Weiss hated irony. She'd finally found her answer; she'd discovered what it was that had been driving her to help Ruby investigate Summer Rose's murder. And all it took was the end of the whole endeavor, as well as their short-lived friendship. The answer was, in truth, underwhelming.
It was Ruby.
The initial mockery aside—or what Weiss now understood to have been playful teasing—the silver-eyed girl had been friendlier to her in two interactions and a handful of emails than most people had been in Weiss's entire life. It had left an unexpected impression on her that she'd been too focused on Ruby's annoying faults to notice. The simple truth of the matter was that Weiss decided to help Ruby because it was a chance to spend more time with her—it was a chance to have a friend.
And she didn't come to that realization until it no longer mattered. Irony—she hated it.
Though her childhood had been spent being taught how to act "proper", obey etiquette, and socialize with her peers, she'd never learned how to build meaningful relationships. Her conditioned behaviors were meant to serve ulterior motives. She needed to conduct herself as a noblewoman should, to maintain a good image and earn respect—not for herself, but for the family and the man at the head of it. She had to know how to speak to people and make good first impressions in order to develop contacts and garner favors. That was in the name of networking—it didn't help her earn any actual friends.
Those habits were expected to follow her into school, too, but it hadn't mattered. Kids her age were intimidated by her last name or afraid of her because she had a semblance. Those who did try to get close to her wouldn't have done so if her family hadn't been wealthy and well-connected. Her few attempts at romance had failed for the same reasons.
So she'd been alone at school. After Winter left to join the military, Weiss had been alone at home. Nothing changed until high school, when she made her first honest friend, but Weiss eventually managed to drive her away, too. Then her father was arrested, the family became scattered, and she was lonelier than ever. The investigation with Ruby was a prime opportunity to not be alone for once, so she'd seized it. A part of her had even dared to believe it might last.
Obviously, she was wrong. Five days without any contact with her was what it took to learn the simple truth buried within her subconscious. It was strange—Weiss had spent half a decade studying the human mind, yet she still didn't understand her own.
Weiss sighed—more irony.
It was noon on a Sunday. Weiss sat at her dining table, enjoying a bowl of noodles while she wallowed in her own self-pity, pretending she was just fine on her own. Her scroll sat face-up near the napkins, an email from Neptune Vasilias on the screen. She'd received it a couple of days ago but hadn't responded to it. She assumed he'd managed to find one of her psychotherapy ads. By way of clearing the air between them, he'd attached a folder full of intel on Roman Torchwick. She'd skimmed it a couple of times, and it didn't seem to contain much that she didn't already know. She felt stupid for even opening it once, as Torchwick no longer had any relevance on her life, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her.
The message Neptune had sent was actually kind of sweet. Weiss was tempted to reply, but resisted the urge. She wasn't still mad at him; she hadn't really been mad at him in the first place. She just had a bad habit of becoming hostile toward people on the other side of arguments. At least she'd outgrown saying, "Don't you know who I am?" at at least one point during every altercation. Only in hindsight did she realize how obnoxious that had been.
But Weiss didn't want to get her hopes up again. She didn't want a repeat of what had happened with Ruby, where she starts getting close with someone only for it to inevitably end in disappointment. So she was keeping her distance from him.
The scroll started to ring, and a news article about another one of Torchwick's robberies was replaced with Ruby's name. Weiss stared at it for a brief spell, perplexed, before hurriedly dropping her fork and swallowing the bit of food she'd been chewing. She picked up the device and tapped the green button.
"Hey, Weiss. You busy?" Ruby's voice sounded perfectly casual, as if nothing had happened.
Weiss was too confused to articulate a response.
"Weiss?" said Ruby.
"Um, yeah," Weiss said warily. "I mean, no, I'm not busy."
"Awesome. Do you think you could give me a ride? I'm just a few minutes away from your place right now."
Weiss's reply was delayed. "Ruby, nothing's changed. I'm done with the investigation."
"I got that, loud and clear. So what? We're still friends."
"W-we are?"
When Ruby spoke again, she sounded hurt. "Do you not want to be?"
"I thought that you didn't. We had that huge argument."
"Of course I do! People fight, they make up. Big deal. If you stop being someone's friend over one disagreement, then you wouldn't have any friends at all."
Weiss could only stare at her noodles.
"So, are we good?" Ruby asked.
"Yes," Weiss answered, suddenly feeling more upbeat. "We're . . . good."
"Great! So, give me a ride? Pretty please?"
"Why don't you just . . . use your new trick?"
"Huh? Oh, my semblance. It doesn't really work that way. I've been toying around with it a little, and I think I can only teleport to where I can see."
"Oh. Otherwise, I might've been the one calling you for transportation."
"Heh. Would've been convenient. So . . . ride?"
"Alright. Text me your location."
"Sweet! See you soon."
Weiss came to a stop outside a bakery to find Ruby waiting on the curb. The girl promptly spotted her and got in on the passenger side.
"Home, please," she said. A moment later, she remembered to fasten her seat belt.
Weiss hesitated. "Are you sure? Mightn't it be better to go to a police station instead?"
"No," Ruby said firmly.
"The longer you—"
"Can we just . . . not do this right now? I just got fired."
Weiss frowned. "I didn't even know you had a job."
"I worked here part-time, only on the weekends." She pointed toward the bakery. "I guess I've been distracted the past few weeks, and my 'performance has been lackluster', so they let me go."
"I'm sorry."
Ruby shrugged. "It's fine. Can we go?"
Weiss switched the transmission to drive and set off.
"Sorry for asking you," said Ruby. "Yang usually picks me up, but I normally don't get off until a lot later. She's working on some secret case right now."
"Well, asked just in time," said Weiss. "I'm selling my car tomorrow."
"Oh? Are things really that tight?"
"No. I can get by, but owning a car in this city just isn't worth the expense. Parking, insurance, gas—they're a major drain. So from now on, I'll be using taxis and the—" Weiss suppressed a shudder "—subway."
"Oh, come on. The subway's not that bad."
"But they're so dirty! And full of people." Weiss glanced at Ruby long enough to see she was rolling her eyes. "What?"
"Nothing," Ruby said, chuckling. "You know, if you're having money problems—"
"Don't you dare offer to lend me money."
"Who said I was going to?"
"It sounded like where that was going."
"I was just going to say, I still never paid you for treating me, the first time we met."
"I didn't cure you."
"But I should still owe you for your time, right?"
"Forget it."
Ruby was silent for a moment. "Well, how about this? I buy you dinner tomorrow, and we can call it even."
Weiss glanced at her. "As friends, right?"
"Um, duh?" Ruby said like it was obvious.
Weiss had to consider it. This was nearly identical to how her parents first got together. Willow Schnee had refused to accept payment for curing Jacques Gelé's gambling addiction, as she'd been wealthy enough to lend her services free of charge. As a compromise, he offered to take her to dinner instead. Their wedding was held exactly one year later.
Weiss didn't like this parallel. She'd feel guilty comparing her worst enemy to her father, if they weren't one and the same. Ruby was the last person she wanted likened to him.
"Well?" Ruby pressed. "We have a deal?"
"You just lost your job," said Weiss. "I don't want to put you out."
"Psh." Ruby waved her hand dismissively. "I only worked so I could buy things I wanted for myself. Video games, comics—stuff like that. My dad pays the bills and Yang covers most of the groceries, so it's not like I really need the lien. Besides, I have savings."
Weiss contemplated a bit longer, then finally accepted. "Okay. But it had better be a good restaurant."
They arrived a little under ten minutes later. The drive had persisted in a pleasant silence, Weiss having to tolerate Ruby's questionable music choice. When she came to a stop, though, Ruby didn't get out.
"Could you park and come up with me?" she asked.
"Why?" said Weiss.
"I want to show you something, and we'll have a chance to talk."
"Ruby, if you're going to show me what you added to your 'crime board', then I want nothing to do with it."
"It's not that. I promise."
Weiss scrutinized her but couldn't detect any lies, so she agreed. She parked the car and paid the meter, then accompanied Ruby into the building. The elevator carried them to their stop, and they entered into a predictably empty apartment. Ruby immediately led the way to her bedroom, not even stopping to take off her hoodie. Weiss lingered by the doorway for a few moments, taking a glance around—the place looked no different from the last time she was here—then followed after her. Inside the bedroom, she found Ruby on the ground with her head beneath a bed that hadn't been there before—it looked brand new and noticeably more comfortable than Weiss's.
"Got it!" Ruby declared after a second of rummaging. She emerged and stood with a small cardboard box in her hands. She placed it on the mattress and withdrew from it a dark object that she then presented to Weiss.
It was a mask. Made of a lightweight metal and painted black, it was big enough to cover the entire face. Thorny vines, colored red, were etched all over it in random patterns. Either tinted glass or plastic covered the eye holes, which took on a sleek, slanted shape. A small hook stuck out of the forehead, for some reason. Several tiny holes were drilled over where the mouth would be, but something was blocking the other side.
"What is this?" Weiss said uneasily.
"It's my mask," Ruby said, shaking it a little to urge Weiss to take it. "I've been working on it all week using my school's workshop. Look!"
Weiss gingerly grabbed it, like it might bite her, and turned it over in her hands. Some electronics covered the inside of the mouth area.
"It's made of titanium, with polycarbonate for the eyes," Ruby explained. "I'm still working on the voice modulator, and I haven't given it a strap yet. I'm thinking of doing a headband with a pair of magnets, so I can just pull it on and off—might not be the most secure though."
Weiss was becoming very concerned. "And . . . the hook?"
"Oh! That's for the cloak. I'm going to have a little loop underneath the hood that it can hook into so that the hood doesn't come flying off."
Ruby took out a piece of paper from the box and showed it to Weiss. On it were several well-drawn sketches for what was unmistakably a superhero suit. They all included the mask and a red hooded cloak, as well as sections of armor plates in varying sizes and quantities.
"This is your Halloween costume for next month, right?" Weiss said hopefully.
Ruby's brow furrowed. "No, of course not."
Weiss's heart sank. "Ruby, please don't tell me you're planning what I think you're planning."
Ruby teleported half a foot to her right with a faint whoosh. "Weiss, I have a superpower."
"You're deranged." Weiss shook her head at the ceiling. "You are an absolute lunatic."
"No, I'm not," Ruby insisted. "Despite what you think, I'm not some defenseless little girl! Yang's been teaching me martial arts the past few weeks. I can—"
"A few weeks?" Weiss repeated. "A few weeks. And you think that qualifies you to run around fighting criminals who will almost definitely be armed? Is your few weeks of close combat training supposed to protect you against bullets?"
"No, my semblance is—and the armor."
Weiss couldn't sit still anymore. She shoved the mask back into Ruby's hands and stormed out through the door, then began to pace around the living room. "If you're so determined to die, there are much faster and simpler methods."
"Look." Ruby had set the mask down and followed her out. "Obviously, I'm not going to start any time soon. But with the right gear, more practice with my semblance, and some proper training, I can do it. I can be like her."
"Pyrrha Nikos. You think that you can live up to what she did? Ruby, that woman fought through a mechanized army with nothing but a suit of armor and a sword and shield to destroy one of the most devastating weapons ever built from the inside, taking down Salem and herself with it. You think that you can do that?"
"Not at first, but I could get to that point. Pyrrha was my age when she died. Maybe I can find whoever taught her. Or I could find the person who saved us from Junior and they could teach me."
"So . . . what? You want to be their sidekick?"
"No! More like a . . . protégé."
Weiss sat down and rubbed her temple, and it took her a bit to speak again. "Ruby. Do you even understand how utterly exhausting it is to be your friend? It seems like every time we talk, you're coming up with some new imprudent, harebrained idea that I have to fruitlessly attempt to convince you out of."
"Well I'm sorry that I dream bigger than you and that I believe in myself."
"That's a funny way of saying you grossly overestimate your own capabilities."
"You know, I think I know what the real problem is. You just don't have any faith in me."
"Oh? Really? Okay. I should just have some more faith in you," Weiss said sarcastically. "Do I need to bring up what happened at Junior's again?"
Ruby balled her fists. "That was one mistake. I—"
She stopped short because the doorknob to the front door had begun to shake. Whoever was on the other side seemed to be having a hard time getting it open.
"I thought you said your sister was working a case," Weiss said in a low voice.
"She is," said Ruby, sounding confused.
The door finally burst open and two women came clumsily inside, one blonde and the other black-haired. They were locked in a passionate embrace, Ruby's sister being backed into the apartment by the other. They were lost in each other's lips, eyes closed, unaware that the room wasn't empty.
"Yang?" Ruby exclaimed, shocked. "Blake?"
The two lovers froze like deer caught in the headlights. Then they hastily pulled away from each other, cheeks blazing, and put a good two feet of distance between themselves.
"Ruby!" said Yang. "Wha- why aren't you at work?"
"Why were you making out with Blang?" Ruby countered. "I mean Yake. I mean—y-you know what I mean!"
That short exchange was enough time for Weiss to get a good look at the black-haired woman. Her hair came down to her shoulders, and she had amber eyes that seemed to only have spotted Ruby. She was dressed casually—as was Yang—wearing a black vest with coattails, of which the top two buttons remained unfastened.
Weiss stood, staring aghast at her. "Blake?"
All those times Ruby, Yang, or Sun had mentioned her, Blake Belladonna was the last person Weiss thought they could have possibly been referring to.
"You know her?" Ruby said.
Everyone was staring at Weiss now, the sisters in bemusement and Blake in horror. Then the latter vanished into thin air.
"Blake Belladonna you get back here this instant!" Weiss commanded.
Whoosh. Ruby suddenly stood with her arms spread wide, blocking the exit. "Oh no you don't."
Blake reappeared not far from her, mid footstep, her mouth hanging open as she looked back and forth between Ruby and where she'd been standing a moment before. "Wha—? How did you . . .? Since when can you do that?"
"Since when have you been dating my sister?" Ruby parried.
"Since when have you lived in Vale?" Weiss directed at Blake.
"Okay, can we all just calm down before another bombshell drops on us?" demanded Yang, who didn't seem surprised by Ruby's semblance. She marched over to the door and ushered Ruby and Blake away from it so she could close it. "Everyone sit down so we can address one thing at a time."
Weiss lowered herself back onto the couch and immediately crossed both her arms and legs, her foot shaking rapidly. Ruby sat beside her while Blake claimed the seat farthest away from Weiss, who hadn't stopped glaring at her—Blake seemed interested by Weiss's hair, but didn't comment. Yang casually hopped over the back of the couch and plopped herself down next to her apparent girlfriend.
"Okay," she said.
Weiss opened her mouth, but was interrupted before she got a chance to speak.
"Ah bup bup!" Yang held up her hand. "No. Me first. Well—" she grabbed Blake's hand "—us first. I owe it to Ruby."
"Yeah, you do," Ruby said, staring at their intertwined fingers. "How long has this been going on?"
"Well . . . remember when we arrested Adam Taurus?"
"Since then?" Ruby said, sounding let down. "That was weeks ago!"
"Two months, actually," Blake offered unhelpfully.
"Wait a second," said Weiss, her eyes still on Blake. "You arrested Adam?"
"Hey, princess," Yang cut in. "Can I finish? One thing at a time, remember?"
Weiss pursed her lips, but waved her hand for Yang to continue.
"Well, it was like a week after that," said Yang. "Blake and I got to talking, and we both admitted we'd had feelings for each other for a while. Then one thing led to another and . . . well, you don't need to hear the details."
Blake's cheeks became redder.
Ruby cringed. "Ew, no."
"So, yeah," Yang finished lamely. "That's about it. We're dating now."
"But you've been dating for so long!" said Ruby. "And this is the first time I'm hearing about it!"
"I'm to blame for that," Blake confessed before Yang could say anything. "And I'm sorry. We all know how . . . complicated my last relationship was."
Weiss scoffed.
Blake ignored her. "And we didn't even know if the whole being partners while dating thing would even work. I wanted to take things slow—well, slow-er. I thought it'd be easier to figure it all out if no one knew for a while, so I asked Yang to keep it secret."
"But two months," said Ruby.
"I know," Yang said guiltily.
"And I had to find out by accident."
"You weren't supposed to be home," Yang deflected.
"And you lied to me!" Ruby complained. "You said you were working a secret case!"
Yang winced. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. And I'm sorry. To be fair, I was working a case; I was looking for clues as to how Blake's such a good kisser . . . in her mouth."
Blake hid her face in her hands, but her slight smile didn't go unnoticed.
"We've still got some more work to do before we crack the case," said Yang.
"I've got another lead for us to follow up on later," said Blake.
Yang grinned. Ruby did not seem amused, and Weiss was still impatiently waiting for her turn to yell at Blake.
"If you have something to say, then say it," Blake shot at Weiss after a brief lull, all traces of humor gone.
"Oh?" said Weiss. "Am I allowed to, or should I keep waiting until you're done discussing your love life?"
"I'm still not over this—" Ruby gestured at Blake and Yang "—but I'm fine putting it on hold for now. Since when do you two know each other?" She pointed from Weiss to Blake.
"Yeah, I want to know that, too," said Yang, now staring pointedly at her girlfriend. "I told you Ruby's been hanging out with her, and you never said anything."
"Not surprising," said Weiss. "Her first instinct when things get difficult has always been to avoid the matter, run away, or disappear. I see nothing's changed."
"Seriously," said Ruby, "can one of you explain—?"
"We were friends," Blake revealed. "Back in Atlas. For about four years throughout most of high school and a while after."
"Closer to four and a half," Weiss corrected.
Blake jabbed a finger in her direction. "You know, that is exactly the kind of behavior that drove us apart in the first place."
"No, you did that by running around with a man that I warned you about, numerous times, to start a terrorist organization."
"The White Flame I helped start was a peaceful activist group," Blake defended. "And I'm the one who turned them in when I realized what he was planning."
"A lot of good that did. He just started a new, much worse, White Flame in Vale. I should've known you'd followed him here. Could never stay away from him for long, could you?"
"He followed me here! I didn't want anything to do with him after that. And in case you hadn't noticed, Adam's all the way in Atlas Supermax—with your dad—and I'm right here."
Outraged, Weiss didn't even register shooting to her feet. "How dare you?"
Four years. Four years since they last saw each other, and the first thing Blake does is throw that in her face?
"Okay!" Ruby quickly placed herself between Weiss and Blake—who'd remained sitting—to try and defuse the situation. "Why don't we all just take a moment to relax and calm down a bit."
"She can take as many moments as she needs," said Weiss. "I'm done here. I have nothing else to say to her." She started toward the door.
"Who's the one running away now, Weiss?" Blake sniped.
Weiss paused, bit her tongue, and resisted the bait. She left the apartment, slamming the door behind her.
Weiss had first met Blake at the start of Sophomore year, the year Weiss had convinced her parents to let her transfer to public school. It hadn't been a warm introduction. Blake made a snap judgment based on Weiss's last name, and Weiss wasn't going to take that sitting down. So a heated argument erupted, and it had seemed they were destined to be enemies from that point forth. But then Blake learned that Weiss was a paragon, just like her, and saw the bigotry she'd had to face. They eventually bonded over it, and a close friendship developed.
But that obviously didn't last forever. Near the end of Junior year, Blake met Adam. She'd been arguing with a group of anti-paragon bullies at the edge of campus when he happened to walk by. He jumped in to defend her, using his semblance to threaten them. Blake believed him when he told her he'd activated it by accident, but Weiss always had her doubts. The two began dating, and after her graduation, they started their little "activist group" that would grow into something far more despicable.
The more infatuated Blake became with Adam, the more she and Weiss argued. Weiss knew he was a bad influence on her, but Blake refused to hear it. She often retaliated with verbal abuse on Weiss's father and the STC, which didn't make things better. Then, one day, they had a huge fight that resulted in a silence between the two. A few days later, there was a news story saying Adam Taurus and many other White Flame members had been arrested for conspiring to commit an act of terrorism, the authorities having received a tip-off from someone within the group. Weiss had immediately tried to call Blake—no answer. All further attempts to contact her were also ignored. And that was the unceremonious end to their friendship.
"Wow," Ruby said through a mouthful of tiramisu. She finished chewing and swallowed. "She ghosted you."
"If you want to put it that way." Weiss was poking at what was left of her mushroom risotto—she hadn't had the appetite for dessert. "I suppose it's apt—she can turn invisible, after all."
Ruby's mouth twitched. "Was that a joke?"
Weiss hesitated. "Possibly."
"Yay! There might just be hope for you yet."
"What do you mean by that?" Weiss said, a bit wounded.
"I just mean it's nice to see that you might have a fun side. You're so serious all the time, you know?"
Weiss didn't have anything to say in response to that, but it left her thinking. She was fun . . . right?
Well, what was "fun", anyway? She derived enjoyment out of many things—reading, critical thinking, plays, classical music, et cetera. But she doubted many people would jump to apply the word to those activities. Her interests not being exciting didn't make her a boring person, did they?
A few moments passed, then she realized—ice skating. That's an objectively fun hobby that she enjoyed. She was pretty good at it, too. See? She did have a "fun side".
"So, do you have any idea why Blake moved away without telling you?" Ruby asked.
Weiss, having just been enjoying a moment of silent triumph at having proven to herself she could be fun, was shaken from her train of thought. "I told you. We'd been arguing more and more for a while by then. I assume she just got sick of it. Or maybe she just couldn't bear to admit I was right about her precious boyfriend."
"She must've had a good reason. The Blake I know—"
"There is nothing that can justify her leaving without so much as even saying goodbye."
"You could at least try talking to her. I'm sure she regrets it."
"It's been four years, Ruby, and my number hasn't changed. If she had any remorse, she'd have called a long time ago. I'll talk to her when she apologizes to me."
Ruby had nothing else to say on the matter, so she went back to finishing her dessert.
They left the restaurant a few minutes later. It was a nice afternoon, in all. Ruby had texted her the previous night, flat out banning all topics that could lead to Weiss yelling at her—Junior's, the investigation, Ruby's mishandling of her grief, and her asinine idea to become a superhero. Weiss had agreed to that rule, and then kept to her word. Consequently, they didn't argue at all throughout the meal.
"Alright, let's find us a cab," Ruby said as they stepped outside. "Oh, there's one." She spotted an available taxi stopped right at the curb, then led the way to it.
"I'm paying for it," Weiss said as she slid into the backseat beside her. "It's only fair, since you bought dinner."
"Fine," said Ruby. "My place first, then." She told the driver her address.
"Oh, I'm not going to take you there," said the man in the driver's seat.
The doors suddenly locked. He reached over to the passenger seat and picked up a cane, which he used to adjust the rear-view mirror to give them a better view of his face. Below a black bowler hat and strikingly orange bangs, Weiss could see the green eyes of Roman Torchwick.
"Didn't your mothers ever tell you not to get in a car with strangers?" he said.
A/N: Credit to my beta readers: Bardothren, I Write Big, and 0neWhoWanders. They're great writers who are a huge help with making this story as good as it can be.
