~Ruby~

Absentmindedly twirling her spoon, Ruby sighed as everything had seemed to get better, only for Mistress Fate to tear it all down again.

When her parents died, Qrow had been there to comfort and care for them, even when the government had disagreed with their arrangements.

Living from hotel to hotel, paycheck after paycheck, life had indeed hit rock bottom for her. But when that picture Uncle Qrow had found surfaced, she began to questioned who else was keeping secrets.

"Hey, are you okay Ruby?" Blake called out faintly as the small girl turned to her roommates.

Blake felt her sadness as Yang could only frown, nothing to help ease the shared pain they both felt.

"I don't know anymore, everyone has secrets on top of secrets and it's been hard just to find answers. I'm scared honestly." Ruby replied as Weiss took a glance before returning to her food.

"I'm sure they'll find your father, a man like him can't be hard to find." Blake smiled a bit.

"Yeah, I'm sure they will."

~Tony~

After successfully fitting the door with a small parting gift, Tony turned to Yinsen who nodded.

"Let's hurry, they'll come for a check up soon." Yinsen warned as Tony placed a leather coat on.

"Hopefully, if this works, we'll both get to see our children Yinsen." Tony patted his shoulder.

"Hopefully." Yinsen replied half heartedly.

"Okay, say it again." Yinsen ordered as he went about setting up their little project.

"41 steps straight ahead. Then 16 steps, that's from the door, fork right, 33 steps, turn right." Tomy relayed as Yinsen raised the chestplate.

"Yinsen! Yinsen! Stark!" One of the terrorists shouted, speaking a foreign language, as they banged on the door.

"Say something. Say something back to him." Tony urged as Yinsen frantically went about, trying to fit metal shoulder pads onto his friend.

"He's speaking Hungarian. I don't..." Yinsen spoke, fear lumping in his throat.

"Then speak Hungarian." Tiny ordered.

"Okay. I know." Yinsen shouted a few words, only to have more shouting come through.

One of the terrorists opened the door before Tony and Yinsen's 'gift' exploded, killing their captors and stirring confusion within the cave.

"How'd that work?" Tony asked as Yinsen looked at the hole.

"Oh, my goodness. It worked all right." Yinsen replied as Tony nods.

"That's what I do." Tony smirked as Yinsen continued typing on the computer.

"Let me finish this."

"Initialize the power sequence. Okay."

"Now! Tell me. Tell me." Yinsen shouted.

"Function 11. Tell me when you see a progress bar, it should be up right now."

"Yes."

"Talk to me. Tell me when you see it."

"I have it."

"Press Control "l"."

"I." Got it."

"I." Enter." "l" and "Enter. Come over here and button me up."

"Okay. All right. Every other hex bolt."

"They're coming!" Yinsen panicked.

"Nothing pretty, just get it done." Tony held a steel gaze as he tried to calm his assistant.

"Just get it done. They're coming." Yinsen felt a lump in his throat at the thought of armed men gunning the two down in a shower of bullets.

"Make sure the checkpoints are clear before you follow me out, okay?" Tony said as Yinsen sighed.

"We need more time. Hey, I'm gonna go buy you some time." Yinsen offered, a stoic visage covering his fear as Tony shook his head.

"Stick to the plan! Stick to the plan! Yinsen!" Tony shouted as he waited for his suit to charge up.

Taking a shaky breath, he heard the gunfire begin to quiet down as Yinsen continued to draw their attention from Tony, using himself to buy more time for the suit they both created to boot up.

His lie to Stark was that his family was still alive when it was farther from the truth. His family died at the hands of dark creatures that Salem seemed to control, she lied about his freedom.

He could only hope Stark can free himself and return to his children, at least one of them will walk away with happiness.

~Beacon~

Ruby sat in her English class, trying to stem the current events of Tony from invading her mind as she let work consume her.

Professor Goodwitch and Headmaster Ozpin offered her a week to grieve, but she always went for busy work to keep her from crying, she had cried enough.

"Now then, long before our time, this world was ruled by creatures known as Grimm from historical text, though vague it seems these creatures have all but went extinct. Can anyone tell me what types of Grimm there were from our last session?" A green haired professor asked as a few students raised their hands.

"Miss Schnee?"

"Professor Oobleck, there were Lancers, DeathStalkers, Nevermores, and the most ferocious, Beowolves." Weiss replied as Oobleck nodded.

"Though we cannot learn from these monsters, noticable evidence says otherwise as various bones were discovered that took shape of these creatures and paintings on caves suggest they tormented early humans." Oobleck continued.

"Some can say these creatures evolved into animals we see today." Yang chimed in as Oobleck grinned.

"A wonderful observation Miss Xiao Long, some theorize that animals such as dogs, elephants, and scorpions evolved from their fearsome ancestors."

"A fat lot it did for them, most of these 'animals' became is zoo attractions and house pets." A brown haired boy snorted.

"Never doubt history Mr. Winchester, for all we know, they could be hiding under our feet, biding their time to take back the Earth." Oobleck chided as the bell rang.

"Ah yes, remember to read pages 25-35 and take notes, we will have a quiz this Friday, good day students!" Oobleck said as everyone filed out.

Ruby shouldered her book before Cardin passed by, smacking it out of her hands as he and others laughed.

"Sorry Ms. Princess, didn't see ya there squirt." Cardin guffawed as a yellow shirt kid snorted.

"Leave her alone assholes!" Yang snapped as the yellow shirt got in her face.

"Or what? Daddy'll sue me? Oh wait, he's dead." The boy mocked as Yang reared her fist before Weiss stopped her.

"Flash, if you were half the man her father was, you would have graduated instead of getting mommy to enroll you here." Weiss chuckles.

"Shut it skank." Flash snapped as Weiss covered her mouth in mock surprise.

"Awww, little baby Flash knows big words, congratulations you neanderthal."

Flash scoffs before leaving, Cardin and his cronies behind him as Weiss sighs and turns to the Stark Sisters.

"Sorry about Flash and Cardin, they're usually bullying other boys." Weiss apologized as a brown haired boy crouched down and picked up Ruby's books and turned to the small girl.

"Here's your stuff Ruby. I'm sorry about Flash, I know how he likes to be when his ego gets big." The boy frowned as Ruby grabbed her things and smiled lightly.

"Thanks Peter, and it's not your fault, you can't apologize for everyone's behaviour." Ruby smiled, hiding the depression well.

"Well, take care, see ya around." Peter waved to the girls before disappearing behind a corner as the three walked to their dorm.

"I'm thinking of going out for some dinner, you two wanna come? Be a nice way to get out of this hellhole. A girl's night out?" Weiss offered, opening the door to see Blake tying a bow hastily over her head.

"When will you stop with the bow Blake? I'm telling you, you won't find a guy who'll like the bow." Weiss groaned as Blake narrowed her eyes.

"Well I like it, if they don't appreciate it then it's their loss." Blake retorted as Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Well if you're not busy, you wanna head out for dinner? My treat." Weiss asked, pointing behind her to the small girl who looked absolutely tired.

"Sure, Ruby, Yang?" Blake turned to them as Yang knelt in front of Ruby.

"I'm okay, not hungry." Ruby showed a sad smile as Yang hugged her tightly.

"I love you Ruby, always remember that." Yang kissed her forehead as Ruby nodded.

"I'll draw some schematics for upgrades on Zwei, don't let me stop you three." That same fake smile.

"Are you positive Ruby? I'll let you get the most expensive strawberry cookie?" Weiss tried to sweeten the pot, get this depressing girl some sunlight as her pale skin reminded her of their cracked moon.

"I'm fine Weiss, I promise." Ruby lied behind her teeth as Weiss sighed at the lost cause.

"Okay, just text me if you need anything, we're here for you." Weiss nods as Ruby smiled.

"Yes ma'am." The three exit as Yang grabs the doorknob before glancing at her sister, working diligently on her upgrades for their robotic dog.

Hearing the door close, Ruby couldn't stop the river from flowing as he dropped her pencil and placed her sobbing face on her arms, the tears soaking her sleeves.

"Why me? I couldn't have a mom and dad so you took them, only to have my real dad be the richest man on Earth. Then you take him! What else more!?" Ruby sniffed as behind the door, the three roommates frowned, Yang feeling her heart quench as they left.

"I'm so sorry Yang, if there's anything we can do..." Blake offered as Yang shook her head.

"It's alright, not the first time I had to deal with this." Yang replied as a blonde boy with a monkey tail intervened.

"What's up Blake?" He asked nonchalantly as Weiss blanched.

"No Sun, it's a girl's night out. So no boys." Weiss retorted, causing a mock hurt come from the mutant boy.

"Oh the cold stab of hurt Schnee, I'm hurt!" Sun dramatically said as Blake stifled a chuckle.

Weiss let a small smirk flourish as Yang smiled.

"Why not Ice Queen? More the merrier I always say?" Yang turned to Weiss as the heiress frowned.

"Who said more?" A voice piqued as an orange haired girl popped in.

"Nothing Nora." Weiss retorted as a red haired girl and blonde boy walked over.

"Nora, stop antagonizing people." A black haired with a purple highlight boy chided as Nora frowned.

"What? I heard people were going out Ren. You, Jaune, and Pyrrha wanna come with?" Nora asked as Weiss groaned.

"I said no Nora!" Weiss snapped as a blue haired boy walked over.

"I can pay for mine if it means I can tag along? Working at Joe's pays well!" The boy said as Sun grinned.

"How bout it Ice Queen? We can make a Friends Date?" Sun offered as Weiss nearly looked ready to burst.

"It won't hurt anyone Weiss, you'll be around friends." Blake smiled as Weiss sighed in defeat.

"All right! But you owe me!" Weiss snapped as she stormed off.

Down the hall, Peter walked past RWBY's dorm before hearing the quiet sounds of crying.

Hesitanting on knocking, Peter continued to his dorm as the door remained open.

He was greeted with his own roommates.

"Hey Pete, you get lost by any chance?" A girl asked, horns protruding from her head.

"No, just daydreaming I suppose." He replied, placing his books down as a man fidgeting with his own books.

"Oh come on, did he really put syrup on my book!?" The man groaned as a brown skinned girl wearing a red, gold, and blue shirt and a red scar.

"Did Flash pour syrup on your book instead of Parker's Richards?" The girl chuckled as Aaron glared at her.

"It's not funny Kamala!" He whined as she turn to the horn girl.

"I mean, it kinda is, you agree with me right Fawna?" Kamala grinned a Fawna gave a nod.

"Maybe you'll remember next time not to bring books to class Aaron." Kamala snided as the boy could only scowl.

Peter sat in his desk as he frowned, Ruby was still sad about Tony.

"You okay there Nerd?" Kamala asked, tapping his shoulder as he jumped and turned to them.

"I feel sad for Ruby, I passed by her room and heard crying." Peter admitted as Kamala placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sometimes you can't help everyone Pete, but I'm sure the military is doing everything they can." She said.

"I'm sure they found him right now."

~Tony~

Standing still was the hardest he'd ever done after the explosion.

Not wanting to give away his element of surprise, Tony steadied his breathing as they snaked through the darkness, trying to find any sign of the inventor.

Standing guard, one man shouted in before one of their comrades was thrown out, speeding past him as bullets flew into the dark.

The three turned to each other before aiming their guns as loud thumping could be heard before a large, silver, metal man charged his was forward, slamming one terrorist as they retreated from the giant.

Memorizing the route, Tony made his way through his enemies, minus snagging his arm on the rock wall and an unfortunate terrorist shooting his head only for the bullet to bounce back.

"Yinsen!" He shouted, noticing the fallen man on bags of salt.

"Watch out!" He shouted with all his might, warning his armored friend of the rocket flying towards him, only for Tony to return in kind.

Rushing over, Tony removed the bags as he smiled at his friend.

"Hey, hey, hey, come on now. We gotta get out of here. To see your family yeah?" He spoke hastily.

"No Stark, I have no family to go back to...they were killed." Yinsen said, swallowing a glob of blood as he put on a small smile.

"But you do, go. Leave me." He muttered as Tony shook his head.

"No, remember, we go together. We're a team." Tony retorted as Yinsen chuckled.

"I will see my family, you should...go...to...yours..." The final breath left his body as Tony frowned, tears welling before shaking off his moment of clarity, remembering the large army amassing outside of his prison.

All the men trained their weapons on the entrance, the heat of the sun beating on their skin along with the soothing wind as they waited for the metal man to exit and face them head on.

Exiting his cave and seeing the sun for the first time in forever, Tony sighed before a hail of gunfire slammed into his armor, protecting the man as watched them helplessly fire upon their would be attacker.

Once the gunfire stopped, the small army hesitated as they awaited their demise.

"My turn." Tony said as he activated twin flame throwers, burning not only the terrorists, but his own weapons, they shouldn't have had them and he won't have the deaths of innocents at the end of these barrels weigh his mind ever again.

'Not again, never again.'

Continuing his trail of carnage, he burned anything in his path, hoping to end their reign.

But for a moment, he thought he saw black monsters form from the mist before dissipating as he walked through his flames before gunfire snapped a chain on his back.

Kneeling, he blocked incoming MG fire as he tried to burn more crates before flipping a plastic bit and punching a button, the force shooting him into the air as explosions rocked the terrorist's base of operations.

Flying out of the inferno, Salem stood on a mountain far away from the blast to see the metal man flying away, a smirk of respect on her face as two Grimm wolves formed, growling at their target before Salem hushed them.

"We'll get him soon enough, all is going according to plan." She smirked before dissipating as did her pets.

Tony continued to fly through the air before it halted, causing him to go in a free fall as he screamed in shock and a little bit of joy that his, his and Yinsen's, project worked before slamming into the sand as the pieces scattered, demolishing the suit but saving the occupant inside as he removed the arm and helmet, taking a moment to gather his bearings.

"Not bad."

A/N: Well another down and a few cameos as well, until next time, Tata for now!

Fawna: RockinHeroine
Aaron: Wuss_DWimp

Iron Man/Tony Stark: Marvel Comics
RWBY Characters: Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth

All characters are owned by their respective companies and individuals

All rights reserved