"No, no, no, please… I love you Weiss… please don't leave me alone. Not again… Please..."

Ruby felt tears roll over cheeks as she pressed down hard on Weiss' stomach. If she just kept telling Weiss she loved her, telling her how much she was needed, she wouldn't leave. Her partner would find the strength to stay; she would open her eyes, smile at her, and say she loved her as well.

Only in loss, when what is seemingly eternal is ripped away, is one forced to confront their feelings. Always before, Ruby had at least the hope that no matter what, she and Weiss would reconcile. They had been thrust together by the divine will of a capricious god, they shouldn't have worked together, nor even been friends; they were just too different.

Weiss was beautiful, incredibly intelligent, and the heiress to the largest company in the world. And she was a normal schoolgirl from Patch, who had just happened to get lucky in the circumstances that had allowed her to attend Beacon early.

If not for Torchwick, she would have gone through the normal application process, only applying after graduating Signal two years later. And by that time, Weiss would have been a third year. The heiress probably wouldn't have even deigned to notice a snot-nosed girl from the country. They would never have been placed together, never have been forced by the other to confront their many issues, and they never would have grown close.

Love was a strange animal. She had thought she understood it. She loved Yang, she loved her father, and she loved her mother. That was one type of love, it made her feel safe, knowing that Yang would always be there for her. That had been her summation of her knowledge of love. As puberty hit and still no other feelings emerged, she had felt that the stories of irrepressible longing towards another were just fabrications.

But like the stealthiest of animals, love had stalked her, slowly getting closer as she spent more and more time with her partner, until it eventually pounced. The feelings she had for Weiss were not comforting, they were not of safety. They were exciting. They were electric. Every time she saw the familiar alabaster locks, weaving their way through a crowd towards her, her heart began to race, her palms grew sweaty, and she desperately tried to think of something witty to say that wouldn't leave Weiss rolling her eyes. Unfortunately she had failed on the last one all too often.

At the time she had not recognised that new type of love, even after they had kissed, she was still overwhelmed by the newness of everything she was discovering. Neither of them had taken the time to stop and analyse what they were doing, they were enjoying plunging into the unknown together too much.

But now, on the precipice of a chasm filled with unbearable loss, one she had only just managed to climb out of, she had time. All the time in the world to think about the girl who lay still under her hand. The hand that was slowly being stained crimson as Weiss' blood leaked through the cloth. Or at least as much time as it took until Weiss had none left.

There was nothing she could do, everyone else in the Bullhead were mere shadows to her eye, Blake and Oobleck hadn't returned, and she didn't know how to treat a bullet wound. The only options open to her were to continue to press down and to pray. Pray that Weiss wouldn't be stolen from her life, pray that they could have a lazy evening together watching a film, even pray that Weiss would once again be able to call her a dunce and lecture her on all the things she had done wrong. That Weiss' face would tense up once again in the way she thought was intimidating, but was now only incredibly endearing.

But against the dark metal floor her pale features were slack and lifeless. Ruby prayed, but if she had learned anything from the last thirty six hours, it was the gods were cruel. They cared not for the want of mortals, they had no empathy for suffering, and as the pulsing stream below her hand turned to nothing but a weak trickle, Ruby knew once again they cared not for her as well.

"Weiss… please… wake up… Weiss… please… please," Ruby let go off the soiled cloth and shook her shoulders roughly. Weiss' head lolled back and forth, white strands were dragged through the blood and dyed scarlet.

"Weiss please…" Ruby pulled Weiss close to her, burying her face on the bare skin that was entirely too cold. She closed her eyes and wept. Wept for everything she was losing and as lightly as a feather landing, Weiss' final breath slipped from her frail chest.

And Ruby's world ended.

It simply wasn't worth existing in anymore. Ruby hugged her partner's body and with her eyes still closed, started to shuffle towards the gaping maw of the aircraft and the blessed relief of the ground so far below.

Wanting her last sight to be of Weiss' face, one she could pretend was only peacefully asleep, Ruby opened her eyes.

And was shocked to find herself staring up into brilliant azure ones.

"Ruby! It's going to be ok. It's going to be ok." Weiss sounded frantic, almost pleading.

Of course it was going to be ok; Weiss was alive and looked to be uninjured. That was a little confusing but Ruby didn't care. She revoked everything she had said about the gods, one of them was listening and her prayers had been answered. It was a miracle, hers and Weiss'.

She started to rise, intent on clinging onto Weiss and never letting go, but a terrible rending pain in her stomach tore the strength from her muscles.

"Ruby don't move! You've been shot."

What, when did that happen? It was Weiss who got hurt, wasn't it? Now she was really confused. But she was unable to deny the fiery monster that was clawing at her belly; she let out a whine of agony.

From the change of expression on her face, the sound inflicted infinitely more pain on Weiss than she was feeling. Tears welled up at the corners of Weiss' eyes as she looked down.

"Ruby…" Weiss choked out. "It's going to be ok. I'm going… I'm going to make it all better." She started crying in earnest, large droplets of anguish that carved salty paths over the smooth skin of her face.

Those words sounded familiar. But Weiss wouldn't lie to her, not after everything they had been through together. The trust they shared between each other was absolute. If Weiss said it was going to be ok, it would be.

"Ruby… I love you." Weiss said the words she had waited so long to here, Ruby wanted nothing more than to return the sentiment, to tell Weiss she loved her too, and they would be together forever. But when she tried to speak her throat seized up.

Weiss knelt over her and placed her right hand gently on her chest.

"Goodbye…"

To Ruby's absolute horror, Weiss' word was accompanied by her raising Myrtenaster. No! Ruby tried to cry out, to say she was ok, to move, to stop her. But her body was not her own, it didn't obey her commands any longer and all she could was watch as Weiss pressed her weapon's point against her abdomen.

Ruby felt the sharp pain as it dug through the first layer of her skin. It was so acute it drowned out everything else.

"I love you." Weiss repeated; she wasn't even looking at her anymore.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Weiss began to push. The white hot lance of agony, slipped though the thin membrane of her skin, and carved a path through her organs. Finally Ruby regained control of her voice and she did the only thing that she could do in that situation.

She screamed, long and loud.

"Ruby!"

Silver eyes flared open, Weiss loomed above her, and Ruby found she was no longer a helpless victim. Her fist shot up from her side and slammed into the apparitions face. Her hand to hand combat still wasn't up to level that Yang would have liked it to be. But it seemed as though the training her sister had put her through, carried across into the dream world.

The Semblance enhanced punch impacted with an audible thump that sent a jolt up her arm. Weiss was thrown off of her and sent tumbling to the floor. She scrambled backwards, her feet getting tangled in the sweat covered quilt until her back was pressed up against the headboard.

Weiss' shocked gasps of hurt sounded from just out of sight and Ruby waited for her to make reappearance, Myrtenaster back in her hands. When she didn't surface, Ruby's clouded mind began to clear.

It was the pain that started to banish the fog. Hitting someone hurts, not as much as getting hit admittedly, but it still hurts, a lot. Her punch had ripped the skin off her knuckles and in the moonlight she could see crimson staining the snow white pillow.

Pillow? Wasn't she meant to be in a Bullhead flying away from Vale? How had she gotten here? In a bed? Her hand was on fire as she rubbed her fingers over it, the pain flaring to new heights. Wait, she could control her movements, was she lucid dreaming? But then why did it hurt.

The realisation of the reality of her situation dropped on her like a ton of bricks.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out in the quiet of what she now realised was their bedroom.

She tried to jump up, but the quilt was wrapped tightly around her ankles and she fell forwards. Heedless of the blood that was undoubtedly being smeared over the pristine white sheets; she desperately crawled over their ridiculously large bed until Weiss came into her view.

Her girlfriend was lying on her front, an arm trapped beneath her, her loose hair splayed around her head. Her gown had risen and was displaying one half of her underwear, but Weiss didn't seem to be cognisant of her lack of modesty. The terror fuelled punch seemed to have completely robbed her of her wits.

Ruby dropped onto the luxurious carpet and gently rolled Weiss over. She almost wished she hadn't. The porcelain perfection that was Weiss' face had been shattered and marred by her attack. The pale flesh was covered in a mixture of saliva and blood. The lips which Ruby knew first hand to be so soft had been mashed against pearly teeth until they had ruptured from the force. Her pupils were dilated and her eyes roved unseeingly. The tremor of guilt that Ruby had been feeling erupted into an earthquake.

"Weiss, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… I thought…" But she realised there was nothing that would excuse her for assaulting her girlfriend in their bed.

It shouldn't have been that bad, her hand to hand combat skills were still atrocious and even when enhanced with her Semblance she shouldn't have been able to hurt Weiss through her Aura. But Weiss hadn't been using her Aura.

Using an Aura took a small, but constant toll on the hunter's body. Like most Weiss usually stopped using it as part of her usual preparation for sleep. She could do that because she trusted Ruby implicitly and felt completely safe in her company. And now she had betrayed that trust. That hurt was the worst.

"Weiss… Weiss…" Her kneeling over Weiss' bloodstained and prostrate form brought back too many horrific memories, but this time there was no one nearby to help her. "Please…" Where Weiss was concerned any lessons of first aid just slipped from her mind.

It was the same thing that had happened in the Bullhead. When Weiss had collapsed she just simply hadn't been able to form any coherent thoughts. It had been Blake and Oobleck who had saved her life, not the person who was meant to be her partner. That person had been worse than useless.

But even with Blake and Oobleck, they had almost lost her. The horrific firefight they had been thrust into had robbed them of many of their medical supplies and the turbulent flight of the small aircraft made any more delicate care out of the question.

Winter had been close to apocalyptic upon learning the state her sister was in. She had ordered all the aircraft to land a few kilometres outside of Vale and had approached the Bullhead angrily. Her expression had transformed when she laid eyes upon the person who had been responsible for her sister's safety.

Glynda had also been in a critical condition. Whereas Weiss had taken a single bullet to the lower back, she had taken multiple. It had been a desperate and ultimately futile struggle for Port, who had been shot in his rescue, Oobleck who was going back and forth between her and Weiss, and some of the other teachers, to stop her slipping away.

Winter had acted with brisk efficiency, selecting the more seriously injured to be transferred to one of the SDC aircraft. Ruby never thought she would have wanted to hear Weiss cry out in pain, but it would have been better than the awful silence as Erashan had carefully picked her up.

She had scampered after them, not wanting to be separated from Weiss for more than a moment. Winter had almost refused to allow her to board, before relenting. Weiss' care was taken over by one of the SDC medics, though they ran into a problem.

Weiss had lost a lot of blood, and the scant supplies they did have had either been donated to the doctors at Beacon or were already in use. But there had been no shortage of volunteers to donate theirs to save the Schnee heir. Winter refused them all, smoothly inserting the needle into the artery in her wrist, all the while holding the hand opposite from the one Ruby clutched.

With everyone loaded, their aircraft had quickly climbed to cruising altitude before heading towards Atlas at a maximum speed far exceeding what the Bullhead could have managed. Winter had spent the entire flight to the hospital speaking to Weiss as if she were awake, while her blood kept Weiss alive. If Ruby had believed Winter didn't care for her sister, that journey forced her to correct her opinions.

They had made it into the waiting care of a full hospital staff. But looking down at Weiss sprawled on the floor; Ruby was forced to relive the nightmare of that day again. "Weiss!"

To her great relief, at the sound of her name, azure eyes began to gather their focus. Weiss touched her fingers to her lips and they came away with a scarlet sheen. She rolled her jaw and it clicked loudly in the silence.

"Owww." Weiss sounded a lot less refined than she normally did. She shook her head, clearing it and finally her gaze focused squarely on Ruby.

"Ruby are you ok?" Weiss continued to roll her jaw but her voice was soft and concerned.

"Of course I'm not ok, I punched you!" She didn't mean to cause Weiss to jump by raising her voice, any more than she meant for the tears which had been gathering in the corner of her eyes to break loose. "I punched you in our bed, because I'm fucking broken. Every time I close my eyes I'm back there. In Vale. With all the people who died because I wasn't strong enough. They're haunting me, because they know it was my fault. I see Yang get torn apart by a pack of Beowolves and I can only get there to watch her bleed out. I see Blake get slaughtered by a Deathstalker. I see Penny laughing as she stabs Jaune. I see Glynda get shot down when I could have saved her.

"Every time. And the worst…" her voice lost much of its power, sobs overcoming her, "The worst is when I see you die, again and again… I hold you in my arms and feel your life slip away and I can't do anything to stop it…" she was crying in earnest now. "And if that's not enough, I hit you. I'm not even safe to be around. I don't deserve to sleep in your bed."

Weiss' face had gone through several emotions as Ruby unburdened so much of what had been bottled up inside of her. Surprise, shock, horror, before settling on sadness and compassion. Ruby didn't see it with her silver eyes clouded over, but she felt Weiss' usual cool touch on her bare upper arms as she was pulled into an embrace.

Ruby tried to struggle out of it. She knew she didn't deserve it after what she had done, but in a rare display of strength Weiss didn't let her. The arms enfolding her may as well have been steel shackles and as much as Ruby tried she couldn't overcome them.

Weiss held on long enough for her feral energies to leave her, exorcised by the subtle scent of lavender and the tang of her skin that was Weiss. Drawn out by just the simple, magical thing that was the touch of one you knew who cared about you.

Ruby stopped struggling and instead buried her face in the soft skin of her partner's neck and cried. The river that escaped from her carried in it all the things she had been hiding, suppressing. It carried her sense of loss, her injustice at being forced into this position, her anger, and her crippling fear.

The wordless soothing noises helped, as did the steady circular motions on her back. Weiss didn't try and say anything, she perhaps understood that this was Ruby's problem and she was dealing with it in the best way she knew how.

It wasn't long before even the energy to cry disappeared from her and she slumped up against Weiss.

"I'm sorry," she murmured into the crook of Weiss' neck.

"It wasn't your fault. You just had a bad dream. You didn't know what you were doing."

"I still hurt you."

Weiss pushed her back until she was forced to stare into her face. It was just as bad as it had been before. A bloody visage; a testament to her crimes. Her thoughts must have been visible in her expression.

"Ruby I'm fine." Weiss rubbed at her lips, wiping the congealed blood away and revealing almost healed flesh beneath. "I'm a huntress remember. Yang has hit me a lot harder than you would ever be able to." Her joke failed to lift Ruby's mood. "You mustn't torture yourself over this, it was an accident. That's all it was. Now let's get up."

Weiss rose smoothly before reaching down for to help her girlfriend, but she froze as she brought Ruby's left hand into the moonlight flitting through the curtain. Ruby was as surprised as Weiss to see her fingers coated in blood.

In the midst of her confusion, her worry about her partner, and her subsequent anguish, she had entirely missed any pain flaring from her hand. The wound itself was nasty. Weiss' teeth had ripped a jagged section of skin from her knuckles and a strip of flesh was hanging loose.

"Ruby you're bleeding." Weiss sounded more hurt by this than anything else, as though she felt guilty for injuring her. "Why haven't you used your Aura?"

"Oh…" She probably should have done, the moment it happened, but it just hadn't occurred to her.

Reaching inside of herself, to the place that was just so hard to explain to someone who didn't have full control over their own, she manifested her soul. It felt like a warm embrace and she directed it towards her hand. By itself her Aura would heal most minor wounds over the span of a few hours, but it was possible to specifically direct it to speed up the action.

It took a lot more Aura, and in combat was only worth doing on the most debilitating wounds, but here, in what would be safety but for her actions, she could spare it. Weiss had obviously already done so.

Her hand increased in temperature by a few degrees as the energy contained by her soul flared into the area surrounding the wound. Upon activating her Aura the pain * she had only just noticed numbed slightly, and as her bodies normal mechanisms were sped up by orders of magnitude, it diminished more significantly.

The blood stopped flowing out, platelets gathering in the ruptures and causing it to congeal. The ragged edges of the cut smoothed, but there her body ran into a problem. It was intelligent enough to recognise, that there was a strip of flesh still hanging from the wound.

One of major limitations of the application of Aura was that it could not repair an injury where an obstruction was still present. The body could handle small pieces of grit or dirt, but it was unable to heal a bullet wound if the bullet was still inside. The very thing that had almost stolen Weiss from her.

Ruby knew she had two options; either rip the flap off and wait for a new layer of skin to form, something like that would take days. Or she could try and clean the wound and hope her body would be able to accept the flesh.

Weiss obviously recognised her dilemma. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Still somewhat in a daze Ruby let herself get pulled to her feet. Her bare toes sank into the thick, cream, coloured carpet. Like everything else in the room it was likely ridiculously expensive. Living with Weiss in their room back at Beacon, when she was in her school uniform, it had been possible to forget just who she was.

Here, in Atlas, in the penthouse of a five star hotel owned by the SDC, it was close to impossible. Everything about her surroundings screamed money and an awful lot of it. From the carpet, to the stupidly complex electronics, to the priceless works of art adorning the walls.

Weiss fit into this world seamlessly. She looked right at home in the futuristic and minimalist apartment: it just suited her. In these surroundings, none would mistake her for anything other than the multi-millionaire heiress to a multinational company. Unlike Ruby, Weiss didn't constantly worry she was going to spill her drink and ruin a piece of furniture that cost more than the average family would make in a year, she didn't feel the urge to rest her feet on glass table and then nervously try and rub away the smudges on its pristine surface before anyone noticed.

Being at home was meant to put you at ease, but Ruby never felt at ease here. She was constantly on edge. In the days when there was no one else here, it felt too spacious, too quiet. At Beacon, at Signal, there had always been noise. Whether it was boisterous people in the courtyard below their dormitory's window, or the reports of gunfire as the students trained, or even just the sounds of wildlife. The lilting song of birds, calling for a mate, two foxes fighting over a meal, or a dog barking from the city below.

Here, in this entirely sterile apartment, there was only silence. The rich do not want to be disturbed by those they believed under them and so the hotel had been designed. With the windows shut, the bustle of Atlas was silenced, until she felt like she could hear her own her body just ticking away. It was far too disturbing.

So she kept the windows open, turned the heating up to counter the frigid chill of the air, and she even left music playing in all the different rooms. Just to try and make the place seem a little less cavernous.

With other people here it was fine, she had something to distract her, but there were other people here far too seldom. Weiss normally worked long hours at the SDC's headquarters either returning home with the setting sun, or sometimes not coming back at all. Blake had all but disappeared in the last few weeks, reappearing only momentarily before vanishing again.

Ruby tried to spend most of her free time with Yang, and though her sister provided the companionship she so needed, there was something a little bit off about her. It was the smallest thing, she couldn't quite place her finger on, but it was there, and even then Yang was too often unreachable.

The close ties that had formed between their team when they were thrust together and forced to spend copious amounts of time in each other's company, though still there, had begun to fray. They had no combined purpose anymore.

They were no longer training to become huntresses. The White Fang had seen to that. Although the loss of Beacon would have been problematic, they should have been able to cope, train somewhere else, but there were still too many obstacles.

Though a legal battle was still raging, Yang, Blake, and almost everyone else who fought in Vale, were still part of Vale's army. At the moment there was an impasse in the courts, with some saying that Ozpin had illegally seized power, but if he won, they would have to carry out his orders.

Weiss, Winter and the rest of the SDC troops were not part of Vale's army, Ozpin had relinquished that claim the moment a horde of lawyers had descended on him. But Weiss had had to put aside her desire to become a huntress as well.

Ruby didn't know the details, but the SDC had obviously been hit hard by the events of Vale. They were maintaining a stoic appearance in the media, but if her father had given Weiss an office on the same floor as Winter's, Ruby knew it must be bad. The stress Weiss was under was apparent every time her thousand lien boots were discarded carelessly at the door, and she collapsed onto one of the sofas.

And where did that leave her? Like Weiss, she wasn't part of the army of Vale but for a different reason. She was too young. Despite her going through everything, witnessing every messed up detail the same as everyone else, despite her leadership holding one of the most important roads into Beacon. Despite her doing far more than all but a handful of the people who had been there. She was a child, and she was too immature.

Ozpin may have had legal basis for conscripting the rest of the students, but a fifteen year old, not a chance. Anyone under the age of eighteen had been temporarily discharged until they came of age. For the majority it would be a couple of months at most. For her it would be years.

It wasn't as if she even wanted to join up. Her last desire was to be in another situation as horrific as the one in Vale had been. Fighting Grimm by herself or with her team in a forest was ok. Killing people was not. When she closed her eyes, his face was just another of the myriad of things that haunted her.

No. All she wanted to do was protect her friends. If they were sent back into danger, she wanted to be by their side. But she wouldn't be allowed to be.

So she had been left in limbo. There were no real options open to her. If she wanted she could apply to join any of the academies around the world and they would probably relax their own entry age restrictions like Ozpin had. But if the majority of the people at Beacon had not been able to match her skill, how would she cope at one of the lesser schools, likely made to repeat the first year?

As conceited as it was, she knew that wasn't an option. She didn't want to replace team RWBY with a team that would undoubtedly be inferior in every way. She didn't want to have to sit through lectures on Grimm, when she had killed more than the rest of the students combined. And she didn't want to have to leave Weiss.

It was a situation that had no easy answer and she had so much time to ponder it in the silence. It wouldn't have been that bad if she had Zwei here. Though animals weren't usually allowed in the hotel and it would certainly cause the staff that cared for their apartment to have a fit, she was certain Weiss could have smoothed it over.

But Zwei was quarantined with all the other pets that had been brought from Vale. She knew the reasons behind it, and though Weiss had ensured he was being confined only around ten minutes away, she still missed him. The short visits she had only served to make her heartache more acute.

In her loneliness and despite her usual shyness around strange people, she had even resorted to attempting to talk to the staff who kept their apartment looking like there was no one living there. The first time she had tried talking to one of the maids, it had almost given her a heart attack. Weiss had to explain later that most who stayed here, would no more notice the help than they would the furniture.

All the staff had been exceeding polite, but most had tried to end the conversation as quickly as possible. Only one of the maids had responded to her tentative reach for companionship and had chatted away merrily while doing her work. But she only came once a week, and though Weiss could have made sure it was more often, it was another thing that Weiss didn't deserve to be burdened with.

Before this she had never had to think about what life with Weiss would actually be like after Beacon. In her stupidity she had assumed it would be the same, they would just spend time together and go out hunting Grimm. And they would have a nice house somewhere with all her friends nearby.

But Weiss had a multi-national company to run; she didn't have the time to go on frivolous hunts. Anywhere else, Ruby knew she would have been able to alleviate her dire boredom by grabbing Crescent Rose and heading into the wilderness. Any Grimm she killed was one that wouldn't descend on a helpless family; it would have made her feel useful. But in mainland Atlas there were no Grimm, they had all been driven back.

Hunters very rarely operated in Atlas, and if they did, they sought different prey. A prey she never wanted to hunt again. It was something she had never considered before. Her entire life had been built around becoming a huntress, but Weiss' goal had always been to take over the SDC.

If they were to stay together one of them would have to give. Either she would have to find a new direction for her life, or Weiss would have to leave Atlas. She supposed it was possible that Weiss could run the SDC from another country, but would Weiss really be content to live in a house as small as the one she grew up in on Patch? One that was actually a home?

The ground under her bare feet transitioned from lush carpet to marble tiles. They should have made her dance from foot to foot as they leached the heat from her soles, but instead warmth sank into her from the heated pipes just beneath them. Her first experience of them, had filled her with exhilaration, it was something she had read about but never thought to experience. Weiss had sighed exasperatedly as she had flopped down on the tiles, but like so much it had excited her.

It had helped that she was in a great mood, Weiss had been discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health, and she had even been too exhausted by worry to have had any nightmares as she slept in a chair at Weiss' bedside. Upon entering the penthouse for the first time it had almost overwhelmed her. It was just too big, too fancy looking, too different from what she was used to. With childish enthusiasm she had rushed from room to room, playing it up slightly because it made Weiss smile. But she had actually been looking forward to staying here.

Now the heated tiles, the shower without any glass where water cascaded from holes in the ceiling, the giant bath, and the room which was larger than their dormitory at Beacon, were all just another reminded of how different Weiss' life was to hers. Even the lights gradually brightened as they entered, like most of things in the apartment there were no actual controls, everything was operated by sensors.

Weiss led her to the spotless white sink and as Ruby stared at her girlfriend's reflection in the mirror, the guilt flared up again. In the soft moonlight, Weiss' appearance had looked bad, in the brightness of the bathroom, it was worse. Weiss had bled, a lot. It covered her face, her jaw, and it had stained the top of her nightgown. There was also a purplish bruise blossoming just under her skin. They faded quicker for hunters than normal people, but even application of Aura couldn't stop them forming entirely. Weiss would wear a constant reminder of the crime perpetrated against her for the next couple of days.

Weiss didn't seem to care about her appearance; she was instead peering intently at the bloody hand held in her own. "I'm going to have to clean it. This is going to hurt… I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Weiss I hit you!" Ruby pulled her hand from Weiss' grasp; she didn't deserve any of this. Weiss should have thrown her out, had her arrested, done anything other than care for her.

"It was an accident." For the first time Weiss raised her voice. "That's all it was. You didn't mean to hit me, and I will not allow you to beat yourself up about it. You had a bad dream, just like I have bad dreams, and you weren't in control of yourself. It's not your fault. And I've already forgiven you."

"But ̶ ̶ "

"I am not hearing anymore on this subject. Ruby these things happen. You didn't hold it against me when I stabbed you in practice. It was an accident and you just laughed it off, even when I felt terrible. But you helped me forgive myself. Now you need to do the same thing. It was an accident. Understand?"

She didn't. The incident Weiss was referring to had been an accident. They had been duelling without supervision and Weiss had been on top, but it had been close. She'd ignored her Aura alarm and flared her Semblance, throwing everything into a final attack. Weiss hadn't expected the sudden rush of speed and hadn't managed to get Myrtenaster out of the way in time.

It was her fault more than Weiss' and the wound itself hadn't been deep, only about half an inch. It had been painful for a few days but it had healed fine. That had been an accident, a set of circumstances that led to an unfortunate outcome.

Punching her girlfriend in their bed was not. Her mind may have been confused at the time, but she could remember with all too perfect clarity as to how her terror had turned to elation as her fist struck. Hitting Weiss had caused her joy; that was messed up. She was not ok, but she didn't want to cause Weiss any more turmoil by having her worry over her, so she nodded and stared at the floor.

"Good. Now stay still."

The next ten minutes were painful, not due to the flashes hurt racing along her nerves, but because Weiss was so tender in her ministrations. She didn't deserve it, didn't deserve Weiss.

She looked up from her study of her toes when she felt the Weiss' lips brush the back of her hand. Her knuckles were wrapped in a soft bandage, and the sensation of the torn skin had receded to a dull ache. Weiss traced a line of kisses up the exposed skin, over the bandage, and along her fingers. Each one was a little deeper and lingered a little longer. The other side of her hand was given the same treatment, until Weiss' lips came to rest on her palm, her tongue flicked over it playfully, sampling the tang of the flesh, before she relented.

"There you are. I'll have another look when I get back tonight." Weiss said, releasing the control of the limb.

"Thank you." Ruby said almost automatically, but it was sincere enough that Weiss broke into her breathtaking, but more importantly real, smile. It didn't lift Ruby as it usually did. The spotless whiteness of Weiss' teeth, only served to contrast against the crusted blood, something that Weiss must also have noticed in the mirror. She dipped her face down and washed it the best she could with her hand.

When she rose with now only the bruise and her soiled clothes as evidence to Ruby's crime, she was about to speak when the words died in her throat. Instead Weiss covered her mouth with the back of her hand and her jaw locked wide open in a deep yawn.

If possible it Ruby feel even worse, she knew Weiss had always had trouble getting to sleep when under pressure. The night before a big test, she would stay up to the small hours studying and would often be up when the rest of them awoke. With all the stress heaped onto her by her job, it was even worse now.

Ruby could count on the fingers of one hand how many times she had seen Weiss asleep since they had left the hospital. Every time she woke, Weiss would either be watching her, staring unblinkingly up at the ceiling, sitting up and answering emails on her scroll, or entirely absent. It wasn't healthy, she had tried to help her, buying herbal teas and remedies, and they did seem to have some effect. But all too often Weiss was the one rousing her from her nightmares as she tossed and turned on their bed.

It had gotten so bad she had even suggested to Weiss that they sleep in different rooms, as they were supposedly doing. Weiss had very quickly shut down that train of thought, saying she didn't want to be alone. At the time Ruby had been grateful. Now though, it was perhaps time to broach the subject again, there was a big difference between robbing Weiss of her sleep and attacking her.

Ruby only realised she had been standing still, staring sightlessly ahead while thinking, when soft fingertips brushed against her wrist. Weiss pulled her through the door and waved her hand at the black panel that controlled the lighting. The concealed strip lighting in the ceiling flared to life, illuminating the giant room in a soft hue.

Ruby should have had enough things to feel guilty about but as the room came into view, so did the blood spattered about it. Her actions had painted a grim tableau over the room. Droplets of scarlet had been scattered in a spray over the bedding and the walls when her fist struck. The blood from her knuckles had drawn a line over the sheets as she had scrambled across, and it had pooled at the where she had been kneeling on the thick carpet.

"I'm so ̶ ̶ "

"It wasn't your fault." Weiss interrupted her lame apology. "I'll have someone clean it later, it's no big deal. Now come on."

Ruby was briskly dragged into the spacious living area, where Weiss deposited her on one of the many modern white leather sofas. They may have been obscenely expensive, but they weren't comfortable to sit on, they were hard and almost insisted that you correct your posture.

"Wait here."

As Weiss walked away when she was almost out of sight, her hand went to the small of her back. More guilt. Underneath her blood stained nightgown, Ruby knew Weiss was massaging the remnants of the wound. It was still covered by a bandage and her doctor came to see her every other day. As much as Weiss tried to hide it, it was obvious it still bothered her and she had only aggravated it.

It could have been so much worse. The bullet had struck her back less than an inch away from her spine; it could easily have crippled her. As it was it had clipped her kidney before lodging in her intestines. It had only been Weiss' Aura and the skill of her doctors that had stopped developing a lethal case of sepsis. But it had still been so close and Ruby had spent days and days by her bedside and in the waiting room when Weiss was in the operating theatre, praying for her to make a recovery. When Weiss had, she'd foolishly thought that was the end of her problems.

With nothing else to do Ruby looked aimlessly around the room. The news was playing without sound behind her, but as always it was full of depressing things and the morning had been bad enough already. She only checked for long enough to see the time, 5:03, early, but Weiss would probably be getting out of bed soon normally. It was certainly too late for them to try and get to sleep in another one of the bedrooms.

With her back to the TV, Ruby stared over the dining table and out the floor to ceiling window that spanned the entire wall. At the moment it was only letting in the smallest slivers of light, even though there were no curtains, they were far too old fashioned. Even if she disliked most of the things about this apartment, the technology was cool. It only took a click of her fingers, a finger pointing at the window, and her raising her hand for the entire expanse to become completely transparent.

The view it revealed stole her breath away. The hotel was tall enough that it towered over most of the other buildings in Atlas. The penthouse offered her a view over the sprawling capital and out into the frozen tundra beyond.

The sun was only just creeping over the horizon. Its iridescent glory chased the shadows left by the night away and revealed what had been left in its absence. Back on Patch, she had always thoroughly enjoyed any of the rare snowfall they received. It was pretty and it was an awful lot of fun. Some of her best memories were of playing in the snow with her parents and Yang. Carefree days, where nothing in the world seemed like it could go wrong. Winter held a special place in her heart because of them.

But snowfall in Vale was nothing when compared to Atlas. Every night, the city would be covered by a fresh blanket. It was quickly dealt with by the efficiency of the population, but it was early enough that at the moment it was almost untouched.

For as far as her eye could see, the world had been perfected. The city, the roads, the farms, and buildings all around, had been covered by purity. The snow was an unending blanket that hid the machinations of society, and returned the world to its more primal state.

As the sun rose ever higher, dispelling the tempestuous grey clouds in the sky, the snow began to sparkle. Countless millions of diamonds absorbed its light and refracted it back into the air. A sea of incalculable worth, resting on top of roofs and hanging off trees, stretching from horizon to horizon. It was simply stunning.

"I like to watch the sun rise too." A quiet voice by her ear caused her to jump, caught up in the spectacle; Weiss' return had entirely escaped her notice. "Here."

Ruby felt the warm embrace of her cloak as Weiss wrapped it gently around her shoulders. She didn't have stuffed animals anymore, but the simple stretch of soft material had always provided her with comfort and her arms held it close, breathing in its scent.

In however long she had been fixated by the majestic sight out the window, Weiss had showered and changed into a white suit, though she was still barefoot. The bruise on her face was all but invisible under a layer of skilfully applied makeup, but it was still there. She settled down on the couch next to her, immediately finding the correct posture.

"It's beautiful. Every night everything we do is covered over and I can almost pretend we can start afresh, that this day will be different, that it won't be so ugly…" Weiss trailed off from that train of thought before starting again.

"From up here the view is incredible, but there are still too many signs of habitation. It won't be long before it's ploughed off the roads, melts as the factories start to belch smoke, it gets sullied here. I should take you to my family's estate. From my balcony you can see almost as far, but there are no other buildings, just gardens, all covered in a layer of white. You can walk through them, with the snow crunching underfoot, in the way only the freshest snow does, you know? Breathe in the crisp, clean air, take in the scent of the flowers who had managed, despite the odds, to open their petals. Hear the chittering of the animals as they struggle though the barrier blocking their burrows, and watch as they leap over the tundra. Walk down the…" Weiss suddenly realised she was rambling and stopped talking.

"That sounds nice." The few times Weiss had told her about the gardens on her family's estate, it had always been with such reverence. If what she had pieced together from the scant information about her childhood was correct, they were likely the only happy memories she had from her home. "I'd like to visit some time."

"We should. I just have to find the time. Every time I manage to deal with one issue, another two emerge." Weiss was clearly exasperated with her workload.

Ruby would have loved to be able to help her. It might make up in the slightest way for all she was putting her through. But bureaucracy was a minefield that she had no experience in and any attempt to help Weiss would only compound the troubles she was already bringing upon her, by robbing her of her much needed sleep. Ruby's mood plummeted, if there was just a way for her to feel like she wasn't dead weight.

"Anyway, how about we have a nice big breakfast, what do you want? I'm sure the kitchen will be able to make anything." Weiss' upbeat attitude wasn't helping, she seemed determined to pretend as though this morning hadn't happened.

"I don't care," she almost spat the words and the corner of her eye showed her the smile falling from Weiss' face. More guilt. "I mean I'll have what you're having," she quickly amended.

Weiss tried to lift her expression again but it was only half hearted. "Right. I'll order something."

When Weiss returned she almost started answering emails, before resolutely locking the screen of her scroll and throwing it out of reach. It was clear she was giving Ruby her undivided attention. It was a waste of her valuable time.

For the most part they sat in silence, watching the sun creep higher into the sky, and people start their daily grind. The snow ploughs went to work. The factories and refineries heated up. Vans and lorries began delivering produce to the shops that served the hundreds of thousands that lived here. The largest city in the world gradually woke from its slumber.

The silence itself was not comfortable. It was said that only with the truest friends can silence be as rewarding as a conversation. But they didn't speak, only because they had nothing to talk about. At Beacon, there was always something, a lesson, an assignment, a duel, their plans for the weekend, or the latest gossip, all because they were in the same situation.

Here they weren't. Weiss was an executive of a multinational company, whereas she sat and moped in this apartment all day, only venturing out into the bustling city when her boredom was absolute. Weiss tried to give them topics, she asked about her plans for later, even whether she had any new designs for Crescent Rose. But without her meaning them to, Ruby's answers always killed the conversation.

With this much free time and almost unlimited funds, most who knew her would have expected her to be tinkering away with her weapon. But though she had cleaned and repaired it until it was in a pristine state, the section of her mind that was always inventing new parts, even subconsciously, had been still for days. What good was a new bolt to speed up its action, when the nearest Grimm was over a thousand miles away? There just didn't seem to be a point.

It was a relief when the food arrived and as usual, the way Weiss was treated made her uncomfortable. In Vale, Weiss had been somewhat of a celebrity, in Atlas she was royalty. And in a country that placed so much standing on a person's lineage, everyone Weiss met treated her as such.

The twenty something maid who had been on the midnight to dawn shift, was visibly shaking when Weiss greeted her at the door. Like all staff at the hotel, she wore very a traditional maid outfit ̶ ̶ all black and white, a design originating in Dione hundreds of years ago that had caught on across Atlas. Most of the people who stayed here wanted nothing more than to be reminded of the difference between them and those who served them.

"Set it up on the table please." Sensing the maid's nervousness, Weiss didn't loom over her, but gave her space to work.

Halfway through there was a clatter as some cutlery slipped from her trembling fingers, and Ruby looked up to see her blushing furiously, but Weiss didn't raise her head. She could feel for the maid, being given the graveyard shift meant she was likely not all that experienced and the last thing she would have expected would to be called upon to serve one of the people who owned the hotel. It was hard to reconcile the person who was making the maid so nervous, with the person she knew from Beacon. Which one was real?

"Will there will be anything else Ms Schnee?" Her voice quivered at the prospect of addressing her.

"No thank you, give my compliments to the chef." Weiss gave her a smile along with several notes.

"I will Ms Schnee." The maid pulled out her skirts in a low curtsey, which even Ruby ̶ ̶ after Weiss' very detailed lessons ̶ ̶ could see was less than perfect. But there was an expression of relief on her face, that maybe she perhaps hadn't done as badly as she had feared, as she left with her trolley.

The food smelled good. Rising and padding close, it became apparent that Weiss had ordered a breakfast that was gratuitously unhealthy and wholly unlike anything she would desire for herself. The table was almost sagging under a colossal assortment of pancakes. They were dripping with syrup, slathered with chocolate, laden with fruit, and almost every other ingredient anyone could ever want.

On a normal day, if she had laid eyes on the bounty splayed out in front of her, Ruby knew she would have been bouncing off the ceiling with excitement. But today wasn't a normal day. Weiss was not forgoing her normal breakfast because she wanted to; instead she was trying to make her happy.

Weiss had sat in the seat at the end of the table. It was clear from her expression that she wasn't too keen on any of the food, but she selected a stack of pancakes covered with melting white chocolate and set it before herself without making a sound.

"You're not going to make me eat all this by myself are you?" Weiss was smiling again.

As much as Ruby would have loved to wallow in her misery, she didn't want to drag Weiss down with her. Not when there was so much already pressing her. She could put on a show for her girlfriend, it's not like it would have to be a very long one. Weiss would be leaving her alone soon enough.

"Of course not." She sat down and dragged a plate towards her. Pancakes were her favourite breakfast, Yang had always been able to make mean ones and they provided more than enough energy to make it to lunch.

Though Yang was a good cook, she had to admit that purely taste wise, these were better. A gourmet kitchen probably didn't get too many orders for something as simple as pancakes, but it didn't mean they couldn't make them. They were light enough that they practically fell apart in her mouth and the taste was almost indescribable. For a moment she forgot her worries and just let herself be overwhelmed by the sensation.

But if it was up to her to choose, she still would have picked the ones made by Yang. Though they weren't as well cooked, they were denser, and the ingredients were cheaper, they were made with love. Yang delivered them with pride and ruffled her hair as she told her to dig in. Spending her time eating with Weiss, they had had many expensive meals, but nothing compared to when Weiss had managed to come home early and decided to cook for her.

It shouldn't have been surprising that Weiss could cook, after all she excelled at everything else she tried, but it still was. So when Weiss had declared her intention, Ruby had found herself consumed with the desire to watch her. Her girlfriend had moved with the utmost efficiency, not even referring to a recipe but working from memory. She had even taught her how to make pasta. That evening had probably been the happiest she had been since getting here.

They had ended up covered in flour, eggs, cheese, and almost every other ingredient they had used, after one of their many play fights. But the sombre silence of the apartment had been filled with the sounds of laughter, for that evening they were not an heiress and an almost huntress, instead they were just two friends having a good time. At the end they had two dishes, Weiss may not have been pleased with them being less than perfect, but as far as Ruby was concerned, it was the best thing she had ever eaten. And she had made sure to make her gratitude known.

Ruby polished off her pile and reached for another, surprisingly her mood had improved somewhat. As it turned out, comfort food was aptly named. Weiss was still slowly and painfully making her way through her first plate. Here in Atlas her table manners were never anything less than impeccable. She moved methodically and very carefully, eating small, ladylike, bites. There was never even the scrape of a knife or any other sound, Weiss ate silently, as though she feared to draw attention to herself. But at least she was actually having breakfast, too many days she left without.

Ruby had just finished up her third plate and was eyeing up another, wondering if there was space for it in her stuffed belly when Weiss' voice distracted her from her sinful desires.

"Ruby, do you… do you think it might help if you talked to someone? Me…" Weiss nervously asked, she knew she was treading on previously untested ground.

Ruby's heart ripped about a hundred beats in a second in panic. She had seen the effect her tear laden confession had on Weiss this morning, but if she told Weiss the real thing that had caused her to wake up screaming, it would destroy her, and their relationship.

Weiss caught the sentiment behind her change in expression. "Not me then… Yang maybe, or Blake," she sounded hurt but carried on. "Or maybe someone who's trained to listen and talk it through with you."

"You think I need a shrink," her reply had an edge of anger.

"No… I mean, you said yourself you weren't dealing with this all that well. It might help to talk to someone who knows all about these things, you could say whatever you want in complete confidence, and they would help you understand your feelings a little better. Consider it… for me. You could try just one session and if it doesn't work out, I won't mention it again. I just hate seeing you like this," Weiss finished limply.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. There were some things she wanted to get off her chest, but had no desire to burden her friends with. It might help to get some fresh perspective on some of the things that were haunting her. But if she saw a shrink, it would only confirm how messed up she was.

"I'll think about it."

"Thank you. Now I've seen you eyeing up that plate, why don't y ̶ ̶ "

Weiss' phone demanded her attention. Ruby hated that phone more than she would have thought possible for an inanimate object. It always stole Weiss from her. Though she carried out most of her business on her scroll, only a few had her mobile number and they didn't use it if it were less than urgent.

"Yes… Where?... How many?... Great. I'll be in my office in twenty minutes, I'll call you back. Get things ready." She hung up before turning apologetically to Ruby.

"I'm sorry. I hate to do this. Especially today. But I've got to go. I'll make it up to you. I promise. When I get back we'll do something, umm ̶ ̶ "

"Weiss it's fine." It wasn't. "Go, I know it's important."

"I'm sorry," she apologised again before leaning down for a rushed kiss.

Weiss' lips tasted as good as usual, complimented by a hint of white chocolate, but it was over far too soon. Her girlfriend had other commitments, ones that wouldn't wait and were a lot more important than her. Weiss rushed to get her heels, grabbed her car key, before stopping at the door.

"I'll see you tonight."

Ruby forced herself to smile and wave. "Bye."

Weiss took a final look back, before stepping though the door, and letting it lock with a whisper behind her. Of course it shut quietly. In the seconds since Weiss departure, the ticking of her body became audible. She could hear her stomach struggling to deal with the food, the air rushing in and out of her lungs, her heart beating.

With Weiss here, the apartment felt like a home, Weiss made it come alive. But by herself, it was nothing more than a decorative tomb and her life was ticking away inside of it. Ruby stared at the door that her partner had disappeared though and as she sat alone once more, the cavernous silence swallowed her.

A/N: So there's the first chapter I hope you enjoyed it. Once again I have a full story plan written out and I'm looking to explore a lot more of themes I touched upon in the first book. By now you should know what sort of tone I am going for, although it will not all be angst, there will be fluff too further down the line, I hope to find some kind of balance. Also I am not killing Weiss off, I will be adding her to the tags in a few days, I just didn't want to ruin the suspense of what happened at the end of Innocence.

Now for some bad news, I'm moving and starting a new job soon so my writing schedule is likely going to get disrupted. I fully intend to try and keep to the same release schedule, but some chapters may be shorter than you are used to.

Anyway thanks for coming back to the sequel. Make sure you remember to follow/favourite so you get alerts to the new chapters (plus it really helps me out) and if you can leave a review.