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It isn’t until the door closes behind her and she’s pretty sure that Watts can’t see her anymore that Ruby allows herself to relax a bit. Not completely, since the others will be here any minute and she can’t let them see her falling apart like this. Not after what happened when Jinn had told them the truth, or what happened with the Apathy back at the abandoned farmhouse.

No, Ruby is the one who keeps them moving forward even when the situation feels hopeless. If she stops, even for a few seconds, she’s not sure that she’ll be able to keep going again. So she keeps going, one foot in front of the other until Watts’ ship is out of sight, blocked by one of the buildings on the outskirts of Mantle.

Her body isn’t quite as on board with the plan. As soon as she rounds the corner away from the ship, her stomach lurches up into her throat, and she leans over to vomit into the snow. There’s not much in her stomach to throw up, at least, and she wipes her mouth when she’s done, hoping that no one saw that.

It’s cold here in Atlas, but Ruby knows that the temperature isn’t the only reason why she’s shivering. It’s over now, she reminds herself, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. You survived. It’s done.

But if this is survival, it sure doesn’t feel like it. There should be some relief. She should feel triumphant now. They’ve achieved their goal. They made it to Atlas. Things should be looking up now.

Instead all Ruby feels, aside from being numb and drained, is dread. How is she going to face the others like this, when she’s already falling apart on her own?

“Ruby!”

Well, she’s out of time now. Time to put a brave face on and face the music. With a deep breath, Ruby forces a smile on her face and turns around.

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At first, when they hear that someone is willing to take them to Atlas-and that they have a ship and permission to travel-it seems like a perfect solution to the problems they’ve been having. Or at least a solution, which is more than they’ve been able to come up with in the few days since they arrived in Argus. And as it’s a solution that doesn’t involve stealing a ship or doing anything illegal, both Qrow and Jaune’s sister in law seem highly in favor of taking the offer.

Of course, they’re not completely naive to the possibility that an offer like this might have some strings attached, but they figure meeting with this Arthur Watts and having a chat with him couldn’t hurt. So, with varying degrees of optimism and skepticism, off they go to meet him where his ship is docked.

Mr. Watts seems nice enough, as far as Ruby can tell. He’s friendly and eager to answer any questions that they might have, and he happily shows them proof that he does have permission to travel between Argus and Atlas. His ship is plenty big enough to fit their entire group comfortably and he happily gives them a quick tour of the vehicle.

So far, there haven’t seemed to be any catches that would make rejecting his offer seem like the better option. “What made you want to offer us a ride to Atlas? If you don’t mind me asking.” Qrow asks politely, without a hint of suspicion, just sounding curious about a stranger’s kind offer. He’s been trying his best to be the adult in the room and stay sober since they arrived in Argus, and Ruby really appreciates the effort.

“Oh, I don’t mind at all,” Watts reassures Qrow, stroking his thin mustache. “I just figured that since I know traveling into Atlas has been difficult with the new regulations and I still have a permit, it only seems right that I should help out others who are trying to get to Atlas if I can. It’s no real trouble for me, especially with all the extra space my ship has.”

Since they haven’t been able to find any real downsides to accepting Watts’ offer, and since they really don’t have any other options available, they make plans with Watts to leave the next morning. It’s a relief, after all the trouble they’ve been through since leaving Haven, to finally be able to take the next step on their journey.

Even though Watts had seemed kind and polite when they’d met him, something about him makes Ruby feel a bit uneasy. She can’t quite put her finger on what it is, but some part of her, deep down, doesn’t want to trust him. But no one else had seemed to notice that anything was off, and besides, she’s going to be surrounded by her friends the whole time she’s on the ship. If something goes wrong, they’ll be able to handle it together.

However, hindsight really is when you see everything clearly. Ruby really should have listened to her instincts. They never should have trusted Watts for even a second.

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“Ruby! Are you okay?”

Sure enough, as soon as her friends spot her, that’s the first question that they ask. The one that Ruby really doesn’t want to answer. “I’m fine,” she tells them, hoping that her answer will be enough to satisfy them for the moment. They’ve got bigger things to worry about right now. “But we need to hurry. Watts-he told me that he works for Salem. We need to warn General Ironwood.”

“Should’ve known that offer was too good to be true,” Qrow mutters darkly.

“Did you see where he went?” Blake asks. “Maybe we could stop him.”

“No, I don’t know where he went.” Ruby shakes her head, fixing her gaze on her boots. A wave of guilt washes over her and she has to swallow back bile again. “He said-the only way he’d release you guys is if I let him go. He made sure that I couldn’t see him escape.”

She feels pathetic. She’d let one Salem’s allies get away without doing anything. She should have found a way to stop Watts and save her friends. She should have-

“But how do we get up to Atlas?” Weiss asks, her voice cutting into Ruby’s spiraling thoughts. “I’ve never seen such tight security around the city before. I’m sure they have every connection between Atlas and Mantle locked down.

To their surprise, Maria Calavera chimes in. “I might know someone down here who can help us out. He’s got a shop around here somewhere, if I can just find it.”

They follow the older woman through the mostly-deserted streets of Mantle. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like Ruby’s earlier reassurances were enough for her teammates, despite her best efforts. “Are you sure that you’re okay?” her sister asks, her eyes dark with worry.

“Whatever happened, you can tell us about it,” Blake assures her.

“We’re here for you,” Weiss adds. “We were really worried about you, you know.”

“Really, guys, I’m fine,” she says with a lightness that she doesn’t feel. “He just wanted to ask some questions, that’s all.”

None of them look convinced, and Yang is opening her mouth again to ask more questions when they hear Maria’s voice. Ruby is grateful for the distraction. The older woman raps on the door. “Pietro?”

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The next morning dawns and Ruby finds herself awake bright and early, unease still prickling at her about their plan to go with Watts to Atlas. But everyone else seems to be okay with the arrangement, and if they’ve noticed anything alarming about Arthur Watts, they haven’t mentioned it. Maybe Ruby’s just being paranoid.

Maybe she’s just imagining that there’s something off about Watts. Maybe they’ve finally caught a lucky break and found someone with the resources who’s willing to help them out of the goodness of their heart, no strings attached. Maybe they’ll be able to make it to Atlas without incident.

It would be nice for something to go smoothly for once.

But Ruby still can’t shake the feeling that something is off, no matter how much she tries to push away her worries and doubts. At least if something does go wrong, they’ll all be together, she reminds herself. Sure, things have been tense lately, but the tension over Jinn’s revelations seems to have finally eased. Whatever comes of today, they’ll face it together.

It doesn’t take them long to pack up their stuff and head for the meeting spot that they’d arranged with Watts. He greets them cheerfully, showing them where they can put their bags while they’re in the air, and ushers them aboard the airship. They board without a hitch, and settled into their seats in the main part of the ship.

As they approach the runway of the base, Ruby keeps expecting someone to try to stop them, for Watts’ clearance to suddenly get taken away. But nothing happens, and soon they’re speeding down the runway, heading towards the water that separates them from the kingdom of Atlas.

Takeoff goes smoothly, no sign of any trouble. Ruby is just starting to let herself relax a bit, hoping that they’ve made it past the obstacles standing between them and bringing the lamp to Atlas, when Watts emerges from the cockpit. “I’ve set the plane to autopilot,” he says with a wave of his hand. “Should be smooth sailing from here on out.”

Ruby nods, relieved, and slouches back into her seat a bit. Any sense of peace that she’s found, however, is shattered when there’s a sudden loud click that breaks the silence that’s fallen over the airship. She looks around wildly, startled, only to see the rest of their group, slump over in their seats, unconscious. The rest of team RWBY, Oscar, Qrow, Nora, Jaune, and Ren, even Maria Calavera, they’re all out for the count.

The only one left awake is Ruby. She turns to Watts, her heart pounding wildly. “What’s going on?”

“Relax,” he tells her. Ruby does not relax. “It’s just a mild sedative. I wanted to have a private conversation, without any interruptions. So long as you behave, there shouldn’t be any lasting harm.” He smirks at her horrified expression. “Now, Ruby Rose, let’s have a chat.”

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The distraction of talking to Maria’s friend Pietro is more than welcome.

It gets Ruby’s teammates to back off their questions in favor of speaking with the friendly older man, which she’s immensely grateful for. What happened today with Watts is way too fresh for her to want to talk about right now-if she’s ever ready to talk about it. She’d much rather focus on coming up with a plan to make their way up into the heavily fortified Atlas.

There’s something very familiar about Maria’s friend, but Ruby can’t quite put her finger on it. His cheerfulness and good nature, not to mention when he talks about his daughter, really have Ruby wondering. After all, it’s not like Ruby has befriended that many girls from Atlas, and he’s definitely not talking about Weiss . . .

But no, Ruby shouldn’t get her hopes up. It’s probably just a coincidence, and the inevitable letdown would be more than she could bear. Today has been painful enough already.

Compared to Atlas’ intense security, the defenses for Mantle seem to be seriously lacking. Their group hasn’t gotten far from Pietro’s workshop when they’re rushed by a group of Grimm.

It’s another distraction that Ruby finds herself grateful for. Right now, being able to do something useful like fighting off some Grimm helps ease some of her lingering terror from the events of the day. Killing Grimm is something she’s good at. It helps her feel more in control.

They’re about to finish off the remaining Grimm when there’s a sudden flash of bright green light that stops the creatures in their tracks. It’s followed by several more flashes of the same light, over and over, until all the Grimm have fallen. Ruby looks up to find the source of the beams of light, and her heart leaps.

A girl with long red hair dressed in green clothes lands gracefully in front of them. “Salutations!” she says cheerfully.

Ruby would know that voice anywhere. “Penny?”

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“Now Ruby Rose, let’s have a chat.”

“Let us go,” Ruby says, her hand immediately going to Crescent Rose, holstered at her waist. She’s glad that she kept her weapon on her out of habit, instead of storing the scythe away with the rest of their things. “I mean it. Take us back to Argus right now.”

But Watts merely raises an eyebrow at her, making himself more comfortable in his chair. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he tells her. “Honestly, I was hoping that you were smart enough to understand the situation that you’re in. Your friends are unconscious. Even if you could somehow get me out of the picture, this ship only responds to my commands. And all it would take is one press of this button,” he holds up a remote for emphasis. “And this ship will crash itself into the sea below. Do you understand me, Miss Rose?”

Ruby nods tightly. There’s a lump in her throat that’s making it difficult to speak, even if she did know what to say.

Apparently Watts isn’t satisfied with that. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” she grinds out through gritted teeth.

“Good. Now why don’t you take a seat.”

Reluctantly, Ruby sits down in the chair she’d been sitting in before. She perches on the edge of the seat, refusing to get comfortable. If there’s any chance, no matter how small, to escape, she needs to be ready to take it.

Although she’s not sure if there will be any opportunities to get out of this situation. Watts had planned this out well. They’re in an airship, flying over the sea, in a machine that Ruby has no idea how to control. And it’s not just her life at stake here.

One wrong move could put all of them in danger, not just Ruby. Her friends, Qrow, Yang, and Maria are all completely unconscious. If anything goes wrong, they’ll be completely defenseless.

Ruby is well and thoroughly trapped.

“Excellent.” He smiles at Ruby’s obvious discomfort. “I do want you to know, Ruby-is it okay if I call you Ruby?”

“No,” she replies immediately. Hearing him say her name makes her skin crawl. It makes her feel dirty, somehow.

“Wonderful,” he continues, ignoring her protest. “Well, Ruby, I do want you to know that I really do have no intentions of hurting you and your little friends-so long as you cooperate, of course. I was just curious about you, and I wanted to have a chance to ask you some questions, just the two of us. So long as you behave yourself, I’ll even drop all of you off in Atlas like I promised. Do we have a deal?”

As much as she hates to admit it, Ruby really isn’t seeing any other way out of this. She nods tightly again.

“Well?” Watts says, apparently wanting her to say it out loud. Probably to draw it out, rub her face in how helpless she is in this situation.

“Yes,” she mutters, meeting his eyes defiantly. Not that it really seems to make a difference, but she’s desperate to hold onto some kind of dignity, no matter how small.

“I’m glad that you’re deciding to be reasonable, Ruby,” he says, drawing out her name smugly. “After all, it would be a shame to have to hurt you right now. My mistress would be very unhappy about it. She has very big plans for you, Ruby.”

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“Ruby!” Penny’s entire face lights up when she realizes who had called her name. For a moment it feels like they’re caught up in some kind of wonderful dream, as they stare at each other from just a few feet apart. “Salutations, friend!”

“Penny, I-“ Ruby isn’t exactly sure where she’s going with that sentence, but she’s cut off when Penny launches herself (literally) across the space between them and tackles her in a hug. “Oof!”

“I’m so glad that you’re here, Ruby!”

“Me, too,” Ruby manages to gasp out once Penny releases her. The strength of her friend’s hug is probably enough to leave bruises, but she can’t stop herself from smiling. “Penny, I thought I was never going to see you again after what happened during the tournament.”

“I’m sorry,” Penny tells her sadly, her bright expression dimming slightly. She looks like she’s about to say more before she’s suddenly interrupted by a loud alarm from nearby. “I’m sorry Ruby, we’ll have to catch up later. I need to take care of this.”

And just as quickly as she’d arrived, Penny takes off once more, a bright green flash vanishing into the night. Even with the abrupt departure, Ruby still finds herself grinning. To see Penny again after so long, alive and unharmed like nothing had ever happened to her, it feels like a dream come true.

“Well, who would have thought?” Ruby hears Yang say. Her sister smiles at her knowingly.

She’s just about to suggest that they get moving again and make their way up to Atlas when she’s suddenly thrown to the ground. Ruby thrashes around a bit, squirming in surprise, only to meet what feels like netting wrapped around her.

What the-

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“She has very big plans for you, Ruby.”

If the situation had been bad before, now it felt even worse. Ruby feels a shiver run down her spine as Watts’ words cause the rest of the pieces fall into place. “You work for Salem?”

“Very good,” Watts praises her with a smirk. “See how much more you can learn when you use your words instead of fighting me?” Ruby scowls at him. “Yes, I work for Salem. But like I said, I have no plans of hurting you right now so long as you don’t do anything foolish. My mistress wants you alive, after all.”

Somehow the thought of Salem not wanting to kill her makes Ruby feel even more uneasy. What would Salem want her for? “Is that why Tyrian tried to kidnap me back in Mistral?” she wonders aloud.

It’s been a while since she thought about that particular incident. The whole thing had been incredibly scary and unsettling, and for the most part Ruby just tried to forget it had ever happened. But what Watts had said puts what happened in a new light.

“Not bad, Ruby,” Watts says sardonically. “But I think you’ve forgotten who’s in charge here.”

“Why do you work for Salem?” Ruby asks, ignoring him. “What do you want? What did she offer you?”

“Now, Ruby, I can always appreciate curiosity. I admire your desire for knowledge,” he says, although he doesn’t seem pleased at all. “But if you think I’m going to answer your questions, then you’re wrong. I will be the one asking questions here, and you will answer me truthfully, to the best of your abilities. It’s the only way that you and your little friends are making it to Atlas alive. Do you understand?”

Well, so much for that. “Yes,” she grinds out, knowing that if she nods, he’ll just demand that she answer him out loud.

“Good girl.” He smirks. “Now, Ruby, tell me: what is the power of the silver-eyed warriors?”

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As she’s marched along by the unfamiliar hunters, hands cuffed behind her back, Ruby tries her best to look on the bright side of things. Hopefully they’re being taken to see General Ironwood, which is where they’d been trying to go this whole time. Once they’ve explained everything to him, everything will be fine.

It’s hard to keep herself from freaking out, though. She keeps telling herself that this is only temporary and surely they’ll be released once they can get Ironwood to hear them out, but the restraints on her wrists are just bringing back the feeling of being cornered, trapped on the airship with Watts, alone and defenseless.

Except she’s not alone this time, she reminds herself. This time, Ruby has her friends by her side, and there is an end to this in sight. She’s not stuck at the mercy of Watts’ whims, forced to play along with his games with everyone’s lives at stake. This is only temporary. Once General Ironwood is able to see them they’ll be able to clear up this misunderstanding.

What happened with Watts is over now. Rub is fine. She needs to stop dwelling on what happened and what-ifs and keep moving forward.

They haven’t exactly been walking for that long before their captors order them to stop, but Ruby’s chest feels tight and with every passing moment it feels harder to breathe. Maybe it’s the change in altitude? Atlas is quite a bit higher up than Mantle.

Ruby closes her eyes, just trying to focus on her breathing while they wait to see the General. Her chest is really starting to hurt, and it’s becoming difficult to take a deep breath. She tries to remember the meditations that Maria had taught her when teaching her to use her powers to fight Grimm, breathing slowly and deliberately.

At one point she must lose track of time, because the next thing she knows, someone is shaking her shoulders and calling her name. “Ruby!” Her sister sounds concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Ruby tries to reassure her sister, although her voice comes out a bit shaky and weak. She has to blink away the dark spots from her vision, and her ears are ringing slightly for some reason. At least it feels a bit easier to breathe now. “I must’ve just spaced out there for a bit. Are we going to see General Ironwood now?”

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“What is the power of the silver-eyed warriors?”

“I don’t know,” Ruby tells him, knowing that he won’t like the answer. But it is the truth. Even after what Qrow had told her, and her conversation with Miss Calavera, it still feels like they’ve barely scratched the surface of how her powers work or what they can do. It would be great if she actually did know all the answers like how he seems to expect her to.

“You don’t know?” Watts repeats her answer incredulously. “You’re telling me that you used them to turn a Grimm dragon into stone but you don’t know what they are?”

“Yes.” Ruby sighs. “Don’t you think that if I knew anything about them I would be using them more?”

“Don’t give me any attitude, Ruby Rose,” Watts says, looking slightly annoyed. “You are not the one in control of the situation here; I am. So watch what you say, or there will be consequences.”

“Fine.” At this point Ruby knows that he won’t take her nodding as a proper answer. He’s so touchy. As much as she’d like to give him some grief, it’s not worth putting her friends at risk.

“Very good. You’re learning.” The condescension drips from his words. “Very well. If you don’t know what the power of the silver-eyed warriors is, let’s try asking something else. What do you know about the power of the silver-eyed warriors?”

“Not much,” Ruby admits, knowing once again that he won’t be satisfied with that answer. But once again, it’s still the truth. She’s still in the dark about all of this, even if it’s incredibly frustrating. “All I really know is that they only seem to affect Grimm. I don’t really have much control over them.”

It would be great if she could learn more about how her powers worked or how to be able to use them more consistently. Honestly, as the leader of team RWBY, she probably should be working harder to practice using them and improve her control. It would make a lot of their fights so much more easy if she could turn the Grimm to stone or kill them without even using a weapon. Even blinding them, like Maria had suggested, would be incredibly useful.

Deep down, though, a part of Ruby has always kind of resisted tapping into her powers more. After all, even though it’s already become clear that she’ll never be able to have a normal career as a huntress, there’s still a part of Ruby that longs to be a normal girl in whatever way she can. Having mystical abilities that can turn Grimm to stone doesn’t exactly help with that.

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The information that General Ironwood is sharing with them is overwhelming. And knowing that the Ace Ops and Penny and Winter know the truth as well is surprising, but also it’s a relief. This isn’t something that Ruby wants to have to keep a secret from her friend, especially after she just got Penny back. There’s enough of that going around already.

Ironwood’s plan to tell all of Remnant about Salem seems really risky, but it just might work. Ruby feels bad about not telling him the truth about what Jinn had shown them, but she’s already seen the fallout from that. And they will tell him about it. Eventually. Just not right now.

They’ve got more important things to worry about right now, anyway. “Um, General Ironwood? We’ve got some more bad news,” she begins hesitantly, clearing her throat awkwardly. “There’s something we need to tell you guys. Someone who works for Salem has been spotted here in Atlas.”

The others chime in where they can as Ruby tells the whole story as quickly as possible, how they’d run into Arthur Watts while looking for transportation to Atlas, how he’d promised to give them a ride-and had-but had revealed himself to be working for their enemies. “He told me himself that he was working for Salem.”

“You said he told you his name was Arthur Watts?” General Ironwood asks, his tone serious. Ruby nods. The general frowns, striding over to his desk and messing with the display resting there, before bringing up a hologram of Watts’ face. “Is this the man who you encountered?”

“Yes,” Ruby answers, doing her best not to flinch at seeing his face again. “That’s him. When I saw him last, we were in the outskirts of Mantle.”

“Interesting.” General Ironwood raises his eyebrows. “According to my files, Arthur Watts died in an accident in his lab in Atlas ten years ago.”

Huh? But before Ruby can really process that fact, Winter chimes in. “Perhaps he faked his death, sir, in order to allow him to assist in Salem’s plans more freely.”

“That’s a possibility,” the general agrees. “I’ll have to look deeper into the details of the situation. In the meantime, I’ll issue a kingdom wide bulletin announcing the need to keep an eye out for the man calling himself Arthur Watts.” He sighs. “Winter, if you could also ensure that the technology security measures throughout the kingdom are fully up to date, that will also help ensure that whoever this is, he won’t be able to cause problems here in Atlas. If it is Watts, he was very familiar with our security systems before his ‘accident.’ Although it’s been ten years, it’s best not to leave any openings for him to exploit.”

“I’m on it, sir,” Winter replies immediately, taking out her scroll and tapping away. They probably should have told General Ironwood about what happened earlier, but at least it seems like the General is on top of taking care of things.

“As for the rest of you, get some rest. You must be exhausted from your journey. We’ll discuss what to do going forward in the morning.”

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“Well I must say that I’m disappointed to hear that,” Watts says. His tone is casual but Ruby can hear the anger in his voice. Once again, she wishes for a way out of this situation. Any escape would be welcome.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Ruby tells him, not really feeling sorry at all. As much as she sometimes feels like she’s letting down the people she cares about by not figuring out how her powers work fast enough, at least it means that she doesn’t have any information to give to Watts, information that will inevitably make its way to Salem as well.

“You really ought to watch that smart mouth of yours, Ruby,” he says her name like it’s a curse. “One day you might make the wrong person angry, and then you won’t like what will happen to you at all.” He looks her directly in the eyes as he makes that threat; Ruby stubbornly meets his gaze, refusing to back down. “Although I shouldn’t be too surprised that the daughter of Summer Rose has too much of an attitude.”

“You knew my mother?” Ruby asks, surprised. She immediately feels silly the second the question comes out of her mouth. Of course Watts had met Summer. Salem had been involved in Summer’s death, and Watts works for Salem.

“I’m sure that Summer would be very disappointed to hear that her daughter couldn’t figure out the powers that she had passed on to her. What a shame.”

The mention of her mother’s disappointment stings like a slap to the face. Ruby does her best not to flinch or give Watts the satisfaction of a response. “Well, maybe if you guys hadn’t killed my mother she could have taught me how to use my powers herself.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Watts scolds her. “Don’t make excuses for your own failures. Besides, your mother ended up in the situation she did because of her own actions, sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong. Summer Rose made her own choices and she was responsible for her own fate.”

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As much as Ruby would love for Penny to show her around Atlas Academy on any other occasion, they’re all so exhausted that she feels relieved when Penny shows them to their room and departs for the night. Maybe her friend can give her a tour later when Ruby doesn’t feel like she’s dead on her feet.

What does Penny do at night? Does she have to sleep, in her new body? She’d called herself the protector of Mantle. Does that mean she’s always on duty, always patrolling for any kind of trouble?

Does she ever get any kind of break?

After not having seen Penny for so long (and thinking her friend was dead), Ruby is full of questions and eager to spend time with her again. Plus, thinking about Penny feels much better than dwelling on everything else that’s happened today. Ruby is hoping to forget her uncomfortable experience with Watts in favor of focusing on what they can do now that they’re here in Atlas.

Of course, her teammates aren’t going to be so quick to let it go. “Are you sure you’re okay, Ruby?” her sister asks. “You’ve been kind of jumpy since we got here.”

“I’m fine,” she’s quick to reassure Yang. “Just a bit tired, and I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Does that have anything to do with what happened earlier on the airship?” Blake isn’t letting the matter drop.

“You know you can tell us what happened, Ruby,” Weiss tells her.

“I know that,” Ruby replies tightly. “But really, you guys are worrying too much. He just asked me some questions, that’s all. Goodnight.”

She crawls into her bunk, turning her back to the room to clearly communicate that the conversation is over. Ruby can feel their eyes on her for a few minutes, but eventually she can hear them getting in their own beds. Her mind is still racing with thoughts, so it takes her a while to fall asleep.

When she does finally drift off, she finds herself back on the airship again.