizing for the lack luster quality of the previous chapter. I was rushing to get it done by Friday so it would not be uploaded late. But, upon reading it through only AFTER I had posted it did I realize what I had just put out.

I am sorry.

This one will be better, I promise it.

Chapter Six

Pain.

Agony.

Suffering.

These words, and only these words, raced through Ruby's mind as she lay on the cool grass in a rapidly expanding pool of her own blood, clutching her stomach. The already pale girl rapidly became paler as the crimson ichor spilled onto the emerald blades below.

Where am I?

What happened?

Why is my hand wet?

The team leader was dazed from the shear force of the blow itself, and left in shock from the subsequent trauma. Lifting her hand up from her belly, she found it covered in red.

Is that blood?

Someone had knelt down beside her. A young woman. White dress. White hair, pulled into a ponytail off to the right side of her head. Brilliant blue eyes raked their way from her face to her gut. They were wide with worry. Why?

She was beautiful. But, why was she crying? Ruby didn't want her to cry.

What was she shouting? Was it something she did?

Ruby just wanted to see this pretty girl smile. Reaching up, she cupped the crying girl's cheek for a moment. Her hand was shaking and she couldn't feel the soft skin that she had touched. When she dropped her arm, Ruby found that she had left a blotchy, red handprint on the girl's cheek.

Huh.

This was the last thought that raced through the young leader's mind before she lost consciousness.

Panic.

Fear.

Anger.

All these hidden under a thin veil that Crimson wore on his face. His normally calm composure cracking. It was happening again. He looked over at Ruby, finding the young girl laying in a pool of her own blood. Blood that was spilling out of her stomach at an alarming rate. There was no pain to be found on her face. Clearly, she was in shock. But, that was a lot of blood.

Almost too much.

His arrogance did this. He was stupid. He should have told them his plans BEFORE they entered the forest. He should have gone with Weiss' plans to begin with. He should have- No! No more should-have's. Crimson plagued himself with those last time, and they did him no good. Last time, he wasn't strong enough to save them.

But not anymore.

He won't let another grave be dug.

Turning away from the fallen team leader, Crimson stared down the circling pack of Beowolves. Roughly twenty. Maybe a bit more. Maybe a bit less. Not nearly enough to worry him. He needs to make this quick. And so, he activated his semblance. Slightly, at first. Time slowed for Crimson as he dashed into the horde of Grimm, spinning around as he did. Timepiece was a blur as the blade sliced through eight of the beasts. They began to converge on him. A futile effort. They began to slow even more. One took a swipe at him, but with time rapidly slowing down, Crimson easily removed the clawed hand from the Beowolf before running the katana up through its head. Turning to face the next closest creature, this one lunging, he swiftly slid underneath the flying beast, cutting it in two as he did. After that, it was like he was on autopilot. Slice to the left. Bisect one on the right. Dismember the Beowolf right in front of him. Split the scabbard and use one of the pistols in conjunction with Timepiece. Shoot. Stab. Shoot. Slice. Shoot. Carve. Shoot. Cut. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.

He wasn't the only one in a berserker rage. Yang repeatedly tried to rush the pack, adding her fury to the mix. But every time she came close to the edge of the time field, Crimson shoved her back. This was his battle to fight. His mistake to fix. And killing all of them seemed like a good place to start.

Two magazines and twenty eight Grimm later, the entire pack had been slaughtered. To Crimson, it was as if he had done nothing at all, for all the Grimm were now completely suspended in time. Frozen. He walked out into the middle of the clearing, in full view of Team RWBY. They were frozen as well, but not because of his semblance. He had isolated the area that he went to work in. Rather they were standing still in shock, awe, and panic.

Crimson couldn't help himself. With a snap of his fingers, he let time behind him resume. All of his work now coming to fruition in a singular event of carnage. But, he didn't wait around and gloat. Rapidly stowing his weapons, the young man ran over to Ruby, swiftly picking her up.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Weiss had shouted. She still hadn't cleaned the bloody handprint from her face.

Crimson's head whipped around, snapping, "What you should have done ten seconds ago!" He didn't wait for her retort before breaking into a full sprint back towards Beacon. His aura was drained from the battle, but as he ran he used whatever he could to slow down Ruby's blood flow. She can't die. He can't let anyone else die.

He won't let anyone else die.

Crimson picked up his pace even more.

He had made it in time. Crimson sped ahead of them, and even sprinting at full speed, it still took Weiss a full three minutes to make it to the infirmary. Being an academy that trained pubescent, hormonal teens with superpowers how to fight with frightening skill, it only made sense for Beacon to have its own, private hospital.

Crimson was pacing in the hall, his head bowed low, hands clasped together behind his back. The maroon coat was tossed haphazardly onto one of the vacant chairs. Weiss was about to shout at him, opening her mouth, when Yang quickly cut her off. "Don't. Please, just don't." The girl's voice was stricken with worry. Weiss closed her mouth, now realizing that berating the older huntsman would do no good.

Blake was the first to ask Crimson, "Have you heard anything?" He didn't stop pacing. It was beginning to get to Weiss the amount of concern that was raking his very being. Crimson was always calm, collected. This wasn't the same man, however.

"They working on stopping the bleeding, giving her blood. From what I could see, there was a lot of internal damage. The wound on the surface wasn't even the worst of it." His pacing became quicker as he became lost in thought again. Weiss noticed something about his face. How it seemed to shift from one emotion to the next. The way it contorted from a scowl to a grimace, from sorrow to anger to pain. He rubbed his chest, running his hands over where the scars were. The movement was subconscious. Weiss blamed him for what happened to Ruby, but she could also tell that he blamed himself just as much.

Maybe this WAS Crimson. The real Crimson. Not the wise-ass swordsman that they were starting to get to know. Weiss realized that that was a mask. A way for him to hide from the pain. She couldn't blame him, not for hiding. But Ruby…

Oh Oum! There was so much blood! And when she cupped Weiss' cheek… The heiress knew how Ruby felt, but now she was worried that she might never get the chance to say it to the jovial girl in red. But, say what exactly?

Was it… was it love?

Did she love Ruby?

The desperation when she screamed for someone to help. The crippling panic when Ruby wiped one of her tears away. The fear, in all its purity, when she sprinted after Crimson.

She'd feel the desperation, the panic, the fear if it was Yang, if it was Blake, hell, even if it was Crimson. But, not with this intensity. Not with this.

But, what was the 'this?' Was it…?

No, it was!

I love Ruby Rose.

The thought alone scared and exhilarated Weiss to no end. And when the doctor came through that door, she feared the worst.

But, her fears were never confirmed. "She's lost a lot of blood. There's severe internal damage, but we're doing out best. Her aura is doing what it can to help heal, but the Beowolf did a number on her. There's bound to be some scarring, but I believe she's going to be okay."

Crimson and Yang let out a heavy sigh, almost in sync. Weiss flopped down onto a chair, leaning into her hands. She almost died. Ruby almost bled out, and there was nothing she could do.

Powerless.

Afraid.

In love.

It was all too much for her. It was filling her up, and it began to overflow. Everything. Weiss poured out everything. She started sobbing into her hands. The sounds muffled. Blake and Yang took a seat on either side of her, Yang rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Blake asking, "Are you going to be alright?"

Weiss didn't know the answer to that question. Maybe it was because she didn't know completely if Ruby was going to be alright. Even if the doctor said she's going to be okay, something could happen when she's in surgery. So she just kept crying, too overwhelmed with… well, everything. She needed to calm down, focus.

"I'm going to get some rest," Crimson said, grabbing his jacket.

Wait, he's not going to stay here? "You're leaving? What about Ruby?" Weiss said indignantly, standing up. The tears had mixed with the handprint still on her cheek, making the blood run down the rest of her face and drip onto her dress, staining the otherwise perfectly white cloth.

Crimson looked at her directly, "I can't do anything now and pacing back and forth worrying about her when I KNOW she's going to be fine isn't going to help either. She'll be awake tomorrow, I'll visit her in the morning. Until then, however, I can't stay here. Hospitals drive me crazy." And he left.

He just walked away, as if nothing had happened at all.

Out of the mixture of emotions that Weiss was currently trying to process, Crimson somehow was able to help her focus in on one singular feeling: anger. And as she fumed in the middle of the hallway, she was finally able to focus, collect her thoughts enough to finally be able to start sifting through the mess of feelings.

Did something right, after all.

Three hours passed and when Yang returned to the dorm, she found it completely submerged in darkness. A shadowy figure sitting on one of the beds on the other side of the room: Crimson. His head was hung low. "Why are you sitting in the dark?"

"I find it peaceful. But, you can turn the light on if you want." His voice was low, the gruffness of it becoming more apparent. Lifting his head up, he was now looking at her.

She flicked on the light switch, finding the man sitting on his bed, his coat thrown over a desk chair, the shirt he had on underneath it was a wrinkled heap at his bare feet, the boots he was wearing that day tossed to the side. His chest bare, the scars that raked his body now open for all the world to see. But, as Yang moved her gaze up along his body, she rapidly reached over to snap the lights off when she found a pair of red orbs staring up at her. "OH SHIT! Why didn't you tell me you took your contacts out?!" The room, once again, descended into darkness. He chuckled at this, getting up and walking over to where she was standing. Reaching over, he turned the lights back on. Now, Yang was confused, but in the midst of her confusion she saw an opportunity. "And here I thought you were blind as a bat."

He winced at that one. "That was bad. And, I still am, technically. It's just these new contacts that Velvet got for me a few months back. They still function the same as my old ones, it's just that now, I don't have to hide my eyes. I don't have to hide like Blake does."

Yang stared up into the dark red eyes. Most people would have been put off by them, but not her. She saw everything inside of their crimson depths, everything that he's ever been through. It made her heart ache. To see someone in so much pain. To see them carry the marks of their failures everywhere they went. And just yesterday, Yang learned how this man was tortured by the memories of their deaths. Right before she kissed him.

When she did that, Yang felt him change. Physically. His body seized slightly from the shock, but soon after, she felt him shrink. Felt him relax. He had been holding himself taught, ready for a fight at a moment's notice. Probably didn't even realize he was like that anymore because he's been like that for so long. Always poised to strike. Hell, she even noticed the disarming hand he rested on his sword when he heard her approach.

Everything this man did was a deliberate movement, precalculated to always keep him ready should someone attack him. But, what made him so paranoid? What happened to him?

They were standing inches apart now, their breathing shallow. Yang went for it again, their lips crashing together fiercely. This time he didn't recoil at her touch. This time, he was prepared, and returned the kiss. In between the tongues and groping, somehow they found themselves on Crimson's bed. From there, they only descended further into passion.

Side note: Ruby is 16, Weiss about to turn 18, Blake is 18, Yang is also 18. Felt the need to address that. Also, there will be NO LEMONS! I'm not that kind of writer.