"Central, this is Big Sky. We are now on final approach to the base; requesting hangar doors to be opened,"
"Copy that, Big Sky. Hangar doors are opening. Over and out,"
The sombre mood inside the ship was almost crushing. Three of the original eight that went on the mission had been killed. Only one had been recovered in a body bag, the other two having been vaporised in a powerful plasma grenade explosion. Emily refused to talk to any of them, clutching at her head while muttering indiscernible words under her breath. Yang had her arms wrapped around a tight-lipped Blake, who was stoically ignoring the pain in her badly bruised and swollen legs. Even Ruby was not unscathed, the head-splitting nausea that the alien had given her having been made that much worse by the skyranger's endless rocking and pitching.
For what felt like the umpteenth time, Ruby retched and heaved over a plastic bucket that Big Sky kept in the hold for these times. "Christ, kid, get a grip on yourself," the pilot chided. "We're almost back to base,"
"I can't help it!" moaned Ruby, dry-heaving over the empty bucket again. Weiss glared in the direction of the pilot before awkwardly wiping away a wad of slime from the young huntress' lips with her handkerchief.
"What exactly happened to you with that alien, Ruby?" Weiss asked, "This is nothing compared to what you normally do back at Beacon, and you've never had motion sickness. And yet here you are, vomiting,"
"Don't knoooow, Weiss... Oooh, my head..."
"She got attacked by a sectoid commander, didn't she?" Big Sky said. Noticing that none of them replied, he added, "Figures. See Dr. Vahlen once you get back to base for a few meds. She won't need the hospital as much as a few antidepressants, hot chocolate and maybe a bottle of whiskey or two. Or several, if she can take it,"
"How would drinking any of that solve a headache?" demanded the heiress, not quite sure whether or not the pilot was insane. She had a few fortified wines before in her father's estate, but the only thing that seemed to give her was a terrible headache in the morning after. Hot chocolate was pleasant enough for those that liked sweet things, though even that would not help with what seemed to be a migraine of truly epic proportions.
"Hell if I know. Seemed to work just fine for Strike One, though, so you might want to see if that works out for you girls, too. Just saying,"
The external camera feed was being redirected into the display screen in the skyranger's hold, and Weiss could now see the hole in a rocky desert mountain that was the XCOM headquarters' hangar door. Sighing, she looked around at her remaining squadmates. They all looked like they could use a well-deserved break, but given that their mission had just ended, a debriefing was likely required by Bradford.
"You know, you guys have been through a lot of shit today. For what it's worth, I'm sorry you all had to go through that," Emily sniffed, finally looking up. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her eyes seemed completely unfocused. "I guess...as the highest ranked soldier remaining on this squad, I have to face the music, don't I?"
"Music? What music? I don't hear any music," Ruby wheezed out in between retches.
"She means that she has to report to Bradford, you dolt," muttered Weiss, resisting the urge to give the naive brunette a smack about the ears, "And that means that she'll have to take any punishment that he decides to be appropriate for whatever happened down there,"
"What? But...she didn't do anything wrong!"
"I panicked. That mistake costs people, big time," she said glumly, "If I had been there beside Blake and Yang, maybe I could've put a laser beam between that sectoid's eyes. If I had done that, then maybe we'd still have two more people with us..."
Weiss looked away from the medic, her thoughts no longer focused on the woman's self-condemning words. It was true that three of the squad had died. It was true that two of them were now wounded, both of them her own close friends. There were so many ways that the mission could have gone better, and probably an equal number of ways that it could have been worse. She looked at her own hands. What would have happened if her glyph failed to materialise in time in front of Ruby...? What would have happened if that insane sniper had hit her?
Emily had insisted on debriefing Bradford alone, and the last Weiss had seen of Yang and Blake was that the blonde insisted on carrying the faunus girl to the hospital wing. That left only Ruby and herself to return back to the barracks, covered in grime and sweat. Thankfully, the brunette's vomiting had stopped the moment their transport had touched down, though she still appeared paler than usual and thoroughly exhausted. Even now, Ruby was still clung to her shoulder as they walked, her legs still unsteady despite the apparent lack of any physical injuries.
"There you are, you two," a familiar booming voice called out, nearly knocking them over the moment that they opened the barracks' doors. Standing in front of them was Papa Bear, his meaty arms crossed over his chest and a concerned look in his eyes. "I was starting to wonder where you were. Where's the other two of you? The blonde and the girl with the cat ears?"
"If you meant Blake and Yang, the last I saw was that both of them were headed for the hospital wing," Weiss replied, struggling to stand up as Ruby began to feel much heavier on her shoulder.
The man's eyes were staring directly at her own, as though searching for something. He repeated the same with Ruby, whose gaze seemed to be fixed on some truly distant object. Only when he waved his large hand in front of her eyes did the younger girl yelp in shock, falling flat on her backside and then desperately scrambling to her feet again.
"We were watching what was happening, you know. Up in mission control," he said slowly, "Things weren't looking good down there. Bradford had his doubts about your abilities, but what you did down there cleared up any of that. Congratulations on a mission well done,"
"Three of my squadmates died," Ruby replied hoarsely. She looked at Papa Bear dejectedly, adding, "One of my closest friends was injured. I could've done more. I should've done more!"
"Nonsense! You've done all you could, and what you've done was nothing short of spectacular," Papa Bear scoffed. The way that everyone held their breath and cheered when they saw the little huntress take the most improbable of shots – against two sectoids that were nearly impossible to hit from her position at the time – capping one of them and critically wounding the other – that had not happened since...well, ever. He smiled a little, just recalling Bradford's slack-jawed expression when the dead sectoid painted the brick wall behind it yellow with its blood and brains.
"Spectacular? Papa Bear, people are dead! And it's all because of-"
"Don't finish that sentence, cub," he growled loudly, his usually jovial expression darkening. Both Ruby and Weiss visibly flinched. "That is no way for anyone to think, let alone for a young lady like yourself. Did you pull the trigger on Sunshine? Or on Five-Seven? Did you put a bullet through Fat Man's kneecap and chest?"
Hesitantly, Ruby shook her head. "But I...I didn't-"
"I know what's running through your head at the moment. Happens to every single rookie that's seen one of their fellows die. You think you could have saved them. You think that if you killed that sectoid commander, you could have saved the rest of your team. I'll ask you this; who do you think was behind you at the time? Hiding improperly behind a dumpster just around the corner, peeking her head out to watch what you were doing?"
"Emily," Weiss spoke. Ruby's face drained of any remaining colour when she recalled the woman hiding behind her at the time, scared out of her wits.
"That's right. And you know what that first sectoid was aiming at? Why it wasn't even trying to shoot at you? It was aiming straight at a living squadmate, who was at that time incapable of defending herself. So let me tell you this; you shot a sectoid's head off, therefore stopping it from shooting at Emily, and therefore she didn't bite the dust. She owes you her life,"
"But...the others..."
Papa Bear shook his head. "No buts, cub. What happened to Sunshine and Five-Seven was unfortunate, but that was not something that you could have prevented,"
Ruby couldn't find the strength to raise her eyes from the floor. If she had aimed just a little higher, and to the left...
"Honestly, I'm more surprised that you survived a sectoid commander's mindfray attack and can still walk and talk normally. Not many rookies can claim to have done that,"
"Excuse me – a mindfray? What is that?" asked Weiss, curious about what sort of attack could damage someone without actually even touching them or leaving any physical marks.
The man looked at Weiss in disbelief for a moment. Without warning, he snarled and shook his fist at the ceiling. "Oh, you...arse!" he roared to nobody in particular, before taking a deep breath and turning back to the two girls. "I really think you do need an explanation. Both of you. Remind me to strangle Bradford next time I get called up to mission control. And...you haven't been to Vahlen yet, have you? After what happened there?"
Both of them shook their heads. Big Sky had also said something about going straight to the stern and harsh doctor, as well. Was there something that they had missed?
"Right. You'll need to see her as soon as you can. Make sure you do it before you go to sleep, so she can give you some sleeping meds and painkillers. If all else fails, having something you really like can help with the after-effects of that attack,"
Shooting Ruby an apologetic grimace, he turned to Weiss. "Normally, I'd let Bradford give rookies the talk whenever they need to know about what they're up against. But since he's apparently not done that for some reason, I'll tell you about what a mindfray is, just so you know. It's one of the nastiest things that the aliens can do to you, short of just killing you. Feels like you've been set on fire, thrown into an ice-cold lake, and struck by a thunderbolt. All at the same time. Throw in some unpleasant memories made flesh for flavour, and you've got a mindfray,"
"That sounds horrible. Ugh, forget I even asked," Weiss muttered, shuddering. Grimm attacks were only ever physical; they never attacked the mind, which would have made hunting them very complicated indeed.
"That's not all. Normally, it'd just leave you twitching in pain. Probably floored, too. But some of these sectoid commanders lately...they've been able to turn some of our men around. Controlling them like puppets,"
"You mean...that sniper...?"
Papa Bear nodded gravely. "Yes. Normally, someone who's alright in the head can probably resist it. Five-Seven's never quite had his brain screwed on right, so that sectoid went right through. Mind controlled him, as easy as one of us putting on a glove. If it wasn't for your friend here, Ruby, you wouldn't be alive. That thing she did stopped the bullet; and I can tell you that the Carapace Armour that you were wearing wouldn't have even slowed it down one bit. Which makes me wonder; what the hell was that, Weiss? I'd like to see it for myself, not on some holographic display,"
Weiss frowned. The second time that she had tried to bring up a force glyph in combat, it barely materialised. There was no telling whether or not she could actually conjure another glyph, now, or ever. Then again, it had been some time now, and maybe she'd been rested enough to do it again. She raised a hand, slowly drawing the sky-blue glyph in the air. To her relief, the glyph actually held together, hovering in place in front of a wide-eyed Papa Bear.
"Incredible," he breathed, tapping the glyph and finding it solid. Grinning, he reared back and threw a hard punch into it, filling the room with a deep, resonant ringing when he struck its glowing surface. "Well, I suppose I should know better than to try and punch something that's solid enough to block a fifty-cal pistol round. I could probably punch it all night and it wouldn't budge. Maybe a MEC trooper's kinetic strike module would have a better chance than I do,"
A few seconds later, the glyph winked out of existence, leaving only faint ice-blue sparks in its wake. "How embarrassing. That was less than ten seconds!" Weiss grumbled, attempting to conjure another glyph. One more materialised in front of her, though it was only barely a faint outline of a glyph; and even that vanished as soon as it appeared.
"Maybe you just need a rest. Can't be that easy to put up something like that in an instant," offered the colonel, with an amused smile on his face, "Other rookies pray to Lady Luck that they don't get hit by an alien. You, Ruby? You've got a personal guardian angel, right there. Treat her nicely, you hear?"
Papa Bear clapped Ruby on the shoulder, laughing to himself as he left the confused girl behind. Weiss, on the other hand, stared incredulously at the man's back. "What did he mean by that?" she whispered to herself, feeling a little heat rise to her cheeks.
After taking a long, hot shower, both Ruby and Weiss went to Vahlen's laboratory, only to find that the doctor was unavailable. There was a note on the locked door saying that she was down in the hospital wing's surgery and that she would return in a little while. Scowling, Weiss tried to peer through the laboratory's tinted windows to see if there was even anyone inside that could help them.
"Weiiiisss..." Ruby moaned, "Can't we just...go to sleep?"
"No, not yet. You need to be given your medicine first before you can go to sleep," Weiss said firmly. As tempting as a soft, warm bed sounds, treating injuries always came first. Even if said injuries were invisible to the eye.
Yet half an hour passed with no sign of the doctor returning. The two had seated themselves on a supply crate that was sitting in front of the laboratory, thinking that it would have been a quick wait. Ruby sat there tapping her feet idly on the floor, while Weiss had her arms crossed, staring at the ceiling.
Well, this is certainly productive... the heiress thought sarcastically, stealing a glance at the look of ultimate boredom on her partner's face. She looked as though she were ready to fall asleep on her feet, only barely keeping herself from nodding off every few seconds. It was certainly adorable, in a way that only their leader could pull off. She looked so harmless, so innocent.
There were only so many lines in the ceiling that one could count, and so many cracks to trace in the concrete. Sighing, she racked her brain for what else she could possibly do to pass the time.
Practicing her glyphs was not an option, given that for some reason or another, her ability to cast them repeatedly was somehow compromised. Polishing Myrtenaster? Her rapier was still in their dorm, locked away in her footlocker. Sleeping? As tempting as that was, she needed to look after her unwell team leader, and she couldn't do that while sleeping.
Singing?
Singing. That was one thing that her father had drilled into her from a young age. It was enjoyable enough for her – as long as it wasn't in front of an audience or a tutor. She looked around. Ruby was half-asleep as it was, and there were no other people around in the corridor that they were in. This was as private as it would be in a base of stacked rooms.
And so Weiss closed her eyes and started singing softly. A gentle, calm melody that she remembered from a long time ago. It wasn't exactly the same without the accompanying instruments that her tutors played, but it was still pleasant enough to her ears.
Alone, for a while, I've been searching through the dark
For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart;
To weave by picking up the pieces that remain
Melodies of life, love's lost refrain-
Thunk.
"Huh?" Weiss said. Her eyes shot open; there was a strangely warm weight on her legs – and what felt like hands wrapped around her waist. Looking down, she found Ruby fast asleep, the younger girl's head nestled in her lap.
Was my singing that bad that she fell asleep? the white-haired girl thought, flushing in embarrassment. She had half a mind to stand up and let Ruby fall down. But that look of contentedness; that gentle rise and fall of her chest, that even, calm breathing – those were things that she thought had been impossible, given how badly affected Ruby was by the deaths of her squadmates. Perhaps those medicines were unnecessary after all, if she could sleep like this...
No. Waking her up is not an option. She needs this sleep. Glancing around, there was still no sign of Dr. Vahlen anywhere. Sighing, she looked down again at the sleeping girl. She was only wearing a thin T-shirt and some cargo pants, and the corridor was rather chilly, with the cold storage rooms just at the other end of the hallway. Without a doubt, staying here for any longer was going to get both of them sick. She needed to get back to the barracks. That medication could wait for now.
With a grunt, Weiss pried Ruby's arms off and pushed her gently off her lap, before crouching down and wrapping one arm around her shoulders. Slipping one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, the heiress slowly rose to her feet with the sleeping girl in a bridal carry. She might not be a brute like Yang was, but to pick up someone as slightly built as Ruby was, one did not require the strength of an Ursa.
"Mmm...warm...must take care of..." Ruby mumbled in her sleep. Without warning, the girl threw her arms around Weiss' shoulders and nuzzled closer. Her flushed face turned an even more brilliant crimson at the sudden gesture. Nobody had ever touched – or rather, grabbed her – in that way before.
"Okay. Calm down. She's your team leader. This dolt's just your team leader, who needs to be carried back to her bunk," Weiss whispered to herself, desperately trying to ignore the thundering of her heart. As quickly as she could, she walked back to the elevator and pushed the button to descend with her elbow.
Thankfully, the barracks was still empty at that hour, with most of the other operatives out on exercises or eating lunch in the cafeteria, thus sparing Weiss from any prying eyes that might question what she was doing. Quietly, she pushed open the door to Strike Six's dorm with her right foot, sighing in relief when neither Blake nor Yang had returned yet.
"Right. So...there. Done," huffed Weiss, gently lowering Ruby onto her bed. The brunette was usually a sound sleeper, often needing Yang to tilt the entire mattress off her bed to wake her up; but being picked up and carried for quite some distance without waking up must have been a new record, even for her.
The white-haired girl stood up and yawned, making her way to the door. She was exhausted as well, and would love nothing more than to sleep. But Ruby needed her medicine, and if she couldn't get it in person, then at least one of them would have to get it for her. Which meant that Weiss had to wait for Dr. Vahlen to return to her lab, no matter how long that was. Before she could reach the door, however, she heard a faint sniffle and a whimper; and what happened next nearly caused her to jump in fright.
"No! You won't take them- you can't take them from me!" wailed Ruby, thrashing in her sleep, "No! NOOOO!"
"Ruby!" exclaimed Weiss, dashing back to the bunk. The younger girl's eyes shot open with fear the moment Weiss touched her hands. They were cold and clammy, and her face was shimmering with a thin layer of cold sweat. Her silver eyes darted about, as though looking for some invisible opponent. Finding none, she burst into tears and curled up on the bed.
"I...I thought..." Ruby sobbed, "I...I saw-"
"Calm down. I'm here, even if Yang and Blake aren't here. What did you see?"
"I...I thought I saw Yang. And Blake. And...you. Getting shot at by those...those aliens. We were surrounded, in a city. And then...I saw..."
"Stop. Stop there," Weiss spoke sharply. She grabbed Ruby's cheek and pinched it, drawing a pained yelp from the brunette, "You were having a nightmare. This is real. You are real. I'm real. You're safe. We're safe,"
"Ow. Oww! Okay, okay! Stop, Weiss, stop!" Ruby whined, when Weiss refused to let go of her cheek.
"Hmph. Okay, you dolt," she said, letting go of the girl's cheek with a faint smirk, "I'll be off for a while. You will need your medicine from Dr. Vahlen, and since last time you fell asleep while waiting, I believe that it would be more efficient if I were to retrieve the medicine for you while you stay here and rest,"
Weiss thought she saw a flash of fear in Ruby's eyes when she said that she would be leaving her alone for a while, but she put it away in the back of her mind as a figment of her imagination. It was only when she reached the doorway for the second time that she heard her voice calling out once more, in that aggravatingly plaintive mewl that she had while feeling guilty about something.
"Weiiiisss..."
Sighing, Weiss turned around again to face her. "What is it this time?"
"Do you...do you think you can...sleep with me?"
Her mind went blank at the absurdity of the request. "Excuse me?" she all but choked out. By Dust, what is going on in that girl's head!
"I'm sorry! I-it's just..." Ruby muttered, wringing her hands together nervously, "It's just...I'm worried about that happening again. I don't want a nightmare again-"
"And you think that having me that close to you might stop it happening. Is that correct?" finished Weiss, now understanding what Ruby was trying to say, though no less unimpressed. Ruby nodded vigorously, her eyes filled with hopeful expectation.
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. As far as requests go, this was likely nowhere near as strange as the things that had been asked of her back in Beacon Academy. But even the weirdest of those requests rarely carried the threat of potentially getting maimed or killed by a fellow hunter or huntress in training. Every single person on campus knew of one rule about Ruby; getting too close to her – either in an overly friendly or hostile manner – was a sure way to earn a super-powered punch from her elder sister. Or several equally bone-shattering punches. Sleeping in the same bed as her, even as a teammate? She had never dared to do that before.
But Ruby was suffering through a strange mental affliction, and as a teammate, one was supposed to look after the other members of the team. If Ruby needed to have some company to sleep soundly for the night, then who was she to refuse to help her teammate?
"Fine. Let me get my pillow first," huffed Weiss, throwing the switch on the door frame to dim the lights above the bunks.
Ruby's face lit up with relief when Weiss returned to her side. She scooted over to one side of the bed, watching as the white-haired girl pulled the pillow down from the top bunk and fluffed it up next to her own. Her smile widened further when Weiss climbed into the bed beside her, pulling the blanket at the foot of the bed up to cover both of them.
"Well, you wanted to sleep, right?" Weiss yawned, to which Ruby nodded appreciatively.
Without warning, Ruby's arms shot out and wrapped around her body, pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Weiss," she whispered into the white-haired huntress' ear, "Thanks,"
"Just this once, dolt," Weiss whispered back, gingerly returning the hug and stroking the younger girl's back. The two of them soon fell into companionable silence, Ruby's head resting in the crook of her neck. Despite her initial misgivings, the heiress found the arrangement acceptable. Comfortable, even, considering the coldness of the heaterless dorm. And the scent of roses that lingered about her partner's hair was certainly not repulsive in any way, compared to some of the other smells that had assaulted her nose that day.
Maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all, thought Weiss, as the two of them drifted off into sleep.
A/N
Well, better sleep with one eye open, Weiss. Big Sister is watching you...
Next up: Promotions and equipment upgrades. Ruby, get off me. I'm not unlocking Shen's workshop until later! D:
MeleeSmasher: Yes, both of them got fragged by an alien plasma grenade. This is actually not very common in XCOM:EW, even with the Long War mod; though it is surprisingly much more common in XCOM 2. I've had my grenadier with an incendiary grenade mind controlled and then ordered to fire it straight into the big cluster of my own troops. Including the VIP. That was not a good day for my Strike Two team.
As usual, feedback is always appreciated! Reviews, PMs, anything, positive, negative, neutral, imaginary, real, polar- *whacked on the head by Yang* Okay, I'll stop there.