-Earlier that morning-
Weiss sat alone in the cab, watching the sun slowly crawl through the sky. She'd already adjusted the visor, but she might have to adjust it again in an hour or so.
It was simple math. Three of them had worked on moving all day. So she had to drive truck. Let at least one of them get some rest.
And give Weiss some time alone.
After all, there were many important things to consider. Like how she was going to impress Chef Qrow. Or housing costs in Patch. How much was rent in the woods? Six-thousand dollars? And there's no way she'd let Ruby sleep in a cot. Oum forbid.
Wait. Was Ruby going to move in with her? Or would Ruby stay with her sister? Or Uncle? Or Father? How close was Ruby's family? Was it like hers?
Weiss scoffed.
"There's no way in hell her family is as messed up as mine." Weiss said confidently. "I'm sure I'll get along with them."
But what if she didn't?
What if she came on too strong? Or incompetent? Undeserving of Ruby? Weiss remembered her nails done up in ten different colors and Sun laughing at her for overdoing it.
So she won't overdo it. Problem solved. Next!
Her scroll started ringing. Weiss glanced at the screen.
It was Ruby.
Weiss' finger beat her brain, swiping before she processed the name.
"Hello?" Ruby greeted.
"Hey." Weiss said, waving to the scroll. She stopped, and put her hand down, concentrating on the road. "What's up?" Weiss asked.
"Not much." Ruby said. "Sky."
"Yes. Sky." Weiss deadpanned. "Road."
"Wheel." Ruby countered.
"Dolt." Weiss escalated.
"You can't even see me." Ruby said, making a face.
"But you knew it was you." Weiss said, smiling.
"Yeah, but would anyone else?" Ruby asked.
"Everyone else would know that you, Ruby Rose, are the dolt." Weiss asserted.
"You don't know that." Ruby snorted.
"Please. They're are people who know it right now." Weiss said. "Just roll down your window and ask anyone."
"No one even knows my name." Ruby sighed. "I'm a nobody."
"Won't say no to that body." Weiss said. "Zing."
"Pffffffft." Ruby started laughing. "What the hell was that?"
Weiss flushed red. She chose silence.
"That's like the worst come on I've ever heard." Ruby continued, laughing. "If I'm the dolt, you're the dork."
"That, is complete nonsense." Weiss huffed.
"Nonsense? How is that nonsense? You're rich!" Ruby pointed out.
"I had a rich lifestyle. What does that have to do with anything?" Weiss huffed.
"I'll tell you!" Ruby promised, rolling up her mental sleeves. "Being rich is exactly like being a nerd." Ruby held up her hand. "You memorize a bunch of useless trivia." One finger. "You learn various social rituals not privy to sane society." Two. "And you collect stupid cards that are somehow worth something in this stupid market." Three fingers. "Case and point!" Ruby finished.
"That is- I don't- Red!" Weiss yelled out.
"You're totally a Spock too!" Ruby shouted. "All intellectual lone-wolf and moral hoity-toity." Ruby started snorting she was laughing so hard. "Live long, and prosper."
"This conversation has taken an awful turn." Weiss said almost to herself.
"No, noooo!" Ruby tried to reassure Weiss. "My sister is dating a nerd too! She's more Doctor Who and Babylon 5, but she'll fit a Trekkie in there without a problem."
"Oum, how is she calling me a nerd?" Weiss asked.
"Because I can run a mile without panting?" Ruby answered.
"I ran a whole damn kitchen!" Weiss protested.
"And I don't know the difference between a salad fork and a dessert fork?" Ruby pressed.
". . . That's because you're ignorant in the ways of fine dining." Weiss said, brushing her hair from her eyes.
"Riiiiight." Ruby drawled. "How about a new subject?"
"Sure." Weiss acquiesced.
"Why did you insist on driving?" Ruby asked.
"Oh." Weiss bit her lip. "Um. . ."
"Because you could've slept in my car. Or Sun's car, if I was too much." Ruby said, her voice growing softer.
"No! No, you're not too much." Weiss said.
"I can be. You've been through a lot." Ruby said. She looked into her mirror, watching Weiss' truck. "Did you need to be alone?"
Weiss' shoulders sagged.
"You three are working hard to help me." Weiss said softly. She breathed in. "I don't want to-"
"You are not a burden." Ruby cut her off.
"And I won't be!" Weiss asserted. "Not to anyone."
"Weiss." Ruby said patiently. "That's not how it works."
"That's exactly how it works." Weiss retorted. "I want everything to go well. I don't want to screw anything up."
"Right." Ruby rubbed her temple. "What are you worried about?"
"You'll just dismiss it." Weiss said flippantly.
"Weiss." Ruby growled.
"No! You say your family will be fine with it. You say everything will be okay, but what if it isn't!?" Weiss yelled at the scroll. "What if your family hates me? What if Qrow fires me, and then I can't get us anything?"
"Weiss!"
"I want to take care of you and I'm scared I can't!" Weiss yelled out. "I'm supposed to be better than this! I'm supposed to have something by now and I've got nothing!"
"For the love of Oum - Pull over!" Ruby yelled out.
"What?" Weiss said.
"Pull. Over. Now." Ruby left no room for argument.
Weiss shrunk into her seat. She flipped on her turn signal and began to slow down. Ruby matched her pace.
They came to a stop on the shoulder. Ruby opened her car door and slammed it shut. She ran back to the truck, hot sun beating down on her neck. She came up to the cab and knocked on the door.
Weiss opened it.
"Scoot over." Ruby said, hoisting herself up.
"Ruby, we can't stop-" Weiss started.
Ruby slammed the cab door shut. She pulled Weiss into her embrace, resting her chin on Weiss' head.
"You trust me." Ruby stated.
"I do." Weiss said, biting her lip. She returned Ruby's embrace.
"You're scared." Ruby said.
"Yes." Weiss admitted, shrinking.
"So am I." Ruby said. "I'm scared I'm gonna screw this up too."
"But Ruby-"
"Ah." Ruby interrupted. "No. You can't say you're afraid and then tell me I'm good."
Weiss quieted.
"I want to take care of you too." Ruby said, pulling back to meet Weiss' eyes. Her finger gently grazed Weiss' cheek. "I want you to feel happy. To feel safe. To relax." Ruby's brow furrowed. "To stop judging yourself so badly."
Weiss swallowed. She leaned her forehead against Ruby's chest.
"You're enough." Ruby reminded her. "Remember?"
Weiss nodded into Ruby.
"I know it's hard." Ruby said gently. "You've lived your whole life with this. . . Cancer, hanging over your head." Ruby petted Weiss' hair. "Maybe you'll never believe you're enough."
Weiss tensed, her fingers gripping Ruby's shirt in desperation.
"That's okay." Ruby said. "You haven't failed. Just remember that if you don't feel like you're ever enough, I'll come running." Ruby smiled. "And I'll remind you. Okay?"
Weiss' fingers relaxed. Slowly, she slid her hands from Ruby, looking up at her.
"Okay." Weiss relented.
"Good." Ruby smiled, poking Weiss' nose.
"Hey!" Weiss reached up to block further attacks. "What was that?"
"The reset button." Ruby wagged her tongue at Weiss.
"Shoo." Weiss said, pushing Ruby against the cab. "We've got to go."
"Okay. But I'm calling Sun." Ruby said, opening the cab. "You're switching with him at the next stop and riding with me."
Weiss' lips pressed together, holding back her protests. She breathed in.
"Fine." Weiss said, exhaling.
"Good." Ruby quickly planted a kiss on Weiss' cheek. Then she rubbed her nose against Weiss'. "I love you." Ruby said.
"I love you too." Weiss said.
~0~
Weiss, answer me. Pick up the damn scroll!
I'm okay. I couldn't hear you if I answered. Helicopter. How are you?
Where are they taking you?!
Back to Atlas. Probably my house. Are you okay?
I got smacked in the face, not fucking kidnapped. I'll be fine.
Are you at a clinic?
No. We've got ice and I'm pretty sure it's not broken.
RUBY.
I'll get it looked at the second you're back.
Get it looked at NOW. There was blood in your mouth!
I used to help my sister with boxing. She's hit me harder than that fucking asshole.
Fine. Don't listen to me. Just stay there, injured. It's my fucking fault anyways.
Weiss, it's not your fault.
I knew this would happen! I knew it wouldn't be this easy!
It's not your fault your dad is insane.
It's my fault you got hurt! I can't be with you until I get him out! If I'm with you, he can hurt me by hurting YOU.
It's NOT your fault! Just come back here!
I will Ruby. I will come back. After I give him what he wants.
I told you, don't give him a single thing!
Father makes deals. If I have something he wants, he'll honor his end. I just hope I have something.
Weiss, please don't do this to yourself.
It's simple. Either I do this, or I can't be with you. And I want to be with you. Whatever it looks like, however it turns out, I want it. It's worth anything the prick asks of me.
No! Just get away from him and we'll be fine! My family can help!
I'm not changing my mind.
Fine. Just come back to me. Come back and everything will be okay.
I will.
Good. How long to Atlas?
Another hour or so.
Wow. Helicopters are fast.
Is that how you do small talk?
Well I'm not gonna stop texting you. Not until you land.
Okay. I do need a distraction. Tell me a story.
What kind of story?
Anything. Something you make up. A memory.
Okay. Let me tell you about Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee. Badass monster hunters.
Weiss smiled, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"Monster hunters?" She texted back.
"Yeah!" Ruby answered. "I'd have a badass gun scythe. And you'd have like, a fencing sword or something."
"A fencing sword." Weiss rolled her eyes.
"It shoots magic. And mine shoots bullets." Ruby texted.
Weiss laughed, and she forgot where she was. Where she was going. And who she was going to see. All she felt was Ruby, still next to her. Still finding her.
Even this was enough.
Reality came crashing back as the helicopter touched down. Weiss glanced outside. Schnee Manor stood in the darkness, most of the lights completely shut off, save one near the very top. Father's office.
"I'm there." Weiss texted Ruby.
"Okay. Be safe. Come back. I love you." Ruby said.
"I love you too." Weiss pocketed her scroll. One of the brutes offered a hand. She refused, jumping down to the landing pad.
A servant she didn't recognize stood at the end of the helipad.
"Where's Klein?" Weiss asked.
"Klein has been relieved for the night." The servant said. "I'll escort you."
"I know my own house, thank you." Weiss stood tall, walking past the servant. "If you must do something, get me a coffee." Weiss paused. "Please."
"I'm afraid your Father insisted." The servant said, following in her footsteps.
"Then I'll give one of the brutes a tour." Weiss looked back. "Or, I could go make it myself. Delay the conversation outright."
The servant's shoulders fell. They waved one of the brutes over, the one that smacked Ruby. The servant whispered to the brute, then strutted off to the kitchen.
"Lead the way your highness." The brute said sarcastically.
"Hmph." Weiss stuck her nose up, then continued on. Down hallway after hallway, up three flights of stairs, and stopping right in front of Father's office. She raised her hand, and knocked.
"Come in." Jacques said.
Weiss entered.
Father's office had hardly changed in twenty years. Pen still by the side, files neatly stacked in a slim basket, and trophies lining the wall. All his various accomplishments. But no photos of Mother, or Winter. Or even Weiss herself. Just her little brother. Weiss would feel sorry for him, but it seems he was eager to follow in Father's footsteps.
"Ah." Jacques looked Weiss up and down. "You're unharmed. I thought you'd put up more of a fight."
Weiss' mouth twisted with disgust.
"You promised me a deal." Weiss snapped. "Get on with it."
"Patience Weiss, patience." Jacques said. He stood up from his chair. He was wearing a silk dressing gown and smoking jacket, both white and blue. Not his usual business attire.
"Do you know what I want, Weiss?" Jacques asked, looking out the window, hands clasped behind his back.
Weiss stayed silent.
"Power." Jacques said, turning to face her. "Recognition. Both of these create opportunities. More than I could ever hope to take advantage of. Once I scrounged in the streets, blessed for one opportunity a day. Now dozens fall in my lap, each offering more money, more status, more security." Jacques smiled sadly at Weiss. "The sort of things you've rejected for these past two decades."
"Your security has a knife in my back." Weiss spat, words hot like venom.
"And the world out there is so much more terrifying than I am." Jacques said, eyes narrowing. "Are you sure you want to leave?"
"Since the moment Mother died." Weiss answered.
"Hmph." Jacques went to his desk. He pulled a piece of paper from his drawer and offered it to Weiss.
Weiss took the paper. She started scanning the page. As she read it, her fists clenched, wrinkling the paper in her hands.
"When the fuck did you get a conservatorship on me?" Weiss said, a mix of anger and shock welling up inside her.
"When you decided to swallow a battery and kill a cash cow for both of us." Jacques said smugly.
"This is how you kept me from getting jobs? From leaving?!" Weiss yelled out, throwing the paper away like it was poison. "How-How did you even do this!?"
"You presented the opportunity." Jacques stressed the last word. "In the hospital, drugged out of your mind, making the case to a friend of mine was as simple as a smile." Jacques pressed his palms together. "And now, I would relieve you of this. . . Burden. If."
Weiss wiped hot tears from her eyes. Hold it together. Keep it together.
"If what?" Weiss asked.
"There are some things even I cannot touch." Jacques said, holding his hands out. "For example, I cannot touch your Mother's will. No matter how hard I try to access it, the pieces left for you are for you alone. I propose a trade."
"Mother left me something?" Weiss asked, her voice small and far away.
"Yes. Something very important. Something I need." Jacques said simply.
"What is it?" Weiss asked.
"Ah ah ah." Jacques wagged his finger. "Better you don't know. It'll hurt less."
"You are cruel." Weiss bit out, lip quivering. "You've taken everything from me. Kept me penned up in a life far from everyone else. My life!"
"Your life? Your life?" Jacques slammed his fist onto his desk, standing, looming over Weiss. "Your life is my life! Every day you parade with your mother's face and my name, you represent my power. My status! You threaten our legacy with your deviant attractions and disgusting friends! Oh, I know the little monkey boy's secret, and luckily that problem has almost solved itself." Jacques walked around the desk, grabbing Weiss by the hair, pulling her face to his. "Consider yourself lucky that I need something from you more than I need your useless presence. You'll save me the trouble of saving face from your indiscretions."
"Tell me what I'm giving you!" Weiss yelled into his face.
"NO!" Jacques pulled Weiss' hair, throwing her to the ground. She smacked her forehead against the carpet. Hard enough to see stars, but not so hard it'll leave a bump.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Begone!" Jacques roared at the door.
"Miss Schnee requested a coffee, Mr. Schnee." The servant said through the door.
Jacques snorted.
"She's awake enough." He said. "Drink it yourself."
"Yes sir." The servant left, dismissed.
Weiss pulled herself up to her feet. She pulled her hair back, smoothing it over her ears.
Jacques ignored her, pulling out a hand mirror and fixing his hair.
"The price is the price." Jacques said. "Take it or leave it."
"What if I leave it?" Weiss said softly.
"I'll let you go." Jacques said, flipping the mirror shut. "I'll let you taste the life you could have. I'll leave you to think I've forgotten you, forgotten your little girlfriend. Then, I'll set that life on fire, and you'll watch the ashes spill from your fingers."
"You disgust me." Weiss said, tears streaming down her face.
"The feeling is mutual." Jacques said. "Now, what will it be?"
Weiss felt like her soul had been scraped out from her, leaving an empty shell of a human. Nothing under the skin, just hollow echoes of a person that once was.
"I sign over the will. You drop the conservatorship." Weiss said.
"Yes." Jacques examined his fingernails. "You'll also have to drop my name. Take on another."
"What?"
"I can't have you besmirching my name." Jacques explained. "So pick another one. Be that instead."
"So I give you the will, and my name. Anything else?" Weiss asked.
"Not that I can think of." Jacques said, tapping his chin.
"And you'll give me my life." Weiss said.
"What little left there is." Jacques answered.
"And a ride back to the motel." Weiss insisted.
"Of course. The sooner you're gone, the better." Jacques waved it away. "Anything else?"
Weiss bit down on her tongue until she tasted blood. She folded her arms.
"No. I'll sign." Weiss agreed.
"Wonderful." Jacques went to the door. He opened it, addressing a servant standing there. "Get the notary. And. . . Get Weiss a cup of coffee. How do you say it in the food service? On the house?" Jacques grinned.
Weiss couldn't feel anything. The papers were put in front of her. Her eyes numbly scanned the contents, diligently checking for any trickery in the fine print. But the documents weren't long, nor were they complicated. Eye for an eye. Weiss signed the papers. The notary stamped the papers. And just like that she was free.
As she left, Jacques laid a hand on her shoulder. She flinched.
"This was all for the best." Jacques said into her ear. "Now, begone. I never wish to see your face again."
Weiss said nothing. She stepped into the helicopter. The wilderness of Remnant blurred below her. She thought nothing. She felt nothing.
When the helicopter touched down, she stumbled from the cab. Walked the ten minutes back to the motel. She raised her fist to knock, but before she could, the door swung open.
"Weiss!" Ruby yelled, rushing to Weiss' embrace. "You're back!"
Weiss felt Ruby's warmth. Felt the warmth of her friends. Felt the chains of her Father slip from her wrists, from her ankles. Tears welled up, and she desperately held onto Ruby, drinking in her presence. Feeling her empty shell fill up, just a tiny bit.
She broke down sobbing. Her life was finally her own. With Ruby in her arms, the cost was worth it.
~0~
Almost done folks. Nothing but comfort past this point.