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—Ruby 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 she'd spent her childhood learning 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.

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 opening it at all, 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. Her pride just tended to get the better of her in arguments, no matter how small or petty. It had been a lot worse in her youth, but she'd outgrown her most obnoxious habits. "Don't you know who I am?" are words that had actually left her mouth on more than one occasion, a fact that still haunts her.

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. She was keeping her distance from Neptune.

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, 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 said with a voice that was all too casual, as if nothing had happened.

"Weiss?" Ruby said after not getting a response.

"Um, yes," 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."

It took a moment for Weiss to decide how to reply. "Ruby, nothing's changed. I'm done with the investigation."

"I got that, loud and clear. So what? We're still friends, right?"

"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?"

"Fine. 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 not do this right now? I just got fired."

"I didn't even know you had a job."

"I worked here part-time, only on the weekends. 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 pulled out onto the road.

"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 important case right now."

"Well, you asked just in time," said Weiss. "I'm selling my car tomorrow."

"Oh? Are things really that tight?"

"No. I can get by, but I've come to accept that 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?"

Ruby chuckled. "Nothing. 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. She'd heard this story before. Willow Schnee, Weiss's mother, 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 that parallel.

"Well?" Ruby said. "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. "Alright. But it had better be a good restaurant."

It was after ten minutes of Weiss enduring Ruby's questionable music choice before they arrived. Weiss slowed to a stop, but 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."

"Fine. Let's see it."

Weiss parked the car and paid the meter. Ruby led the way up and straight to her bedroom. Once inside, she dropped to her knees and rummaged beneath a bed that hadn't been there before—it looked brand new and noticeably more comfortable than Weiss's.

"Got it!" Ruby 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 red vines branched all over its surface. The eye holes had a sleek, slanted shape and were covered by a tinted but transparent material. Above them, at the center of the forehead, a small hook jutted out for some reason. And where the mouth should be were several tiny holes, blocked by something on the other side.

"What is this?" Weiss said with a sinking feeling in her gut.

"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 grabbed it as if it might bite her, then 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."

"And the hook?"

"Oh! That's for the cloak. I'm going to have a little loop underneath the hood so the hook will keep it from 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. 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 with misguided hope.

Ruby's brow furrowed. "No, of course not."

"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 said. "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 into the living room. Ruby set the mask down on her bed and hurried after her.

"Look—" Ruby started.

"If you're so determined to die," Weiss said, "there are much faster and simpler methods."

"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," 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.

"She is," Ruby said, confused.

The door finally burst open and two women came clumsily inside, one blonde and the other black of hair. 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. "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 each other.

"Ruby!" said Yang in a very forced casual tone. "Wha- why aren't you at work?"

"Why were you making out with Blang?" Ruby demanded. "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. "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 said.

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—?"

"Since when have you been dating my sister?" Ruby said.

"Since when have you lived in Vale?" Weiss directed at Blake.

"Okay, can we all just calm down before another bombshell drops on us?" Yang said, raising her voice above all others. She 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. "Let's all just 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. Ruby sat beside her while Blake claimed the seat farthest away from Weiss, who hadn't stopped glaring at her—Blake glanced at Weiss's hair but didn't comment. Yang casually hopped over the back of the couch and plopped herself down next to her girlfriend.

"Okay," she said.

Weiss opened her mouth 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?"

"That was weeks ago!"

"Two months, actually," Blake offered unhelpfully.

"Hold on," Weiss said, her eyes still on Blake. "Did you just say that you arrested Adam?"

"Hey, princess," Yang said. "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."

Ruby cringed. "Ew, no."

"So, yeah," Yang finished lamely. "That's about it. We're dating now."

"But why did you never tell me?" Ruby said.

"That's my fault," Blake said. "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, slower. 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."

"And you lied to me! You said you were working a secret case!"

Yang winced. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. And I'm sorry. But 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 had a slight smile despite the blush in her cheeks.

"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 already," 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 said. "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 rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the example of the kind of behavior that drove us apart in the first place."

"You did that yourself 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."

Weiss shot to her feet, too outraged to come up with a retort. Four years. Four years since they last saw each other, and the first thing Blake does is throw that in her face?

"Okay!" Ruby placed herself in front of Weiss 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 mumbled, just loud enough for Weiss to catch it.

Weiss paused and bit her tongue, then continued out, slamming the door behind her.

Weiss had first met Blake at the start of Sophomore year, the year Weiss had convinced her father to let her transfer to public school. Because of Weiss's last name, they'd gotten off to a bad start. That eventually changed when Blake learned that Weiss, too, was a paragon. Blake apologized for making a snap judgement, and they were able to bond over shared experiences.

But that obviously didn't last forever. Near the end of Junior year was when 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 nefarious.

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 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, unsure whether to take it as an insult.

"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 think that was fair. "Fun". How do you even define that? She found enjoyment in many things, such as reading, puzzle solving, plays, and the opera. She realized those weren't exactly the kind of things most people would jump to call "fun", but that didn't make her a boring person, did it?

She liked to ice skate. She used to do it all the time back in Atlas, though her opportunities nowadays were far more limited. She's quite good at it, too. Going by the arbitrary metric someone like Ruby used, that was objectively fun. Surely that was enough to make Weiss fun as well.

"So, do you have any idea why Blake moved away without telling you?" Ruby said, shaking her from her thoughts.

"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 bit back whatever else she had to say on the matter, likely because she knew it'd only upset Weiss more, and went back to finishing her dessert.

It was a nice afternoon, in all. Ruby had texted her the previous night asking her to avoid bringing up any topics that would end with Weiss yelling at her. Weiss had agreed to that rule and held her tongue any time she saw cause to bring up Junior's, the investigation, Ruby's mishandling of her grief, or her asinine idea to become a superhero. Consequently, they didn't argue at all throughout the meal.

"Oh, look," Ruby said as they stepped outside the restaurant. "Don't have to wait for a cab."

Indeed, there was an available one stopped at the curb.

"I'm paying," Weiss said as she slid into the backseat beside Ruby. "It's only fair, since you bought dinner."

"Fine. My place first, then." Ruby told the driver her address.

"Yeah, no," said the man in the driver's seat. "Not gonna happen."

The doors locked. The driver 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.