Blake knew something was wrong the moment Ruby stepped into their train car. Her head was cast down and she could hear the sniffling as Ruby sat down right next to Yang in her seat.

Of course Yang's radar went off like a fire alarm as she put her scroll down and immediately put an arm on Ruby's shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong, Rubes?"

When Ruby looked up, she had red, puffy eyes and shook her head quickly to try and dispel them. She opened her mouth to say something, but it caught in her throat and that's when Yang gave Blake a very fearful look. Ruby had still felt like a bit of a stranger to Yang at times since they all came back together – five years apart took time to make up for. So to see Ruby here now, so vulnerable and broken, was scary.

Sitting across from them, Blake wasn't entirely sure whether to go over and try and help with the comfort or leave them to have this moment alone. So Blake sat still and decided to let Yang take the lead.

Eventually, as Yang continued to rub her back and brush the tears from her cheeks, Ruby spoke. "W – Weiss and I b – br – broke up."

Blake saw Yang's robotic arm clench the seat beside her, the leather nearly giving in under her grip. This was not good.

"What happened?" She asked, trying as best she could to keep her voice steady and failing miserably.

Ruby must have noticed. "Don't be mad at her." She pleaded and Yang seemed to grip the seat even tighter.

"I'm not mad," she lied, clearly. "Just…tell me what happened."

Taking a deep breath, Ruby explained the situation to both of them and Blake couldn't help but feel a little appreciative when she was included in the conversation. It was silly, but during their time at Beacon, Blake found herself feeling protective over Ruby just as Yang was. There was so much good in their leader yet so much need from Ruby to be a hero that she often forgot to take care of herself. That made it hard not to want to see her safe and secure.

Though the voice in the back of her head told her that Weiss was most likely isolated and trying to deal with this on her own – as she always did.

As Ruby stammered through the breakup and how she knew it was for the best right now, Blake felt her most uncomfortable when Ruby started shaking and openly admitted—

"I think I…need a lot of help, Yang."

Any anger Yang had died as she took in Ruby's word and her expression – those emotions were placed with nothing but worry. "I'll help you with anything, Ruby. You know that."

More tears came and Blake fought her own instincts to run over and hold Ruby. She waited and she listened – just as Yang was.

"I don't…sleep much. Even before Weiss and I – I just…lay in bed at night and I can't shut my mind off. I barely keep food down because I'm stressing out about stuff so much. I've seen so many terrible things and I've watched people die and now you're all here and I worry all the time about something happening to you," she looked to Blake. "All of you and I just…I feel like I'm bad luck. I should have stopped Cinder and I should be better…faster. I should be able to do more but I don't know how to make it better and I just…" her bottom lip was quivering and she stared up at the ceiling to try and stop the tears from streaking down her face. "I don't want to die, Yang. But there are days when…when it feels like it would be easier – and I know that's not okay."

"Oh gosh, Ruby," Yang finally broke and pulled Ruby into her arms – that was when Blake realized she needed to be elsewhere and let them handle this. She stood, and waiting awkwardly for any sort of acknowledgement but refused to butt in on the moment.

Yang held her little sister with such a gentle touch – as if she were afraid of breaking her and in this state, Ruby seemed incredibly fragile. She tucked her knees up onto the seat and curled into Yang's side.

"Shhh, don't cry. It'll be okay – we'll fix it. I promise we'll fix it." Yang could be so tender when she needed to and Blake felt her heart clench with affection as she watched Yang comfort her sister.

Softly, she cleared her throat a drew a pair of lavender eyes up to meet her own and gestured towards the door.

Yang understood her without needing a word and nodded with a weak smile before returning her attention to Ruby.

Blake had a conversation with Sun she needed to stop putting off, but there was one stop she had to make first.

Winter's small corner of the train was naturally colder than the rest of the cars Blake had passed through. Though Weiss wasn't as fond of the chilly weather anymore, Winter still seemed to enjoy keeping things at a nice, stiff temperature to suit her comforts.

The space itself was exactly as Winter's setup was where they were staying before – organized and efficient. She had a monitor set up on her lap and was frantically typing away, all the while glancing at her scroll and relaying information from one to the other.

Blake looked around at the available sitting areas and found no one else here except Winter. She had hoped to find Weiss to make sure she was okay.

"Is there something I can do for you, Ms. Belladonna?"

Blake straightened her posture, it was hard not to around Winter. "I was looking for Weiss."

This made Winter stop her work. "My sister is currently resting in my private quarters – she did not sleep well last night."

She could only imagine that Weiss had the same bloodshot eyes that Ruby had. "Okay, I – I'll come back later then."

"So you've heard the news?" Winter asked and Blake froze halfway through her exit.

"Yeah, Ruby is with Yang right now. She's pretty shaken up."

Winter nodded slightly. "The end of any relationship is hard – given that this was their first, I imagine it's that much worse." Winter put her monitor aside and crossed her leg, seemingly losing herself in thought. "Do you wish to see her?"

Blake frowned. "I thought you said she was sleeping?"

"I made her go and lie down because she was working herself too hard and trying to shut out her feelings. I imagine she's in her room sending me hateful thoughts at the moment. I also imagine it would be good for her to see a friendly face."

With a nod, Blake moved passed Winter's work station and slid the door to the small, adjoining room open. It was incredibly well kept and smelled of clean linens. Blake was suddenly nostalgic for the laundry room in their Beacon dormitory where they'd spend every other Wednesday night together trying to stay entertained while their clothes and bed sheets washed.

Much like Winter had predicted, Weiss was not asleep and was, in fact, sitting upright on the other end of the bed with her gaze focused out the window as trees whipped by one after the other.

She caught Weiss peeking back for only a moment, but she didn't turn completely or acknowledge Blake's presence.

Still, she didn't tell Blake to leave so that was enough to give Blake reason to proceed.

Weiss looked worn-down, even from behind. Her hair was in a very loose ponytail, one that would never have passed the standards Weiss had on a good day. This was simply meant to keep the hair out of her face. She was wearing a very large, grey shirt and matching blue sweatpants. She looked comfortable, if nothing like herself.

Settling in next to her, Blake took in the same view Weiss was studying and glanced over just enough to see the darkening circles under the eyes of her teammate.

"I take it you've heard." Weiss' voice was scratchy and startled Blake. Even as she spoke, Weiss wouldn't look at her.

"Yeah um…Ruby showed up in Yang and I's compartment. Ruby's with Yang now."

The mention of her name made Weiss cast her head down. "How is she?"

Blake smiled. "How are you?" Weiss looked up at her with annoyance. "Because I think both answers would be the same." Guilt tore through Weiss' expression and Blake quickly put a hand on her back. "You did the right thing, Weiss."

She shook her head – white hair bouncing back and forth. "Breaking Ruby's heart is never right."

"Maybe not, but it was necessary and…she needs time to focus on healing and preparing for what's coming. So do you."

"I need her," Weiss said with a pout.

"Weiss,"

"What?" She shrugged. "I do, I'm not saying I want to take back what happened, I'm simply speaking the truth. Ruby is my favorite person in the entirety of Remnant and I love her dearly." Blake had no idea how to comment on that. While she didn't doubt the words for a second – to hear them made any attempt at comfort much harder. There was no way to sugarcoat the heartbreak Weiss must be feeling. "That being said," Weiss spoke again. "I know I've made the right decision and though it…" she exhaled shakily and wiped at her eyes. "Though it hurts, I simply want Ruby to find peace. Even if it's not with me."

"You just need—" Blake's words were cut short as the train-car suddenly rocked violently, nearly knocking them both off the bed. Weiss rose to her feet and raced to the window. Blake immediately reached for Gambol Shroud on her back and held the grip at the ready.

"Wow," Weiss breathed and took a step back. "There's a pack."

The door opened and Blake turned to see Winter standing behind them, rapier at her side. "What is it?"

Weiss pointed. "It's a whole pack of boarbstusks. There must be a dozen, they're running alongside the train!"

Winter moved around the bed and peered out the window to take in what her sister had seen. Blake chanced a peek as well and sure enough, there was a stampede of Grimm racing alongside the train as fast as they could – ramming into trees and knocking over fences.

Suddenly, one veered towards the train again and they all jumped back as it struck the side, again rocking the entire thing.

"Come on," Winter ordered and made for the exit. Blake and Weiss both hesitated. "Weiss, your rapier is under the bed – arm yourself. There are civilians on this train."

That seemed to set Weiss in motion and Blake drew her own weapon as well.

"How are we going to get to them?" Weiss asked as she pulled her blade free – looking a bit silly in her sweat pants.

Blake knew that going through the train would only startle the civilians even more, the longer they waited the more commotion it would cause – if it hadn't already.

"We should just go through the window. We can fight them from here. We don't have to kill them, just chase them away."

Winter made eye contact with her and nodded. "She's right, there's a bridge coming up and they won't cross the water. We just need to push them back until we reach it." Her sentence was emphasized with another strike to the side of the train. This one even more impactful.

They couldn't wait any longer.

"Fine," Weiss sighed and tightened her ponytail. "I'll go first, I can use my glyphs to stay level and I'll try and veer them off course."

"I'll come with you," Winter said before moving to the window and opening it – the air moving at such a high speed outside was loud and jarring. Blake pinned her ears back as the wind made them burn. The bow was good for some things. "Blake! You hang out the window and keep them away from our glyphs! If they get to close it could shatter and we'll be rolling down the hill!" Winter's voice carried over the moving air outside as Weiss started to climb out the window.

In was a fairly marvelous sight to watch Weiss Schnee leap out of a moving train without a second thought, only to float into the air with a glyph beneath her feet.

The boarbatusks veered towards her and she quickly jumped, dropping a black glyph on the ground that made a very loud cracking noise when one of them touched it and suddenly the pack stumbled a bit before regaining their pace. If anything, it kept them away from Weiss.

Winter followed her out a moment later, a bit more dramatically as she climbed to the top of the train before leaping off with a flourish of dust that spiked out towards the pack and scattered them slightly.

With only one foot, Winter planted onto a glyph and started stacking them like stairs as she gained height to throw down sparks of dust in an attempt to deviate the pack into the forest.

Blake was fairly certain that Winter wasn't too worried about her own well being, she was too high up to be threatened. Weiss however, was leaping from glyph to glyph and with each time she landed, it took her a moment to throw a strike.

Stepping up on the windowsill, Blake grabbed into the metal bar that the curtain hung from and used it to keep herself steady as she leaned up. Gambol Shroud fired a shot at a charging Grimm that came close to Weiss. She smacked it right between the eyes, sending it stumbling away before it regained its balance and moved again.

As they continued to move along, Blake did notice that the pack was being chased further and further away from the train. The Schnee sisters would doing what they intended to do and Winter was doing the most damage from her distance. Chasing them away with well placed shots, but they were damn persistent and Weiss was struggling to keep up. They hadn't done much fighting in the last few months, their skills were not sharp and Blake could even tell by the strain in her arm and the accuracy of her shots.

Wherever they were going, they needed some serious training.

Still, it seemed as if they might be about to clear them away enough to make the train without worry – until Weiss had two coming at her and only managed to take one. Instead, the other raced right by her and Blake heard her name cried out far too late.

It struck the side of the train with thunder and Blake's foot slipped out from underneath of her as she tumbled out the window.

Somehow, she managed to grab onto the windowsill – her legs hanging dangerously close to the rapidly moving tracks as she held on with all she had. Gambol Shroud had tied itself around her wrist, but she could hear it scraping across the ground, no doubt doing serious damage. Her fingers strained to pull her up as she struggled when suddenly something seized her foot.

Looking down, she had a boarbutusk tusk hooked around her ankle, pulling her away. Her grip was weakening and she kicked with all she had. Everything she'd gone through and she was going to die on a train by one damn Grimm. It felt so wrong.

"Weiss!" She cried out, her voice sounding unfamiliar and terrified. She didn't want to die now – she had so much in her life.

"Blake!" Weiss' voice was closer than it had been before, but not nearly close enough. Blake could feel her fingers giving way.

"No!" She screamed as her grip broke but just as she expected to feel the impact of the ground, she was suddenly floating.

Looking up, there was nothing but golden hair flapping in the wind and one solid, metal arm holding onto her wrist.

Through it all, Yang smiled. "Climb me!" She shouted and just as Blake pulled herself in, a ringing shot from a rifle blasted beside Yang.

Once Blake was deep enough into the train and Yang was pulling her in, she saw Ruby standing with Crescent Rose drawn, tear tracks still on her cheeks, firing shots out the window and picking off Grimm that ran along Weiss.

"Get inside!" Winter's voice sounded from above, almost booming like a megaphone and Blake steadied herself, clinging to Yang as her heart raced and the world vibrated. She was going to throw up, not right now, but soon enough.

Instead she pulled her damaged weapon up to her chest and watched as Ruby continued to fire beside them while Weiss bounded towards the window at her sister's instruction.

Just as she drew close enough, Grimm hot on her heels, Weiss stumbled and her glyph started to fade.

"Jump!" Ruby shouted, dropping her scythe to the ground and stepping towards the window.

Without hesitating, Weiss leapt off her glyph and for the window.

In a flash, Ruby turned into a spiral of red and suddenly merged with Weiss in midair as a matching whirlwind of petals and snowflakes. They hung in the air for only a moment before sliding back through the window side by side, Weiss clutching her arms around Ruby's neck and looking like she'd just ridden the scariest ride at the Vytal Festival.

The pair pulled apart awkwardly and Weiss gave a very soft thank you before stepping back to the window to check on her sister. Ruby seemed to recoil into herself a bit, but didn't leave.

A sudden thump above them was Winter landing on the roof of the train and they all gathered at the window to watch.

The boarbatusks were still coming strong, but the bridge was near.

As they approached the water, it started to move more so than it ever should and Blake could feel the energy of it shifting. It started to glow white, like a light was shining at the depths and blazing towards the sky.

There were still four Grimm near the train and as the drop off to the water approached, they drove in towards the train again. Blake winced, preparing for more impact. Instead, a massive, shimmering white crocodile emerged from the water and started thrashing them along the shore. The Grimm squealed and whined as they were torn to pieces by this enormous reptile that Winter had summoned.

Blake could only watch it awe as it devoured them and once they reached the bridge, the sight moved beyond what they could see. Though Yang leaned out the window to continue watching, Blake could only clench her still shaking fists and wonder if all of that had really just happened.

A sudden pair of feet came through the window and Yang moved away as Winter glided inside and landed gracefully as possible before dusting off her jacket as if nothing had happened.

"Are you all right?" She asked and it was only after the following silence that Blake realized the question was directed at her.

Glancing up, she nodded. "Y—yes, I'm fine." She pulled up Gambol Shroud and saw that the blade had cracked and sighed. "B—better than my weapon."

Winter nodded, surveying the damage. "We can fix that when we arrive at our destination. You two heard the fighting?"

"The whole train shook," Yang said as she gently touched Blake's back – only when she felt the comforting presence did she realize she'd been quivering so much. "I just…had a feeling you guys needed help."

Blake felt a sudden urge to kiss Yang, to grab her by the hand and lead her to the first quiet place they could find and ravage her. Yang had arrived without a moment to spare and saved her. It was a gesture she was insistent on repaying.

For now, all she could do was shift closer to Yang and press their hips together.

The gorilla in the room was the fact that Ruby had backed into a corner with her head down and Weiss was looking everywhere but at the girl who'd leapt out of a train to pull her back inside.

Thankfully, Winter had no time for their hormones. "We should go and inform the staff that it's been dealt with."

Ruby left first, probably thankful for the opening and as Blake followed Yang out, she heard Weiss ask her sister.

"Where in the world did you kill that thing?"

"During a horrendous recon mission in Menagerie, I'll take you to the place when we get there."

When we get there.

Blake hadn't asked where they were going and Winter hadn't been very forthcoming about it. She assumed it would be another base or safe house. Winter had contacts all over Remnant.

Menagerie? That was…impossible.

Perhaps it was the combination of the fight and the scare from almost dying, coupled with the news of Menagerie, but Blake was suddenly having trouble breathing. She clung to Yang for dear life, losing the ability to put one leg in front of the other – she slipped.

"Whoa," Yang held her up. "You okay there, Blake?" She felt a finger dip under her chin and lift her head. By the time she met Yang's eyes, her own vision was starting to go white along the edges. "Okay, definitely not – Winter?" Yang's voice rose in a panic. "You have triage training I assume?" Winter nodded and shuffled up next to them. "What's wrong with her?"

Suddenly she was face to face with Winter Schnee's cold blue eyes and she could hear the rest of her team speaking but it sounded more like a dream – as if they were a hundred yards away from her.

She was shaking, she couldn't stop shaking and it was scaring her.

Eventually, Winter shook her head. "She's having a panic attack – we need to find a place for her to lie down."

A moment later, Blake was scooped up into Yang's arms and carried away.

Blake found herself sitting on a hard bathroom floor with her head in her hands. The only thing that reminded her she was on a train at all was the steady rocking and ambient sounds of the track beneath her. It was comforting and helped steady her and slow the world down.

This was the first time she'd ever had a panic attack and if she were being honest, she absolutely hated it. She could breathe a little easier and when she finally lifted her head, she was met with the soft smile of her partner who was sitting across from her – their toes touching.

"Better?"

She wasn't entirely sure. She didn't want to get up or really move at all, but she could take slow breaths and her heart wasn't hammering in her chest. "I think so."

Yang nodded. "Good. Now if I can just be around Weiss during a breakdown I'll be three for three." There was a witty retort left hanging, but Blake was too tired to take it. "You want to tell me what that was all about? You've almost died before – didn't shake you like that."

Blake looked up and saw no judgment in Yang's eyes, only curiosity and worry. She found comfort in that acceptance, even if it wasn't necessary. "It was scary but that's…not what this is about."

"Okay," Yang seemed a bit relieved at that and Blake understood. Going into a fight – which they were headed for eventually – it was never good to have a partner with fear licking at the back of their neck. "Is this one of those times where you don't want to share?" She asked with a smile but Blake knew she meant it. Back at Beacon, Blake had a tendency of keeping her past to herself.

This was, in fact, one of those situations where hiding her past was catching up with her yet again.

"I…might not have been entirely honest about my past." The words were terrifying to speak and she half expected Yang to groan in disgust.

Instead, she was met with silence and a steady gaze.

Blake continued. "Winter said we're going to Menagerie…that's my home, Yang."

"Oh," she could see those violet eyes light up with recognition. Truth be told, it was one of her favorite sights in this world. "I—I'm sorry…I know that must be hard for you with your parents and…" Yang stopped and bit her lip. "Have you need been there since they died?"

Blake winced and hugged herself even tighter. "They…" she felt the tears trickling down her cheeks and cursed them. "They're not dead, Yang. My parents are still very much alive and living in Menagerie."

She cheated a look up to see an even more shocked expression on Yang's face. "They're…what? I thought they were dead?"

"No, I just talked about them like they were. Because for a long time I just…figured they were dead to me."

Yang exhaled and put ran a hand through her hair as she nodded to try and process. Eventually, she found Blake's eyes again. "Are they…bad people? Did you run from them?"

"No!" Blake became way more defensive of them than she expected. "No, they're wonderful people. I mean it, they're amazing and I…I was bad, Yang. I was the bad one. I was rotten and awful and I don't deserve to see them again." Blake felt the tightness returning to her chest and suddenly she was being wrapped up in Yang's arms again.

"Easy, Blake…take a breath." Yang laughed softly and stroked Blake's neck. "It's alright, it's just you and me right now, okay? Nobody else is here, just us and I won't judge you."

Blake found herself clinging to Yang – something she'd taught herself never to do through years of struggle. She never wanted to be reliant on anyone but she needed Yang's comfort. As she settled into Yang's embrace, she was suddenly tucked between Yang's legs.

"My father…he was the leader of the White Fang. He was a good leader with good rules and I…I was with Adam and he and Adam clashed a lot. Adam wanted results that we couldn't get with my father's ways and I was dumb enough to believe that Adam was right. That pushing back with ill intent was the right way and it wasn't. I had a big fight with my dad and I told him…" she winced as the memory came screaming back. She could hear him raising his voice at her – something he never did. Worse, she could hear herself screaming back. Those vile words she said. "I told him that he'd be the death of our people. That he was a failure." A cool, steel finger wiped a tear from her eye. "I went to Adam that night and the next day my father stepped down as chief. It was all a mess from there and the only time I ever communicated with them was a letter I sent telling them I was going to Beacon. It's been years, Yang – and my last communication was a letter. I didn't even go to them after Beacon fell."

Silence fell over the room as Yang continued to hold her and comfort her as best she could. For a moment, Blake almost lost herself to the exhaustion and faded into sleep. Just before she could, Yang's voice broke through.

"Do you want to see them again?" Blake expected the question and nodded against Yang's chest. "But you're scared?" Another nod. "Okay, well then I guess I'll just have to go with you."

"Yang, you don't—"

"Blake," Yang cut her off as Blake started to move away. She held her firmly and smiled. "I love you. I love you more than my own life. Your battles…they're my battles. Your jacked up family history…that's mine now too. I want to be there. I want to help you through it and I want you to know that no matter how it goes…I'll be here for you when the dust settles."

There were a million things Blake felt like she could say, perhaps should say, but they all felt meaningless as she stared up at Yang. This girl who she'd found in the woods years ago that had somehow broken through all her barriers and found the girl she'd wanted to be her whole life. Someone who felt protected and wanted and special. Nobody made Blake feel more special than Yang did.

There was only one proper response.

"I love you, too."

This chapter was a lot of fun to write. This fic needed more action and there will probably be even more coming soon. Anyway, let me know what you thought?