Commission for overseerorm! They asked for some Newspaper (Ruby, Weiss, Blake) so the main focus is on those three, who are all dating each other. Yang is included as well, just not romantically! This story is a combination of angst and fluff.

Rated T for graphic/bloody descriptions.

If you like my work, you can support me on P-a-t-r-e-o-n as Kiria Alice!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Shadow Of A Dream

Often times, Blake had trouble differentiating between dreams and reality.

Or rather, nightmares and reality.

It seemed that most of the time, they intermingled, and she couldn't always be certain of when they were actuality, and when they were false.

It all came down to time - how long she would have to wait it out for until she woke up, sweating and shivering in bed.

However, despite how twisted and horrible some of the nightmares could become, there was always a sense of relief that would come with their termination. To know 'it was all a dream...' that 'it wasn't real...' always served to be enough to calm her.

It was the times when she didn't wake up that were the most awful, because she was forced to accept those times as reality.

Alongside her teammates, she'd fought many battles she'd wished had only been nightmares forged in her sleeping mind. No matter how awful the nightmares got, she had to appreciate them, for their fabricated nature if nothing else.

But while it was always easier to realize a nightmare once it was over, it was almost impossible to recognize them when she was trapped within one.

Even now, she couldn't be sure...

...

She had a mission.

Information to deliver to Beacon's headmaster.

Information involving the White Fang that only Blake had been able to obtain. She needed to tell Ozpin, or else everyone she knew and loved would be in great danger.

Her teammates and friends knew that all too well. Which was why they had made it their mission to get Blake to Ozpin no matter what.

They were running.

If Blake's mission was to bring her information to Ozpin, then the White Fang's mission was to kill her before she could.

Gunshots rang through the air, reverberating and echoing all around the walls of the school building, accompanied by screams of terror and violent shouts.

Blake was purposefully being kept at the center of her team, with Ruby and Weiss flanking her, and Yang at her back. All they had to do was keep running, just until they found Ozpin.

When White Fang members poured out to block their path, her teammates charged to fight them, but wouldn't allow Blake to help.

"We can't risk you getting hurt!" Ruby shouted to her. "Then who would tell Ozpin what he needs to know?"

Such was their reasoning. But it was horrible for Blake, to have to sit back and do nothing but watch as the people she loved put their lives at stake for her just because she had a few sentences to say to the headmaster.

But she couldn't afford to put them at any greater risk by doing something outlandish.

So she had no choice but to hide in the shadows as her teammates fought, grunting and panting with effort as they fended off the attackers. The familiar sounds of their weapons clicking and firing reached Blake's ears, and she longed to add Gambol Shroud's melody to the mix, but bit her lip and refrained.

It had always been difficult to fight alongside her friends with the ever-present possibility that any of them could get injured or worse at any time.

But now, it was even more terrifying. Because she loved them more than just friends.

Yang wasn't just a friend anymore. She was her partner. Her one and only partner, who covered Blake's blind spots and defended her back at all costs, without a second thought.

And Ruby and Weiss were her partners in a different sense.

Now, as Blake watched them desperately trying to fend off the savage attackers, she couldn't help but think of the contrast she knew all too well.

Ruby's strong laughter, and even stronger hugs.

Weiss' soft giggle, and even softer lips.

The girls who loved her like she never thought anyone could.

The girls who treasured her like she'd never treasured herself.

Blake jolted as a particularly loud shout cracked the air. An opening had been cleared in the lines of White Fang members, and her teammates didn't hesitate to pull her through.

"Let's go!" Weiss was at her side in an instant, casting a trail of glyphs in front of them as she grabbed Blake's arm and pulled her onto the glowing path. Ruby was already darting ahead to clear the way for them.

But when Blake looked back, she could still see Yang, now fighting alone against a dozen armed people. She tried to scream for her, but her voice didn't emerge.

Ruby seemed to guess at Blake's fears and attempted to quell them.

"She'll be fine."

From there, the three of them advanced, racing down the hallways sprayed with blood and debris. Blake tried not to look at anything but the glyph at her boots.

They dashed through the building, up stair cases, down more hallways, seeking Ozpin's office.

Again and again, they were intercepted.

Ruby and Weiss took turns fighting them off, or defending Blake. She could tell they were both exhausted, pushing limits, or already beyond them. She wanted to beg them to stop, just for a moment to catch their breath.

But she couldn't get her voice to work, no matter how hard she tried.

Not until the ranks of White Fang parted to reveal someone all too familiar.

Like a dark ghost, he emerged from them, bone-white mask and hair of flame, streaks of crimson painting his clothes. Blake's throat closed up as she watched him draw his sword.

"A...Adam..."

He paused in his advance and lifted his chin, smiling in her direction.

"Hello, my love."

That set off Weiss' fuse faster than anything.

"Don't you dare!" she screeched. "Don't you dare talk to her like that! You don't love her, you monster!"

"Monster?" he inquired. "That's hurtful. But it's not like I haven't heard it before. Especially coming from a Schnee."

In seconds, his hands were at Weiss' throat, choking the air from her lungs in a crushing grip.

Blake screamed.

Ruby tried to stop him by charging his back, but he dodged her easily, allowing her to bowl over into Blake instead. He laughed, lifting Weiss off the ground as she writhed against his cruel grip, her fingers curling weakly at his taut knuckles.

Ruby pushed herself up off of Blake and whirled around, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

"Let her go!"

"If you insist."

With a devilish grin, Adam hurled Weiss against the nearest wall. A paralyzing crack could be heard past her breathless shriek of agony as she fell face-down. She tried to get up, but a heavy boot slammed her back down, then kicked her over to expose her chest.

Blake and Ruby were forced to watch, whimpering and crying and begging, as Adam drew his blade-

"S-Stop it!" Ruby wailed. "Stop it, stop it, stop, stop, stop-"

"NO!" Blake screamed. "Adam, don't-"

They were both cut off by another one of Weiss' heart-wrenching cries. Adam pressed his weight down onto her chest until her ribs began to crack, one by one...

"This is what happens, Blake," he chuckled. With every bone that broke, he became more and more excited. "This is what happens when you love anyone else but me."

Weiss gasped as yet another rib was shattered, her head rolling limply to the side. Through the blood and the anguish, she sent her partner an imploring look.

"Ruby... t-take h-her and go..."

"No!" Ruby cried. "Weiss, we're not leaving you!"

"Actually," Adam mused. "I think that might be your best option. After all, I'm going to take my time with Schnee's daughter."

And Blake watched.

She watched as his sword came down on her, plunging through Weiss' chest, tearing through her as her screams ripped through the air. Blood welled up, gurgling from a gaping hole in her throat, spraying her dress crimson. His sword soaked it all up, pulled out, then stabbed her again.

And again.

Cutting her.

Carving her.

Ruby had no other choice. It was too late for Weiss now.

Screaming and sobbing, she turned away, grabbing Blake around the waist as she did so, then tore off through the school. Her terror, grief, and anger fueled her as she ran blindly, broken screams of Weiss' name spilling from her mouth just as the blood had spilled from Weiss'.

They could still hear her screams echoing for a moment as they ran...

Blake was numb.

The images just kept replaying in her mind.

She watched Adam tear Weiss open, over and over, no matter how much she screamed.

Screams were his favorite song, sorrow his favorite flavor, hurting Blake his greatest motivation.

Ruby only barely managed to make it as far as Ozpin's office. There, she collapsed, dropping to her knees as she slipped from Blake's side. Sobs of Weiss' name continued to tumble from her lips, heartbreaking wails choking her.

But she wasn't going to let Weiss' sacrifice be in vain.

Ruby's eyes were drowning with tears, but she still turned them to Blake's hollow gaze.

"Go..." she begged her. "D-Do... wh-what you have to... for Weiss..."

Blake wiped her eyes and turned away.

She opened the door to Ozpin's office, finding only darkness inside.

Suddenly, her ears flicked beneath the bow at the sound of something shooting through the air. Blake quickly dodged to the side as the arrow flew past her. From within the shadows, a fiery glow appeared, along with a low, husky voice.

"Oh my. That wasn't too wise of you."

The fire coaxed her to turn around.

Blake looked over her shoulder, only to see that the arrow she'd dodged was now embedded in Ruby's chest.

The long wooden body protruded from her collar, the burning tip buried deep into her heart. The light in her eyes was already fading as her body slumped sideways, blood spilling out.

Blake couldn't even catch her.

"No..."

Yang, swarmed and overpowered.

"No..."

Weiss, strangled and shredded.

"NO..."

Ruby, limp and pierced through.

"NOOO!"

Blake shot up in her bed, so suddenly and so violently she very nearly fell out of it altogether.

Sweat was coating every inch of her body, her hair tangled and frazzled, her ears flattened so hard against her scalp that it hurt. The nails of one hand clutched at her skull, the others at her chest, digging into her flesh as tears poured down her cheeks.

Fragmented, shadowy pieces of the dream continued to swirl in her mind, distorting her reality.

She couldn't tell which shadows were real.

Anguished cries ripped through the quiet midnight hour, filling the dorm room with distraught sounds.

All of her teammates seemed to wake at once. Ruby scrambled over the edge of her bed and dropped to the floor, only barely missing landing on top of Weiss, who had already sat up and gotten to her feet.

"Blake? Blake, what's going on?"

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

They rushed to her bedside together, then paused just for a moment to allow Yang to jump down as well, equally as panicked.

"What is it? Hey, Blake...?"

Despite the fact that she'd woken them at this late hour, they were all immediately alert and attentive for her sake.

Blake couldn't speak. The images just kept replaying in her mind.

Yang was being cornered by all of those White Fang members. Blake couldn't see what was happening, but she knew there was only one outcome to such a situation-

"No, no, no, p-please-"

She cut off suddenly when she felt arms around her. Yang leaned over her, pulling Blake in to her chest, warmly covering her shuddering shoulders with a veil of soft heat.

"Hey..." she murmured. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay, Blake. Everything's okay. Shh..." She stroked her hair, then kissed her forehead before pulling away. "I'm gonna go make you a cup of tea, all right? I'll be right back. Promise."

She straightened up, then looked to Weiss and Ruby in turn, entrusting her partner to them.

Yang hurriedly flicked on the bedside lamp, stepped into her slippers, and hurried out the door.

Blake had yet to even open her eyes at this point. The brief comfort that Yang's embrace had brought her was already beginning to fade away, being replaced by the creeping trepidation that rose up like acid in the back of her throat.

"N-No... Ruby... W-Weiss..."

"We're here," Ruby murmured. "We're both here, Blake. We're right here."

The young leader lightly sat down on Blake's bed, then carefully crawled over her legs to sit at her left side. Weiss sat at her right, already wrapping an arm around her shoulders as Ruby hugged Blake's waist.

"It's all right," Weiss whispered. "Blake, everything's all right. You're safe. We all are."

Ruby nodded.

"She's right. You don't have to be scared anymore, Blake. We're here for you."

She snuggled up to her girlfriend's side, looping both arms around Blake's stomach and back. She started to rub her hands in little circles, both to keep Blake warm and to remind her that Ruby was there.

Weiss curled her legs up onto the bed and shifted closer. Reaching out, she coaxed Blake to lean against her, cradling the Faunus girl's head gently against her collar. Weiss kissed her hair, her temple, her forehead, combing her fingers all down her back in cajoling movements.

Blake wept into her shoulder, her hands clutching those of her girlfriends'. Ruby held onto one of her hands and Weiss the other. Blake's fingers trembled in theirs, and she couldn't stop her nails from pushing in against their skin.

"S-Sorry..." she gasped. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." Weiss kissed one of her Faunus ears, then gingerly brushed her fingers over the other.

"Yeah." Ruby tightened her hug a little bit. "You don't have to be sorry, Blake. It's okay."

Blake's heart was still hammering against her ribcage. She was just so terrified. It felt like the windows might shatter at any second and gunshots would take her team away from her again. Her mind was still trapped in the nightmare, even though her body had been freed.

"Don't..." she begged. "Please don't..."

Concerned now, both of her girlfriends paused in what they were doing.

"Don't what?" Ruby asked her.

"Blake... do you want to talk about it? Tell us what happened...?" Weiss didn't want to force her, but she wanted Blake to know the offer was there.

Another shudder ran through Blake and she cringed, her nails once again carving little crescent-shaped marks into their palms.

"Y-Yang..." she whispered. "Wh-Where's Yang?"

"She's gone to make you some tea," Weiss reminded her. "She's fine."

Blake released a long, shaking sigh, one the heiress felt took a bit of the worry with it.

"She... she got hurt-"

Blake got choked up just thinking about it, and she needed to stop. Both Ruby and Weiss moved closer to her, hugging her warmly.

"She's okay," Ruby mumbled. "Don't worry, Blake."

"B-But..." Blake turned to her leader and finally opened her eyes, releasing tiny rivulets of tears. "R-Ruby... Ruby..." She could still see the arrow, lodged in the center of her chest, the light fading from her eyes. "Ruby... R-Ruby, y-you-"

"I'm here, Blake. I'm okay. I promise."

Blake turned towards her and crumpled into her arms, sobbing and clinging to her. She slipped both arms around her sides as Ruby embraced her, letting Blake rest her chin on her shoulder.

"S-She shot you..." Blake wheezed. "Sh-She shot you, a-and you-"

"No she didn't, Blake." Ruby nuzzled her nose into the girl's dark hair. "No one shot me, silly. I'm right here! I'm fine!" Using both hands, she rubbed up and down Blake's back to warm her up, keeping close.

It took Blake a moment to gather enough strength to pull away and look down at her. She was still having trouble believing reality over the nightmare. What if this was just the dream, and the reality was what she'd just seen? With all of her teammates bleeding-

"Oh, god..." Blake shook her head, shedding more tears that dripped onto the damp blankets in her lap. "Ruby, y-you..."

"I'm okay," she repeated. "I'm okay." Ruby leaned in and pressed a soft, light kiss to Blake's lips. "See? If I wasn't okay, I couldn't do that, right?" She then kissed each of Blake's tearstained cheeks, briefly disrupting the constant path of tears with her lips.

Now, Blake could see for herself that Ruby was okay.

There was no arrow. There was no blood. And all the same sparkling light was still in her eyes.

"Ruby..." Blake pulled her in with fervent arms, hiccuping into the girl's shoulder. Ruby rubbed her back for her again and snuggled into her chest.

"It's okay, Blake. Yang and Weiss and I are all fine. And so are you."

But her saying the heiress' name had reminded Blake of even more graphic images.

Adam, crushing her throat, stepping forcefully onto her chest, breaking each rib in turn. Then his blade, sinking down and pulling, parting her flesh to reveal all the fragments of the bones he'd crushed himself.

"W-Weiss-!" Blake cried out, causing Ruby to jump slightly.

The heiress had been sitting quietly on the bed all this time, believing that Blake was finally beginning to calm down. But the moment of peace was shattered in that instant when she cried out Weiss' name.

Ruby could feel Blake's nails sinking into her back now, fresh panic causing her girlfriend to become stiff once again.

"Blake? Blake!" she fretted. "Blake, it's okay! It's okay! Weiss is fine! She's right here!"

Slowly, Ruby coaxed Blake away from herself and helped her turn around.

The Faunus girl's eyes shifted to the blue fabrics of a familiar nightgown. Weiss was already reaching for her, and Ruby gently transferred Blake into her partner's waiting arms.

"Blake?" Weiss placed one hand at the back of Blake's head, cradling her, and the other at her back. "Don't worry. I'm here. We're all here."

Blake let out a small wail as she went all but limp in her arms. She tucked her head beneath Weiss' chin, ears flicking frantically. As Ruby softly rubbed Blake's back for her, Weiss did her best to calm her down again.

"Blake? Blake, listen to me. Everything's fine. Don't hurt yourself over this. Please." Again, she kissed her temple, stroked her ears.

Weiss could feel Blake's hands clutching at her nightgown. One was soon slipped over her stomach to come to a shuddering halt on her chest. It puzzled Weiss at first, but Blake's next words made it clear as to what she was doing.

"Here..." she choked. "H-He cut you here... a-and all the way down..."

Blake traced the path of Adam's blade as it had torn Weiss apart. Starting at the center of her collar, she ran her hand down over her breastbone, then continued to her stomach.

Ruby flinched as she watched, imagining what Blake must have seen in her nightmare.

Weiss herself was still, her stomach twisting at the prospect of what Blake was saying. Still, the heiress didn't waver.

"No he didn't. I'm fine, Blake." She gathered Blake's hands in hers and held them tightly, guiding her forward. She then wrapped her arms around Blake's shoulders and held her close.

Blake's Faunus ears swiveled as she picked up on the faint thumping of Weiss' heartbeat. It was soft and fast, but it never stopped, no matter how many times she envisioned Adam stabbing her.

Slowly, with her fingers still twitching uncertainty, she trailed them up both of Weiss' sides, starting at her hips, then traveling north to rest over her ribs.

Blake paused there, waiting. She listened to Weiss' heart and felt her breathe, felt her chest expanding, her ribs pushing gently against Blake's palms. They weren't cracked or broken.

Blake traced her hands over each set of her girlfriend's ribs, checking every one of them until she found her hands on Weiss' shoulders. She cried out in relief and buried her face in the side of her neck.

"Oh thank god... thank god... Weiss..."

"Shh... It's all right now."

Weiss wrapped one arm around Blake, and the other around Ruby, pulling both of her girlfriends close. Ruby covered Blake like a blanket, until the shivering stopped. And Weiss hummed a small lullaby, one that soothed Blake's fear and calmed her tormented heart.

Together, their combined efforts managed to staunch Blake's tears. The sobbing eventually stopped, dwindling down into nothing more than a few hiccups.

Yang returned then with a cup of warm tea wrapped in napkins. She sat down beside her sister on the bed, and together, they helped Blake take a few sips. The warm tea soothed her parched throat, the comforting flavors providing a sense of solace and familiarity for her.

When she'd finished drinking, Weiss put the cup aside on the nightstand, but held onto the napkins. She began to dab Blake's face clean of tears, while Ruby got to drying off the trails on her neck. Yang held tissues to her partner's nose so Blake could clear it.

Once they'd cleaned her up and tossed the napkins away, they waited for some sort of response from Blake. While Ruby and Weiss were willing to wait until she was ready to speak, it was in Yang's nature to be the first to ask when someone else was hurting.

"Hey, how're you feelin', partner? Any better?"

Blake looked up at her concerned lavender eyes and dipped her head.

"Yes... Thank you all for-"

"Don't worry about thanking us," Yang said.

"Right!" Ruby agreed. "You don't need to thank us."

"Nor do you need to apologize for anything," Weiss added. "Because I know you're planning to."

Blake exhaled, long and slow.

"I just... I know it happens a lot... And I always wake you guys up and worry you. I'm trying to deal with it on my own, but tonight's was just... it was just-"

They could see the tears already rising up again. Immediately, her teammates pulled Blake into a massive hug.

"Blake, don't worry," Weiss begged her.

"We love you!" Ruby chirped.

"We'll do whatever we can to help," Yang assured her. "So don't ever feel guilty about askin' for it when you need it. That's what friends and teammates and partners and girlfriends and sisters are for... Dang, we're a lot of things, aren't we?" She chuckled softly, the mood consequentially lifting bit by bit.

"That's right!" Ruby agreed. "We're always here to help each other! There's nothing shameful about needing help every now and then, or even every single day. That's how we get stronger!"

"For once," Weiss smiled. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Ruby cast her a beaming smile in return.

At last, the three of them even managed to make Blake's lips curl up at long last.

"Thank you, everyone. I... I'm not sure if you'll ever know how much this means to me."

"That's okay," Weiss reassured her. "We're just happy to help."

Blake dipped her head and lifted her arms up, gathering them all back in. She pulled Yang to one of her sides and Weiss to the other while Ruby sat in her lap and cuddled her chest.

As their arms folded around her, like so many warm safety blankets, Blake couldn't keep the rumble out of her chest.

The calm moments passed them by, until a lion-like yawn from Yang had the blonde pulling back.

"Welp, if you're sure you're okay now, I got a hot date with Pyrrha tomorrow."

"Oh, right!" Ruby said. "Yang, go to bed!"

"We'll take care of Blake," Weiss vowed.

"Well, if you guys're sure. Whaddaya think, Blake? Can I leave you to these two?"

Blake nodded to her partner.

"I think I'll be fine. Thank you, Yang. Really."

"It's what partners are for."

Yang bent down to kiss between her Faunus ears briefly. She then kissed Ruby's head, and then Weiss' before hauling herself up into her bunk.

Blake let out another shaky breath as Ruby and Weiss pressed closer to her. Her girlfriends must have sensed her slight unease, because they both asked her.

"Blake?"

"What's the matter? You can tell us."

The Faunus girl shook her head.

"No... it's just..." A single tear slipped down each of her cheeks. "D-Do you think you guys could... st-stay here tonight...?"

Her girlfriends couldn't say yes quickly enough.

"Of course!"

"Absolutely!"

Both of them reached out to catch Blake's tears, then placed kisses in their place. Blake sniffled and bit her trembling lip.

"Thank you..."

Weiss leaned over to turn off the lamp, at which point both she and Ruby helped Blake lie back down onto her pillow. The two partners shared a brief kiss together, then both slipped beneath the covers on either side of Blake.

Whichever way Blake turned, there was warmth and a gentle embrace waiting for her now.

She kissed each of her girlfriends once more, looking them both over in the darkness to ensure one last time that they weren't hurt.

Then, she could focus on the better things.

Like Ruby's soft, plump lips, where her kiss tasted faintly of the sugary, strawberry-flavored toothpaste she'd brushed with hours ago before bed.

And then Weiss' somewhat more mature, more refined kiss, a cool breathe of mint and sophistication.

The love that they gave her, the security they made her feel...

Those were things Adam had never and would never be able to provide for her.

Blake's love for her team scared her.

It scared her, because they could be taken away.

But it also empowered her.

It made her stronger, to the point where she'd thrive and be able to rest easily at night, knowing she didn't ever have to worry about losing any of them.

These things always took time.

And for once, Blake knew she had plenty of it.

A/N: I really like the idea of Blake loving her team (romantically or not) to the point of being scared of losing them. Because it means she can also become stronger because of that love. I just want her feel accepted and happy with them in canon, and I don't want her to feel guilty about her past. Ugh, Adam needs to be put in his place...

If you like my work, you can support me on P-a-t-r-e-o-n as Kiria Alice!

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