My eyes fluttered open upon hearing the screeching of the alarm clock. It had been a long, rough night and all I wanted was a few extra minutes of sleep. I tried to ignore the constant beeping of the alarm, but my bed partner pressed her feet to my back and launched me out of bed.
"Jaune honey please turn that damn alarm off before I grab Crescent Rose and put a bullet into it."
It wouldn't be the first time she's done something like that. The last time I had to run over to the neighbors to make sure they wouldn't call the police. After about an hour of explaining the misunderstanding they finally agreed to leave well enough alone. This morning however I couldn't deal with that nonsense and did as my wife asked.
I looked back towards the bed were my, now awake, wife was stretching. Her arms above her head and her bare chest exposed as the covers fell off her sleeping body. It had been two years since Ruby Rose became Ruby Rose-Arc, and I had never been happier.
The wedding was a small affair, with only a handful of close friends and relatives in attendance. I still remember the wedding like it had happened yesterday. The small church on Patch Ruby's father had rented out for us was perfect for the small congregation of people in attendance. Ruby's sister Yang was her maid of honor, and in true Yang fashion decided to wear a modified version of the dress Ruby had picked out for her. Instead of a simple yellow dress Yang had decided to wear something to accentuate her feminine figure. The yellow dress hugged her curves and left little to the imagination as the only things holding back her well-endowed bust were two thin straps of cloth.
At least Ruby's other friends had a sense of modesty. Blake wore a simple black dress that, although it hugged her form nicely, was much more reserved than Yang. The only skin showing on her was her arms, and a tiny diamond like window cut into the dress to show off her naval. The last bride's maid was one Weiss Schnee who wore a dress similar to Blake's, unlike Blake's though her dress was an icy blue color. Ruby insisted that the heiress not wear her usual white stating that only the bride got to wear that color today.
I hold back a chuckle thinking back to Weiss' reaction at not being able to wear her favorite color. One glare from Ruby however shut down her argument as quick as it came. As for myself the only male friend I have was Lie Ren, who I had met when we served together in the Valian army. He had let me be the best man at his wedding when him and Nora Valkyrie got hitched, so I figured I should return the favor.
When the music began to play and drew my attention to the door at the back of the church, all the breath was sucked out of my body. There walking down the isle was Ruby Rose. At twenty-two the woman was two years her sister's junior but lacked nothing in terms of beauty. Her shoulder length hair black and red hair was styled in a braid, and her piercing silver eyes looked to stare into my soul. She wore a simple wedding gown, along with a pair of white flat shoes, Ruby Rose does not do heels after all. As she drew closer to the alter where I was standing I felt like the luckiest man in the world, how could this angel of a woman fall in love with me.
As we stood across from each other all the words I wanted to say to her were caught in my throat. My mouth went dry and every attempt I made at speaking made me look like a fish. She simply giggled and held my hand. That small gesture was all I needed to restore my confidence and make it through the ceremony.
That however was two years ago and now Ruby and I shared a small two-story house in a suburb of Vale City. After preventing my wife from committing homicide of an alarm clock I hopped into the shower to get ready for the day. Ruby, sneaky as ever, climbed in with me and drastically prolonged the time it took to get ourselves clean.
Breakfast was a simple ordeal I made eggs and bacon while Ruby double checked if her equipment was in the proper places. A year ago, Weiss had hired Ruby as a bodyguard for herself and select members of the SDC. As I placed the breakfast stuffs onto a plate Ruby sat down and started munching on her breakfast like she hadn't eaten in years.
This caused me to laugh, which in turn caused her to look up and glare at me. The intensity of the glare was greatly diminished by the fact that her cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk. Seeing her like that caused me to laugh even harder.
"So, what do you have planned for today?" She asked after swallowing her breakfast. "Not much I have to stop by Yang's shop and get the car looked at. Then it's just another boring day at the office. You?"
"The SDC is having a conference in downtown Vale near the Beacon Military Academy. Apparently, they want to discuss some kind of deal with Ozpin." Ruby said as her head fell to the countertop and groaned. "I don't see what the problem is?" She lifted her head slightly and looked at me with those piercing silver eyes. "The location is a nightmare, I'm supposed to guard some big wig in the SDC who has been on the receiving end of more than a dozen death threats."
"Isn't that your job though, to protect those 'big wigs'?" Her head dropped once more as she groaned even louder. "Yeah, it's my job, but the building we're going to has too many locations where a sniper could hide. The idiot also insists on not securing the area, so that he can interact with the people. I swear its like he's waving a sign around that says kill me."
I run my hand along her back and kiss the top of her head. It always amazed me how such a sweet woman like Ruby could become a bodyguard and excel at it. An entire wall in our living room was plastered with her accomplishments and accolades given from the SDC for all her hard work. This woman really was my pride and joy, I was so happy to be her husband.
After a quick kiss she rushed out of the door and drove off towards the SDC building in uptown Vale. I went into our room and put on a simply light gray suit and red tie before I headed out the door to Yang's automotive.
Upon arriving I spoke with Yang how wore a pair of grime covered jeans and a yellow T-shirt. She looked the same as she did at the wedding, the only difference was her hair was tied in a pony tail so it wouldn't get in the way, and you could see the tattoos she had gotten just over a year ago. Her right arm was covered with a Mistrilian dragon that wrapped itself around her arm. When she saw me she instinctively reached out to give me a hug, only to be stopped when she saw I was dressed in a suit.
"Well hey there brother-in-law you come here for business or just to Yang around?" Seeing me bring my thumb and index finger up to massage the bridge of my nose sent her laughing at my dismay. "Oh, come on that was a pretty good if I do say so myself." I just looked back at her with a flat expression. "That was one of your worst ones, you've had worse, but that one was pretty bad."
"You know I can refuse service to anyone right?" I looked at her with fake hurt on my face as I brought my hand up to my chest. "You would turn down service from your own brother-in-law, what would Ruby think?"
"I feel like she'd agree with me, sisterly love and all that." I gave a soft chuckle. "I think she'd be more inclined to agree with her husband, after all we both know who cooks in that household." Yang just laughed and smiled. "You've got a point there, so what can I do for you on this fine day?" Shrugging I said, "The car just needs to be serviced its about that time again." Nodding she took the keys from me and headed over to the car. "Hey Yang don't forget about the party tonight for Ruby." She simply continued walking towards the car giving me a lazy wave over her shoulder.
As I waited for the car to be done I headed over to the coffee shop on the corner and sat down on the tables outside. As I was enjoying my cup of coffee my phone started to ring in my pocket. Looking down I saw that the number was blocked, my eyes darkened and I answered the phone but didn't say anything.
"I have a job for you." The speaker on the other end of the phone was clearly a woman. She didn't attempt to disguise her voice and it had an air of seduction added to the way she talked. Even over the phone I could tell who was on the other end. Cinder Fall, a relatively new crime boss in Vale who had taken over Roman Torchwick's territory in a hostile takeover.
"Job?" I answered shortly. "I will send you coordinates, everything you need to complete the job will be set up for you when you arrive." I waited a second before responding. "No, tell me the target or find someone else." After a short break Cinder came back on the line. "The representative from the SDC to Vale, Leon Teal."
Leon Teal, Ruby hadn't said it before she left but I knew who she was going to be protecting. Everyone in the city knew that Leon was the SDC's man in Vale. I stopped to think of the consequences to my actions, forward thinking was drilled into my head in the army. If I didn't take the job Cinder would simply give it to someone else. Probably that amateur Adam Taurus, that man was no better than a monster, keeping tabs on him when he came to the city was probably one of the best idea's I've ever had. The man was Cinder's backup plan if any of her operations failed she would send in Adam or Mercury. At least Mercury was at least sort of a professional, Adam was just a beast.
He would also try to kill Teal in the most horrific way possible, which would place the lives of everyone around him in danger. I'd be damned if I let that happen.
"I'll take care of it but I'll do it my way." I finally said to Cinder. I could practically feel her approval through the phone. "Excellent, don't disappoint me. You'll regret it if you." I hung up before she could finish. The woman had no idea who I was she only knew that I got results, and in the end that's all that mattered.
After retrieving my car from Yang, I drove to a building roughly a mile away from where I knew Teal would arrive. Ruby was smart incredibly smart, but she wouldn't take in to account a sniper that could hit a target from a mile away. No one ever did, that's not to say that was the only way I killed my targets but for this particular one it would have to do.
Making my way up to the roof of the building with my brief case in tow was not the difficult part. The difficult part was doing it without being seen, but I was a master at not being seen. When I set up my .50 caliber rifle inside the room I made sure I was far enough back that I could see the target but no one could see me. After dialing in my scope, I waited for the motorcade to arrive that held my target.
A string of black armored vehicles made their way to the front of the building I sighted in and drew a breath. My body becoming completely still and relaxed as I saw Leon Teal being escorted out of the vehicle by one Ruby Rose-Arc.
I could see her through my scope, her eyes scanning the crowd along with the rooftops searching for hostiles. She stayed close to her charge always within arms reach and ready to react. One small slip up on my part could possibly end the life of the woman I love. I watched her intently taking in her presence next to Teal. My eyes more focused on my wife than the target. As the two made their way to the front door of the building doubt started creeping into my mind. For the first time in a long time I doubted my abilities. I couldn't screw up however if I failed Cinder would send others to take care of Teal and I couldn't let that happen. Exhaling slowly once more I lined the cross hairs up on center mass of my target. Everything around me faded away, all the noise of the city, all the distractions, even Ruby. My finger squeezed the trigger and my reward was the recoil of my rifle.
The .50 cal round flew through the air taking only a few seconds to find its target. As Teal was about to open the door the round struck him in the heart and a shower of blood and gore erupted from his body. I watched as everyone began to scatter, I watched as Ruby tried to make sense of what was going on. Her eyes were wide with confusion and fear as she found cover and drew her gun. She didn't bother looking back at Teal with that much blood the target was undoubtedly dead.
I packed up my rifle and set a powerful explosive inside the case. As I exited the building unseen as the people around me who heard the shot were running for their lives, the explosive detonated. I knew there was nothing left of the rifle as I walked back to my vehicle and drove away before the police could show up.
Hours later at home I was putting the final touches on the cake for Ruby's surprise party. The house was packed with their friends and family as they awaited Ruby to return home. When Nora heard Ruby pull into the drive she motioned for everyone to get into positions. When the door opened to reveal a haggard looking Ruby, everyone screamed surprise and shot off confetti. To their surprise those, not mine however, Ruby was shocked and attempted to draw her pistol from her hip holster. Those silver eyes I fell in love with were, for a moment filled with fear, anger, and shock.
As she realized she wasn't in danger she began apologizing to everyone and hoped she didn't ruin the party. It tore me up inside to watch her put on a brave face and greet her guests. I had done that to her, but if I wasn't the one to do it it would have been someone else, someone worse.
I walked over to her with a smile on my face I and handed her a glass of wine and kissed her forehead. "I heard about what happened on the news, are you okay?" She just nodded and hugged me, maybe a little too tightly. Did she know, no she was afraid she wasn't going to see me again. The assassination really spooked her, that made me feel like an even bigger piece of crap.
"I'm fine honey, I spent all day answering questions. If I didn't know Weiss I would have definitely gotten fired. They say the shot came from over a mile away and that there was no way I could have foreseen that." As I listened to her voice it sounded like a mixture between relief and disbelief.
Relief that she hadn't lost her job, and disbelief that someone could make a shot from over a mile away within a city and get away with it.
I just rubbed her back and smiled at her offering comforting words as best I could. The party went on for a couple of hours until the guests began to trickle out of the house some having to work in the morning others with kids to get back to.
As I was brushing my teeth Ruby came up from behind me and hugged my back. "I was so scared today. The assassin could have shot me too and there was nothing I could have done. It made me feel so powerless and weak." After I spit out the toothpaste I turned around and hugged her back and gave her a kiss. "I'm just glad you're safe honey, I'm sorry that had to happen to you."
She deepened the kiss which made me lift her into the air, my hands holding up her body and resting on her rear. The kiss turned hotter and lead to much more as we began to lose clothes on our way back to the bedroom.
The next morning, I woke up before the alarm clock and made my way into the bathroom. Splashing cold water on my face I looked at my reflection. My blonde hair was wild from my night of passion with Ruby, and my lip was slightly swollen from where she bit down a little too hard. My cerulean eyes stared back at me and I wondered what kind of man could do that to his wife and then make love to her. The only reassurance I had was that I did it for her protection.
In my heart I knew this wouldn't be the last time I would comfort my wife like this. It probably wasn't the last time I would be the cause of such distress. Unfortunately, this was my life, I was a trained killer who earned his money on the deaths of others. I would lose no sleep over the death of Leon Teal, he wasn't the first person I'd killed and he wouldn't be the last. I would continue on this path, for it was mine. My name is Jaune Arc and I am an assassin.