"What do you mean a dying woman?"

"Huh?"

That voice... was not the one she'd previously been talking to. Heck, the entire void had vanished too, and her eyes were beholden, and quite frankly assaulted, to a confounding light.

"Who's doing what now?"

Roman Torchwick; of all the people to see first when coming to, it just had to be Roman Torchwick. Although she supposed it made sense: he was one of the people she'd been with on the mission. Yes, the mission: that's what they were doing. Pulling herself up a little from where she lay, Ruby rubbed at her sleepy eyes.

When did I take a nap? Wait... why did I take a nap?

All important questions, but it looked like Roman had some questions of his own. Or, at least he did, but not before poking fun at her; as if he'd miss a chance. But then again, that's what made him reliable, and in this day and age, Ruby was happy there was something that stayed consistent.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." He clapped his hands together, slanting them somewhat and squinting a bit. "Well... you weren't quite dead, but I'd count an inexplicable coma as close enough. So, how are you feeling?"

"Tired." Now she could have asked why he cared, but the statement was true. Ruby was beaten, and for sure she didn't have the energy to play their usual games. If Roman was willing to take it easy and talk like a normal person - for him - then she'd accept it with open arms.

"Yeah." His hands dropped and he sighed. "Thought so."

Despite the fatigue, Ruby looked up at him, and asked one peculiar question which was banging on the back doors of her mind.

"What happened?"

"We were hoping to ask you the same question, but I guess that tells us pretty well what your answer would be, so why bother?" Roman crossed his arms. "To put it simply: you passed out when looking at the rock."

"Rock?"

"The obelisk. You know: one of those stones our resident freak show tends to get ripped up by."

The obelisk, the mission; yeah, it was coming back now. The whole idea was to look for evidence against Jacques Schnee, and to also get a sample of the obelisk. It would seem they'd failed in both regards. Ruby felt a headache coming on, and deciding it wasn't quite worth the hassle of mulling over, chose to just accept the facts.

"Right... so I guess we failed."

"Kind of."

"Kind of?" She didn't expect that answer though. Roman was quick to brush any hopes aside however, settling on a more stable expression and leaning on one leg, crossing the other behind it as he slouched back on the wall at his back.

"We didn't get the evidence, and we couldn't chip even a scratch into the rock. But, we did manage to get a reaction from the thing, even if that reaction was just watching you go down under."

"Does that mean we succeeded a little bit after all?" She was actually getting her hopes up now.

"Nope." And just like that, Roman swatted them away. "I wouldn't call a random K.O. a success. If you're talking about iron-woody, though, I guess you could say he was a little bit pleased."

"Huh?" She was getting surprises all over today.

"Yeah, I didn't see it coming either. I mean, he's not exactly happy, but he's not super upset either; sadly." Roman mumbled that last bit under his breath before looking back at her. "He's content to just leave it all alone until he can get some better info. Oh, and he's not planning on sending you out to investigate any more obelisks either; apparently, your unique genes make you more important than the rest of us."

"But... I don't wear jeans." Ruby only realized how stupid she was mere moments after the words tumbled out. Thankfully, Roman was there to rectify that.

"Your eyes, genius; not your pants." He let out a long sigh afterwards. "Sheesh, you really aren't used to passing out, and it shows."

Well excuse me for not getting beat up all the time!

Ruby tried sitting up after, and weirdly enough, she didn't have too much trouble getting on her butt. To make sure she was fully awake and capable again, Ruby did a few stretches, taking her arms up and around; from side to side, and even twisting and contorting through all manner of directions as she ironed out the kinks in her joints. Popping her lips, she breathed a sigh of content; it felt good to get rid of the stiffness.

Roman whistled, drawing her eyes towards him.

"So, are we feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I'm doing pretty good." Smirking, she tilted her head. "So, was it you who carried me all the way here?"

"Ha! Why? Were you hoping I played the role of prince charming for you?"

"Ew." That was not an image she ever, ever wanted in her head, but he just had to go and sully her mind, didn't he? This got a good round of chuckles from him, and after settling back down, he answered.

"Good to know you're still the same. And, as fun as that would have been, the honor of playing hero belongs to Saw." He pointed over, and she turned to see the ex-terrorist sitting in a chair. In his hand was a scroll, presumably his, but he wasn't looking at it. He was looking at her, and it kind of embarrassed her a little.

And then she considered the elephant in the room.

"Hold on." She shot her head back to Roman. "Were you two watching me sleep all this time?"

"Yes."

Ruby visibly shivered.

"And no."

She toned down her shivering, to which Roman explained.

"You've been out for a good chunk of the day; heck, I'd even go so far as to say all of it." His look lost a little bit of its edge and hardened. "I don't know what caused it, but whatever knocked you out did a bang up job. According to Saw, you just dropped out of nowhere, without even a clue as to what caused it; other than the rock, and a weird glow in the palm of your hand. Actually, now that we're on the subject: what was that all about anyway?"

Ruby thought about it for a second, debating internally about whether to mention her dream, and ultimately settled on just telling them the initial incident for now.

"I looked at the pillar, felt a little weird, and- wait! Did you just say glow?!"

"Yep, and judging by that reaction, I take it you know what it is?"

Oh yes, she knew what it was. The problem, however, was trying to explain it - if she even could in the first place.

"Did it glow for very long?" What was more important was knowing how active the mark had been. So far it seemed to act up in the weirdest of ways, usually when pertaining towards information she wasn't quite certain on, or anything related to V. She felt like comparing it to a detector of sorts, but then again, she had no idea what it was detecting to begin with.

"About halfway out it stopped." Saw was speaking this time, and she looked over at him. Without his mask he appeared a little less intimidating than most other members of the Fang, and it was strangely easy to hear him out when he wasn't hiding his eyes away: as if the ability to gaze into them made him more trustworthy. "I first noticed it after checking on you. I heard you fall, and when I rushed over I saw it softly pulsing in your palm."

"What's with that anyway?" Roman tossed in, drawing her attention once more. His face was squished, kind of like he was holding back a gross comment or something. "I get when V does something weird, being the creepy Grimm guy and all, but you always rubbed me as the innocent heroine type."

Okay, so being referred to by that particular title gave her the chills, but it was passed over by suddenly being put on the spot. They were allies now though, so she figured it wouldn't hurt to give a small explanation. Really, it was more theory than anything, but at least it was something.

"I don't know." Raising her hand, she looked carefully at the palm. Still no scars or other markings in sight, but she knew it would act up again when it wanted to; all of V's little touches seemed to do that, for everyone and everything; how or why he could even make them was another mystery, and at this point she figured it may have been unintentional, and even uncontrollable. "It first showed up when V accidently cut me with his claw."

"Accidently cut you with his claw?" Roman sounded as though he were nearly in disbelief, and then flatlined a look, which then twisted into disappointment. "Look little red, I get you're a bit clumsy when it comes to it, but I thought you'd gotten better with time. Please don't tell me one of our top players is going to be walking into traps every other hour."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She would have been appalled... if she hadn't been lying in the first place. None of that encounter was 'accidental', but she didn't want to tell Roman V was prone to acting up under extreme circumstances: he barely trusted her friend as is, and even if V could be a little touchy, she knew he wasn't as bad as he often looked.

After running that thought through her head again, she cringed at just how desperate it sounded.

"You don't 'accidently' cut someone with a claw unless, A: you slap your hand against his nails - for whatever reason, I don't know. Or, B: you got in his way during a fight." Roman smiled. "So, which is it, sleeping beauty?"

He wasn't exactly leaving her a lot of options here, and his comments were still irritating. In the end she sucked it up, and chose to go with option B. She'd look like an idiot either way, and so decided she may as well go with the route that wouldn't need an on the spot excuse to explain away.

"It was stormy out, alright: we couldn't see." For once, she was thankful to the brothers that her cheeks tended to flush so easily from any sort of embarrassment; it made the lie more believable. And here she was again, lying as if it were no big deal: the event with Ozpin was starting to sour in her mind again, followed by guilt.

Roman let loose another few chuckles, and irritated at it all, Ruby fell back on the bed with her arms crossed. For as bad as it was, at the very least she'd only had a strange dream come from it... a dream that carried with it a disturbing message. Without leaning up, she looked over to Saw and asked.

"Hey, um, just out of curiosity: where is everyone else?" That was another thing too: if she was passed out for so long then her team must have come and seen her at least once. Yes, Roman liked to brag about being a professional criminal, but she doubted even he would be good enough to keep her friends from questioning her absence.

"Your team was here a little while ago to check on you." Saw told with a strangely tense voice, and it would seem there was a reason for that. "But they got called on a mission."

"Oh... okay." A mission… that wasn't so bad. "Well then, what about JNPR?"

That, however, could have been worded a bit more natural; Saw didn't appear to notice though.

"They never visited." She kind of expected that, but she supposed they didn't know about her. Actually, once more this gave rise to a strange string of logic. If her team had visited and left, then wouldn't they tell Jaune's team about her too? She stopped the conspiracies there; she was getting ahead of herself. Chances were they only left a little bit ago, meaning they hadn't gotten a chance to tell them yet.

But wait... that didn't make any sense.

"So... did any of them say what their mission was?" Her team was called on a mission, meaning there wouldn't be any telling JNPR of her. Well, she supposed they could have called their sister team, but knowing Yang especially, it had most likely slipped their mind. Hopefully the mission they were called on wouldn't be big, because then she could just give them a quick call herself.

"Would you believe us if we said it was to kick V's ass?" Roman perked up, sounding way, way too happy to say that.

"What?" And expectedly, Ruby found herself confused.

"Yep." Roman nodded his head very curtly. "The big shot himself failed one of his own missions, and now they need to beat him down."

"Wait wait wait!" Ruby rolled out of bed, stumbling a bit, but standing fully after while laying a single hand on the mattress to keep her still recovering balance. "What do you mean he failed?!"

"Well, this is going to be fun." Roman clapped his hands anew. "It all started like this."

.

.

Carefully - via a tense jog - Winter 'acquired entry' into her family estate: running through the open front gates and dashing across the pavement all the way up to the front doors. Many servants and other miscellaneous folks were gathered before the entrance, with much of the armed guard forming a line between the people and the mansion.

At the head of said line, and notably furious, stood Jacques Schnee.

"Is everybody out?" He looked to be trying to calm the crowd of frightened guests, but it was only partially working.

"You told us security would be top notch!"

"Where was the guard?!"

"Why was she allowed to walk so freely?!

Despite the constant shouting and disorganized rabble, he kept a relatively smooth face. Upon seeing her, though, he grew bold.

"They are combing the building as we speak, however out backup appears to have arrived." He waved towards her, and as she came to a stop, Winter had to push past several uppity guests as they tried to punt her with questions and concerns. She was sure the other soldiers of her unit behind her would deal with these people just fine, and so continued up to meet with her father.

She loathed the man for many things, but her personal issues were put aside; she had a job to do, and a report to file. She motioned for him to follow, and with a curt nod he placed his hands behind his back and joined her in the walk a little ways away from the others. Important chats were best said away from the more sensitive ears of the public.

"You're here quicker than anticipated." His voice was sour, like always, but carried within a small bitter spot. "Although I suppose that isn't saying much; Ironwood can't afford to look lazy, lest Robyn and I get the upper hand. The people oh so love to point their accusatory fingers wherever they can, no?"

"We happened to be in the neighborhood." While it hadn't been a complete lie on her part; she had been around, although she couldn't just admit she was waiting to see if the invasion of his home fell off. Jacques merely huffed, clearly not believing a word; in his mind, she was rushed to him in an attempt to save face for the Atlas military, and by extension, the general's own reputation.

She knew this due to his slithery voice passing the next statement so surely.

"Of course you were. Then it is mere coincidence you were the first to respond to our distress; much quicker than the local police anyway."

"I'm not here to debate the effectiveness of the city's officers: I'm here for the facts." She looked up to the manor, which was for all intents and purposes, relatively stable. Not a single sign of forced entry or exit was present, meaning that V's discovery had him either caught at the tail end, or before it even began. "Tell me what happened."

"Straight to the point, fine." He faced his house with ire, or more specifically, the various windows along the surface, as if awaiting something to pop out. "We've been invaded. For what reason, we do not yet know, but considering her heritage, I'd say it's far from a peaceful reason."

"Her?" Winter hadn't been expecting that, but Jacques didn't look to notice the mild surprise in her voice and he carried on regardless.

"Yes, her: our invader was a woman." His scowl deepened a little. "Which partially explains why the guards may have overlooked her; blasted commoners and their inability to think beyond their loins." Seeing her father sigh was nothing new, but to hear him admit to a mistake afterwards was a rarity. "I really should have paid more attention to the ratios of men and women I hire; perhaps next time I'll have a few of the women hold the outer posts."

"Can we get back on subject?" For as interesting as the conversation was - watching her father consider something so ridiculous, so seriously - Winter knew she'd need more details to understand what happened here. Her father hummed, straightening his posture a little more and twisting his eyes along to the windows of the ground floor, again scanning each as he explained.

"From what I've been told, one of the guards noticed a strange woman moving towards the stairs and far underdressed for the occasion. They went to confront her, and after being ignored for a bit, attempted to get stern in their demands, at which point they were tossed away like mere garbage."

"You weren't there to see it in person?" She assumed he was in one of his meetings, and regardless of whether the guess was right or not, he nodded in confirmation for his absence.

"No. I was tending to some of our guests personally midway through, and had to take my leave to do so." His jaw tightened. "I was only made aware of her when the screaming started, and came out to see my own guests huddled in the halls outside the lobby like animals, all while the guards I'd employed scouted out the room… or so they said."

"I see." Winter had a feeling she knew what happened next. "Would it be correct to assume you ordered everyone evacuated out here?"

"Naturally." His pompous tone left no room for doubt. "I was under the impression our watch would be smart enough to prioritize the relocation of our esteemed guests when situations like these arise, but it seems I was mistaken. I'd ordered them to protect us while we were escorted out to the front, all the while having to make excuses to the guests as to why my employees were not as foolish as they looked."

"Did you encounter the woman?" So it wasn't V who'd raised the alarm: she needed to ring that in to the general as soon as she got the chance.

"Fortunately no, but I know she's still in there." His voice was certain, and so Winter enquired.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because, my dear, there have been no reports from any side of the building about our mystery woman trying to escape." He actually faced her this time, wearing a sturdy frown. "I've had my guard surround the building, and the moment they spot that witch, they are under strict orders to inform me. Why, I'd dare say-"

He was interrupted by a short ringing, to which he smirked deviously. Reaching into his chest pocket, he pulled out a scroll. Flicking on a soft content smirk, he took the call.

"Hello?"

"She escaped."

And like that, his eyes bulged, all the while his voice raised a couple levels.

"SHE WHAT?!"

"The window's are broken along the back end, near the northern gardens."

Jacques evened out his voice a bit, and although very much frustrated, at least lowered the volume back to a professional level.

"Are there any traces of her?"

"None sir, and we have some bad news."

"As if that wasn't it." He grumbled, rolling his eyes to none other than himself. "Fine, what is it?"

"We've found the missus."

Mother?! V promised not to hurt her, yes, but this mystery woman hadn't. Winter felt something stab into her chest, and her breathing slowed as her father's face fell into one of hard caution.

"Tell me her condition."

"Overall, she's fine, but we've confirmed she had a run-in with the perpetrator. And, from what we've gathered, your wife was tossed through the back window almost casually; according to her, anyway."

"Bring her around front." He was talking about her mother; Winter knew this, and yet the way he spoke the command so emotionlessly had her shaking. Her father may not have cared personally for her mother, but he, at the very least, looked after her wellbeing. With this fact in place, Winter knew that while he was trying to keep her safe, he did not desire her presence merely to see said safety personally.

He thought she saw something, and wanted to question her - regardless of her condition.

From this point he was arguing something over the call, and using these precious seconds of distraction, Winter sent a message to the general. He needed to know V hadn't been caught, and that someone else had invaded the Schnee property. As for Winter herself, she'd remain put and see to gathering evidence on this second trespasser. For all they knew, she could be connected to the White Fang, or even worse...

Connected to Salem.

"Very well. Remain where you are; I'm on my way." Angrily, he hung up his call before looking her way again. "They won't move your mother for fear she's hiding injury."

"Then we must go to her instead." It would be like her mother to do that; for as drunk as she normally was, Willow Schnee was more than willing to ignore her own safety if it meant forcing her husband to step out of his comfort zone; and not in a positive way either.

"Yes, we must." He sighed before starting off. "For once, I'm glad your brother chose to shirk his duties by visiting your grandfather - at the very least it kept him far away from this mess."

Jacques all but stomped his way along the path, with Winter taking to his side with a practiced march. Whitley liked their father just about the same as the rest of them; he was just better at hiding it. Hearing that he was off visiting their grandfather had calmed her somewhat: she didn't need to worry about him stumbling into the trouble sure to follow after this 'invasion'. This left only one person to worry about throughout all of this: her mother Willow Schnee had aura, yes, but it wasn't much, and if she'd taken any damage before falling through the window from as high as she did...

Winter could only hope no bones were broken.

Author's note

…

No battle this time either, I know, but I felt it was time Ruby woke up from everything. A little scene with Roman isn't bad here and there, and Ruby is once again comparing herself to Ozpin; it won't be long before the guilt becomes too much, and with all the chaos going down in her mind, followed by some particularly sour information in regards to Pyrrha, who knows what'll happen.

Winter's on the scene at her old family home, and thanks to her dad, is now aware of V's innocence. But is it already too late to rectify the order to take him in? Probably, but hey, if V can escape being caught, it'll make for a funny story afterwards, surely.

I'm still a bit down, so apologies if the chapter feels dull; next time might be better.

See you later.