Hello everyone and welcome back to Steamed Petals.

Chapter 31

After Weiss fell asleep, Ruby kept up her glare at the hidden camera she had spotted for a few minutes before allowing herself to relax enough to drop into a light doze. Ruby maintained enough awareness of her surroundings to sense when the bullhead began its decent towards their destination and roused herself and Weiss so they would be ready to depart once the ship landed.

"Did you sleep at all?" Weiss questions as she stretches a bit.

"I dozed off for a little bit, but I couldn't really relax enough to fall asleep." She grins at her girlfriend.

"Nervous about meeting him?" Weiss asks, a gentle smile on her own face.

"Maybe a little, but that's not why I couldn't sleep." Ruby begins poking her fingers together nervously.

Gathering her girlfriend into her arms, Weiss whispers, "What's wrong Ruby? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know Weiss, but I've already told you about this and you got very upset with me." Ruby says, averting her eyes from Weiss.

The heiress takes a moment to think over what Ruby just said, then it clicks with her. "If this is about that ridiculous notion you had of me giving you up in favor of the company you can forget it. I'm not letting you go and if you ever bring it up again, I swear I will take away your cookie privileges for a month when we get back to Beacon and I will make sure that the kitchen staff comes up with a diet plan for you that will meet your advanced metabolic needs but taste like wet cardboard. Do I make myself clear?"

Ruby hangs her head as her shoulders slump. "Yes Mistress Schnee."

Anger flashes across Weiss's face. "RUBY ROSE! I told you never to call me that! I also told you never to bring up that idiotic idea! Why are you doing this?"

The corner of Ruby's mouth quirks just slightly. "Why, Weiss? Why am I doing this? Earlier today when I jokingly asked if I should start calling you Mistress Schnee, you claimed we were equals, yet when I made a suggestion, you shot it down without even listening. You even ordered me not to even think about it. Then, when I bring it up again, you still don't listen. Instead you threaten to take away my cookies and force me to eat bland foods. That doesn't sound equal to me, it sounds more like I should be wearing a collar while you hold the leash." Ruby turns away from Weiss her head low.

"R-Ruby?" Weiss says, as she reaches her hand out towards her girlfriend's shoulder, but stops before touching her and drops her hand to her side. "I-I'm sorry. You're right, I should have listened to your suggestion. You can tell me about it in the car, but don't expect me to accept the idea of letting you go to keep the company."

Looking back towards Weiss, Ruby sees her girlfriend is truly upset. "That's all I ask. I just want you to listen to what I have to say." She reaches out and clasps Weiss's hand. "Now lead the way."

Weiss leads Ruby out of the hangar the ship had landed in and through the airport to where the VIP loading and unloading zone was. Parked there was a white stretch limousine with the light blue Schnee logo on the side outlined in black.

Ruby begins walking towards the limo, but Weiss stops her. "This way Ruby." Weiss leads her past the luxury car and towards an enclosed garage.

Ruby watches as the limo pulls away, driving towards the exit. "Weiss, what's going on?"

A slight smirk on her face, Weiss replies, "For someone who trained in security procedures I'm surprised you would think it safe to travel in a vehicle that practically screams target. That was a decoy vehicle, it's fully armored and the driver is trained in evasive driving to make it appear he is carrying VIPs, and on occasion it is actually used to transport my father to certain meetings, but we will be taking a different vehicle today."

"Okay, so what will we be riding in?" Ruby asks as they enter the garage.

Weiss leads Ruby over to a fairly ordinary looking taxi cab. At Ruby's confused expression Weiss says. "Nobody would expect the heiress of the SDC to be riding in a taxi, besides, this isn't our typical cab. It has a heavy duty suspension installed to carry the weight of the armor plating and the engine has been upgraded for additional power and speed."

The driver of the taxi gets out of the car and opens the rear door for the two of them. "Mistress Schnee, yours and the young miss's personal luggage has been loaded in the trunk. The remainder of the baggage will be transported in another vehicle."

"Thank you, Kobalt. This is Miss Rose and she will be staying with us, please inform the rest of the staff so that they may address her properly." Weiss says to the driver as she enters the car.

"Of course, Mistress Schnee." The driver says, bowing his head to Weiss. "A pleasure to meet you Miss Rose."

"Ah, thank you. A pleasure to meet you too." Ruby responds as she enters the car.

The driver shuts the door after Ruby situates herself and then slides into his own seat. As the taxi starts forward Weiss presses a button to activate the intercom to the front of the car. "Kobalt, Miss Rose and I have some important matters to discuss, could you please take the scenic route?"

"Of course Mistress Schnee, although your father does expect you before dinner." Comes the reply from the driver.

Weiss responds with. "Very well, thank you." Turning to Ruby she says. "You have until we reach our destination to explain why you think I should choose the SDC over you."

Looking directly into Weiss's eyes, Ruby responds, "I don't think you should choose the SDC over me, but I think you should consider that possibility. If your father forces you to make the choice, can you honestly give up your dream of redeeming the Schnee name just to be with me? My dream has always been to be a huntress, so, no matter what happens with your father, my dream has every chance of coming true. Ever since I've known you, your dream has been to rebuild your family name so that it's associated with something other than Faunus discrimination and shady business deals. It's a worthwhile goal and I'd love to be part of helping you make that a reality, but if you fight with your father over our relationship and he strips you of your position as heiress, you won't be able to do that. Yes, you could become a huntress with me and work to ensure that some people learn that having the Schnee name doesn't automatically make you a bad person, but you'd be leaving behind your chance to make the lives of the SDC workers so much better. I know you love me, and I hope you understand how much I love you, but I just wouldn't feel right if by being together it got in the way of your dreams and being able to live your dream would help so many people."

Ruby had barely blinked as she explained herself to Weiss, wanting to make sure she understood exactly how strongly she felt about this.

"Ruby, you are a world class idiot." Weiss says. "I already told you, without you by my side I'd be nothing but a shell of myself. You say that as long as you've known me my dream has been to redeem my family name. That is my dream now, because I met you and learned that my name was worth redeeming. Do you know what my dream was before I met you, Blake and that brute of a sister of yours? My dream before coming to Beacon was to find one of father's suitors that I didn't despise at first sight. I convinced my father to let me come to Beacon telling him I wanted to train at the most prestigious school, but in truth, I just wanted to be away from home and try to be a normal student. Then you exploded onto the scene and Blake made it abundantly clear that I wouldn't be allowed to pretend to be normal."

Ruby chuckles a little. "To be fair, you did have a couple people hauling your luggage for you and you were dressed like a princess so you weren't exactly blending in with us normal people."

"Be quiet you dolt." Weiss says. "I'm trying to say that, before you my dreams consisted of wanting to get through life with as little hassle to myself as possible. I didn't have any goals I wanted to work towards. You, Blake and even Yang opened my eyes to what I could be if I took control of my own future rather than trying to be what I thought was best for the company. The three of you also helped to open my eyes to the plight of the innocent Faunus and the fact that there were innocent Faunus at all."

Weiss clasps Ruby's hand, it is now her turn to stare into her girlfriend's eyes. "Ruby, you say you don't want to get in the way of my dream but without you, I wouldn't have that dream. I want to redeem the Schnee name so that it is something to be proud to wear. Rose, Xiao Long and Belladonna are going to be names remembered throughout history. The three of you are going to be great huntresses, but I'm going to inherit the SDC, so I won't be making a name for myself, I'll be continuing my family name and I want it to be something people will talk about with the same respect that they will about your three names. The thing is, what's the point of being remembered if I can't be happy now? Before I met you, I didn't know what it was to be in love with someone and I would have been fine with simply settling for someone who wasn't intolerable. How could I ever settle for something like that now that I know what it feels like to be in love with someone?"

Squeezing Ruby's hand, Weiss's gaze hardens. "So I tell you this one more time. I would rather give everything up and be with you as just a huntress than have everything else in the world and not have you by my side."

Ruby smiles at Weiss. "I thought you'd say something like that, princess. I just needed to make sure you knew that if I was holding you back I wouldn't feel right. If you lost your dream because of me I'd never forgive myself."

"As corny as this may sound, Ruby, you are my dream. As long as I'm with you, everything else is just a bonus." The smile that Weiss returns to Ruby causes the younger girl's heart to flutter.

"Mistress Schnee, we are about to arrive."Kobalt's voice comes from the comm system.

"Thank you, Kobalt. How did the decoy fare?" Weiss asks, some concern in her voice.

"It arrived unmolested, Mistress Schnee." Kobalt replies.

"Thank goodness." Weiss breaths out. "I would have hated it if anything had happened to them."

"Who was in the decoy, Weiss? Someone you knew well?" Ruby asks with some concern.

"Not really, just a couple people from father's security force. I just don't want to think of people getting hurt on my behalf. I've never liked people putting themselves in danger for me, but I understand that it's their job." Weiss explains.

Just then the taxi pulls up in front of a mid-sized house in an upscale neighborhood.

"Is this your house, Weiss?" Ruby asks, looking at the house in confusion.

Weiss laughs at the look on Ruby's face. "Of course not, this is just a stop along the way. Come along and I'll explain once we get inside."

Weiss walks up to the front door and Ruby follows. Taking a key from her pocket, Weiss unlocks the door and leads Ruby inside. After the door is securely closed behind them Weiss speaks. "This isn't my home, it's a train station. It would look suspicious for a taxi to enter the Schnee estate so it drops people off here. There is an actual family that lives here, but they are secretly paid by the SDC and the entrance to a private rail system is located in their basement. Please be mindful of their possessions, they are really nice people so don't mess with anything."

Weiss moves down a hallway to a door which opens to reveal a set of stairs leading down. Flipping a switch, Weiss turns the lights on in the basement and descends the stairs.

Ruby looks around, her eyes passing over the things one expects to find in a basement. The furnace and water heater held no interest for her, nor did the washer/dryer combination or the shelving that held canned goods and other non-perishable items. No, what drew her attention was the solid metal wall set towards the back of the house with its security door and biometric scanner.

"I take it that's the entrance to the private train." Ruby says as Weiss leads them towards the door.

"Yes, and I'm going to have to ask you to turn away while I type in the codes and activate the scanners. Please don't think this means I don't trust you. It's just..." Weiss is cut off by Ruby placing a finger over her mouth.

"I get it Weiss. I was trained in security procedures so you don't need to worry about me. Let me know when you're done." With that Ruby turns her back on Weiss and begins studying her surroundings.

Weiss smiles to herself for a moment, realizing she shouldn't have worried about Ruby's reaction to security protocols, but is glad she had. It showed how much she had changed. Before Beacon she would have told whoever was with her to stay back with no thought to their feelings since she would have found them irrelevant.

Weiss enters the security code and allows the machine to perform a retinal scan on both her eyes and then places her hand on the scanning device. Most people would assume that it was a simple hand print reader, but the scanner was also a touch pad and aura reader. Someone attempting to access the train without the proper pressure sequence or aura signature would get an unpleasant surprise. There was even a panic code that could be used to seal the person attempting access into a small, air tight bubble while the rest of the house was filled with a paralytic gas. Once Weiss cleared all of the security checks she called Ruby over.

"You need to place your right hand on the scanner. I've already let the computer know I was with a guest and it now needs your palm print to allow you access to the next area." Weiss states.

As Ruby walks up to the scanner and places her hand on it she says to Weiss. "Depending on how in depth this thing checks my background there may be a problem." Just then the scanner gives off a warning tone and a yellow light appears above the door.

"Ruby, what's going on?" Weiss asks as she rushes up to the security terminal. "Why are you being flagged as a possible White Fang sympathizer?"

"I was afraid that's what it was." Ruby says looking at Weiss with a small smile. "You know how both Yang and I are for Faunus equality?" Weiss nods her head, and Ruby continues. "Well, both my parents were also for equality, and, well, you remember Blake saying that the White Fang used to be an organization dedicated to bridging the gap between humans and Faunus. My parents, and most of their friends from their time in Beacon joined the early White Fang trying to work towards a lasting peace between both sides. Dad is still, technically, a member of the White Fang, although he hates their current direction and hasn't had anything to do with them, really, since mom passed away. Uncle Qrow used to be in the White Fang as well, but he renounced his membership when they turned violent. Still, it's a matter of public record that my family has ties to the White Fang, so this happens on occasion."

"Really?" Weiss lets out an exasperated huff. "You couldn't have said something about that before we got to a security checkpoint for what is considered one of the most anti-Faunus companies on Remnant?"

Ruby shrugs her shoulders. "Sorry Weiss. It didn't even cross my mind until you said the machine needed my handprint."

Weiss shakes her head as she punches in another code, causing the yellow light to be extinguished. "I've cleared you through this checkpoint, unfortunately we will be met with a security detail at the other end of the trip to ensure that I am not under duress in bringing you with me."

Ruby shrugs her shoulders. "It's fine Weiss. I'm glad to see so many safeguards placed around gaining entrance to your home."

Weiss ushers Ruby through the door and down another flight of stairs. At the bottom Ruby sees a single railcar that looked to be either remotely operated or computer controlled since there is no operator aboard.

As they board the car Ruby says. "I'm guessing that this doesn't go directly to your home."

Shaking her head Weiss responds. "No, that would be a glaring weakness in my father's defensive perimeter. The train takes us to a building secretly owned by the SDC. From there we take a private elevator to the roof where a bullhead will be waiting for us."

"Okay, so why didn't we stay on the airship we rode from Vale and fly straight to your estate?" Ruby's confusion evident in her eyes.

"A couple reasons actually. Firstly, all airships arriving in Atlas airspace from another kingdom are required by law to land at one of three designated airfields for inspection and tariff collection, not even my father is exempt from this as many of the ships in the Schnee fleet are also used to bring in raw dust from various mines located outside of Atlas's borders." A small smirk crosses Weiss's face. "Not even my father, it seems, is influential enough to evade the tax man. Secondly, the ship we came in on is too large to land on the bullhead pad located on the roof of the main building, and while it would certainly be possible to build a larger pad on the estate it just wouldn't be cost effective in my father's eyes."

Ruby shrugs her shoulders. "Okay, I guess I get not being able to fly straight through to your father's estate, but why not take a smaller bullhead from the airport directly to your home?"

"That occasionally happens, but my father changes things up frequently to keep any unwanted eyes guessing which direction they should be looking. It just happens that this route was assigned for my return this time around." Weiss explains to Ruby. 'Although I wouldn't put it past father to set this convoluted route up to annoy either Ruby or myself.' She continues to herself.

"So what type of reception should we be expecting at the other end of this leg of our trip?" Asks Ruby as she watches the display of the train's progress towards its next stop.

Weiss grins slightly at Ruby's sudden change in questioning. "Seeing as how there is only one person who flagged the system, the normal response would be a dozen AK-200 bots and an equal number of human security personnel. Since you are listed as a Beacon student, most likely there will also be a hunter level agent from my father's elite DEK unit."

"Your father has hunters on his payroll, and what is DEK?" Ruby questions.

Weiss shakes her head. "Not current hunters, I said hunter level agents. There are around two dozen agents, but the four primary ones are all former hunters that were injured in the field and chose to retire from that profession to become high level bodyguards. The rest are former military personnel who ended up having their auras unlocked later in life. As for DEK it stands for 'Die Erdbeere Kader' which translates to 'The Strawberry Squad' a reference to the names of the four core members. Their leader, Silber Schwartz, is a graduate of Beacon and when he was forming the unit he took the letters of the original four to create a team name that even Headmaster Ozpin would approve of, team STBY or Strawberry."

Ruby giggles a little at the team name. "Yea, the headmaster would definitely name a team something like that. So, who are the other members of team STBY?"

Weiss looks at the display showing their location. "I'm sorry Ruby. We don't have time for me to give you all their names. We're about to arrive. Most likely we will be dealing with Silber. He tends to handle any of the security surrounding me."

Ruby nods to Weiss, indicating that she understands and stands up, preparing to disembark.

As the train pulls into the station, Weiss turns to Ruby, "Stay calm once we arrive. Silber will likely try to goad you into doing something foolish."

"Don't worry about me. As long as he doesn't threaten you, I'll behave." Ruby replies with a serious look in her eyes.

The train pulls into the station and the doors open. Weiss steps out of the car first, followed soon after by Ruby.

Once they are both off the train the doors close and a booming voice calls out. "Mistress Schnee, please step away from the suspect!"

Weiss takes several steps away from Ruby as two dozen AK-200 bots, a dozen security officers in Schnee white and the speaker emerge from access points around the room. "Mister Silber, a pleasure to see you as always." She then rattles off what sounds like a code in Atlesian, but it is said quickly enough that Ruby only catches a few words

The man, who stands close to 6' tall and wears a Schnee white jacket and cargo pants, just nods his head towards Weiss. "Mistress Schnee, it is good to see you as well, and it is comforting to know that you are not currently under any obvious duress. As I am sure you are aware, however, your guest was flagged as a White Fang sympathizer, and therefore I must ask her to submit herself and her belongings to a thorough search. Do you have anything to declare, Miss Rose I believe it was?"

Ruby looks the man over more carefully. His deep chestnut hair is combed straight back from his forehead and his deep green eyes observer her just as carefully as she is watching him. Other than his hair and eyes, the only other spot of color on him is a deep purple emblem in the shape of a crossed war axe and lightning bolt.

"Please, call me Ruby." She says. "As for declarations, I am currently carrying four weapons on my person. I have a collapsible High-Impact Sniper-Scythe on a hanger at the small of my back, you can likely see it from where you are as it is difficult to conceal. I also have a pair of custom built semi-automatic pistols on retractable rails strapped to each of my forearms, as well as a KA-BAR infused with lightning dust under my combat skirt strapped to my left outer thigh. As for being a White Fang sympathizer, you are completely wrong. My family has ties to the original White Fang, the peaceful organization that was formed shortly after the Faunus Rights Revolution in an attempt to bridge the gap between the Faunus and the humans. Most of my family renounced their ties when the new leadership started taking the Fang in a more violent direction. My mother did not live long enough to see the peaceful organization become violent, and my father has either forgotten that he is still technically a member or he is hoping that they will revert back to the way they were. As for me, I freely admit that I am pro-Faunus equality, but I despise the actions of the White Fang and have actively opposed them over this past school year."

Silber merely stares at her, his cold green eyes appear to be trying to peer into her soul. A shudder runs through Ruby's body, but she smirks and locks eyes with him. She feels his consciousness try to enter her mind, but she instantly blocks him out, mentally thanking Professor Goodwitch for the time she spent teaching both her and Weiss proper mental defense. "Were you attempting to use an Aura technique, or was that part of your semblance?"

"My semblance has nothing to do with that minor mental probe. I was merely attempting to ascertain the veracity of your statement." Silber's gaze intensifies.

Ruby feels the renewed assault on her mental defenses, but her barrier holds firm. "Had you simply asked to see my thoughts to find out if I was telling the truth I would have readily let you in, but by attempting to probe my thoughts without my permission it shows you are not trustworthy. I give you one warning, back off from your assault, both Weiss and I have been trained in mental sparing by someone with far greater abilities that you. If you continue to try to batter down my mental barriers I will be forced to implement a few active defenses, you will not like what you find, but I will refrain from entering your mind."

The corner of his mouth simply quirks up in response, "Your defenses are quite strong, who taught you to defend against mental intrusion?"

"One of the professors at Beacon." Ruby evasively states. "I'm not sure if you're aware of what occurred with Weiss this past year but it was deemed imperative that she and I both receive training in the mental defenses and, by extension, mental offenses for the purposes of what amounts to sparring practice."

"I have been made aware of it, the rest of the men here have been kept in the dark, however." Silber says, lowering his voice so that the Schnee security personnel wouldn't overhear him.

"Good, then you know why I am currently travelling with her, and why it was deemed important that we both have strong defenses." At his nod Ruby continues. "What nobody but the person who is training us knows is that, after each session, I lower my barriers and allow Weiss unrestricted access to my thoughts and memories. I feel it is only fair since our sessions end up dredging up things from her past, so by this point she probably knows me better than anyone but myself. Weiss trusts me, as does Professor Goodwitch, who has been training us."

The pressure of the mental assault suddenly vanishes. "I have heard of the Goodwitch. If she is the one that has been training you then I will almost certainly not be able to breach your defenses. I suppose it is too late to ask your permission to scan your mind?"

"It's never too late to ask, but at this point the answer would be no. You can either trust Weiss or you can try to force your way into my mind, but I will defend myself if you try to attack me again." Ruby states calmly.

"Ruby, don't. It's what he wants. If you attack, even in defense they can detain you. Please don't do anything rash." Weiss calls from her location.

"Weiss, I told you I would behave unless they threatened you. He is aware of our extra training with Professor Goodwitch and what it means. It also means he knows that I very likely know some of your secrets, so from this point forward I can only interpret any attack against me as an attempt to learn your secrets. You have given me your trust in allowing me to know the things you try to hide even from yourself, I will not fail that trust by allowing someone else the opportunity to steal them." Ruby says to Weiss, but her steely gaze never leaves Silber.

Silber's eyes dart between the two girls when suddenly he shifts his stance and drops to one knee facing Weiss. Placing his right fist over his heart, bowing his head and allowing his left arm to hang loose at his side, he says. "Mistress Schnee, that was never my intention. Please believe that I would never try to do anything that might bring you harm."

Weiss quirks her right eyebrow. "Dismiss your men and we can discuss this properly."

"As you wish Mistress Schnee." Raising his voice he calls out. "Everyone dismissed. Return to your posts!"

As one, the bots turn and begin heading to the various alcoves from which they had appeared. The humans give a sharp salute and exit the platform.

After the last of the security detail has left, Weiss looks at Silber. "Get up you fool. Your false humility and charm may have been able to fool an impressionable twelve year old girl, but I've had six years to become immune to your antics."

Silber looks up at Weiss, a huge grin on his face. "As you wish, Mistress Schnee."

As he rises to his feet, Weiss steps towards him with her hands outstretched. He takes one hand in each of his own and they exchange kisses to each cheek. "Idiot, I've told you to call me Weiss when there's no one around."

"The walls have eyes and ears, Mistress Schnee." Silber says, a hint of teasing in his voice.

Weiss cuffs him on the arm. "Yes they do, but by now the only ones you haven't shut off are the ones linked directly to my father's study. He certainly doesn't care so drop the Mistress Schnee nonsense."

Ruby looks at the two, trying to figure out their relationship. "Weiss, what's going on?"

Silber looks over at her and a mischievous glint enters his eyes. "Looks like someone might be a little jealous. Should we let her in on our dirty little secret, Weiss?" As he ask the question he looks into Weiss's eyes adoringly and gently caresses her cheek.

Looking over at her girlfriend, Weiss can see the fire smoldering behind those silver eyes. Knocking his hand away she says. "Stop that you idiot. Keep teasing her like that and she'll kill you where you stand and I wouldn't blame her a bit. In fact, I'd even help her. Ruby, let me formally introduce you to Silber Schwartz, my cousin and a royal pain."

"A pleasure, Miss Rose. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself when I saw that look in your eyes as you watched us greet each other." Silber says, laughter in his eyes.

"Nice to meet you as well Mr. Schwartz." Ruby says seemingly mollified, but Weiss can still detect the hints of hostility in her voice.

Looking at Silber, Weiss lets out an exasperated sigh. "I take it you're not going to clear us through this area unless Ruby allows you past her mental defenses."

"I'm sorry Weiss. Those are the rules in situations like this and I can't bend them even for you." True regret evident in his voice.

"Alright Ruby, as long as it's him you can drop your barriers." Weiss says as she shakes her head.

"Do you trust him Weiss?" Ruby asks, concerned as the head shake.

"To keep my fears secret, yes. To not tease me about them, no. Just let him in so we can get this over with." Weiss looks at the ground.

Making eye contact with Silber once again all Ruby says is, "Fine." As soon as Silber enters her mind, however, Ruby sends him a mental message. 'If you ever use anything you may find in here to hurt Weiss, cousin or not, they will never find the body.'

Silber mentally flinches at the absolute honesty and unbreakable determination behind the message. A few minutes later Silber retreats from her mind saying. "You're clear to proceed."

Weiss looks back and forth between the two of them. "Ruby, what did you do to him?"

Ruby grins innocently. "Nothing. I showed him what he needed to know, including what would happen to people who tried to hurt you. He's clearing us through because he knows I don't consider your father a true threat."

Looking at Silber again, something clicks in Weiss's mind. "He looks so subdued because you threatened him. Didn't you?"

"He can hurt you far more that your father can at this point. You like him as not just a cousin but also a friend. I just made sure to point out how much that actually meant to you." She says a slight grin on her face.

"She's right Weiss. She showed me your conversation in the car ride to the safe house. For what it's worth, no matter what happens I'm behind you 100%." A slight twinkle in his eyes. "Just don't think you're free of my teasing in the future, but I'll give you a pass for the rest of the day."

Weiss rolls her eyes at his final statement as she says. "Thank you for supporting me, it means a lot, truly."

"Get going, your father isn't the most patient of men." Silber says as he waves them towards the elevator.

As the elevator door closes and Weiss sends them rapidly ascending towards the roof she turns to look at Ruby. "What exactly did you do to him while he was in your mindscape?"

Ruby shrugs her shoulders. "Nothing much. I just made certain that he realized that if he tried to hurt you with what he found out, he wouldn't live long enough to regret it."

"Ruby, you can't just go around threatening people like that. Besides, I can take care of myself." Weiss huffs.

"I never said you couldn't. I showed him how I would go about ending him, but I also showed him what I suspected you would do to him. Let's just say he was more worried about what I thought you would do." Ruby's grin is pure mischief.

"Do I even want to know what you thought I would do to my own cousin?" Weiss asks.

Ruby leans in and whispers something into her girlfriend's ear, fully conscious that there are probably listening devices around.

Weiss's eyes widen in shock. "Ruby Rose, I would never..." She trails off at the look Ruby is leveling at her. "Okay, well, maybe I would, but it wouldn't be my first option." She crosses her arms and sulks as Ruby giggles at her.

Sorry about that, another fairly slow chapter, but I promise they will make it to Weiss's home in the next chapter. I will see everyone next time and until then Keep Moving Forward.