To the people who were worried: no, this is not going to turn into a WhiteRose fic. The focus is still on Roman and Ruby's relationship, I just never said it would be romantic. Dat age gap...

With that said, Roman is not as present in this chapter, but there's a very good reason. For now, let's take a trip to a very special ship...

4. Two Girls

It was just after nightfall when the shady-looking airship landed in atlesian soil. It was a small vehicle, with little more than room for two, a pilot and a co-pilot. It had clearly been modified to allow long distance travel, as diminutive models like that one weren't normally outfitted for such, and Roman had piloted it himself. When Ruby asked how he'd learned how to fly, remembering that he'd done the same on their very first run-in, he merely explained that mastering many skills meant you could never be cornered and out of options. Apparently, the man was able to drive just about any vehicle, in order to facilitate his escapes from the police.

Even if the mastermind was free to roam Vale without danger, Atlas was a militarized society, so they had to be more careful. The duo was forced to avoid mainstream transportation, since Torchwick was sure to be on every no-flight list possible. The huntress might have mostly forgiven him, knowing he had been under threat from Cinder, but the army wasn't so lenient with what was probably the Undesirable n°1.

Still it was surprisingly easy to get in and move near the Schnee Mansion. Even with the mobster pulling the strings, Ruby was finding it all a tad bit suspicious.

They snuck over the tall fences and through the patrolling guards. That place sure had a lot of security, but nothing that could rival a good speed-based semblance. Her heart was thumping in her chest, and adrenaline-filled blood rushed incessantly through her veins, excited by the illicit activities they were performing, and the prospect of seeing her beloved again. She could almost imagine Weiss' reaction when they saw each other again, she would no doubt fall to her knees and kiss her through tears of joy. Not that they'd ever kissed before, or had been anything more than close friends, but such a romantic gesture would be sure to melt the heiress' heart and bring the buried feelings of affection to surface.

Reaching the outer wall where the Ice Queen's room should be, according to the schematics they'd 'legitimately acquired', Roman used his cane as a grappling hook to slowly climb to the top. The window they sought was at the very top, like a princess trapped at the top of the tower. The sniper could bear to wait no longer, yearning to be the charming prince, and propelled herself upwards, the goal in sight within a flash. She fumbled with the lock, trying to jam it open, when she heard two feminine voices coming from inside.

"We should go to Vale." Said the first with a melodic and innocent tone that seemed familiar, but the red-hooded speedster couldn't quite place due to being muffled by the glass.

"What for?" The second one was soft and high-pitched, and she guessed it would be her target, though it was hard to be sure.

"We need to tell her, Weiss." Ah, so she was right, it was her. With a hum of satisfaction, she unlocked the opening, and carefully stepped inside, protected from detection by a sophisticated white curtain.

"I'm just not sure it's the right time."

Ruby peeked, trying to establish if it was safe to make her presence known, but instead saw something truly unexpected.

On the other side of the room was a large bed, and on top of it lied two figures. One with ivory hair cascading through her shoulders, facing up, her icy blue eyes staring at the ceiling. The other had her ginger head nestled on the first one's bare shoulder, and lied sideways, with an arm stretched around her bedmate. It was an endearing view, the two girls quietly snuggling, but Ruby could barely process what was in front of her.

"Weiss? Penny?" Her voice faltered as she spoke, trying to make sense of the whole thing.

The two girls jumped up, and looked frightened at the intruder, before screaming in unison.

"RUBY?"

There was no doubt, it was really them.

In bed.

With each other.

Cuddling.

The silver-eyed huntress fainted.

When her senses returned, she was lying down on the cold marble floor. Ruby opened her eyes to find a pair of deep green irises staring worriedly at her. She gasped, pain and remembrance piercing through her insides, and reached one hand to the girl's face, trying to make sure it was real.

"Penny? Is that really you?" She touched the warm skin of her cheek, but her mind still found it hard to believe.

"Yes, it's me." The redhead gave her a kind smile, and grabbed her hand to further prove she was real.

"H... How?" Words struggled to leave her clenched throat, as the red-hooded huntress was fighting back the tears.

"Weiss pressured the army into rebuilding me. They didn't want to, after the fiasco of the tournament, but the will of a Schnee is a powerful thing, as it turns out." Penny turned her head with a fond smile, and Ruby followed the direction to find the heiress standing up, the rapier in her hand pinning Torchwick to the wall by the throat.

"Are you done over there? Can someone please explain to me what this scum is doing in my house?"

"Hey, hey, princess. No need to be rude."

"Shut your mouth before I call the police! I'm sure they'd love to have a word with you." Weiss was evidently on edge, her cold demeanor only enhanced by the unexplained circumstances.

"Actually..." The silver-eyed girl got up slowly. "...he's with me. Could you please let him go?"

"WHAT?" The Ice Queen made an unbelieving look, but lowered her weapon slightly.

"It's a long story. Just trust me, he's not evil anymore." Roman pouted at the statement with a sad expression. "Okay, okay, not 'as' evil anymore."

He smiled, now free from his captor, and dusted off his suit. Then he started walking back to the window.

"Well, you look like you have your hands full, Red, so I'll leave you to it. Have fun with catching up and the inevitable threesome."

Ruby rolled her eyes, and called out for him right as he was walking out of the opening.

"Hey, Roman? No stealing!"

"I'm insulted that you'd have that idea of me..." He feigned an offended look, but then opted for a different answer. "Not even a little?"

She gave him a stern glare, and he sighed in response.

"Fine, you're no fun." And he jumped out the window.

When she turned back and away from the glass contraption, she found two extremely confused, one more skeptical than the other, girls staring back.

"Like I said, really long story. More importantly, Penny's alive... and you two... and... whaaat?" Her mouth barely managed to spell out coherent words, too many questions bursting inside her head.

"I already told you how I got rebuilt, remember?"

"But your body was destroyed, how did they rebuild from that? I mean you look exactly the same!" The same except for her clothes that had been traded for a pale blue robe. The color screamed Weiss, and the tiny white sigil over the breast indicated that it truly was Schnee property. In fact, the heiress, who spoke next, donned a matching one.

"Father made sure we picked the remains before departing. It was atlesian technology after all, funded by the SDC." At that point she was interrupted by the overeager ginger.

"That's right, Weiss owns me!"

"No, I do not. And please don't say it like that, it sounds... Anyway, there was a spare, and they could scrape most of her core matrix from the body. She still has her memories and personality, just not her Aura. It was tied to the soul, and that was beyond recovery, so she can't fight or use her semblance."

"Now I'm just a normal useless robot." Penny intervened, maintaining her trademark smile despite the depressing sentence she'd just uttered.

"No, you're not. Don't say such foolish things, you'll embarrass us both." The blue-eyed girl reprimanded, and Ruby suppressed a giggle. That was Weiss alright, and it surely was nice not to be on the receiving end of the scolding.

She was thoroughly enjoying listening to those two bickering at one another. They really did look like a couple, and even if she had never pictured it like that, the two women she loved together, she couldn't deny it was unbelievably hot.

"Speaking of 'you both', when I walked in you looked very intimate. How did that happen?" The sniper was surprised at herself for being able to say all that without stuttering. It was an embarrassing topic, and thus deserving of a mental pat on the back.

"Well, it gets kinda lonely here..." The Ice Queen began what appeared like a long and rehearsed speech, but never got to the finish it.

"She missed you." Penny cut in, with an absurd grin on her face, receiving a fuming glare from the ivory girl. "What, are you gonna say it's not true?"

When there was no answer, she took as a sign to proceed.

"I missed you too. We spent a lot of time reminiscing about Beacon, about y-" She received an elbow to the ribs, preventing her from reaching the end of the thought.

"Penny's been trying to talk me into going to Vale for a while now, to see you and tell you that she's okay, about us, everything. I just... without CCT we can't communicate overseas, we didn't know what'd we'd find if we went there. I didn't even know if you were alive, when Father came for me you were in a coma."

"It's okay, Weiss, I understand. And I don't blame you for not coming sooner." Ruby made a forgiving smile, yet apparently it wasn't enough.

"But you even came yourself, I should've done the same."

"Well actually... this was… supposed to be a grand romantic gesture to win you over." The scythe-wielder scratched the back of her head, trying to hide her embarrassment. It didn't work, and she felt her cheeks turn bright red.

"You dolt! Of course you wouldn't come because you missed me, you just had to have an ulterior motive." Weiss punched her in the arm to display disappointment. It worked, her muscle was now so filled with disappointment it started to ache.

"What about Blake, heard anything from her?" The heiress asked, hoping to find the team reunited during her absence.

"No, she just vanished during the battle. Actually, I think you were the last to see her." Speaking of Yang's former partner was a difficult topic, they knew nothing about what had become of her.

There was a silence in the room, now that the youngster's biggest questions had been satiated. Penny, who had been quiet for a while, was the one to break it.

"So, what's a threesome? I searched in my memory banks, but there's nothing."

Ruby and Weiss traded flustered glances, trying to decide which one would have the undesired task of explaining it to the android. In the end, it fell upon the white-haired woman, for being older and clearly more 'familiar' with the bot.

"Huh, it's when three people have intercourse together."

The ginger took a bit to process, but then her green eyes widened and sparkled.

"That sounds like fun!"

You thought Penny wasn't going to be in this story? You were wrong.

Shoutout to the reviewers who suggested a Weissnapping and Penny randomly showing up and having a fight with Weiss over Ruby's affection. I loved those ideas, I even considered trashing this chapter just to make them happen. But in the end I got lazy and decided to stick with what I had already written (also Refrigerator is really cute). And kidnapping Weiss would make her a regular in the story, and that's not in the plan.

What was Torchwick doing this whole time? Maybe you'll find out next chapter. It's a very special one...