Hoping no flames yet...

"Blood? Why's there blood here?"

I walked around a black emptiness, looking around, walking in what looked like a puddle of blood. Suddenly, rose petals began to fall from the black sky, landing on the puddle, creating light ripples.

"Rose petals?"

Picking one up, it instantly crumbled away as I immediately thought of Ruby.

Suddenly, I looked up, seeing Ruby, covered in blood, laying in the middle of the puddle. I took a moment to register what I was seeing, finally sprinting for her.

"RUBY!"

"RUBY!"

I bolted upright in my bed, feeling my sweat soaked shirt against my skin, my breathing heavy. I looked around, but didn't see anyone in the room. Quickly getting out of bed, I took a quick shower and changed, opening the door to find that the hallway was buzzing with life. I quickly located my team down the hall, talking with team RWBY. Or, what was of team RWBY. Team JNPR was also with them. Alright, now I'm curious.

Walking up to them, I asked, "What's all the commotion about?"

"Delta…."

I turned to face Sierra, who was grimacing.

"What?"

I looked at the rest of my team, then at team RWBY, then at JNPR, responded with the same result. My heart began beating faster from the excitement as I realized Ruby wasn't with us. My breathing began to grow labored as Sierra opened her mouth, but couldn't seem to find the words. I then looked at Weiss, who looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Delta…," I heard Sierra say, "Ruby's…Ruby's…."

I slowly turned to Sierra, my eyes widened as I felt them growing watery.

"Ruby's…," she continued, "…mortally wounded…."

I could feel my heart shatter. I felt a tear streak down my cheek as Weiss said, "She's in the hospital wing right now; they're trying their best…is what the said…."

I turned around and saw Yang with her hand in a fist as she growled, "…Fucking…Magnum…!"

Hotel walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Yang's eyes became watery as well as she instantly went in for a hug, burying her face in his shirt. I felt like screaming as it felt like I had lead in my chest. My heart began to ache as I felt like doubling over.

Oh god…!

I closed my eyes, the tears streaking out as Sierra put her arm over my shoulders and said, "Stay up…!"

I sobbed as she continued, "We're sad too, but don't blame it on yourself. You can't give up hope, Delta…!"

Hope.

I sniffled as Lima pulled me into a hug and said, "…crying…not a weakness…."

Weakness.

Suddenly, the area around me turned gray as I let out a scream. A scream of pain. A scream of sadness. A scream of my demons. A scream for fear that I might lose the one I love.

The area turned back to normal as I let go of the embrace, punching a nearby wall.

Why? Why!?

I gritted my teeth together as Lima put a hand on my shoulder and said, "…don't be scared…don't blame yourself…."

"Delta."

I turned around to face Sierra.

"Wipe your tears," she said, "we're going to see her."

*knock knock*

The door opened as the nurse said, "Ah, team RWBY?"

Yang nodded and said, "That'd be us."

"And who are these?"

Sierra then said, "We are team SHLD. They're team JNPR."

"Ah," the nurse said, "unfortunately, we can only allow team RWBY in for now."

Yang turned to us and said, "We'll update you guys on her condition."

We all nodded as the three girls entered the room. I slumped onto the floor, putting my face in my hands. I felt Lima sit next to me, rubbing herself against me, almost as if to comfort me. I then saw a small glint of light, causing me to look up and see Sierra holding out a bottle of water. Taking it, I heard Jaune ask, "How'd she get hit if she's got speed as her semblance?"

"It's because," Sierra answered, "Bullseye miscalculated."

Bullseye again?

"From what I've heard," Ren said, "he missed his target and ended up hitting her instead."

"But her aura should've protected her," Pyrrha interjected.

"In theory," Hotel said. We all looked at him as he said, "I…used to be friends with the guy. His semblance is aura absorption."

"Aura absorption?"

Hotel nodded and continued, "His weapon can absorb his opponent's aura. He can also release a concentrated stream of aura to deflect a weapon strike. For example-," he looked at me, "Delta's strike that should've landed on him landed on his sword, that Claymore, because he used a concentrated stream of aura to coax Delta's strike to his sword, not his body."

"So what you're saying," Sierra said, "is that he absorbed her aura when he struck her?"

Hotel nodded.

"So that's how he tagged Delta…," Sierra said, putting a finger on her chin. She then said, "And is he able to locate different auras?"

Hotel nodded to that as well.

"So that's how he was able to locate us so quickly…," she continued, "he was looking for you specifically, Hotel."

"Damn straight he was," Hotel said, "I'm glad I ran into you first."

Suddenly, the door to Ruby's hospital room opened. We all turned our attention to it as the rest of team RWBY came out minus Ruby. Yang looked at me specifically and said, "Her condition's stable now, but she wanted to see you, specifically."

"Me?"

I turned to my team, who shrugged. I then turned back to Yang, who said, "Please, Delta."

I lowered my head, only to get it yanked back up by the older girl, who said, "Stop dropping your head like you're worthless, you big piece of crap!"

I blinked in surprise as Yang's eyes turned fiery red. She looked like she was ready to take my head off as she said, "Just friggin' confess to her already!"

The others, particularly team JNPR and the other two members of team RWBY, widened their eyes in surprise. I lowered my glance again, closing my eyes. I felt Yang lower me as I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I glanced backwards to see Sierra looking at me as she said, "Stop being scared."

I turned my body to her as she said, "It's better to be rejected from letting your heart out than to keep it in and get torn by it."

That's true.

I lowered my gaze again, suddenly feeling a wet towel grinding against my face. When it finally left my face, I could see Lima holding it as Yang said, "Don't be scared, Delta."

I looked at Yang next, then felt my lips curling up into a smile as Sierra said, "Atta boy; keep smiling."

I lowered my gaze again, finally taking a breath and walked up to the door. I placed my hand on it, taking one last look back, seeing Yang wink at me. Finally, I pushed the door open and entered the room.