Chapter Text
A blood red car with black accents and dark tinted windows sped out of the Vale Hunter Headquarters parking garage. Tires screeching as the driver floored the gas. Ruby swallowed hard as she made it to the highway, desperate to get home. While she had been traveling back on the airship from her mission out in the remote villages of Mistral, she had been near physically ill has her mind caused itself to wrack havoc on her system.
Squeezing her eyes shut to try and block out the memories that were threatening to spill over, she lets out an annoyed huff before growling out to herself, “It has been years. Why is this happening damn it?”
Her hand went to the radio of the car, attempting to play any kind of music that would try to help drown out where her brain was taking her, but instead she heard, “Today’s top news story, Savior of the Kingdoms, Ruby Rose, was just here in Mistral-” Ruby violently pressed the off button, choosing now instead to call her wife, praying that Weiss was choosing to work from home today.
She pressed the call button on the steering wheel and ordered the car to call her wife. The sounds of ringing echoing in the vehicle did nothing to help the swarming of memories with accompanying voices, “Hello-” Came Weiss’s soothing voice through the speakers.
“Weiss! Thank goodness-” Ruby started before frowning as Weiss’s voice continued, “I cannot answer my scroll right now. Please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.”
“Damn it!” Ruby groaned out as she felt the tears starting to form. She pushed her car even faster as she sped down the highway. Seeing her exit approaching, she moves lanes and slows down to take it. She taps the steering wheel as she prays for Weiss to be home as she takes the roads that would eventually lead to their modest two-story ranch house. Her focus switches from the roads to her wedding ring on her finger, at least seeing the glistening gold with ornate ruby and sapphire jewels embedded around a single diamond helps quiet her mind some; but she knows that nothing will help until she sees the woman that she loved.
Approaching their house, Ruby lets out a shaky breath. She hesitates for a moment, trying to get herself together as she presses the button to open the two-car garage, however her breathing halts as she notices that Weiss’s white sedan was missing, “Damn it!” Ruby moaned out. She hesitates on what her plan should be.
She knows that if she goes inside, everything is going to crash down around her, but at the same time, she knows that she should not bother Weiss at work, especially if she did not answer her earlier phone call. Her anxiety was growing, gnawing at her core as she tries to close her eyes and rest her head on the steering wheel, trying to focus on anything but the memory of smoke and flashes of destroyed buildings, “We have to search for survivors.” Came the echoing now.
“No. Not this.” Her eyes were starting to feel a different kind of burning as she closes the garage door and throws her car into reverse before heading back on the highway, she will ask for forgiveness later, but right now she needs her wife before these memories get worse.
In the meantime, Weiss was still in a rather boring business meeting. Honestly what they were discussing could have been stated over email or on a video call. Gods, did she really have to be here?
“Ms. Schnee? Are you listening?” One of the grumpy older gentlemen asked rather annoyed.
Weiss mentally rolled her eyes and internally scoffed, “Yes Mr. Rockwood. I am fully aware of the issues you are presenting to the board regarding your region.”
“Well then, are you going to attempt to reel in that union organizer?” He demanded.
Weiss narrowed her eyes and sat up further in her seat. This got her attention now, “I suggest you watch your tone Rockwood. That is one of my family members you are talking about, and by the way, if you would have done what we suggested months ago, we would not be here now. Would we?”
Over the years, the team had slowly drifted into other areas aside from hunting, each person presuming their own passions and paths in life. Of course, they stayed together, Ruby still being a huntress, Weiss herself running the Vale portion of the SDC while her mother and Whitely ran the portion in Atlas, Blake forming a union with the support of Weiss for the faunus, and Yang being a combat professor for the newly christened Beacon Academy. Weiss was watching the man’s face turn red, either from: embarrassment, anger, or a combination of the two, she was not sure, but rightly did not give a damn, “Well now her proposals are unreasonable, I tried but-”
Weiss was going to cut the man off when she heard something outside her office. Through the large double oak doors, she heard muffle protests and heavy stomping coming towards them. Next to her large chair, a voice from one of her many assistants came through the intercom, “Mrs. Schnee? We have a slight emergency.”
“Slight?” Weiss commented back getting ready to press the security button under the table at her end, as the voices got clearer and the footsteps closer. The old men around the table started to talk amongst themselves, checking their scrolls for alerts, “How slight?”
“Well-”
“It’s your wife.” One of the older gentlemen says as he looks at her with kind and concerned eyes, Daniels, her mind supplies as it processes his words and sees his own scroll in his hand, assuming he had gotten the information from one of his own assistants that had come with him.
“Wait what?”
Sure enough, the doors open and Ruby strides in, pausing at the entrance, the young assistant, Marie behind her, the words that she must have been repeating non-stop falling from her lips, “Mrs. Rose please, Mrs. Schnee is…in a meeting.” The young woman looks at where they entered, “I am fired.” She says with a sigh.
Weiss feels her brain rebooting itself as she processes everything going on. The last thing to be processed was the young assistant’s words, which she quickly waves off, “No. No one is fired. Ruby what-?”
“I need you.” Ruby says with a swallow, not registering the men in the room, her silver gaze only landing on Weiss.
Weiss searches Ruby’s face quickly and sees the silent plea being sent to her. Nodding, she addresses the men in the room, “Gentlemen, I think we discussed enough for today. We will resume this meeting soon.” She starts to pick up her folders and binders as she walks around the large table towards her wife.
“Hey now wait a-” Rockwood was silenced by a piercing ice blue gaze.
“I said that would be all. Maybe use this time to be constructive and get your house in order.” Weiss said scathingly as she moved around the meeting room to Ruby’s side, waving a hand to dismiss the young assistant, “Now then, good day gentlemen.” Without another word, she grabbed Ruby by the hand and pulled her towards her office.
Once the pair reached the large executive office, Weiss closed the door and locked it to ensure there were no interruptions. She turned back towards her wife and was about to ask what happened, when Ruby blurted out, “I am sorry! I tried to call, and you did not answer. I went home and you were not there, but I needed you. I was desperate to make the voices stop.” Weiss stood there as Ruby had her head bowed and fists clenched at her sides, her form shaking slightly from the nerves and stress, “I just wanted them to stop.” This came out in a choked whisper.
Weiss did not hesitate any longer. She tossed the binder and the folders on the coffee table and engulfed Ruby in a hug, tucking her head under the reaper’s chin, “It is ok love. I am not upset. No reason to apologize.”
Ruby wrapped her arms around Weiss, burying her face in Weiss’s hair as she wrapped her own arms around the CEO as if she was trying to meld Weiss’s form into her own body. The sweet scent of Weiss’s shampoo tickled her nose, helping ground her in the present rather than the echoes of the past. There was no telling how long they stood in the middle of Weiss’s large office, but soon Weiss pulled away slightly and guided them towards the sofa.
Ruby still did not make eye contact, but Weiss did not push her. Over the years, she knew that some missions were harder on Ruby than the others and during that time, she knew that Ruby would eventually tell her what triggered certain memories that plagued her. It was a larger contrast from their early years where Ruby would try to shoulder everything on her own. She allowed Ruby to trace random patterns on the hand that she was holding, her finger lightly brushing her knuckle in a gentle rhythm, “It was a simple mission.” Ruby started softly, “A small pack of beowolves were terrorizing a village. Overall, it was a success. No lives lost, no one was hurt. I was unhurt this time.” A weary smile graced her lips at this.
Weiss could not help but roll her eyes with her own smile, although it dimmed slightly when she caught the few scars that marred Ruby’s face. That had not been a fun weekend, especially when Ruby tried to hide it from her claiming that mission was ‘taking longer than expected.’ However, looking at Ruby more closely, she sees that the statement is partially untrue.
There was slight bruising and pale scratches that could be seen on Ruby’s arms, her cape was ripped in several places, but the new faint blue and purplish bags under Ruby’s silver eyes were a site that had not been there when she left earlier in the week. Weiss sighed gently and cupped the side of her wife’s face, this time gently making Ruby look at her, “Mostly unhurt you mean dear.”
Ruby leaned into the touch and turned her head slightly to kiss the palm of Weiss’s hand, using her other hand to keep Weiss’s in place, “My bad.” Ruby muttered as she kissed the white-haired woman’s wrist.
Weiss pulled away this time, leaving Ruby pouting slightly, “We’ll take care of it later, right now tell me what happened.”
Ruby nodded, but regrasped the hand that had been retracked and started to lightly toy with the ring that had made its home on Weiss’s left third finger. It had taken a while, but this had been her most proud creation (just surpassing Crescent Rose of course), “I had followed a lone beowolf that broke from the pack, I did not realize it at the time, but I found myself in an abandoned village.” Weiss saw where this was headed as Ruby explained the events, “I was running on adrenaline as I fought the Grimm. However, I defeated it fine, the fight was a little anti-climactic, not as fun as I normally have, but the job was done. As the adrenaline wore off, that is when I took in my surroundings. The crumbling buildings, the remains of burnt structures, even a few skeletons of people were scattered. That is when things started coming back and I heard the voices.”
“Ruby…”
“First it was us searching for survivors,” Weiss knew she was referring to RNJR, “the smell of smoke and decay, hearing Tyrian’s taunts, and Cinder, and…her.” Ruby broke eye contact and used her other hand to hide her face, “I felt helpless again. Drowning in guilt and disgust. I just…I bolted out of there back to the area I had been assigned.”
Weiss did not say anything. She just pulled the reaper into a hug and rocked them back and forth, making soothing circles on Ruby’s back to further ground her that she was safe and not back in that dark period of her life. Their lives. She felt Ruby take a deep breath and pulled away after a minute, “I thought it was done, you know? Just a brief flash of memory, but it got worse when I was on the carrier back here. I had ended up writing my report, but I could not focus on that. I kept mixing events up between Beacon, Atlas, and the mission I was just on. I had to re-write it multiple times before I finally got my thoughts straight and well you know where I ended up.”
“I am glad you came.” Weiss said taking Ruby’s hands into her own, giving a comforting squeeze.
“Even if I screwed your meeting up?”
“You did not screw anything up. If anything, you saved me from committing a crime against that arrogant prick.”
Ruby smiled after she snorted in amusement, “Can’t force him to retire yet huh?”
Weiss sighed, “If only I could. Honestly once we took back the SDC I thought I would have lost all the supporters of my father, but not this guy. For whatever reason, he is hoping that things would return to the old ways. It has been what? Five years now? You’d think he get the hint.”
Ruby shook her head, “Well he is going to be severely disappointed then.” Sobering up though she sighed, “Seriously though, I do not know why you have put up with me for this long. You could have had anyone who is more stable mentally and emotionally.”
“Ruby Rose. I do not ‘put up with you.’ I love you. You are my partner. My wife. You supported me with my troubles just as I support you. We are in this together, for better or for worse.” Weiss held Ruby’s head in her hands, “I love you.” She emphasized looking deeply into glistening silver pools.
Ruby leaned forward and pulled Weiss towards her, kissing her deeply on the lips. Weiss felt tears rolling down Ruby’s cheeks in the kiss, and she was sure Ruby felt her own making their way down. When they pulled away, they were both out of breath, eyes red and glistening. Ruby sighed, this time with content as she brought their foreheads together, “I love you too.” Ruby whispered, “Forever and always.”
Weiss released her own sigh, “Let’s go home.” She says breathlessly as she pulls away from Ruby, offering a content smile of her own.
“If you have to finish up here, I can pick up dinner and meet you there.” Ruby offers, not wanting to pull Weiss away from the office. She still felt a little bad about interrupting Weiss at work, and did not want to make more work for her wife if she should leave early.
Weiss brushed off the concern, and took the discarded binder and folders to her desk. She pulled out her purse and black leather briefcase out of her closet with her jacket, “I am the boss of this company, I can afford to leave early. Besides anything that needs doing, can be done at home.” As she gathered her papers and the rest of her documents, she shoots Ruby a smile, “I just want to be with you.”
Ruby gets off the couch and meets her at her desk, leaning over she gives Weiss a brilliant smile, one that Weiss had grown accustomed to seeing over the years, “You are incredible. How did I get so lucky?”
“I ask myself the same thing.” Weiss responded, pecking Ruby on the lips, “Give me five minutes and I will come with you to pick up dinner.”
“I am feeling better. I can go get it myself.” Ruby said, “And you have your car here.”
Weiss smiled, “I can always come back for it, or we can grab breakfast tomorrow and you can take me to work afterwards.”
“Sounds like date.” Ruby agreed smiling.
Weiss simply winked and smiled back as she picked up her phone to give orders to her assistant for things that needed to be done as Weiss was leaving for the day. Ruby stood by and watched in admiration. Even though the past was still an ongoing wound for her on occasion, it was times like this that made it somewhat bearable and reminded her that she was indeed healing; and she owed it all to the woman that continued to be a supportive rock in her life reminding her that she was loved unconditionally.