Caught
I'm writing this standalone shortly after the passing of Monty. So I just want to say thank you for everything you did Monty. You gave a lot of inspiration to me and several other people and I just wanted to make something. So, here we go with this one-shot, I hope all of y'all enjoy.
The sound of boot heals running down the hall echoed across the room.
Two pairs, two people, both of them with a clear goal in their minds, but at the end of the day they both knew that only one of them could accomplish what they wanted to.
But he had a plan.
Earlier: Beacon Academy
Throughout the years, Beacon has stood as a symbol of peace in the kingdom. To the general public, that is what it continued to stand for. But anyone who worked within Beacon or any of the hunter/huntress programs, you'd know that now more than ever, Beacon was bursting with their attempts to prevent one.
For four years, they had been dealing with the threat of whatever plans were being made with Cinder Fall, a woman with immense power and a determination to take down everything for her own gain. She used her pieces with extreme efficiency, including Beacon's biggest problem, Roman Torchwick.
Roman was a man who had been previously arrested for multiple criminal charges. He was broken from prison and brought in to work under Cinder. She used him for what he was most convenient for, a man who can handle his work and be a face for the public to hate. He was the bullet for her gun.
Multiple times he was sited as working with the White Fang, the criminal organization formed under the desire for equal rights for Faunus that quickly turned to violence. This gave a face for the public to hate before the real intent behind Cinder's plans were revealed.
Now, after four years, Beacon was still trying to stop them. With one team thrown in the midst of things, RWBY.
They had been the first to encounter Roman after he became an active criminal again. Most importantly, one of the members of team RWBY, Blake Belladonna, saw him with the White Fang.
Blake herself is a former member of the organization, so this was something that she could confirm easily. After that first encounter though, Blake's mind had been set squarely on one thing.
She wanted to be the one to end Roman Torchwick.
Blake sat by the windowsill, reading a book peacefully. Time in Beacon had become more hectic, especially with Blake and RWBY being sent after leads so many times. She took her chance to sit in peace with a book every opportunity she got.
It was always only a matter of time before the sound of boots and a quick, "Blaaaaake" would knock her from the pages of a book into the chance at catching her antagonist.
"Blaaaaaaaaaaake!" Someone yelled out. Blake let out a quick puff and marked the page that she was on. Looking up, Blake caught the flash of red that marked her leader, Ruby, running to find her.
"A lead?" Blake asked simply. "One that'll require a mission by us?" Ruby nodded but held out her scroll.
"Yeah but... This is a big lead." Blake took Ruby's scroll and looked at the files that were available. Her eyes widened instantly, seeing clear pictures of him in a large complex of warehouses. He was speaking to someone, unaware of whomever was able to get the photos.
"Wh-?"
"Apparently a scouting team got these photos," Ruby said, not even waiting for Blake to finish her question. "Those were taken but nobody's seen him since. But we also haven't been able to get very close. So... We're gonna go after him." Blake looked at Ruby, her expression softened from the one she normally wore.
"What are our rules?" Blake asked right away.
"Well... We're gonna go with a few other teams to see if he's there," Ruby said slowly, trying not to get too excited (like she had a tendency to do regarding missions). "If we see him, we are to immediately alert the other teams and engage if the leaders deem it a good idea." Blake nodded.
"Good," she said, handing Ruby's scroll back. "Let's hope we find him."
Present Time
Boots continued to echo through the pathways created within the environment, accompanied only by sounds of anger from the pursuer. He wasn't going to escape her, he wouldn't be able to this time.
But all he had to do was stall just a little bit longer.
Earlier: Bullhead
Each mission they went on, Blake had developed the same routine. She'd sit near a window and stare. Nothing more. She'd just stare out of it. Her mind would run through every possible variation on how the mission would go. Would the White Fang be there? What kind of weapons was he holding? How was he planning on escaping?
Of course, mostly this wound up being pointless. The rare days they'd find Roman, he'd find a way to get away from them. It'd be something Blake couldn't think of, leaving her even more irate than before.
"Ahem," someone said loudly. Blake looked away from the window, jumping at the noise that had interrupted her thought stream. She saw two figures standing in front of her. One of them was that of her partner, Yang, the other was her third teammate, Weiss. Weiss had been the one to clear her throat, Yang would've just hit her to gain Blake's attention.
"What?" Blake asked, not wanting to waste any time. "Is everything good?"
"I just wanted to give you this," Weiss said. She handed Blake a spare clip for her weapon, something that had become tradition for Blake and Weiss at that point. Whenever Blake had it, it seemed as though both of them made it through their missions.
"Of course," Blake said, grinning at the tradition.
"This time I changed one of the crystals loaded into the clip," Weiss explained. "I figured that the normal assortment may not be enough."
"Thank you." Without another word, Weiss walked off to check on Ruby. Yang didn't peel off with her, meaning that she was here on a different agenda.
"You alright?" Yang asked immediately. "And don't even begin to tell me that you feel fine, I know that if I were to scratch you I wouldn't find any lumps on your skin and your litter habits have been kept in check." Blake scowled at her partner, but the corner of her mouth betrayed the anger she was trying to portray to Yang.
"I'll be fine, Yang," Blake finally said. "I'm just... I'm eager at the opportunity to get him."
"As we all are, that's why I have to ask." Yang put her hand on Blake's shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "Blake, are you going to be okay?"
"Of course I'll be able to carry out the mission," Blake said instantly. "We're going to execute this and if he's there, he's not going to get away."
"That doesn't answer my question." Blake looked Yang in the eyes, her own eyes beginning to merge into hostile territory.
"I'm. Fine." Yang shrugged and let out a heavy breath.
"I really hope you will be, Blake. Not just for the mission's sake." Yang walked away, leaving Blake to begin to think.
Truthfully Blake didn't know how she'd fair. In the face of Roman, Blake had always abandoned his life in favor of the overall mission. She desperately hoped that this wouldn't end in that decision. What she wanted was the decision of whether or not to kill him.
Present Time
He looked behind him for a brief moment, noting that she was still holding about the same distance in tow. He turned back around, a cocky smirk etched clearly into his face.
She had just stepped into his court.
Earlier: Outside of the Warehouse Complex
Team RWBY had landed a safe distance from the warehouse complex, followed shortly by the Bullheads holding the other teams. Most of the people involved in stalking out Roman were graduated hunters and huntresses. Only RWBY and one other team were pre-graduation and working on this mission (a group whom RWBY was unfamiliar with).
Blake stood out of the way of Ruby conferring with the other leaders. All of the teams had been given notes before the mission, but it was always important for the leaders to look over them and confirm a lack of inconsistencies.
Sometimes somebody else from Ruby would help her out, ensure that there was nothing she missed, but by now Blake had long since acknowledged Ruby as a more than capable leader. She wouldn't make any mistakes if other people's lives depended on what she had to look for.
Blake was watching the complex to the best of her ability. It seemed completely dead from the outside. She couldn't even spy an animal within the complex, there was no activity whatsoever.
It was exactly the kind of place that Roman would hole up in.
"Alright team RWBY," Ruby yelled out. Blake broke her eye contact with the warehouse complex and walked to join her team.
"What's our course of action?" Weiss asked.
"Every team is going to take a section of the complex," Ruby began. "We were assigned to the middle section, we're going to be team nine for this mission. Teams one and five are going to be with us until we reach the middle. Then we'll split up into two teams. Me and Yang will look for things at the ground level, Blake and Weiss will take the rooftops. Are we good?"
"Yang and I," Weiss muttered under her breath. "Otherwise peachy." Ruby's lower lip twitched into a slight frown, forcing a smile out of Blake and Yang. But the other two nodded in agreement and Ruby shook off Weiss' correction to her grammar.
"Great, let's go kick Torchwick butt."
Warehouse Complex: A Short While Later
Teams one and five had split off of RWBY without a problem, leaving the team of four to split into their duos without a problem. The only issue initially was that they got three warehouses into their search and so far, had found nothing. Not one trace of life.
They were on their fourth, Blake and Weiss looking through any openings or windows on top of the warehouse. Weiss lifted her head up and let out a frustrated puff.
"Nothing," she announced. "Anything better with you?" Blake looked at Weiss and shook her head. Weiss pulled out her communication device and began to report to Ruby.
"Ruby, we've found nothing here as well."
"Yeah we're not having any different results," Ruby replied. "Onto the next one, I guess." Weiss looked at Blake, her lips turned down into a frown.
"Yeah, I'm already moving," Blake said. She started to walk to the next building and Weiss shook her head. Blake wouldn't admit it to any of them, but Weiss could see how badly she wanted Roman with her own eyes. Not finding him so frequently frustrated her.
"Blake!" Weiss called out. Blake looked back at Weiss and tapped her foot impatiently. "Are you doing alright?"
"I'm fine, Weiss, I promise, but we're wasting time," Blake said with heavy annoyance in her tone. Weiss shrugged and began to walk forward.
"This is team five reporting in," someone said through their comms. Both of the girls froze, knowing that they were told to only report if they found activity. "We've sighted multiple members of Legion in one of the warehouses." Blake shot an eyebrow at Weiss.
"Legion is an old group that took pleasure in fighting against any authority simply because they could," Weiss explained. "Identified by silver jackets with a golden eagle on the backs of them. They've been quiet for a few years."
"Well I don't suppose that they're just here for the view," Blake said.
"No need to get sassy with me," Weiss huffed. Blake smiled and jumped onto the next building. Weiss used her glyphs to follow suit. Just as they landed, their comms were suddenly set ablaze.
"This is team four, we have sighted Legion members as well."
"Team eight, we have done the same."
"Team one, we have Legion here as well."
It was almost every single team, one after the other, all confirming sights on Legion. Weiss and Blake looked at each other and then the warehouse that was under foot. Both of them walked to separate windows and looked down into the building. Just as they both had thought, silver jackets with golden eagles were spotted. At least ten or fifteen of them, all gathered around the warehouse.
But Blake's eyes narrowed very quickly on the one person she could see without the jacket.
What she could see on him was a trench coat, an expensive hat, and a cane that she knew was there for more than decoration.
Roman
Blake reached for her comms immediately.
"This is team nine, reporting in," Blake said. "We have visual on Roman Torchwick." Blake drew Gambol Shroud and primed her legs to pounce. "What is our next move?" There was silence on the other ends, everyone waiting for someone to speak up.
"Every group attack a warehouse with Legion in it at the count of three," the leader of team one (also the head of the mission) finally said. "Team nine, you go after Torchwick. Take the opportunity to get him."
"Understood," Ruby said through the comms. "On your count." Blake's mind began to slow down the situation and she began to grow hungrier at the moment.
"Three."
I can finally get to him
"Two."
Now is my chance.
"One."
Blake let out a single cry as she slashed Gambol Shroud through the roof, allowing her to plummet straight through.
Inside the Warehouse: Roman Torchwick
It had been a rather frustrating business day for him so far. Every plan he made with Legion, it seemed as though their leaders wanted to find ways to do things a different way. It didn't matter how clear cut his was, they were very fond of reminding him that this was a "partnership" and he "didn't have any real authority over them." What he did have the ability to do was request that he have the opportunity to destroy Legion after Cinder was done with them.
But then things got interesting when he heard multiple explosions from other warehouses.
"Barry, what the hell was that?" Roman said instantly. "I thought I told you to only bring your standard weapons here and to stay-."
"Yeah, we did," one of the Legion heads who worked with him said, Barry. "That's not-."
Then the roof was cut open and the front door exploded. Roman and Barry directed their attention to the front door first and Roman's eyes narrowed. Tall, muscular blonde with a smaller girl in a red hood with a scythe twice her size. He shifted to where the roof had been cut and he saw a petite white haired girl and a girl in black with cat ears.
"God dammit," Roman growled. He turned to Barry again. "This is why I tell you to create a hidden way into this place. Clearly it's incredible easy to spot the group of poorly dressed criminals walking to abandoned warehouses." Barry growled at Roman. "Right, now's not the time to discuss your horrid fashion." Roman raised up Melodic Cudgel in the direction of Weiss and reached for the trigger.
Almost immediately he was knocked off his feet by an explosion to his side. He lifted up his head and looked at where Barry had been, not seeing him. He tried to stand up, but was knocked even further back by another blast, this time it forced him to lose his grip on Melodic Cudgel.
He got to his feet as quickly as he could, but he saw his weapon lying very far away from him and in the direction towards the four girls who seemed to take pleasure in ruining his plans.
Well I'll give them credit, he thought as he dusted off his coat. They're forcing me to my plan B's a lot faster now. He honed in on the exit and took off in a sprint.
Blake Belladonna
Blake blocked the sword of a Legionnaire and brought her own into his chest. The members of Legion didn't seem particularly skilled, making for an easier time for RWBY. After he fell, Blake shifted her gaze. Her eyes scanned for a white trench coat.
He's in here, I know it, Blake thought angrily. You're not getting past me this time.
Before her eyes found the trench coat, Blake spotted Melodic Cudgel lying on the ground. Her eyes shot up and she searched faster, catching sight of his white coat leaving the building. Blake reached up to her comms as quickly as she could.
"Roman's leaving, I'm going after him," she said instantly. "He's taking the exit furthest from your entry point, Ruby and Yang. Catch up to me when you finish cleaning up everyone here." Blake took off in a sprint, bending down to grab Melodic Cudgel on her way out.
The other three were still fighting Legionnaires, unable to respond to Blake's callout instantly.
Yang wrestled down her Legionnaire and looked up at where Blake had said Roman left from. Before she left, Yang turned her head back around to the entrance she had taken. Her heart sank almost instantly.
More Legionnaires were running for the entrance, a lot more. Yang knew that they wouldn't be getting backup anytime soon, meaning that she had to default to another plan.
"Guys," she yelled out. "Legionnaires, lots of them heading our way. We've gotta for Blake to get Roman." Ruby and Weiss didn't respond, instead choosing to ready themselves for the approaching wave of Legionnaires.
Present Time
That was what had lead to this. Blake was chasing down the one man whom she had tried so hard to capture for so long. She couldn't let him escape her unwillingly. She was going to get to him, she was going to confront him, she was going to stop him.
But Roman had different plans. He kept up his pace, trying to stay ahead of Blake. She was fast, but he was working with a lead and he could maintain a speed even to hers.
He watched the buildings, waiting for his opportunity. Once he saw it, he took a hard right. Blake didn't hesitate at all and followed suit. Roman glanced behind him and grinned as she followed him.
He reached into his coat and grabbed ahold of one last trick that he had.
It's been another fun chase, Belladonna, Roman thought. But I don't intend on letting you get to me today.
Blake couldn't tell that anything was wrong. Nothing occurred to her for how wrong things seemed. It shouldn't have been a point a to point b chase, something should've been happening. It was Roman.
But those thoughts only occurred to her after he raised his hand and revealed a small, plastic piece that had a single button on top. Blake's eyes widened as suddenly, things started to make sense to her.
The path that Roman took, why he didn't seem that worried, why certain warehouses were seemingly devoid of any life. He lined every single one of them with explosives.
He pressed the button just as Blake realized this, causing the building to her right to erupt in an explosion. She jumped up, hoping to avoid a majority of the debris. Some pieces still managed to hit her, but her aura prevented any substantial damage to her. The bigger problem at hand was the mass amounts of blockage below her. More importantly, that Roman was distancing himself. Blake aimed Gambol Shroud and fired it at the closest building that was still in tact. She pulled herself forward and landed in one of the places without debris.
Blake looked up and saw that Roman had turned. The explosives had made a path for him, a clear set of buildings that would be relatively untouched. While it was convenient for him, it was apparent that he had relied on the explosion to deal with any pursuers.
Blake took off after him without a second thought, her mind becoming even more set on catching up to Roman.
She turned where he did, seeing that Roman had more than taken advantage of the explosion throwing Blake off. She felt herself wanting to yell in anger. At this point, she didn't know if she could catch him. He had distanced himself significantly from her, she didn't know if she had the speed to catch him. He was going to escape.
Again.
But Blake didn't stop. She looked down at Gambol Shroud and then at Melodic Cudgel. She took a deep breath, and loaded in the Dust clip that Weiss had given her. Thinking of one last-ditch effort, Blake loaded the clip into Shroud. She channeled her aura and jumped into the air, using her semblance to leave behind a copy of herself. Using the added energy of the Dust, the copy of herself was made entirely in stone. Flipping Melodic Cudgel around, Blake fired a shot from it into the stone version of herself, sending her speeding through the air straight towards Roman.
Her body slammed into his back, sending him to the ground with a single yell. Blake hit the ground and rolled up to her feet, seeing the form of Roman still lying on the ground. Her smile consumed her entire face at the sight.
No more tricks, no more situations in which her teammates needed her, no more escapes.
He was hers.
Blake walked over and kicked him over, bringing his face up to meet her. Blake stared at him for only a second before planting her foot squarely on his chest and putting the tip of her sword at his throat.
"You're not getting away this time, Roman," she hissed. "I'm not going to let you." He coughed, pressing his head a little bit further back so as to avoid the tip as much as possible.
"I take it you don't mean that I'm going into custody again?" He asked. She growled, pushing the tip a little bit closer to him. Even now, in clear defeat, he was still trying to maintain his sarcasm.
This was it, this was the day she had dreamed of for so long. Four years of hunting, four years of failed missions, four years of watching him get away, all to come down to this last moment. It felt sweet, sweeter than anything else she had done. Finally, she had Roman.
"You won't be able to kill me," Roman finally said. "You and I both know it plenty well." He looked right into her eyes, his smirk written out plainly on his mouth.
"So you hope," Blake hissed. Roman let his head fall back and waited, his smirk still written plainly on his face. He had stopped talking, but Blake knew she had him. Roman was stuck there. He couldn't escape. All Blake had to do now was push down.
But then what he said hit her. Blake realized that she didn't have a plan for after this. She had been hunting Roman for four years, he was her sole goal. There was no plan b, there was no life after plan for her. She didn't know what she'd do, she felt lost at just the idea for it.
Gambol Shroud began to tremble, the point no longer able to stay focused straight on the intended target.
He's right, Blake finally thought, giving in completely. She pulled the sword away from his throat and turned away from him. I can't do it.
Roman stared up at the back of Blake's head, his smirk become even more set in stone. His final card had been used, one he had been preparing for a very long time. Taking in a deep breath, Roman got up to his feet and dusted himself off.
"I've got to say," he announced loudly. "I knew you were fond of me, but not even I never thought you liked me enough to hold me at sword point, again." He walked around to see Blake's face. She didn't try to look away from him this time, she just let him observe. He saw her downcast eyes, teeth clenching her lower lip, the look of frustration and guilt written so plainly.
"Well, I suppose that absence makes the heart grow fonder," he bragged. Blake remained silent, to frustrated to talk without worrying that her words would betray her. "I certainly did everything that I could to maintain my absence, but you wouldn't have it. No, you couldn't stay away, could you." Blake's eyes flashed with guilt, earning an even larger grin out of him.
"Oh, we can keep this our little secret, all of this," Roman carried on, pointing at the area around them. "I'm sure those idiots of Legion have kept your team busy enough, but you don't have to mention any of this. No, not what you've done. Once I'm gone, we don't have to ever speak of this again." He made a grab for Melodic Cudgel but Blake pulled it away. "Oh please, do you want this to be believable? Give me my weapon back, otherwise I can get word of all of this to Ozpin." Blake closed her eyes and handed over the weapon, still not uttering a word.
Roman took Cudgel and inspected it. He nodded with approval, having no interest in attacking Blake.
"Well, I think it's time I took my own leave," he announced. Blake looked up at him now, giving Roman her full attention. "How about, to make our presumably long time apart a little easier, I leave you with a goodbye kiss?" Blake flinched and shook her head, still not trusting herself to utter a word. "Hm, no? Well I suppose if you don't want to..." He left the end trailing, gaging Blake's reaction. Her face remained relatively set, but her eyes were making subtle movements. They were inspecting him, gaging him seemingly.
"Oh Blake," he said, bringing his voice to a whisper. She was completely unable to contain her reaction this time, she flinched and her eyes grew wide. He never used her name. "You can want something, nobody blames you for wanting. I want things as well." He brought his hand up to her shoulder, watching as Blake didn't make any effort to get away from it or him. "But we already agreed to never speak of this, didn't we? What's one more secret?" He moved closer to her and planted his lips onto her own.
Blake didn't panic, she had expected this to happen. But she didn't make an effort to get out of it. She let him kiss her, she let the feeling wash over her body. She let it all happen.
And she found herself enjoying it.
He broke away from Blake and smiled at her. It wasn't his usual smirk, this one seemed softer.
"It's time I took my leave," he said, softening his voice from the normal cocky tone he used. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon, Blake." Roman turned around and took off in a sprint away from that spot.
Blake remained, she stared after him for a long time before closing her eyes to fight back tears of frustration. This couldn't happen. This wasn't supposed to happen. He should be dead, he shouldn't be able to walk away so freely.
Instead he talked, he talked and he told her what Blake wanted to hear. It wasn't much, but it was enough to render her useless. All of her energy was spent trying to make sure she didn't start crying.
"BLAAAAAKE!"
Her eyes opened briefly and she looked around. She didn't see anyone, but she knew who the voice belonged to.
"I'M HERE RUBY!" She yelled out, her voice somehow maintaining it's strength all the way through.
Blake watched as her whole team ran up to her, her eyes red from the strain to avoid tears. The three of them stopped right in front of her, noting how red Blake's eyes were and the fact that there was no Roman.
"Did he...?" Yang asked.
"Yeah," Blake said, her voice catching at the end of her words. She knew she was lying, she knew she was. He hadn't escaped, Blake had let him walk away from her. She let him go, she watched him walk away. It frustrated her. It brought her to this point, the point where tears were in her eyes.
He was right, she couldn't kill him. He had grown to somehow mean something to her.
Yang wrapped Blake in a hug. It took a second for her to process the fact that tears had begun to run from her eyes. She knew her team thought they were the mark of sadness, but they weren't. They were marks of frustration.
End: Aye, the first Sephora thing I've technically written. Welcome to my trash ship obsession. Questions, comments, follows, favorites and feedback are appreciated.