"Trauma is hell on earth. Trauma resolved is a gift from the gods."

― Peter A. Levine

Coping.

Six months later.

Blood, screams, begging and bodies everywhere. She couldn't take a step forward without wading through blood so thick it looked like a lake.

Inside the blood were the bodies of the children she failed to save, the people she had killed or maimed, begging her not to do it before loud screams pierced through her ears and burst forth from her own mouth.

Ruby shot up and out of bed onto the floor. Quickly she half crawled and half ran to the bathroom and barely made it to the toilet as she threw up her measly amount of food she had in her stomach.

Ruby had her head in the bowl as she emptied the contents of her stomach until only bile was being thrown up alongside it.

Neo was at her side, moving her now long hair out of the way while rubbing soothing circles on her back while whispering comforting words to Ruby.

They sat their together like that for almost an hour as Ruby couldn't stop herself from throwing up everything in her stomach and more.

Neo watched over her shoulder to make sure no blood was being thrown up at the same time but knew the chances of that happening were slim.

While Ruby was throwing up, in between each time she was rubbing her wrist in an attempt to calm herself down. On that wrist was a tattoo of black roses wrapped around her wrist with their stems locked together to make a bracelet.

After an hour when Ruby had finally stopped throwing up and was able to talk, although her voice was extremely raspy and raw.

"I'm sorry." Ruby whispered.

"It's fine." Neo replied back softly.

"It's not though. It happens every night. I can see the dark marks around your eyes from lack of sleep." Ruby replied harshly, annoyed and angry.

Neo remained calm, used to this anger from Ruby after she woke them up, "Don't worry Ruby, I'm fine. I don't mind helping you out, you're far more important." Neo replied softly.

Ruby started crying out in frustration, tears running down her face at the nightmares plaguing her throughout the day and night, every day.

Neo pulled Ruby into her chest, rubbing her hair in comforting manner while she whispered soft words to her.

This was normal for Ruby, first would be the waking up and sickness from the nightmares. After that would be the apologies and the anger at her inability to deal with the problems and how they're affecting Neo. Lastly would be the guilt hitting Ruby about what she had done and what she was causing Neo to go through.

"Did you take your pills?" Neo asked softly, after a couple months she had managed to get Ruby to see a doctor in Patch. It took endorsements by both Neo and Qrow that the woman was safe to talk to.

When Ruby went, alongside Neo they had spoken about the problems Ruby faced and it was clearly PTSD which had a couple treatment methods but Ruby outright refused the therapy options and so the last option was medicines.

She was given a sleep aid and Paroxetine for it, Ruby rarely took the pills unless Neo prompted her to do so but they didn't seem to do much to help Ruby.

"No." Ruby whispered.

"Ok, would you like me to get them?" Neo asked gently, not pushing the topic too much.

"Can we stay like this a little more?" Ruby whispered.

"Of course. We can stay as long as you want." Neo said comfortingly.

"Thank you." Ruby whispered into Neo's chest, burying her head further into Neo's comfort she was offering.

They stayed peacefully like that for over half an hour before they finally made it back to bed, their position barely changing as they fell asleep lost in each other's bodies.

Ruby had gotten an odd growth spurt over the last six months, neither woman knew the reason behind it but had their suspicions. Ruby now stood at a little over six foot while Neo hadn't grown very much so Ruby seemed like a giant to her.

Ruby had also let her hair grow long as well, not worried about the upkeep of it as much but made sure it was washed and at least straight.

The next morning when they woke up the pair went about their normal routine of sorting out breakfast and looking into what they would be doing for the day.

Normally it entailed being together and reading, or maybe going for a walk around the area or sometimes Ruby would attempt to catch up on sleep she lost during the night, sometimes she never even went to sleep.

Today they were running low on supplies meaning that Neo would need to head out to the town of Patch, which wasn't far off being a small city especially with the school. The entire place being built around the school and needs there.

What changed today was the fact that Ruby had asked after breakfast, "Would it be alright if I went to the town with you?" Ruby asked softly, her voice having an ever present soft, whisper like tone making it hard to hear for people. But Neo was used to it and could understand it easily.

"Of course you can. Will you be alright? Is there anything you want to look at?" Neo asked. Ruby rarely if ever going to town with her so she loved it when it happened.

"I just want to look around the place." Ruby said.

Neo knew exactly what that meant, Ruby wanted to people watch and see how everyone is living now. And she wanted to see if there was anything about herself in the world still, or if she had finally left the public eye.

"Ok then, let's get ready and head into town." Neo replied with a smile.

The pair went to shower and get ready for the day. Ruby dressed in black jeans, red shirt and her corset. She also sported black sunglasses over her eyes and a black leather jacket.

Neo dressed in her brown trousers and a white shirt with her corset over the top and her short white/pink jacket over the top.

"Do you mind if I drive us?" Ruby asked.

"Of course." Neo said, while she was worried about Ruby with her motorbike when she brought it, the woman was always careful when driving and most times Neo would go with her.

Putting on their helmets and Neo grabbed her pink messenger bag the pair went to their bike, both could drive it and Neo would only really use it when going into town.

The bike was a Ducati which could handle the forest they lived in but it also had two sandal boxes to store things inside when they went to town.

The drive into town was uneventful, Ruby normally wouldn't go very fast when she had Neo with her unless the woman wanted her to.

Luckily for Ruby, Neo allowed her to go fast meaning that they did get to town faster but Ruby was able to take her mind off things as she focused on driving.

They lived in a two story house about twenty miles from the only town in Patch which had a mixture of things there to mainly cater for the students of the school.

This meant that they had food shops, other goods and even weapon shops although Ruby hadn't stepped in one for months now.

They planned on seeing Qrow that day as well for their monthly visit to the man which they didn't always make. Even though Ruby had been in Patch for six months and seen her uncle a number of times she never saw the friends she had known in her Signal days, and she highly doubted they even knew she was there.

Arriving in town they stored the bike away near signal, a safe area that Qrow had found for them. Once they were done they started to enter the town itself.

Neo linked her arm with Ruby's to help relax her, noticing the nervous posture that the woman had while walking through the town.

Ruby was almost jumping at shadows and anyone she saw in the street and on occasion Faunus as well, but Ruby managed to stay focused.

Entering the main supermarket for the town, Ruby pushed a trolley while Neo picked out different foods and drinks, alongside a few other things.

Eventually when they arrived at the tills they placed everything on the conveyer while they waited for the person ahead of them to finish up.

"Oh, I forgot something. I'll be one minute." Neo said quickly, checking with Ruby as she tensely nodded her head as Neo walked off quickly to another part of the store.

Ruby waited nervously for Neo to return, her hidden eyes taking in the area around her. She saw the customer in front of them talking with the cashier. She noted the fact that there were other people outside the store and some around the store as well.

She spotted a group of students walk into the store chatting happily with each other and Ruby could see the happiness emitting from them in waves.

Ruby saw one of the students point towards her and say something to her friends before they all looked at her.

Turning away Ruby felt nervous and bad for looking at them and found out for looking at them. She could barely remember when she was like that even if it wasn't long ago.

Ruby's mind started to wander from that single thought through everything she had been through and what had changed her in such a short space of time.

She didn't hear the cashier calling out to her, asking her questions about if she needed help with packing or anything, but instead she was back in Vale fighting Adam, the White Fang and any manner or things. But she wasn't there in that store.

The group of kids had walked over to Ruby, realising who she was and that she was the woman their combat teacher held in such high regard.

They wanted to say hello and maybe talk to her a little alongside thanking her but when they walked over to the tall woman they saw her eyes were wide behind her sunglasses and when one of them spoke up something unexpected happened.

When Ruby saw the four kids walking up to talk to her she saw them as White Fang soldiers with weapons trying to attack her.

Running on pure instinct she reached round to the small of her back, where she normally stored her beloved weapon but when she found it empty she started to move backwards while holding out her hands in defence.

The students looked confused and one brave girl tried to move forward to try and calm the woman down but only seemed to startle her more as she jumped back.

When more people started to crowd around Ruby to try and calm her down she did what a cornered animal would do. She attacked.

Some of the people jumped back in surprise while the students were about to step in to stop her from hurting herself and others but found they didn't need to.

Like a blur Neo stepped in front of Ruby, hand raised to her cheek speaking softly but her voice firm and commanding as she said quietly, but everyone could hear.

"Ruby, it's Neo. You're safe, remember. Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night.'" Neo said.

Ruby's eyes blinked fast behind her sunglasses as she focused onto Neo's hand and words, those two lines repeating themselves and resonating in her head.

She stumbled back, struggling to find her balance as she moved a hand out to support herself. Neo caught her before she could fall completely as she started to speak again.

"There you are." She said softly, "Let me see those beautiful silver eyes." Neo whispered as she reached her other hand up to lower Ruby's sunglasses slightly.

"Did I hurt anyone?" Ruby asked her voice even softer than normal.

"No you didn't sweetie. You pulled out of it before you could." Neo answered honestly.

While this entire exchange was happening the four signal students were dispersing the small crowd that had gathered around them and wandered off themselves when it was clear.

"Let's get our stuff and meet your uncle, ok? Do you still want to see him?" Neo asked gently.

Ruby just nodded her head, not completely trusting her voice at the moment after realising how close she had come to hurting people and losing it again.

Neo never took her hand from Ruby's as she intertwined them together as she apologised to the cashier and went about packing their stuff into bags.

When they had finished they took it all back to their bike and stored it safely, putting in some of the chilled and frozen foods into a specialist storage box which was cold.

After making sure their bike was secure they went towards Signal academy, the guards letting the two women past without any concern, knowing the pair by now.

They went towards the large gym and arena where Qrow almost lived as he was almost always found there either teaching students, practising himself or working on other things.

Entering the large hall they found that a class was currently in session and so they stood to the side and watched the class.

There was a small seating area where the two sat, or rather Ruby sat down and Neo sat on her lap wanting to keep close.

Ruby kept her hand linked with Neo's and rested it on the shorter girl's stomach with her second hand and buried her face into her shoulder, not wanting to watch the fighting going on, even if it was only practise.

Neo understood Ruby's reluctances for fighting and she didn't like coming during fighting practise but she also knew that it would happen.

She placed her hands over Ruby's, gently stroking her hand in comfort as they waited for the class to be over, one saving grace was the fact that no one seemed to notice them sitting there.

The class lasted another hour until they had finally been dismissed for the day, the two women remained sitting there while a group of students remained behind to talk to Qrow.

Neo noticed that some of the students talking with Qrow were from the supermarket from earlier but she kept this to herself.

After a few minutes Qrow noticed them and wandered over speaking warmly, "Girls. It's great to see you. How have you been?" He asked, moving to hug both women in one go.

"We've been fine. A little scare earlier but we've been alright." Neo said, not wanting to go into too much detail as she saw some students still milling behind.

"Good, good. Sorry these four are my best students and they told me what happened today." Qrow said, quickly dismissing them as he spoke to his niece and her girlfriend in private.

"How has it really been?" Qrow asked, seeing that Ruby had fallen asleep on Neo.

"The nightmares are still there and she doesn't take her pills very often either. She still doesn't eat a lot and when she does it normally comes back up after the nightmares." Neo informed him.

"She still doesn't want to see anyone?" Qrow asked.

"No, she talks to me about it sometimes but I'm not entirely sure what I can do to help her." Neo said honestly.

"Just be there for her. It's all she needs right now. I'd hate to think if you weren't here and she was handling this alone what would happen." Qrow answered.

Neo just nodded her head when she felt Ruby's breathing change ever so slightly and the woman started to wake up.

Groggily she noticed the man in front of the pair and said, "Hello Uncle." She said in her soft voice.

"Hey sweetie. How are you?" Qrow asked happily.

"I'm alright. What about you?" Ruby asked.

"Oh I've been busy, there's rumours the head teacher will be retiring and apparently I'm the most likely to take over. Meaning even more paper work." He said jokingly.

Ruby smiled slightly as she said, "That dreaded paper work."

"Yep. So want the usual update?" Qrow asked.

Ruby nodded her head as she waited for her uncle to continue on, her hands gently rubbing Neo's stomach.

Qrow smiled warmly at the pair, seeing how perfect they were with each other before he started to speak up. "Your old team are all good. Ozpin made Weiss the leader and kept them as a three woman team in the end. They've toped their year in multiply tests and it seems everyone in the school has gotten better."

"That's good." Ruby said softly.

"Yeah. Coco and Velvet are still together and strong, they miss you two and want you to visit or for them to visit you, but they don't know where you are. I can give them some contact information to talk to you over scroll?" Qrow offered.

Neo looked towards Ruby, looking over the sunglasses to see what Ruby would say and when there was a small nod she said, "Of course, we don't want to tell them exactly where we are yet but I think talking to them again would be a good thing."

"Ok then. Summer is doing really well. She's taken on a teaching position at Beacon, not wanting to get into too dangerous stuff after what happened before. She misses you a lot but understands your need to get away from everything and hopes you get in contact again soon." Qrow told them.

The pair just nodded in understanding, knowing it hadn't changed too much from before and Neo chose to ask, "What about Emerald?" She asked after the green haired woman.

"I was wondering when you'd ask." Qrow said with a smile, understanding the part the woman played. "She was pardoned for her help with finding Ruby and discovering certain things about the White Fang and the leaders. Ozpin offered her a place in Beacon and she accepted but hasn't got a team, rumour is she might be put on your old team." Qrow informed them.

Nodding the two women spoke more with the man about various things going on in the world and the different Kingdoms and after a couple hours together they parted ways.

When they returned home later that day they had gotten a message from Coco and Velvet saying that they were missed by all those at the academy and asked how they were doing.

Ruby was the one who typed out a message in reply by saying that they missed them to and in response to how they were doing she said, 'We're coping.'

A/N

PTSD affects a large amount of people, not just veterans of war but instead those who have traumatic experiences. There are some treatment methods, mainly therapy but also medication. According to the NHS website the medicine I mentioned, Paroxetine is actually for PTSD treatment but there are also three others on the website which are anti-depressants. As I said there are other methods of treatment but the way I have Ruby in this universe is she only trusts Neo to talk about what happened.

Another fact I learnt, it is quite common for veterans to get motorbikes and I quite like motorbikes so the pair have one.

The tattoo was supposed to be introduced another way but I sort of forgot. Black Roses tend to be associated with death and the tattoo itself is something I'm contemplating getting myself on my own wrist but would be red-black roses and green stems locking each rose together around my wrist.

Anyway that's the first one. The next one will be about three years later. Thanks for reading.

Another side note, I now have a PS4 and my name is RavenRose8 so if you want add me, but tell me where you're coming from so I know.