The first thing Weiss registered was the tickle of hair against her face. It didn't make sense; she went to bed every night with her hair tied back to avoid this. Instinctively, she reached up to brush the it away only to find herself suddenly restricted by the cocoon of blankets around her.

It wasn't right, none of it was right. Weiss never tucked in, she hated the constraint. She needed to be able to freely roll from side to side. However, when she tried to force the blankets free, a tight clench in her chest made her wince in pain as her eyes flew open.

"What the—" the words died on her lips as she took in the sight of the room surrounding her. This was not the dorm at Beacon—nor was it her home in Atlas. The ceilings were too low; the bed was too soft.

Again she tried to free herself from the blankets, ignoring the pain in her body as they finally gave way. Weiss curled into her own body as the pain shot through once more, not as bad as before but still discomforting. Why was she in pain? Why was she in this strange bed? Where was…

Ruby.

It all came back to Weiss in a flash. The glyphs she'd put leading to the top of the tower for Ruby to help Pyrrha. The sound of Ruby screaming, the sudden flash of white and then everything went dark.

Ruby, I have to find Ruby.

Weiss knew it was going to suck, but she had to try and sit up. The pain worsened as she planted her elbows on the mattress, only now it had spread to her back. Still, she powered on and pushed up as best she could. It was hard to breath but eventually she found enough balance to sit and scan the room.

Modest was the first word that came to mind, but it still felt comfortable here. Quaint is something she'd imagine Winter saying, or perhaps 'meager' would be more precise. Still, Weiss had no idea where she was and that was unacceptable.

As her scan continued, she looked to her right and saw a bed beside her. A bed that was currently occupied by her partner.

"Ruby!" Weiss cried out as she tried to swing her legs off the bed only to be overcome with pain again. "Ah!" She clutched her side but willed herself not to fall back down. She wouldn't go through the pain of sitting up again. "Ruby, can you hear me?"

"She can't," a voice came from the door and made Weiss jump. She turned sharper than she should have only to find Ruby's uncle standing in the doorway. "She hasn't woken up yet."

"Yet?"

Qrow took a few steps inside and sat down in a chair by the dresser. Weiss noted the flask in his hand and the bags under his eyes. "It's a word generally used when you know something will eventually happen."

Weiss' gaze moved to Ruby again. She looked so small in her blue pajamas, curled up in bed. She knew something was wrong by the way Ruby was lying. No, Ruby Rose never laid still on her back. She was always strung across her bed like a slew of messy papers. Limbs all in different directions and drool on the pillow. Ruby wasn't sleeping, she was unconscious.

"What happened?" Weiss asked as she started to move to the edge of the bed again—trying to ignore the pain.

"Will you stop? In case the pain hasn't told you enough, you have a pair of broken ribs. You need to rest."

"I need to check on my partner."

Qrow sighed and stood up from his seat. "You listen as well as your damn sister."

Weiss shot him a glare. "I'll kick your butt just like she did too."

This made him smirk.

She wanted to snap back at him, but all she could see was Ruby who wasn't moving and somehow that made the world far too quiet.

It was such a strange thought. That the lack of Ruby's bouncing and excitement would somehow be a bad thing. It had driven Weiss nuts for so long now. Things being knocked over, food being spilt on the floor, on her skirts, on their beds.

There was a time when that high pitched way Ruby called out her name would drive Weiss crazy. Now she'd give anything to hear it.

"Ow," she groaned when one of her legs made it off the bed. How badly was she hurt? Everything hurt, it was terrible.

"Will you stop, get back in bed, you're in no condition—"

"Listen here, I don't know what's going on, I don't know where my friends are or where I am. I just know that Ruby is over there and I'm going to her. Now you can either help me get there or you can watch me crawl and keep drinking."

He glowered at her for a moment before taking a drink from his flask. Weiss was shocked that he'd chosen to let her crawl to Ruby's bed. However, he finished his drink and put the flask down before stepping over and offering a hand.

"You Schnee's are a stubborn bunch."

Weiss huffed but saved her strength by choosing not to say anything else. Instead she took his hand and moved her other leg off the bed. Once she was on her feet the pain returned but she fought it off. Her aura would heal it all soon enough, for now she just needed to make sure Ruby was okay.

The climb onto the bed was easy enough, given a target Weiss could do almost anything.

She reached out tentatively to touch the soft features of her partner, instead she recoiled and looked to Qrow watching her. "You didn't answer my question. What happened? Where's everyone else?" The following silence was terrifying. "We were going to save Pyrrha."

Qrow shook his head. "She's gone. I didn't see a trace of her when I found you and her."

Weiss felt the heat strike like fire in the back of her eyes. "What about Blake and Yang. Yang was hurt, her arm—" She kept talking, unsure of what she was even saying. Her mind reeled from the thought of Pyrrha being…gone. Was she dead? The look on his face told her as much.

It was hard to breathe.

"She's here, I don't know about the other one but Yang is here, she's across the hall." Weiss fought the urge to rush and check on her. Instead staying still and hoping Qrow would tell her more. "She's…struggling."

"Her arm was gone. Just…I can't—"

"Me either, kid." Qrow said sadly before sitting on the now empty bed and picking his flask back up. He must have picked up on how hard she was struggling because he stood back up. "You need to relax. Lay down with your partner there and focus on her. You can't fix anything right now."

Weiss looked back down at Ruby and frowned. "I can't…lie down with her…she's tucked in so tightly."

He let out a sigh before stepping over and pulling the blanket down and holding it open for Weiss to slip inside. He covered her back up when she carefully laid down and stared at Ruby.

"Don't be surprised if you wake up and Taiyang is in here, I finally had to drag him out and make him sleep."

She barely heard a word he said, instead focusing on Ruby. At some point Qrow had left the room and Weiss found herself ignoring the pain as she reached up and gently touched her partner's cheek with the tips of her fingers.

"How do you stay so warm, Ruby Rose. You're like a walking space heater." It wasn't right, to talk to Ruby and hear nothing in return. Ruby was such a constant voice, a source of enthusiasm and life, no matter how dark the world became. Right now, the world had never been darker. "Please wake up soon, you dolt. You know better than to leave me here to deal with all this. I can't talk to Yang, I don't know how to find Blake. I won't be able to support Jaune if Pyrrha is—" a catch caught in her throat and Weiss swallowed the thick lump in her throat. "I need you."

Unable to finish her thought aloud, Weiss curled up next to Ruby, sought out her hand under the covers and cried. The tears were silent, her sobs nothing more than mild shakes that barely rocked the bed. Eventually, they carried her to sleep.

Two minutes off the airship and Weiss was already miserable. Even ignoring the fact that she'd vomited not twenty minutes ago – Patch was smoldering hot this time of year. Weiss had spent the last few years in the always mild Atlas kingdom and this…this was torturous. Not to mention the humidify made her sweat and her mouth tasted like puke and she was wearing her worst pair of shoes.

You're a hot mess, Weiss Schnee – the perfect guest for a happy occasion. She thought with a bit of self malice before plastering on her best smile when something caught her attention in the lobby.

In what Weiss could only describe as adorable, she caught sight of Blake's ears first, carefully poking up over the book she was reading in the airport lobby. Weiss noted the outfit Blake had on and smirked – a far cry from the stealthy huntress Blake used to be. Now she had on sneakers and jeans and sat cross legged and casual on a bench without a care in the world.

Racing over with Violet not too far behind, Weiss reached out and plucked Blake's book from her hand only to be met with a smirk.

"Heard you coming." Blake said before uncrossing her leg.

"Of course you did, you have two sets of ears."

Blake rolled her eyes. "True, but nobody stomps in heels quite like Weiss Schnee."

Weiss groaned but didn't hesitate when Blake stood up to quickly pull her into an embrace. Weiss was quick to accept and it felt so good to be around Blake again. It was almost surreal how just the presence of one of her Beacon teammates made Weiss feel whole again.

She was almost afraid to let go, like she might wake up in bed alone again in that mansion.

When she finally did, Blake was smiling as brightly as Weiss could remember.

"You look like crap," Blake said and Weiss huffed, knowing fully well that she did.

"Yes well…it was a very long flight."

"I made the mistake of offering Miss Schnee a corn dog."

Blake gave a quick glance to Violet standing in the back and then pursed her lips to fight off a smile as she found Weiss' gaze again. "You ate a corn dog?"

"Two actually." Violet spoke up again and Weiss raised a hand to shush her.

"I was being spontaneous and trying new things and it was a mistake that I have paid for dearly. No doubt poisoned by whatever swill they make those abominations out of."

Blake tilted her head a bit. "Pretty sure they just deep fry them."

"Yes well…my stomach is far too sensitive for anything…deep fried." Ready to change the subject immediately, Weiss quickly grabbed Blake's hand in search of the ring. She found it comfortably placed on Blake's left hand and still couldn't believe it. "It's really real huh?"

"Really real," Blake confirmed and sighed contently.

"How in the name of Remnant did she afford this? Are you sure she didn't—"

"She didn't steal it. This is Yang we're talking about. She has all the tact of a bull in a china shop." Weiss nodded – it was a fair point. "She's been saving and just…put a lot of consideration into it."

Weiss looked up to see the goofiest look on the once stoic and cranky Blake Belladonna's face. "Look at you, you have actual heart eyes and it's disgusting."

Blake nudged Weiss in the shoulder. "Stop it, stop being you and tell me who this is." Blake pointed over Weiss' shoulder at the purple haired girl behind her holding four bags and dragging another.

"Oh! This is my assistant, Violet. Violet, this is Blake Belladonna."

Blake waved but also gave Weiss a very curious look. "It's nice to meet you, Violet."

Violet smiled and extended her hand for a shake. "You as well, Miss Belladonna. I've heard a great deal about you and read about you in a few texts. Also I noted the way you looked at Miss Schnee and would like to quickly point out that we are not sleeping together in any way."

Weiss felt her face go hot and turned furiously on Violet. "Why in the world would you say that?! Who said that?!"

"Actually," Blake spoke up. "I mean you brought your cute assistant all the way out here with you. The thought did cross my mind."

"What?" Weiss scoffed. "I am simply an insanely busy person, Blake. I need her here to handle my phone calls and help keep me organized."

"It's true," Violet spoke up and Weiss was prepared to give her a raise then and there. "She's only come onto me once in the last two years."

Oh she was fired – absolutely fired. "Violet!"

Blake snorted. "You turned her down?"

"I very politely declined." Violet said professionally before giving Blake a wink that Weiss absolutely saw.

"Alright!" Weiss' voice cracked as she raised it. "I was just on a very long flight, I threw up and I have sweated through my vest. Can we please go find my hotel room?" Blake froze in place and Weiss knew something was wrong immediately. She glowered at her best friend and wondered if she'd be calling Blake that in the next ten seconds. "What?" She asked, dreading the answer.

"About your hotel room…"

"What in the world is a Folk Festival?!"

"Something that neither Yang or I knew about when we planned this wedding."

Weiss groaned – apparently there was some kind of music festival in town and all the hotels were booked solid. Because Weiss hadn't booked in advance, because this was Patch and why the hell would anyone want to stay here – she assumed getting a room would be easy.

Of course, the powers that be decided that was too convenient so now she had nowhere to stay.

With Violet in the backseat still prattling away on her scroll, Weiss sat up front with Blake and pouted profusely.

"It'll be fine, Weiss. You can stay with us."

Weiss suddenly had war flashbacks of Yang's bathroom habits and snoring. "D—do you guys have a spare bedroom."

"Just one," Blake shook her head. "It's Taiyang's place so there's the room Ruby and Yang shared and then his room. He's out of town for the next week. He has a really good couch though."

"Oh," Weiss sulked and quickly forced herself to dismiss the disappointment. "Great!" She was far too chipper. "That's great."

Blake turned the corner, Weiss noting the way her ears would move as she turned, as if trying to pick up sounds of traffic on the new road. "Yeah, Sun's been sleeping on it, I'm sure he'd be wiling to take the floor for a few days until you can find a room."

For a moment, Weiss thought maybe Blake hadn't actually said those words. Perhaps it was just more of the corn dog sickness making her delusional. "I'm sorry, did you say…Sun?"

Blake nodded, still focused on the road and acting as if this wasn't a big deal at all. "He's here for the wedding – Yang's best man actually. They've become pretty good friends."

"And he's staying with you guys?" Blake nodded. "And sleeping on Mr. Xiao Long's couch?"

"Yeah, though that was his plan from the beginning – he didn't want a hotel room. He and Yang have been having a lot of fun making a mess of Tai's home. Thankfully Yang takes time to clean up before I see most of the damage."

"So you expect me, and my assistant, to stay in that very…quaint house where you only have one spare bedroom –"

"Not really spare, It's Tai's room." Blake corrected and Weiss felt her eye twitch.

"And if I remember correctly…only one shower?" Blake nodded and Weiss was considering jumping out of this car and hoping for the best.

"It'll be fine, Weiss." Blake gave Weiss a good-humored smile. "It's only for the first week during the festival and then we'll get you a high end hotel with all the space and fancy towels you could ever want." Weiss was certain she was wearing a pout on her face, because Blake laughed when she looked at her. It was kind of them to offer her a place to stay, she knew that – but she also knew that it was going to be miserable in such tight quarters for someone who had spent the last few years being alone so often.

"I'm sure we'll manage – Violet is that alright with you?"

Violet shrugged, still tapping away at her scroll. "Just give me a few blankets in the corner of any random room you've got and I'll be fine. I slept on a pool table for six months in academy so this is nothing."

Weiss grimaced. How was this the woman who helped her manage a multi-billion lien company?

Blake seemed satisfied with that answer and Weiss was glad Violet was okay with it. Though that didn't make her feel any better.

"You know, Taiyang isn't the only person with a home here in Patch." She felt her chest constrict and gave Blake a dangerous glare. The Faunus shrugged, her ears dancing atop her head as they rolled to a stop. "Just a suggestion."

"A terrible suggestion. Awful, simply awful. You were one of the best scouts and strategists we had during the war and you come up with ideas like this? That girlfriend of yours is rubbing off on you."

Blake smirked and Weiss knew what was coming. "No doubt about that," she winked and Weiss groaned. "Ruby is going to be coming around, you're not going to be able to avoid her forever."

"Ruby," Violet spoke up from the backseat and Weiss whipped her head around furiously.

"Don't," she threatened but Violet didn't seem phased.

"Ruby is a person?"

Blake looked through the rearview mirror and nodded. "Weiss' ex-girlfriend. Our teammate, team leader actually, at Beacon."

"Oh," Violet stared at Weiss and her smile grew large. "So we have 247 delivery reports named after your ex-girlfriend?"

"What?!" Blake cried and nearly drove the car off the road. "What does that mean?"

Weiss contemplated jumping into the backseat and suffocating her assistant.

"In order to keep our delivery reports discreet we use a code name for them. It's mostly just a safety measure for our computers. The "Ruby Report" is 247 files deep. 248 goes out tomorrow morning and I had no idea that's why you named them that."

Weiss buried her head in her hands and heard Blake cackle like an old woman from a horror film. "The Ruby Report – oh Weiss you are still in love with her."

"I am not!" She cried, slamming her hands on the dash. "They told me we needed a code for the reports and that's what I came up with. She was on my mind 247 weeks ago is all!" Weiss turned back to Violet again. "You are so fired!"

Still laughing, Violet held out her scroll. "Okay," she said through a laugh. "You've got five messages that need a response by the end of the day."

Her glare deepened as she did not take the offered scroll. "Fine! But we are changing the name of the Ruby Report!"

"To what?" Blake snorted. "The Ice Flower Files?"

Weiss was not going to survive the next two weeks.

So the flashbacks are kind of all over the place. They're not really telling their own story and they won't be in every chapter. Mostly they're just to add a little depth and history and give me an excuse to write scenes I wanna write lol.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Thoughts are appreciated :)