A/N: this chapter marks the beginning of feelings, woo woo woo. Bow chicks bowwow. Giggity. Say whatever you want. But it's there!
The next day was cold, windy, and wet. It had rained heavily early in the morning, leaving everything a damp wet slush. The wind and the cold added just that special touch of depression to what was, in general, an awful day.
At least, that was Weiss's perspective.
"Okay! Time to go!" Ruby caroled, dragging Weiss for the door.
"But we-"
"Nope! We're going. C'mon, don't waste time!" They walked down for the garage, Ruby humming happily.
"Do you have any idea where we are going?" Weiss demanded as they got into the car.
"Nope!"
"Then how do you know we're wasting time! We could only need to go a couple blocks!"
"Do we only need to go a couple blocks?"
"No... but that isn't the point!"
Actually, they needed to be all the way across town. Weiss drove Ruby to the police headquarters, where she had her office. They walked in the door side by side, and the secretary gave her a gentle smile.
"Miss Schnee!" She said. "Finally found a nice-"
Weiss cut her off, already aware that the doddering old woman would probably finish it with 'young girl to settle down with.' Weiss would be having none of that. "No, Mrs. Haverworth, we're here to work on the recent murders. This is one of my fellow Huntresses."
The old woman gave her an exaggerated wink. "Mhmm. I'll check you in dear."
Weiss gritted her teeth. Mrs. Haverworth might mean well, but that didn't make it any less annoying. Her romantic life was purely her business, not some nosy old lady's.
"What was that about?" Ruby asked as they headed into Weiss's office.
"Nothing." Weiss replied, in a tone that didn't allow for any more discussion. She showed Ruby to a large cork board with a map of Vale on it, determined to avoid anything like what Mrs. Haverworth was thinking. This was purely business. "The red pins represent the general location I think the Grimm took someone." Weiss explained.
Ruby nodded. "How many are there?"
"A hundred and thirteen." Weiss said quietly. "I have pictures of the places if you need them."
Ruby bit her lip. "Mkay." She looked pensive. "You know, they're all near the docks."
"I did notice that, but I can't find any sort of reason as to why." Weiss told her.
"Could I see the pictures please?" Ruby asked. Weiss handed her a pair of bulging Manila folders from on top of the large desk in the middle of the room.
Ruby began flipping throughg it, scanning each one. "I got an idea." She said, halfway through the first folder. "Though hey, first of all, how do you know it's the Grimm? Have you seen any?"
Weiss shook her head. "But I found beowolf hair at several of the crime scenes."
Ruby nodded again. "Well, my guess would be that someone is shipping them in."
"Shipping them?" Weiss demanded. "Who would do something like that?"
"Someone crazy." Ruby said, oddly quiet. She shuddered a little. "The type of person who just doesn't care what they do to other people."
Weiss stared intently at the map. Could it be true? Could someone have purposefully slipped Grimm into the city? "Well then, let's go take a look." Weiss said. She had to admit, Ruby's idea made more sense than any of hers. She had gotten an idea almost immediately, where Weiss hadn't gotten any leads after a week and a half of heavy research, when she first realized what had been happening.
They arrived at the docks fifteen minutes later. Weiss watched as Ruby headed into one of the many nearby pubs that dotted the street.
"What are you doing?" Weiss demanded. "We should be investigating, not getting drunk with..."
Ruby turned around and raised a finger. "My dear Weiss." She said with a grin. "What do you do with a drunken sailor? You buy him another drink and ask him some questions!" With that, she sauntered inside.
Weiss massaged her temples and looked at the door. Inside was loud, probably smelly, and definitely untidy. She did not need to be going in there. But unexpectedly, she felt a pang of worry for Ruby. While the other girl could handle herself, probably better than Weiss herself could, she still felt like Ruby shouldn't be alone in a place like that.
"She is so sleeping on the floor tonight." Weiss growled to herself, making her way in.
As predicted, the pub was loud, smelly, and filled with ugly, drunk men. Ruby was already at the bar, talking to some unshaven wretch, and Weiss gingerly seated herself next to the girl.
"So, you would look for a guy named Taurus?" Ruby said, pushing a shot of vodka at the man.
He downed it, burped, and answered. "Yeah. Dudes always real weird about his cargo. Everybody else, could tell you what they're shipping. Not Taurus. Dudes paranoid. Like, major batshit crazy, know what I'm talking about? The kinda guy that a cute girl like you shouldn't be asking about." He gave her a bashful, drunken grin. "Now, guy like me, I'd treat you real nice."
Ruby giggled. "I know. You were a perfect gentleman. Thanks so much."
"Hey now cutie! Don't just leave me hangin here! C'mon, how's about this time I buy you a round?"
Weiss had seen enough. "Come on Ruby, we're leaving." She said, standing up and grabbing Ruby's shoulder.
"Hey now, hey now!" The man protested. "Girl can choose for herself. Unless of course you're her girlfriend or something." He gave a lewd chuckle. "Now that little picture would be worth losin cutie here for."
Weiss's eyes turned sharp. "Oh really."
"Yup. Now, assuming she isn't, I think I would object quite a fair bit." Suddenly, the man lost the friendly drunken look, replacing it with something more like a suddenly awoken grizzly. "Wouldn't I boys?
At least twenty other patrons of the bar were watching the proceedings. To a man they nodded, some fingering various nasty looking implements.
Threats or no, outnumbered or no, Weiss was about to respond with something equally threatening. That was when Ruby took matters into her own hands.
Or rather, lips.
Said lips, in fact, were pressed to Weiss's. It was only for a second or two, but it was plenty for Weiss to completely forget about anything that might have been going through her head. Almost without meaning to, her hand that was on Ruby's shoulder slipped just an inch or two onto her neck, lightly brushing the smooth skin.
Then Ruby broke apart, still grinning. "Sorry Junior, but you were right. I'm kinda taken." She leaned back up to Weiss. "C'mon, let's get outta here."
Weiss managed to refocus her icy stare, turning it on Ruby. "Yes, let's."
"What was that!" Weiss demanded as soon as they got outside.
"The best way to get out of the pub." Ruby replied. "Otherwise, things would have gotten ugly."
"I think that would be better than the alternative!" Weiss half shouted, still extremely embarassed. And... other... stuff... nope! She wasn't, she did not just think that!
"Really? You know, I think I must have just imagined your hand moving then. Silly me!"
"You-!" Weiss started to say.
"Me!" Ruby replied, cutting her off. "C'mon Weiss. Don't be mad. Nothing happened, right?"
Weiss's blush intensified and she stared at the ground. "Fine." With that, she started walking again, feeling like she was far too close to the other girl. In fact, at the moment, fifty miles was too close. "So, where do we need to be looking?"
"A guy named Adam Taurus. And his ship is right over... there!" Ruby pointed to a big black shipping boat, steadily bobbing on the waves.
"Are you sure?" Weiss asked.
"Nope! Worth a shot though, right?" Ruby said. "Let's go check it out!"
Getting in was easy enough. Most of the crew was out on the town. They were basically able to just walk right in. Looking around warily, the two girls snuck through the passageways, heading for where they assumed the main hold was. Eventually they arrived in a huge room filled with shipping crates.
"Okay, doesn't look like anyone is around." Ruby said. "And I think I see something. Look at those crates over there. Don't they look more like cages?"
Weiss could see Ruby was right. Dotted here and there was a box made of steel bars rather than solid steel walls. They crept along to the first one, and peered inside. Weiss stooped down, picking up a shred of greasy, coarse material.
"Beowolf fur." She said. "That's enough, I'm going to call the police on this."
"Uh... Weiss?" Ruby said, tapping her shoulder. Just then Weiss heard huge footsteps, ringing on the floor like metal on metal.
"Melanie, who are these girls?"
"I dunno Milsha, but we should teach them a lesson."
Weiss turned around to see two ridiculously dressed girls standing next to a giant suit of armor which was holding a massive sword.
"Oh no." Weiss muttered. "I left Myrtenaster in the car..."
"And Crescent Rose is back at the house." Ruby said, gulping. She turned to Weiss with a shaky smile. "You know, I would love to see your weapon sometime. I totally forgot about it, but I love seeing new ones."
"Ruby! Not the time!" Weiss snapped. "Now just hang on."
Weiss grabbed Ruby about the waist, trying to ignore the feeling of the girl pressing up against her in the tight jeans. With a flick of her wrist, two glyphs appeared on the floor, one under the armor and the two newcomers, one under Ruby and Weiss. The other group was blasted into the air while Ruby and Weiss shot forward, hurtling under them. The giant armor attempted to swing at them, but missed, tearing a huge chunk out of the floor instead. Weiss and Ruby sped through the door, back into the maze of passageways that led out of the ship.
They arrived on the street a couple minutes later panting.
"What was that!" Ruby demanded. "We could have taken them!"
"That would be stupid. We had no weapons, and they had a giant suit of Dust powered armor. Even if those two were complete pushovers, which they probably weren't, one of us could have died!" Weiss snapped.
"But now they know we know and stuff! It's gonna be cleared out!"
"No, it isn't." Weiss said grimly. "Ruby, wait here. Use your Scroll to call the police, tell them Miss Schnee said its a code 343."
Weiss made another glyph, shooting into the air. She bounced from glyph to glyph, crossing the two blocks to the car. Reaching into the back seat, Weiss withdrew a shining silver rapier. She quickly headed back, just in time. Crew members on the ship were starting to mill around on deck, gathering various things and starting to make a break for it.
"Weiss? I don't think stabbing them all is going to work..." Ruby said, eyeing the other girl dubiously.
Weiss ignored her, instead focusing on Myrtenaster. She spun the cylinder inside the guard to the light blue Dust canister, and stabbed it into the wood of the dock. Immediately, a wall of spiky ice rose up, covering the bridge and trapping the crew on the ship. They yelled in surprise, some even falling over.
"Now we can leave." Weiss said with a self satisfied air. "The police will arrive long before those idiots can figure out a way to get their contraband out."
Ruby looked wonderingly at Myrtenaster. "That is the coolest sword ever! You gotta let me look at it! I've never seen a Dust canister like that!"
Weiss passed it over and watched Ruby lovingly dance her fingers over it, peeking into each and every bit of the slender rapier. It was really pretty funny, how into it she was. Weiss actually smiled a bit as they walked back to the car while Ruby chattered excitedly about the sword. They had gotten a real lead onto the Grimm, and things were looking up.
The moment was ruined when Ruby's stomach growled. "Oops." She said. "I think we forgot food. And it's like after twelve."
"What are you in the mood for? I'll be happy to take you anywhere, to celebrate." Weiss said without thinking. Then she realized what she was saying. She had just basically offered Ruby a date, completely reflexively, without even thinking. And it wasn't like that was a habit of Weiss's. Normally she would have taken Ruby out to eat if the other girl asked, but she would definitely not have just gone and offered. Especially not phrasing it like that.
"Know any good Chinese food?" Ruby asked.
"There's a place near my house that's pretty good." Weiss mumbled.
"It's a date!" Ruby cheered.
Weiss clenched a fist involuntarily. Another poor choice of words. She just hoped that Ruby, unlike herself, didn't mean anything by it. Because otherwise... Weiss would be in a whole different kind of trouble.
A/N: Confession time. I had originally planned a fight in the ship, but then I realized there had been no mention of Myrtenaster in the story. O that Ruby had Crescent Rose. So, there was running away instead. For all you little shounen fans out there, don't worry, I'll put another one in next chappie. Sowwy! Derp.
