Chapter Text
Sometimes good things fall apart.
You’re in my head. It’s not your fault.
Can’t make somebody love somebody.
Monsters by Camylio
Time passed, seasons changed.
Unfortunately, the manhunt on Mercury still hadn’t died down.
News reached Mercury’s ears that Ironwood wasn’t the only one hunting for him.
Little Red was too.
God, I miss her.
Missin’ your little Rosebud? Marcus’ disgusting voice cut into Mercury’s reminiscing.
Shut up.
Morning, Wimp. ‘Via signed in greeting when she noticed he woke.
Stop calling me that, ‘Via. He rebutted, sitting up.
She’d made them breakfast.
And Torchwick was still sleeping.
I miss her. Mercury finally opened up to his childhood friend.
What do you plan to do about it? ‘Via asked.
“Nothing,” Ruby sighed when her teammates asked her if she’d found any signs as to where Mercury had been taken.
“He can’t just disappear! ” Weiss insisted.
“Torchwick took him,” Ruby mumbled. “And he didn’t exactly hand me a map with directions to find them later.”
“Are you sure? ” Yang asked. Then clarified when Ruby squinted in confusion, “That Torchwick took him? We were all under stress that night and maybe it was someone else? Or maybe Mercury got away alone.”
“It was Torchwick,” Ruby replied firmly. “It was unmistakably him.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
I wish I knew. Mercury replied to the tri-colored assassin.
Want me to bring her a message? ‘Via offered.
Mercury scoffed at first, feeling as if she were pitying him.
But the worry on her dainty features actually looked genuine .
You’d… Do that for me?
‘Via made a show of sighing and rolling her eyes.
Then, Duh! Insufferable wimp!
Mercury let the insult slide.
He searched their packs and eagerly gathered a notepad and pen.
“Okay,” He was so excited he couldn’t sign anymore. “Just bring her this.”
He eagerly scrawled a letter.
“What are we supposed to do?” Ruby asked her sister, perched at their favorite spot in Patch.
It was a small boulder that overlooked the docks and the surrounding waters.
As children, they loved this view, imagining the world beyond and what adventures they could find themselves in.
Never did they imagine the tragedy such a wish would bring.
“About?” Yang asked, eyes closing as she lay back on the quilt they’d brought, soaking up the sunlight in her tank top and shorts.
“Jaune? Pyrrha? Mercury?” Ruby listed off the issues on her fingers with a whisper.
“ Anything? ” Her voice cracked under the weight of her grief and fear.
Yang’s arm encircled her when her sister sat up at the sound of her pain.
“I don’t think there’s much we can do,” Yang pointed out, gesturing to what remained of her right arm.
“And that’s another thing,” Ruby started, her voice trembling. “Your arm .”
“Not much can be done about it,” Yang released her, laying back again, slipping on her sunglasses to mask her emotions.
“Yang,” Ruby frowned.
“No,” Yang pointed at her with a hint of finality. “It’s my reality now. I just… have to accept it.”
Then she whispered, “Just drop it. Okay?”
“Okay,” Ruby mumbled, trying to relax beneath the warming summer sun.
Summer seemed to take its own time arriving that year.
The chill of winter still loomed over Remnant like a monster waiting for unsuspecting victims.
Ruby wondered if that was a sign, perhaps.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar head of gray hair.
She slid her flip-flops on and hopped off the boulder, racing after the figure.
But he was gone.
In the place she’d seen him, a flicker of white caught her attention.
A folded slip of paper poked out of the bark of a tree trunk.
Ruby .
It was addressed to her in his familiar spiky hand.
Mercury.
Relief peeled away the tight bandage around her heart.
Pocketing the note with a promise to read it alone, she hurried back to where her sister had sat up, unpacking their lunch.
“You’re giddy,” Yang noted.
“Just… got some good news,” Ruby replied with a mysterious smile.
“Oh?” Yang laughed. “Care to share?”
“Later,” Ruby promised. “So, what’s for lunch?” She surveyed the picnic.
She got it. ‘Via assured Mercury when she returned.
“Thanks, ‘Via,” Mercury closed his eyes, relief uncoiling the tension in his body. “I’ll make it up to you.”
This one is a freebie, ‘Via waved away his concern. Next one will cost ya. She smiled adorably.
“Well, I know how I can repay that debt,” Mercury’s lips curled into a dangerous smirk.
Oh? Do tell! ‘Via danced an adorably giddy dance.
“I know where Cinder is,” Mercury informed her with relish. “And I think it’s time we had that bitch’s head on a
plate.
”