Chapter 19: Words Once Foreign

Ruby Rose

"Ruby, you never told me Weiss' father would be coming for a visit!" Taiyang interrupted their immediate greeting, as if the two of them were old friends. This William Schnee laughed off, while Ruby gave an awkward glance to Envida, who shrugged in return as unaware as the rest.

"And Weiss never mentioned your father being at the forefront of self-sufficient development in Nigeria. The Schnee Distributed Conglomerate is well aware of the growth in the region, half the fastest growing GDPs are right below us, and the rest of Europe's only focused on trying to keep them out." The way Mr. Schnee talked about politics, despite Ruby's ignorance of the subject, sounded like something people would cheer over, was something her father nodded towards, and likely was something Blake found akin to vomit. "Still, Miss Rose here is tragically uninformed about my arrival, very short notice. Business came up, barely get a day with my family. Really only an evening at L'Atlas, and I hoped Ruby would not be opposed to joining us for dinner?"

L'Atlas referenced Plaza del Atlas, deep in the touristy end of town where the river met the ocean. It was the wealthiest and newest part of El Vale, where all the structures lacked the old yellow colors and Spanish tastes. Instead it was modern, costly, and way too fancy for Ruby. Envida agreed. "No, we don't have that kind of money, no, no."

"No, don't worry about it. I intend to cover the bill. She's a guest, of course I would," William Schnee responded, completely unaffected by the initial refusal. He kept up his smile and insistence. Ruby didn't want to go, or at least was afraid to. A fancy dinner with Weiss was something she herself always wanted to manage, but this was the man who used Emerald to get to Weiss, to try and kill her dreams. Now he stood in her house, smiling.

"I don't really think I should go," Ruby finally voiced, tired, but still able to give him a deserved stare for Wiess. She wasn't Emerald, she wasn't someone he could buy with fancy dinners. They were a partners, and he was the enemy as far as Ruby knew. "Besides, I don't have any nice clothes. I'd be turned away at the door if it was really, fitting for someone like you. Not my scene." Ruby did her best to be sneaky with her contempt. With how William sighed, Taiyang looked confused, and Envida stepped to Ruby's side defensively, she had a feeling it wasn't that subtle.

"Ruby," William spoke softly, eyes never losing the uncomfortable friendly flare, "No one says no to a Schnee, you'll be welcomed no matter what you wear. You don't have to come, but Weiss and myself would both really appreciate it. There is a lot to talk about." Dinner with Weiss was tempting, especially given the novelty of her dressed in even fancier attire. Ruby couldn't decide whether she would be the type to be stifled by such impracticalities, or prove to be graceful as ever.

He smiled, Ruby day dreamed, and suddenly, without realizing how easily she was suckered, she was in her room getting ready. Envida came with her, picking out what, of all the clothes Ruby had, was defined as acceptable. No formal dresses, or even dress shirts. They were never her thing and mom never made her go to the dances in them. Motto was be you, even if you was completely socially unacceptable. Envida was a resourceful character. A pair of Yang's old black skinny jeans that barely fit replaced what should have been slacks. A red blouse from the bottom of Ruby's pile made a nice enough top with the sleeves rolled up, though it only really worked with the addition of some beads that rested beautifully, if a little itchy, around Ruby's neck. Courtesy again of Envida.

"If you do not want to go, you don't have to. I can be the, uhh, mean wife that ruins everything," Envida offered, holding Ruby's chin in her hands, the other brushing the girl's eye with a subtle touch of makeup.

"No, I'm okay," Ruby admitted, feeling more at ease once the shock settled. This was a good move, Weiss' dad was important in her life after all, Ruby ought to meet him. She could prove herself trustworthy to Weiss, and maybe a good girlfriend to the father. "I'm serious about Weiss. I know you haven't met her, but I think you'd like her."

"Your father said good things. She is very polite, but he can't sense things very good. He is a doofus. In this man, he sees your graduate school paid for, I see annoying smile." Envida kept her focus, quickly applying the same purple eye shadow Ruby tried to use for herself, but she only had half the older womans chills. Envida was simply more dexterous than she would ever be.

"Graduate school?" Ruby asked in a high voice, unable to move her face to show her surprised intonation.

"If you decide," Envida finished, letting Ruby's face free and scanning over her finished work. Only five minutes and the redhead was sure she looked better than anything she ever tried to do herself. "Done. You're ready, I think."

Ruby looked at herself in her personal basement mirror. It was Yang's technique of subtle touches, or maybe that was just mother being like daughter. Either way, the effect was perfect. Envida saved her again, for no good reason. Maybe not a mom, but certainly an excellent friend. "Muchos Gracias, Señora Long. You're really cool."

Envida smiled, brushing her black dyed hair back, expression like Yang's, surprised, yet not. "De nada, hija." The older woman happily shuffled Ruby's short, messy hair. There was never any salvaging that into something formal, "Your accent still sucks." Yep, Yang was in there. "But really, if he bothers you, voy a tomar sus huevos, you get me?" Ruby laughed, gather enough from the clutching hand motion. Definitely Yang.

"I'm ready!" Ruby called out as she bounced up the stairs, earnestly wanting to skip the uncomfortable ride with William and go straight to Weiss. However, at the entryway he was waiting patiently, speaking about something in Cantonese to her father.

"Well there she is. I like your choice of dress, you'll blow Weiss away." William punctuated his compliment with the snap of his umbrella. "I'll have her back by nine at the latest." The wind flooded in as he opened the door and stepped out of the Long residence.

"Don't worry," Taiyang noted for both of them, though turning to face just his daughter, "if you want to stay out later, just call Yang." He grinned warmly, to which Ruby only nodded, returning the smile. Without thinking much of the rain, an Oregon girl never did, Ruby walked out unshielded as she shut the door behind her, quickly finding the umbrella's protection above her.

"Here, you take it," William offered, passing the handle to her.

"Thanks, I'm okay," Ruby replied, but William refused to be detracted, keeping his hand out. He didn't seem like the type to not get his way, even if it was with a smile. "Thank you," Ruby muttered after giving in, taking the umbrella and letting the older man be pelted by the showers above. He seemed happy for it though, cheer expression that seemed too alien to be related to Weiss. More odd, he stood there, politely shifting his arm into a hoop to let Ruby's through. He was old fashioned, or liked to be seen as so. Hesitantly, Ruby slid her arm around his, politely walking paired with himup the short path to his car.

"There you go," William mumbled, opening the back seat door for Ruby, the gentleman persona clearly embedded deep in him. Ruby entered the Audi with trepidation. The car was worth more than her organs, and the girl worried her poorness would ruin the interior. William didn't seem to mind her awkwardness, simply stepping into the driver's seat and silently bringing the car to life.

"So, Ms. Rose," Mr. Schnee started off as he drove himself onto the proper road, the backtown paths probably too much for this four door, black painted block of platinum. "Weiss doesn't say much, but when I do get her talking about you, she says good things. You're a writer?"

"Yeah." This was the interview section of family meet ups, where Ruby would have to spill her resume and old school awards before getting rejected for being a loser. Least with Cinder her mom didn't seem to notice either of them existed. "I mean, I've never published anything, but I would like to. I work with Weiss on it."

"Has she picked up writing? She doesn't tell me much about herself these days, you'll have to fill me in." Ruby could see his soft blue eyes shift from the mirror in front of her, something about the question stirred a demon in Ruby. It flashed to a strong, but trembling, Weiss, and holding her as she told Ruby her life story.

"Ask her," Ruby bit back, "I'm thankful for you taking me out, but you can't bribe me. I'm happy to talk about Weiss, but only about what she feels comfortable with." Ruby drew a line in the sand, whether it meant anything or not, certainly did tense up the air and cut William's smile short. There was a silence, a long one, as they drove through time. Ruby almost thought about apologizing before William found his words.

"I see she told you. I don't expect you to agree with the decision I had to make then, I would almost be more angry if you did, but understand, Weiss forced my hand. I wanted her to pursue not only her passions, but also what she needed to succeed in this world. I trusted her. It wasn't her money to give away to that," William couldn't say the word he wanted to, but the way his jaw clenched, Ruby could see 'whore' form in his throat before being swallowed down, "When Emerald took my money, got me those transcripts, do you think I was happy? That I laughed, knowing I outsmarted my daughter? I wanted to kill Emerald for what she was willing to do to my daughter and my heart was broken when I found out Weiss was stealing from me. I wasn't proud, or happy, but neither of us, me or my daughter, are free of guilt. We hurt each other, but I intend to fix that." William never shouted, never even raised his voice, but the steady way he spoke, the grip on his wheel, the tremble in his shoulders, the moment terrified Ruby.

"I just want to support Weiss," Ruby offered, not sure what she meant or what it would cost, "No matter what."

"I hope so, I really do," William replied, turning up the wipers as the rain began to fall faster, clouds almost as thick as the atmosphere choking the inside of his sedan. The rest of the ride was held in relative silence. Ruby clutched herself, forming an awkward protective shell against nothing really. Mr. Schnee stopped talking, preferring to breathe steady breaths and slowly calm down as he drove. Ruby couldn't fully fault him, least not for the outburst. What else could one say to an accusation like hers?

By the time they arrived, a jovial mood returned to William. He began to hum to himself as they passed the reconstructed Plaza del Atlas, changed to allow cars through, the richer area packed full of finer automobiles and devoid of the simpler walking and biking folk that populated the other squares. Nearby was their target, a tower with a restaurant at the top, L'Atlas estates, fine apartments and restaurants. The structure seemed to be built of mirrors. A castle of reflections.

The rain was heavy now and spared not a second before showering down on Ruby as she exited the car. She did not mind, only bowing her head to protect her cosmetics. The water droplets were sharp and cold, made more so by the cool breeze that swiveled between the buildings and made that chill all the stronger. Without thinking, Ruby closed her eyes and was not there. She was home in Oregon, where like this they walked through rainstorms unshielded, no umbrellas could survive winter winds. Summer would run with her, as they darted through Portland streets. Where to, this sudden memory trigger did not provide, but the rain was the same. They were both wet to the skin, her mother's long, fire red hair was darkened by the water that stuck it to her face, ruining her makeup, but not her smile. They were so happy to run in the rain. Why? Probably something dumb. Summer didn't need a good excuse to be happy, and Ruby didn't need one to join.

"Miss Rose, please, you'll get soaked!" William cried as he darted out of the car and popping the umbrella as he went. The Spanish fall winds were strong, but not as strong as Oregon's, no drops falling on Ruby. Mr. Schnee lacked the same protection, but seemed not to care. His hair never stuck to his face, product holding his short silver strands together. Ruby was sure he had plenty of excuses to be happy.

"I don't mind, we get way worse at home," Ruby tried to dismiss, quick to snap back to their reality, standing in front of a downtown tower. The restaurant was located at the top of one of the few city center structures that rose above six stories. Monolithic, shining, more mirror than metal, and totally out of place in a town so old and build of tan and red stone. "Just, like, zoned out, I guess. I do that sometimes."

"It's an omen pushing us to hurry up and go inside already," Mr. Schnee jested, forming his arm into a circle once again as Ruby took on umbrella duty. "Shall we?"

Without grounds to deny him, Ruby mumbled an 'alright', took his arm, and let William escort her to the court of Schnees.

Inside the tower, Ruby was made immediately aware of the company she was keeping. The inner sanctum was devoid of the humble personability of Spanish architecture, everything was columns of black marble and false gold. Men in fine red and gold uniforms sprinting in a way that, with a gift in guile, seemed like walking. William stopped for no one, asking no questions and carrying himself with a comfortable smile like he owned the place. Perhaps he did. Ruby wondered if the onlooking staff thought she was the rebel daughter since her blouse lacked the gold trimmed look everything there had. What the hell was Weiss dating the rabble for?

"We have one of the dining rooms to ourselves, family outings always get loud. My daughters always try to outshout each other," William explained as the elevator door closed with them inside, a bubble made of glass that began to shepherd them up to the restaurant.

"I didn't know Weiss had a sister," Ruby noted, never hearing Weiss talk once about any other family aside from her father. She had never asked, the redhead realized, feeling a touch guilty. Here was her shot, get all the juicy secrets direct.

"Winter. Odd name I know, her mother named her. She's a few years older, sits on the board of the SDC. They have spats every once in awhile," William explained, hinting that a few spats meant they were the knives out kind of sisters. That was going to be fun.

"Thanks for having me," Ruby remembered to say just in time for the elevator doors to spring open. They arrived at a fine, if plastic looking restaurant. Again black marble and glass at every step, the gentle mumble of a thousand politely low conversations turned into the usual restaurant hum, if more restrained than usual. Everyone was dressed in fine attire, strapless dresses adorned with flowers, suits vests galore on men and women. The way the waiter looked at Ruby, she was reminded why she originally didn't want to come.

"Mr. Schnee?" the host asked surprisingly in English, holding the fine edges of his vest by his thumbs, hair combed back and held down by a cup's worth of gel.

"Yes, I've got room eleven reserved. I believe two other lovely ladies are likely waiting for us, don't worry if that ruins your dreams, the meaner one is still single," Mr. Schnee joked with a comfortableness only afforded by the most obnoxiously confident.

"Oh yes, sir," he replied, diverting his gaze for a second to Ruby, "Is she another of your guests?" AKA, did this street rat follow you in?

"Of course!" Mr. Schnee replied, turning to his younger companion, "she's the woman of the hour, can't you tell?" He winked in a way that only practiced fathers did, and for a second he reminded her of Taiyang at his best. Cheery, paternal, and childlike in a really comforting way. Maybe he wasn't awful, just concerned? The two images didn't match.

"This way, sir," the host shamefully defaulted to, embarrassed by William's generous defense of the younger girl.

"Told you, so long as you're with my daughter, no one's turning her partner away," William whispered, cheerily dragging Ruby with him, like a child off to show his neighbor a cool thing he discovered. Cool it was, a back wing, smaller than most. The side wall was just a massive window overlooking the bay, letting candle light and the moon brighten the inside. It was devoid of guests besides two. One, the most beautiful girl in the world, a touch more boyish than Ruby was use to. A button down dress shirt and slacks fit her beautifully, not a touch of awkwardness. Weiss was always the queen. The other, her sister, dressed in formal business wear, much like their father, her stature even closer to him as well. Her hair was pulled back into a bun beside a long swept part that covered half her face. A viper's smile was on her and she and her sister sat with an elephant of uncomfort between them.

"Ruby!" Weiss shouted, standing up at attention, worry and surprise painted on her face, "Why are you here?!" Winter looked on with a shit-eating grin, all her fault clearly.

"Did Winter not tell you?" William asked, frowning for the first time all night, clearly disappointed by this deception. Ruby decided then that she did not like Winter, and never would.

"She knows now," the sibling replied, crossing her legs like she had won something. Honestly, Ruby figured all she won was the mutual distrust of the entire party. No wonder they never got along.

"Sorry Weiss, your dad invited me," Ruby apologized without really knowing why. She feared crossing into some personal space, showing up unwanted. Pissing Weiss off upset her plenty more than the thought that her girlfriend didn't want her around. Of course, more realistically, Weiss stared back with a bit of shock and a lot of fear.

"No need for apologies, you're our guest, and Weiss understands I'm interested in meeting her partner, as any father would be, so sit, enjoy!" The older man shuffled over to the other side of the table, allowing Ruby to sit beside Weiss and across from Winter, simultaneously the best due for the former, and worst from the latter.

"I just didn't expect it, is all," Weiss mumbled, taking her seat again. Right next to Ruby, the pair sharing a mutual glance of concern and confusion. Without a word, Weiss reached under the table, grasping Ruby's hand as if Wiliam intended to jerk them apart at any second.

"So, Ruby, Weiss has been so sparse with the details. Tell me how you two met. Are you both in the business program?" Mr. Schnee began, avoiding the awkward air entirely, hand flipping his menu open and giving only cursory glances, preferring to keep eye contact with Ruby. It made her feel small, though she doubted it was his intent.

"No, I haven't picked a program," Ruby responded, awkwardly opening her menu up, a fine leather case that essentially held two scraps of paper, offering maybe five things on each.

Winter smirked at Ruby's comment, urging Weiss to squeeze harder on her hand. "People who wait to choose have a distinctly less favorable chance of completing uni. You should decide immediately if you intend to make something of your—"

"Winter, if everyone was a statistic, mathematicians would rule the world instead of working for me in an underfunded lab," William chided, not even bothering to raise his voice as he cut his daughter off. Weiss nearly bounced at the sight, locked in a civil war with her sibling. Ruby was happy two-fold, one to see her girlfriend feel like a winner, and two knowing Mr. Schnee liked her enough for that kind of confidence. "Again, tell me the story, and what you would like to eat. The waiter won't come till I flag him."

"Well, father," Weiss started, cutting Ruby off at the curve, "We are in the same foreign students program and Physics course. We began studying together, we still do mind you, but also bonded over artistic pursuits. Ruby is an author."

"Are you aware of the difficulti—"

"I was a big reader when I was younger, especially of Dostoyevsky," William cut off his daughter again, earning a giggle from Ruby, even if she tried to hide it. Mr. Schnee didn't seem to notice, or pretended not to, however Winter clearly did. "The Brothers Karamazov is still my favorite book. It's hard work, but I wish you well. As long as you stay practical while you create, frugal and such, I'm confident you'll do well. Weiss's mentioned your skills a few times; she's an honest judge." Ease was starting to replace the fear. Weiss was still tense, but Ruby wasn't. She let herself smile, laugh, and ignore Winter's annoyed glares and spitfire comments. William seemed to just swipe them away, so why worry?

Ordering was a confusing affair, all the menu items were devoid of pricing, ruining Ruby's scheme of picking whatever was cheapest. She intended to cover herself even if William insisted it was silly. Somewhere in the mock argument, Weiss called the waiter over and ordered for Ruby, which was kind of nice. For an English menu, Ruby barely recognized anything but the word steak.

Food arrived over light discussion, no one ever touched on anything real. Usually it danced around business talk, recent life events, nothing serious, and nothing about the past. Seemed their life as a family was brand new. No mention of Vienna, or Emerald, of anything. Yet it felt right. Normal. William had that effect. That pleasantness. Likely why he ran such a strong business. No one could hate him. Not even Weiss, who feared him, but found herself making witty comebacks on occasion, pulled into the conversation.

By seven, everyone was done with their meal except for Ruby. She began work on the final pieces of steak, now cold from the wait. She had no other choice, she watched the others eat to match their manners. Ruby knew these proper rituals existed and needed to learn them quick before becoming a barbian.

"Father, may I ask why you're in Spain? You never really explained why you came all the way here to El Vale?" Weiss asked, posture no longer locked tense, hand holding Ruby's knee gently, not so afraid she would be ripped away. William smiled at the question, but his eyes faded a little, unhappy at the start of this new topic.

"Personal matters, partially business, but mostly personal. Wanted to get it done myself. I'll be gone by tomorrow, like I was never here." There was nothing jovial in the way William said it, despite his body language seeming to pretend there was. His hand gave it away, scratching his beard nervously. This personal matter was a problem.

Winter on the other hand was excited, the fairly sullen sister snatched a spark of life, her hands grabbing her bag from below, an accordion of documents and records. "I believe this would be the time to discuss it then," Winter began, pulling out a folder.

"It can wait," Mr. Schnee interjected, hand pushing Winter's down swiftly, preventing her from tossing out the folder she had selected. Winter looked annoyed, and William offered a quiet, "she's eating, give it a few minutes."

"It's okay, I'm fine," Ruby answered incorrectly, judging from the tightness of Weiss' grip. She appeared horrified and the redhead instantly regretted it. Once Winter had begun there was no stopping it. With a smirk she laid a folder on the table, its name in black ink was German and incomprehensible, aside from a name, a name in English beside all the foreign and out of place text. Summer Rose.

"While we did a background check on you, Ruby—"

"It wasn't a background check," William cut in, clarifying her statement with his own version of the events, "I asked some people to just find out who you were. Weiss explained so little. It was just basic stuff: name, where you're from, barely anything. Nothing legal or substantial, just what you can find on a couple of Google searches." The explanation provided little comfort, though Ruby understood in some sense. It was scary to feel like she had been tested without her knowing.

"And we found your mother in our system. She use to work for one of our Nigerian subsidiaries, the one that purchased your father's old operation in the north end of the country back in 2014," Winter continued the story, opening the folder, familiar pictures showing up, one of mother and her team, same flag as father's picture, just less crew and more badges. Time.

"We tried to hire on as many people from the old project as possible, our subsidiary even tried to bring on your father, but he was focused on domestic development at the time. His operation was superb, canceled way before its prime. I wasn't directly involved, but it was normal stuff. You might remember this?" William entered in the story, adding a more personal tone. Ruby did remember the job, in her mid teens back then. She remembered how this ended as well. Mom came back bandaged up a year later, project scrapped, and her out of commission for months.

"Yeah, we needed more cash, so my mom would go for a few months, come back, and go out again awhile later, until the place got attacked. That got resolved, right? Are you trying to get my dad on it, or something?" Ruby asked with a great deal of worry. The country had stabilized a great deal since the civil infighting between the government and Boko Haram. Still, mom was gone, and Ruby was uninterested in losing another parent out of the blue. Even if only for a while.

"No, we sold the rights. We didn't want to finance reconstruction. Bad call, but no one knew when that was going to end. Messy conflict, I'm glad it's over," William shook his head, dismay seemed real. Whether for the lost lives or lost money, Ruby didn't feel confident she would know.

"The reason we bring this up, is one of the employees from your mother's former company filed a suit against us—"

"Look, Ruby would have nothing to do with her alone!" Weiss cut in hard. Winter smiled, but Mr. Schnee only sighed.

"This isn't about legal matters, it's about human ones," Mr. Schnee opened, voice louder than either of the sister's, calling everyone to pay attention as he spoke. His eyes lacked their sunny touch, his expression was more weary than cheery, the matter weighed on him, or he wanted it to appear to. Again, Ruby could not say. "When the station was attacked, your mother held position with the volunteers after the initial evacuation of company crews, buying time for the government to send aid and evacuate the local miners. It was heroic, and during the last day of the five on her team that stayed, one was killed, your mother took several bits of shrapnel from machine fire, cosmetic damage, and another member took a bullet." Ruby knew the story, or at least how Qrow romanticized it. Summer always said it was just people pelting each other from half a mile away until choppers showed up. Somehow, Ruby always guessed it was both more and less than either version.

"The man in question was the one who survived after taking a round. It was lodged in a sensitive area, so the doctors left it. He recently has been diagnosed with cancer, had the bullet removed while in surgery over a tumor. The bullet was found to be a depleted uranium round." Winter went over the notes robotically, unfeelingly, almost pleasurably, laying out the pieces for Ruby's brain to fill in. The shrapnel in mom's body. Bullet fragments, bigger pieces removed, but little slivers, so many they just left it. No harm, just slivers. Depleted uranium. Ruby never thought the word would be relevant to her or noteworthy in her mind. Before mom died, neither was cancer. Words once foreign. "No medical study has ever determined depleted uranium to be enough to actually tip scales in cancer cases. Even so, your mother signed a number of contracts clearing us of any responsibility for such issues, a lawsuit would be suicidal at this point—"

"Enough, Winter! I think she gets it. How hard is it to just be human!?" William shouted for the first time in their short history together. Ruby just kept staring at the flavorless steak, probably worth its weight in uranium. "Ruby, while we aren't likely even remotely responsible for her passing, your mother sacrificed for a lot of lives, our people. I'm here to try and make it up to you. The medical debt wiped clean, graduate school covered within reason, we can find a way to hash this out. I discovered this connection by accident and I want to pay my respects, to your mother, in the best interest of both parti—"

William was cut off, not by words, but something far more powerful in its punctuating. Without a word, Weiss stood, one swift motion propelling her to her feet. Mr. Schnee had little time to look up before her hand struck him. The smack was loud, its weight bouncing off of Ruby and the walls. It made her cringe, but did not tear the red head from her current gaze. Catatonic.

"You wanted this, didn't you!?" Weiss shouted, hand just as red as the mark she left on her father's face. She was crying, angry tears on her cheeks, soundless and ready to drown her victim. "Why do you keep trying to ruin everything that makes me happy?!" Weiss looked ready to hit him again before he stood, the older Schnee taller by a foot than his daughter and overtook her completely.

"This isn't about you Weiss! Not everything is!" William dropped all pretense of politeness, devolving into a matching tone, yelling loud enough to alert the wait staff. Still, they watched silently, unwilling to demand a Schnee to go away. "Ich will dir nur helfen, sie hätte es so oder so herausgefunden. Ich versuche nur zu verhindern, dass es schlimmer wird. Ich will es bei euch beiden wieder gut machen!" Mr. Schnee was the first to break from English, sending their mutual yelling into the void of unfamiliarity.

"You dodged a bullet staying out of this family, Ruby. Take your chance to escape, trust me," Winter smiled as she spoke, so pleased with herself. The sudden urge to vomit was extraordinary. The air was radioactive, choking and killing her, repulsing Ruby's heart and body. The last urge to stay, motivated purely by the thought of spiting Winter, vanished as soon as Ruby shot another glance at her mother's smiling face, wondering if she felt the burn of poison in her body all those years. She was already texting Yang.

"Excuse me, I'm going home," Ruby announced loud enough for all to hear. She wanted more than anything to have a hoodie to hide in. This wasn't the place for her, Ruby belonged in this restaurant about as much as her mom fit among the living now. Everyone was watching her, but there was nothing to say. Nothing to resolve. It was time to go away,

"Wait Ruby," every Schnee aside from Winter called out, but Ruby focused on neither of their competing voices, unable to form anything she wanted to hear right now. She could guess what they had to say. There was no reason to wait.

"Yang's coming to pick me up. Thank you for the meal, Mr. Schnee. Goodnight." Ruby bolted as politely as she could, passionately speedwalking might be more accurate. The goal was the elevator door, a glass bubble that would bring her back to the surface. No one seemed to go after her. The mixture of people talking got farther away, and no one in the restaurant dared say a word. A peaceful second was a gift to her as the doors opened. Without a second thought, Ruby entered, not hearing Weiss' heavy footsteps run after her.

"Ruby, please!" Weiss slammed herself against the doors, holding them open against both their will and Ruby's, "I'm sorry, I don't know why he's doing this. He's trying to break us up, ruin this for us, he's a bastard!" Weiss cried out, more emotional than Ruby had ever seen, and despite how much she adored her, despite everything the redhead had thirsted, taken, and wanted from her, she could not care. She wanted to, wanted to so bad, but it was all gone. Summer's cancers took too much space in the little girl's heart tonight.

"My mom dying isn't about you." It wasn't meant to be cruel, it wasn't, but its intent was hiding directly in its truth. Whatever she was feeling, this pain, it wasn't Weiss, and it sure as hell wasn't just something made up to inconvenience her. Ruby watched her mother's shallow breaths turn to no breaths at all. That wasn't something to be shrunk down to a weapon by anyone. "Please let go."

"Ruby," Weiss bubbled, chin shivering as she spoke, expecting a reply where none was coming. The redhead kept staring, hoping for the love of god, she would just let the door close, let her go home, let her sleep a month away, dreaming of mom's hugs and sweet bedtime stories. Please.

She did.

The doors closed. A glass case giving Ruby an excellent view of how she just made the prettiest girl in the world cry.

***So I hope that answers a lot of questions you all were having and honestly I am hoping this surprises you all a great deal. Most of you were quick to jump on the Mr. Schnee is an evil dick train, but things in real life are more complicated. I hope to hit that complication point well.

Special thanks of course to LazyKatze for her awesome edits and support. She is the best bestie anyone could ask for. My brotp for life. And special thanks to me for making it to 23. ;~; kill me I'm too old.

The actual cause of death for Summer Rose was one of the last things conceived of for Choice. The Extras after the story were plotted out before the nature of Summer's Cancer was. Also science not choice fact, depleted uranium round while rare are available. Doctors have often suggested it would be harmless, but the concerns of long term exposure is still being explored.