Chapter 7

"...Led by Glynda Goodwitch, Team Gambit! Please collect your papers from my colleague at the edge of the stage."

Ruby's heart hammered in her chest. Her team was last. Ozpin had done this on purpose for sure. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet, looking over at her new team. They seemed just as anxious as she.

"And last, but certainly not least following that swift takedown of the Araneolus Periculum, we have Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow and Raven Branwen, and their fearless leader, Summer Rose! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Team Stark!"

Ruby smiled, letting some of the stress leave her. Heh. He called her fearless. What did he know. They made their way to the edge of the stage, where they were greeted by a short, young-looking man in a maroon suit. He handed them manila envelopes. Tai opened his, and Ruby watched him extract a student card, a room card, and a few loose documents from the envelope. She looked down at her own, frowning. It didn't feel heavy enough to contain the same stuff as everyone else. Carefully, she opened it. Inside was a single piece of paper.

Come to my office. Immediately.

A wave of fear washed over her. Had she done something wrong? She smiled and waved to her team, departing in a mild hurry. Back once again to the grounds of the school, she found herself in a light jog across campus, worried about why the headmaster had been so insistent. Had she done something illegal? It had only been, what like 40 hours now? No way had she already messed up. The door to Ozpin's office loomed into view at the end of the long hallway she had now entered. She thought about her actions so far. She had acquired a weapon, like he asked, made a team, like he asked, and blended in as a student, like he asked. Where had she gone wrong?

"Come in."

Ruby froze. Before she had even knocked, she had been insisted to enter. In a rather harsh tone as well. Better late than never. She opened the door and stepped inside.

The air in the office was vastly different from the previous day. Before, it had been brightly scented, the curtains were open, and Ozpin had been wearing a pressed green suit. Today, however, everything was different. There was no pleasant scent. The curtains were drawn. And the suit? Forget it. Ozpin had done the announcements via his intercom mic on his desk, so he was wearing his sweatpants and a hoodie. Unbefitting of a man of his stature, usually. He looked upset. He gestured pointedly at a chair.

"Sit down."

Ruby sat. She kept her mouth shut. Ozpin stood behind his desk, his head lowered. He exhaled, angry.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Ruby."

Oh no. He used her first name. Not "Miss Rose" or anything that could be construed otherwise. Literally her first name. What had she done?

"What did I do?"

Ozpin scoffed. Ouch. He looked up at her over the edge of his glasses.

"Your actions are unbecoming of you. Detrimental, even. What you did in the forest with regards to young Miss Branwen are frankly atrocious, let alone dangerous."

Ruby thought back.

"What, you mean because I threw my weapon at her? She was drawing her sword because I had my back turned!"

Ozpin held up his hand, silencing her.

"She was sheathing her weapon, but that was not my point. You've successfully damaged a relationship that is paramount to your survival before you've even begun it. Do you understand your actions?"

"She was being an asshole, sir-"

She was cut off.

"No, Miss Rose, you were being an asshole. You left her alone to fight that group of beowolves, were completely unreasonable towards her, and furthermore, you were overly amorous with her sibling right in front of her."

Ruby blushed, remembering. Okay, that may have been over the line.

"She told me to stay out her way. Why should I justify actually being nice to her if she has no intention of being nice to me?"

Ozpin nearly flinched.

"What proof do you have that she is anything other than a nice and pleasant girl?"

Ruby stomped her foot and stood up. There was no beating around the bush anymore, she needed to explain to this man exactly why she hated Raven so much.

"Because she abandoned her daughter."

Without missing a beat, Ozpin slammed his hand down on the table.

"And so far, It will have been your fault."

Ruby froze, tears forming.

"All of this will be on your head, or rather, on Summer's. The way you're acting right now, Raven will leave before she even gets a chance to smile at Mister Xiao Long. At the rate you're going, she'll be gone in two weeks. Do you understand?"

Ruby sat back down, trembling. This wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to be the bad guy. She nodded at him, sadness blocking her throat. She wanted to put her hood up and hide.

"And while we're on the topic of time, let's talk about your other choice."

Ruby looked up at him. He was fiddling with his scroll, flipping though an album of student's faces. He landed on a certain green-eyed blond and turned the screen to face her. Ruby's heart skipped unconsciously.

"Really? You're going to give up on a long standing relationship just like that because of her?"

Ruby looked away, angry again, and clear enough to spit a response back.

"Oh, don't bullshit me and tell me people never fantasize about going back in time to date people they would never otherwise get to. And I'm not 'giving up' a relationship, Ozpin, I'm doing what you asked. Blending in. Besides, here in this time, Weiss hasn't even been born yet. Why should it matter?"

Ozpin was quiet for a moment, before speaking in a lowered, devastating tone.

"She will be born this February. Do you understand what that means?"

Ruby nodded.

"That I have five months to do what I want because I am Summer Rose right now, not Ruby Rose."

Ozpin sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. He turned, pacing over to the side of the room. He mumbled under his breath.

"So it has not become clear yet. Hmm."

Ruby suddenly felt concerned. What had not become clear?

"Do you know what it means when I tell you that Weiss will be born in February?"

Ruby shook her head.

"How much older than your sister is your girlfriend, exactly?"

Ruby thought about it for a moment. Her eyes went wide.

"Only n-nine months..."

She trailed off as the headmaster raised his eyebrows and took a sip from his mug. It hit her like a train. Her stomach leapt into her mouth. Oh fuck, oh shit, oh no. Her entire body shuddered violently, and her she felt like she was going vomit. She did a mental calculation, figuring out that this meant Yang would have been conceived during the Vytal festival happening in February. That meant she had five months to prevent what she had started. She needed Tai and Raven to be together. But Raven hated her! She had ruined it all. And now with no way to return to the present, she was stuck here to watch the 'magic' not happen! Her body convulsed.

"Now you understand."

Oh, yes she certainly did. She stood up from her chair, and Oz didn't protest. Her head was swimming, and her legs nearly buckled.

"Worry not, child. What you are experiencing is known as 'chronal catchup'. Your body is reacting violently to the information overload. Without proper pacing, your brain will react to the influx of information all at once, and this happens."

All of her breakfast came up at once into the garbage can that Ozpin had pushed over to her. Everything burned on the way back up. The pancakes? More like paincakes. The eggs? The uggs, more like. It hurt so bad that she felt like crying. The tears came. She tried to scream.

More vomit.

"Fret not, it will pass. I spent two hundred years like that, having time travel morning sickness. Try having every timeline pass through your body at once, let alone just two."

Sweet mother of the gods above was her body in pain. She knew what she had to do. She had to make things right. To fix the Summer that the Ruby had ruined.

She needed to make the...

HUUURRRGHBBBLLRLR

Aaaand the sickness was back. Great. She looked up at Ozpin, who had sat back down at his desk. He took a sip from his mug. The action alone made her gag again.

"I can help you, Miss Rose."

Ruby tilted her sick-covered face back down into the garbage, eyes closed. Her legs were going numb from being tucked up under her body. She spat out the rest of the horror in her mouth into the little chrome bin. She stood up, her legs weak, arms heavy.

"Yeah?" she said, trying to look confident. "How are you...gonna help?"

She had to support herself on the edge of his desk.

"I'll offer you a job. You work for me, and I will help you fix your problems."

Ruby sniffed. "What do I need to do?"

He smiled, standing up and moving over to the wardrobe on the other side of the office. The same one that had held the pearl white cloak not even twenty-four hours ago. Her brow creased as the headmaster pulled the doors open. A small white box was pulled out and placed gently on his table.

"This is yours now." he said, slowly opening it up and revealing the contents. She reached out, picking up the little clutch, filled to the brim with plastic cards. Underneath was the unmistakable blue-vinyl-wrapped shape of a Kingdom of Vale passport. "Or, more accruately, this is you now."

Identification cards. A credit card, a bank card, a health card, a SIN card, and competely out of the blue, a library card. All bearing her name. Well, actually her fake name. Summer Eloise Rose.

"You will work for me. Now it's not a choice anymore. Here." He handed her a final card with a lanyard attached to it. "That's a faculty pass. You will be able to get in to the school facilities after hours and into the staff lounge. I want you to stay occupied. While you're stuck here."

She was stuck here alright. But it felt less like he wanted her to stay occupied and more like he needed an excuse to watch over her. To make sure she didn't cause any more irreparable damage to the timeline.

"Right." he said, smacking his cane on the table, making her jump. "First off, congratulations on the job, and welcome to the team."

She watched him pace back to her side of the desk, filled with more purpose than before.

"The first step in your journey, my dear, will seem like a difficult one. But not impossible."

"What do I have to do?" she asked, her voice wary.

His smile was not as trustable as she remembered.

"Apologize to Miss Branwen."

She clenched her eyes shut. Of course.

"Oh..."

"Can you make sure this happens, oh say today?"

It was super weird to see her formerly stoic and collected professor a) in sweat pants, and b) incredibly angry at her. She was scared.

"I..."

"No hesitation. It needs to happen. Do you want to be ripped out of space and time because you made one angry little girl hate you?"

Ruby sniffled.

"...No."

"Then go up there and make up."

He pointed towards the door. She stood nervously. He emphasized with some exuberant hand motions, and she complied. Just before she left, she turned back and looked at him.

"NOW!"

She retreated hastily.

The moment the door was closed, she let out a deep sigh, a hint of a sob leaking in. He was right. She was trapped. It hadn't really sunk in yet. She had been to busy getting a new weapon, showing off said weapon, flirting with apparently everyone who moved, and being rude to poor Raven. She slumped against the large door, the carved contours cutting into her back.

"I hate everything and everyone..."

The taste of vomit was still prominent in her mouth. She sighed. It was now or never. Actually, perhaps that wasn't dramatic enough. It was now of the entire universe gets ripped apart. She sobbed, pushing off the wall and standing up. If she didn't know it before, she certainly knew it now. The entire universe depended on her. It was a bitter truth, really. To go from thinking the just the world revolved around you to actually knowing that it did.

"Okay..."

She started walking. Her pace was wobbly, however, as she fought for balance through the swimming of her head. The other students in the hall watched with quiet giggles as she used the wall for support, making her way back out into the courtyard.

The sun beat down on her with a vengeance. Worse than it ever had. Ruby felt like the weight of the entire world was eating away at her and dragging her deeper and deeper. Somebody had hooked a chain to her guts, and was actually pulling her into the centre of hell. Why her? Why her? It was all just so unfair. She wanted to go back home. Back to the regular Beacon, back to the regular Vale, and back to the place that didn't feel like a nightmare had come to life and condemned her to death.

But this was now impossible. With out her being here now, there was no regular anything to go back to. She trudged back around to the student dormitories, the bland grey building more intimidating than welcoming. It sucked to know she was stuck. What would Yang think of her now? Well, accurately Yang couldn't think at all as she hadn't even been conceived yet. Her parents hadn't even properly met yet. What a day she was having.

The stairs in the dorm building still sucked as much as she remembered from Future-Beacon, with the runner at the very top of each floor was still about an eight-inch too short, causing her boots to slap down hard every time she reached it. Apparently this issue plagued even those in the past. So why had no one fixed it? These were the thoughts that occupied her head as she dragged herself up to the fifth floor. The heavy steel door opened with a solid tug into the hallway, the same dull reserved grey carpeting as always. Another sigh.

Her room was down the hall, on the left. Across from Jaune's room. But Jaune wouldn't be there when she arrived. Neither would Pyrrha, Ren, or Nora. Her body fell as she arrived at the door, pulling out her room card. With a heavy heart, she pushed it through the card reader. The little light flashed red.

She blinked.

"Wait, what?"

She tried again. Red light. Ruby frowned and tried again. More red light.

"Well of-fucking-course."

She slid the card into a pocket on her dress, and knocked on the door. After a beat, the door swung open. To her surprise and actual relief, the person who opened the door was not one of her team members. Instead, it was a dark skinned shirtless guy with bulging pecs, a diagonal dragon tattoo cutting down his neck and over the left one. She stared. Like, really stared.

"I...uh..."

She mumbled, focusing on the man's rock-hard abdominals. He tilted his head at her, his grey-green fringe flopping over.

"Can I help you?"

His voice was chocolatey and rich, coming out in waves.

"I... this isn't..."

"Are you here for Viktor?" he leaned back. "Vik! Your sister's here!"

She didn't have time to correct him before the one she could have extrapolated as being 'Viktor' came out from the bathroom. If dragon-and-muscles could be described as being 'ripped', Viktor would have to be called 'torn'. Her mouth hung open stupidly, watching this statuesque man in only a towel approach her.

"You're not Elle." his face contorted before softening. "No matter, something we can help you with?"

Yeah, a tall glass of some of that, please.

Ruby gave her head a shake to rid it of the lecherous thoughts.

"Uh... not...have... I can't found... Where's the RA?"

Man-Mountain number one raised his hand.

"I am."

Of course.

"Well... I... I can't find my room."

Yeah, that sounded perfectly normal. Viktor turned around and wandered away, leaving her with shirtless hottie with the tat. Just before he was out of sight back in the bathroom, she caught sight of him dropping his towel. The buns, they were of steel. She shuddered. Not fair.

"Hold on, I'll see what I can find."

He didn't seem to mind keeping his shirt off in the presence of a girl, and frankly, neither did Ruby. He grabbed a binder off the desk that sat next to one of the beds, and flipped it open.

"You fifth floor?"

She fidgeted.

"I... don't know."

He looked at her through his godly-sculpted eyebrows.

"...Okay. Your name?"

"R... Summer Rose."

That was close.

She shut her eyes. He hadn't noticed her slip-up, or if he did, he was too busy flipping pages to care.

"You are... third floor. Room three-three-seven. Why didn't you go to your third floor RA?"

Well, at this point, anyone else would have been disappointing.

Ruby rolled her eyes at herself.

"Force of habit I guess? I was on the fifth floor the last two years."

He frowned.

"Says here your a first year."

"Doesn't matter. Thank you!"

She took off, running back towards the stairs. She cursed herself out for letting that little tidbit slip. Two flights of stairs were dealt with rather swiftly as she bolted downward, trying her best to not use her semblance to get out of there quickly. Well, her real semblance. That would be a messy cleanup.

The third floor felt worse than the fifth. Especially with the knowledge that this floor contained a person who hated her and would leave if she didn't fix their relationship. She puffed out her chest. She knew she had to.

"Okay, Ruby. C'mon."

She pushed herself forward, following the edge of the wall and the little signs that lined it. Up ahead, one of the room doors was propped open by a backpack. Her heart skipped a little. Would it be her room? Or just another ruse to waste her time? She was already upset that her fifth-floor room she had spent two years getting used to belonged to someone else. Granted, it was a god-like Residence Advisor, so she thought perhaps a few trips up for some advising wouldn't be so wrong.

The backpack turned out to have a large yellow dragon embroidered across the front. She sighed. Well, this was her room. Some closure, at least. She slowed, not quite bringing herself fully up to the opening. A few voices came out from the room, hushed and very agitated.

"Look, just deal..."

"No, I won't! I'm not gonna deal with that, not now, not ever!"

"Rae, come on, be reson-"

"No, fuck you, and fuck this school."

She bit her lip.

"Rae, you have to stay. We said we'd see this through."

"Yeah, that was until I found out this place is full of sociopaths. I'm done. I'm not staying."

Ruby's mouth fell open. Raven was leaving?!

"...no..."

She pushed forward, slamming the door open. It bounced off the plaster wall with a crack.

"Wait!"

Both Raven and Qrow looked over at her from their position over on the bed. Raven was elbow-deep in a suitcase, her clothes stuffed angrily back into it. The instant the woman's eyes met hers, they flashed an angry glare.

"You!"

Ruby winced.

"In what fucking god-forsaken universe would I ever wait for anything you say?"

Okay, that was harsher than she was expecting.

"I want to talk to you."

Raven stood upright, crossing her arms. Ruby had briefly forgotten that this woman stood a full foot taller than she did, so angry Raven was very intimidating to her.

"What if I don't want to talk to you? Ever think about that? No, because you only think about yourself."

Ruby looked over at Qrow for some kind of answer. Picking up on this, he rolled his eyes dramatically.

"She's upset because the Prof made you team leader and not her."

"A little girl like her has no credentials to be lead, and besides, she's a bitch! I'm leaving this fucking place, and that's final!"

Ruby went into pleading mode. This altercation was already going the wrong way, and saving it might be impossible it seemed.

"Raven, you have to stay!" she cried. "You can't leave!"

"Why, just because you're the 'leader', I have to do what you say? Well, tough shit."

No, because without you there's no Yang, no me, no team RWBY, and no future.

"No, of course not... look, can I talk to you? Please?"

"No. I'm not going to be on a team if you're on it. I'm not going to waste all my training having to keep up with a cretin like you."

This had derailed. Quite spectacularly. Time for plan L. L for Loud.

"Just SHUT UP!" she yelled. "Shut up for one minute!"

To her surprise, she did. This had never worked before, on anyone. But hey, first time for everything.

"I want to talk to you because I want to apologize."

Raven stayed silent. Ruby could see that her glare was cutting, and if she had been any closer, it might have drawn blood.

"Should I leave you two?" Qrow asked.

Ruby gave him a very apologetic look.

"Please?"

He nodded, getting up off the bed and departing. As he passed behind her, he whispered into her ear.

"Please, Summer. I need her here."

Ruby nodded, closing her eyes. With a click, the door closed behind her.

"Speak."

Ruby exhaled.

"I know I've treated you wrong, and I know that's an understatement."

Raven's glare didn't lift.

"And I know that Qrow is your only family right now. I know about the tribe."

Her vision snapped away.

"How would you know about that?"

Ruby winced again.

"Long story, let's just go with I know more than I should. You come from a group of nomads-"

"Bandits."

Ruby paused.

"...Nomads sounds less illegal. Anyway, I know that you left them far behind, and I know that you only have your brother left."

"We didn't leave them behind. We chose to become huntsmen."

Not true. Ruby let her shoulders droop as she slumped against the wall.

"Because your tribe was killed during a raid on their camp."

Raven turned back, the glare returning.

"How could you possibly know that?"

Ruby shook her head, dejected.

"Like I said, I know more than I should."

They stood in silence for a while. Ruby tried not to tear up, remembering having been actually told what happened by Qrow when she was a little girl. Granted, this particular exchange hadn't happened yet, so she was right, she knew more than she should. Would it be worth telling the whole truth, she wondered. Probably not. Raven wouldn't believe it, even if it was true. Ruby tried her luck with a deeper question.

"Where were you going to go?"

A beat.

"I don't know. Away from here."

"You have no home."

"Yeah..."

"Qrow is your home."

She sniffled.

"Why are you like this?"

Ruby shrugged.

"I don't know."

"You're mean.

She nodded.

"I know."

Raven paused, and scratched her head with her nails, but not with any sort of intensity or purpose. Ruby took this opportunity to pad softly over and sit down on the bed Raven was standing beside. Then, as if by magic, Raven sat down on it as well. Her breath caught in her throat. This was the closest she'd ever been to the woman, in this time or her own, where she wasn't trying to kill her. Raven hung her head.

"I'm sorry. Rae."

The woman exhaled hard through her nose.

"Mmm..."

"I am."

Time to be honest.

"...I know what it's like."

"...What?"

"To not have a family." she clarified.

Raven tilted her head over. Ruby took a moment to examine the woman's face. Barely seventeen, but so much more mature than she was. Her eyes didn't have the youthful glow that her classmates did, and her skin was showing signs of wind-weathering. Being in a nomadic tribe had done this to her, after all. She was... complicated, but it didn't mean she wasn't beautiful. Just like Yang. Ruby flushed.

"What do you mean?"

"I... don't have a family either. My mom..."

She paused, unsure of how to put this lightly. Or without giving away her secret.

"... She left my dad when I was three. D-died, or something. Grimm attack. Heh. Just like that, poof, she was gone. I don't think I've ever seen my dad cry before, except for that day."

It had rained. For two weeks. Almost like someone was controlling the weather, just to make the situation deliberately more dismal than it needed to be.

"My dad... well, actually we all fell into a dark place after that. He gave up his job, gave up leaving the house. Damn near gave up living. I remember having to live with Uncle Qr...uh, with my uncle Vic for a couple of months."

"Why'd you have to do that?"

It seemed odd that she had an interest. Ruby internally wiped her brow for avoiding the very near slip-up.

"He... had to go to a rehab clinic. Which is actually the same place my uncle went shortly after, but for his drinking."

She had to pause again. It felt wrong predicting the exact events that would befall both Tai and Qrow. But Raven needed to know.

"It sucked for a while, but we came back from it. You know, we had our... happy little family. Me, my dad, my sister. It was great."

She paused to inhale. Raven sat, enthralled.

"And then, one day, thanks to my own doing, they were gone. Just like that. Everyone I knew and loved, gone."

"...How?"

"An... accident... with dust."

"Oh. It's a... sore subject?"

Ruby nodded.

"Everyone you loved, huh?"

And again.

"Does this include that... girl?"

Ruby frowned.

"Which girl?"

"The one you said you had your eyes on."

Ruby chuckled.

"Heh, no she's new. But that's a long shot at best. No, but when the accident happened, my actual girlfriend was gone too. So yeah, now I have no one at all. You know, you remind me a lot of her"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. She was just like you. Pissy, kinda rude, really against me being team leader. Unbelievably gorgeous. Did the same thing as you, threatened to leave. Almost made it out the door, too."

Raven paused, halfway through a word, flushing. Ruby pushed on.

"We had our differences. I was a naive little girl, with big ambitions of being this world-beating huntress. I was kinda a douchebag, if I'm honest. I didn't study, I slacked off, my sister and I would cut class all the time. So, not exactly what the preppy rich kid wanted for a leader. But, I had to prove that I was the more mature one, and eventually I did, and she came around."

"...then you dated?"

She shrugged.

"Yeah, for a while. Started using the L-word, and everything."

"Lesbians?"

Ruby snorted.

"Yes, that one too."

They both chuckled quietly. The room fell silent for a few moments as Ruby let the new information sink in. She had noticed that Raven had subconsciously started braiding one of the tassels on the hem of her coat. The very same braid pattern that Yang used to wear in her hair when she was little. She'd seen it in all the photographs.

"And then... the accident?"

"It was a little while ago." she lied. "I'm trying to get over the loss. So, I'm probably acting like a dick, still. I don't know how to fix it."

"Me neither."

Ruby exhaled, turning to face the woman on the bed with her.

"How about this; I'll try my best to be a better person for you, and we'll work together on this team. I know we're probably not friends, and I know you probably don't like me yet, but I want us to be friends, and I know we can make it work."

Of course they could. They had to. For the future. For Yang.

"Okay..."

Ruby's heart skipped a beat.

"On one condition, though."

"Anything."

Raven looked around, probably to make sure no one was listening in on them.

"Okay, maybe two." Ruby indicated this was alright, prompting her to continue. "First, you never tell anyone about the tribe I'm from or what happened."

"Your secret is safe with me."

"And second, you don't get to ask me about Tai anymore. Got it?"

"I... Oh. Uh, okay. Why not?"

This seemed both sudden and punitive. Ruby could see Raven's cheeks redden slightly, and the faintest, faintest of smiles cross her lips. A good sign. Ruby nearly jumped the woman to demand answers, but held herself back. Barely.

"Be... because. I-I said so. If I feel like talking about it, I will. Is that so much to ask?"

"No no, that's fine." She gave a big smile. "Whenever you're ready. So I think we have a deal. You stay here, I stay quiet."

"Sounds good to me. Thank you, Summer."

Ruby shook the woman's hand with vigour. Any progress was good progress.

"Right! Lets get you unpacked, okay?"

Raven nodded with a dry chuckle.

"Sure. If you're so eager."

Ruby bounced to her feet., But Raven caught her by the wrist.

"Oh, and one other thing..."

"What's that?"

"Don't expect me to come around the same way your other friend did, Summer. I'm not into that."

Ruby gave her a wink for good measure.

"You sure?"

She received a pillow in the face.