Hey guys, Rosewick here with another chapter! ^_~

I had fun writing this one, as I think interactions between Roman and Ruby would be ADORABLE!

My best friend helped me come up with a few ideas, and she agreed to be my beta reader, so I can't take full credit for this anymore. Her account name is Spencke! Thanks sweet cheeks ^_~!

Alrighty, here's that chapter you've all been waiting for, featuring... ROMAN TORCHWICK! *internally fangirls* (I'd externally fangirl, but I'm kinda in class atm... Lol)

Trigger Warnings: Foul Language (Kids, please don't repeat these words at home... Wait... KIDS?! NO KIDS! THIS IS RATED M! t(T_T t) STAY OUT!)

Chapter 4 – Weakness

Roman took a cigar from the inside pocket of his jacket. He put it between his lips and lit it, continuing the long maze-like walk through town to one of his apartments. He hated having to move from place to place all the time, always keeping to the shadows in the alleyways. He couldn't afford to be caught out in the middle of the street. If it wasn't for Cinder, he could probably manage to get by with a disguise, but that was impossible with all the high profile jobs she's been sending him on.

The oak-vanilla flavor brought him comfort as he strolled down the street, turning one last corner to use the back entrance to his apartment. He froze. Is this a joke? There's no way... Roman took a small, hesitant step forward, then another after that. The cigar fell from his mouth as his eyes widened. You've gotta be fucking kidding me! Sure enough, there was a person sitting on the ground next to the door of his apartment. That person was none other than Red.

She wasn't wearing her signature red cloak and hood, nor was she wearing her usual black and red gothic Lolita dress. Instead, she donned a pretty red dress with no sleeves and black lace. She still wore black leggings, however they were less opaque than her usual ones, and her clunky boots were replaced with black velvet pumps. Upon a closer look, Roman realized that her abnormally sized scythe wasn't present. Joy bubbled up to replace Roman's anger as he realized he could probably end Red right here and now. A sinister grin spread across his face as he slowly started raising his cane, taking another step forward. That grin quickly vanished as his foot hit a stray can, sending it clanking away. Shit!

Red jumped up and reached for her weapon before noticing it wasn't there. A low chuckle echoed off the brick walls of the alley as Roman took aim upon the girl. He was about to pull the trigger when his entire body froze. There was something shining on Red's face. A moment longer, he saw that they were tear drops. Crying. Red was crying. Roman slowly lowered his cane and started towards Ruby, who took a hesitant step away.

"S-stay back!" When he ignored her and continued his approach, Ruby readied her fists, "I-I'm warning you!"

Roman reached into his coat pocket as Ruby closed her eyes, waiting for whatever came next. When nothing happened she slowly opened her eyes. Roman was standing in front of her with a handkerchief held out, looking to the side and away from Ruby. Ruby was confused as she looked up at the criminal before her.

"Damnit Red," When she didn't take the hankie, he gently grabbed her face and started wiping the tears away, "I can't fight a girl who's crying."

Tears started flowing down her face again as Roman said that, and he silently cursed.

"C'mon, Red. I just dried up your face and you're crying again."

The girl slowly lowered herself to her knees, burying her face in her hands. She was angry at herself for showing weakness in front of her enemy, but she couldn't help it. Roman rolled his eyes and huffed, crouching down to be on the same level as the girl. He reached into his coat and pulled out another cigar, holding it out to Ruby.

"Look, I wouldn't normally do this, but here, take this."

Ruby looked up from her hands and slightly shook her head when she saw the cigar. "I… I don't smoke…" Her voice was cracked and shaking, barely a whisper.

"Oh please, cigars and cigarettes are completely different. You don't actually inhale these." Upon seeing the confusion on her face, Roman sighed. "Didn't you take classes on this stuff? You're supposed to inhale the smoke from cigarettes, and that's what gives you the high. You're only supposed to taste the cigar, and enjoy the flavour. If you try to inhale the smoke from a cigar, one: it's really hard to do and two: it'll make you sick to your stomach." Why am I explaining this to a child?

"I… I still don't want it…" Ruby continued to stare at the ground as Roman put the cigar into his own mouth and lit it. He moved to the wall and sat down leaning against it. When Ruby looked over, he pat the ground next to him. She silently moved to sit next to him and curled up, hugging her knees.

Oh what the hell Roman. She's a huntress for dust's sake. Why are you all of a sudden so weak? When he looked over, he saw that Ruby was trembling slightly, a few tears somehow still finding their way out of her eyes and down her cheeks. He removed the cigar from between his lips and looked up at the night sky between the buildings. The broken and shattered moon shone brightly above, a few stray clouds floating past, nearly blending into the night.

"Alright Red, what seems to be the problem?"

"Huh?" She looked over at Roman, who was staring up at the sky, admiring the silver moon.

"Why all the tears? Did you get in a fight with kitty cat?"

"Her name is Blake." Ruby snapped. "And no… I… I didn't get into a fight with her." She looked up at the sky as well, her silver eyes reflecting the same colour back at the moon.

"Well, then why are you out here crying? Without a weapon, no less. Don't you know it's dangerous out here? Someone could have easily targeted you."

"Someone like you?"

Roman looked back at Ruby, who was gazing at him with curiosity in her eyes. It was the first time Roman had seen her face up close. She wasn't beautiful, no. She was adorable. She had a sort of childish look to her face, making Roman wonder just how young she really was, and if she was that young, why would she be training to become a warrior? He wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, but her eyes seemed to shine a bright silver. They're probably just reflecting the moon.

"Yeah, sure kiddo. Someone like me."

"Speaking of which, why didn't you attack me? We're enemies after all…" Her gaze returned to the dark ground beneath them.

"Because," He took another puff of his cigar, "You were crying. I can't attack a girl who's crying. It just isn't right."

"But you're evil… I don't understand."

"Hey, I might be a criminal, but that doesn't mean I'm evil. Believe it or not, I still have a code I try to abide by. And one of them is that I can't attack a girl who is helpless and bawling her eyes out."

"I-I'm not helpless! A-and I wasn't crying that hard! It was… It was just allergies!" Ruby's cheeks held a slight blush, which made her look even cuter.

"Well, you seem pretty helpless without that oversized gardening tool of yours, which I'd assume you'd never leave without unless you wanted a quick getaway." He glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye, taking notice of how she ever so slightly shrank back. "Which leads me to wonder what exactly it was that you were running from in the first place."

"I-it… It was just a small fight… I swear…" Ruby's voice cracked and Roman once more looked over at the young huntress. The clouds that had concealed the moon suddenly passed, revealing the bright silver light once more and illuminating Ruby's face. Roman's eyes widened ever so slightly as he saw the purple bruise that was forming over the girl's right eye. Anger suddenly boiled up inside of him, and it only grew larger as he realized he was upset over someone hurting this pest. Red's always been strong and full of spirit. What the dust is she so scared of now?

"Hey Red…" She glanced up at him through her deep crimson locks, "Who did this?" His hand slowly came up to caress her face, his thumb ever so softly brushing against her eye.

She winced slightly, "It was… It was my boyfriend."

Anger once again coursed through Roman's body. How can a man treat his girl like that? "And you're still with him? C'mon, Red, you're better than that."

"I tried to break things off tonight, but that only made things worse. He said he's going to hurt my friends!"

"Hurt your friends? Red, for dust's sake, he hurt you!"

"I don't care about me!" Ruby jumped to her feet, startling Roman. "I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me! He can beat me up all he wants, but I don't want him to bring any more harm to my friends!"

"Geez, Red…" Ever the hero with this one, eh Roman? "At some point you'll have to protect yourself too. I mean, look at you. Banged up in an alleyway crying your eyes out. Seriously, if you were worried about your friends, why did you run?"

"What do you mean?"

Roman slowly stood up, taking another puff of his cigar. "I mean, if you aren't so concerned for yourself, then why'd you run? Why are you hiding? You ran away because he hurt you." Ruby began to sob again, not really sure what else to do. Geez. Kids are so troublesome… The criminal stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Ruby, holding her in a tight embrace as she cried. She only cried harder at the affection, her hands and face buried in the man's chest. He sighed, staring at the moonlit sky above as he held the girl. Geez, Roman. This isn't like you at all. When did you get so soft?

After what seemed like forever, the girl quieted down. Her sobbing wasn't as extreme as before, and she stood there numbly in Roman's arms. He looked down at her and saw the exhaustion written all over her face.

"You good now?"

Ruby nodded and wiped away the last of her tears, wincing as pain shot through her eye. She had forgotten all about the bruise there. "Yeah… I think so."

Roman rolled his eyes. "You think so? Geez, Red…" He bent down and picked the girl up, tossing her over his shoulder.

"Eek!" She blushed heavily as the criminal carried her over to the door on the side of the building, "What are you doing?! Put me down!" She tried to wriggle free, but Roman only tightened his grip around her waist.

"Calm down, would you? We need to take care of that shiner you've got." He opened the door and started walking up the set of stairs inside, all the way to the top floor. Red was a lot lighter than he thought she'd be. Then again, she didn't have that solid metal death machine on her person either. How does she even carry that thing around anyway? After reaching the top of the stairs, he made his way down the hall to the suite on the end. He opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. "Welcome to my cozy little castle! One of them anyway." He made his way over to a couch in the middle of the room and sat Ruby down onto it as he headed around the corner into the kitchen.

The apartment was very neat and tidy, the walls being black with a white trim. His furniture was very stylish and modern and it must have costed a fortune. Ruby didn't even want to think about where he got the money from to afford any of this. She was just happy to be indoors, and on a comfy couch no less. A moment later Roman waltzed back into the room with an icepack in his hands. He had lost his signature coat and hat, and was instead wearing his black dress pants and shoes with a long sleeved black shirt.

"Here, put this on your face." He tossed the icepack at the huntress who barely caught it.

"Why?" She held it in her hands and looked up at the criminal.

"Uhh… So that your face feels better? Geez, don't ask stupid questions, Red." The snark in his voice was heavy as he rolled his eyes at the girl.

"No, I mean, why are you helping me? I thought we were enemies." She gently pressed the pack against her eye.

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I did nearly kill you."

"But why didn't you?"

"That, little Red, is for me to know, and you to stop questioning." He tilted his head slightly as his lone green eye watched her. "Speaking of questions, why are you all dressed up? I never took you as the fancy-pantsy-dancey kinda girl."

"I-I'm not that kinda girl at all!" She stammered. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she scowled at him. "I-it's just that- well- we uhh- we had a dance tonight!"

"We?"

"My friends and I."

"Wow you have friends? I never took you for the partying type."

"I'm not! And of course I have friends, I'm not like you!"

"You wound me Red! It might be surprising, but I too have friends you know."

"Your mom doesn't count!"

"Oh please," Roman rolled his eyes, "So why'd you go out to this dance, little Red? Especially since you seem so adamant about not wanting to."

"Well, the dance only happens once a year, and my friends would have been angry if I didn't go."

"Once a year?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "My school was hosting a ball tonight for the Vytal Festival."

"Oh please, you want me to believe that some kiddy school hosted a ball? What'd you do, sneak into the older school? That's pretty badass."

"I didn't sneak in! I go to the older school!"

Roman stared at the girl for a moment, his face blank. He then burst out into laughter, bending over and hugging himself from laughing so hard. Ruby's face got redder with both anger and embarrassment. After a few moments Roman finally stood back up, wiping a stray tear from his eye.

"You? You going to a combat school for hunters? I didn't think they accepted kids there!"

"I-I'm fifteen you bully! And I'm not a kid, I'm grown up! I drink milk!" The fact that she said that with a serious face only made Roman have another fit of laughter. Ruby scrunched up her face in anger.

"Seriously, Red, are you trying to kill me?"

"I'm serious! I was accepted into Beacon two years early! It's cause I beat you and your group of baddies up!"

"Is that so?" Roman made his way over to the couch and plopped down next to Ruby. "I don't see why. You don't look that special to me. What do they see in you anyway?"

"For your information, they see a lot in me! They even made me leader of a team!"

"Geez, you're not very modest at all. And leader? Are you leader of the playtime crew or what?"

"I'm leader of my team of hunters!"

"Hunters in training." He corrected. "You aren't hunters yet."

"Well, soon we will be. And when we are, we're going to take you down, Torchwick!" A smirk found its way onto the girls face as she stared over at Roman, her eyes full of determination. Looking at her face, Roman realized that her eyes really were silver. Strange. I've never seen that before. They mesmerized him, causing him to stare in awe at her gleaming irises. They're beautiful…

His lack of response and fixed stare at her face made the girl feel a little uneasy. "I-is there something on my face? Is it the bruise? How bad is it?" She quickly dropped the ice pack and felt around her face for anything unusual.

"Your eyes…" She stopped and looked back up at him, "They're beautiful."

Ruby's jaw dropped as her cheeks turned redder than her dress. At this rate, she'd melt the ice pack with the heat of her face. "Wh-wh-wha-what are you t-t-talking a-about?!" Her heart was racing in her chest as Roman leaned closer to get a better look at them.

"I've never seen anyone with silver eyes before."

"I-it's r-r-really rare… M-my mom had them t-too…" She averted her gaze as Roman continued to gaze at her brilliant shimmering eyes.

"Why would anyone want to harm such a beautiful face? It makes me sick to know that a man would do this to you." He furrowed his brow, noticing how red Red's cheeks had become, and smirked ever so slightly. Maybe she's modest after all.

"I-I don't kn-know… Don't ask such st-stupid questions." She crossed her arms over her chest, still averting her eyes.

"Tell me, Red, what was his name?"

"Wh-why should I tell you?"

"Can a man not be curious?" She glared at him for a moment before looking away once more.

"M-Mercury… His name is Mercury."

The smirk on Roman's face disappeared instantly as his eyes became dark and cold. Mercury. He knew someone by that name. An image of Mercury in a warehouse along with Emerald and Cinder popped into his head, and it took everything in him to not throw something in rage. That son of a BITCH! Why was Roman so upset over this? He shouldn't care about Red, much less Mercury. The lack of response made Ruby look up, and Roman quickly changed his expression to a more subtle one.

"Mercury, huh? Yeah, that name sounds like it'd belong to a douche." He rolled his eyes, trying to play off his hatred towards the little smart-ass.

A small smile crept onto Ruby's face. "Oh really? So you can tell personalities by names, huh?"

"But of course! That's my specialty, Red!" He leaned back into the couch and winked at her, a grin evident on his features. "Didn't you know that people match their names?"

"Yeah right!"

"For example, you're Red, and you wear red!"

"My name isn't Red!"

"Too bad, it is now!"

"Heeeeyyyy! Meanie! My name's Ruby! Ruby Rose!" The small scowl on her face only made the girl more adorable as she tried to look angry.

"Ruby, huh?" He put his hand to his chin and looked up at the ceiling, mocking a pondering face. "Nope. Doesn't suit you one bit. You're still Red."

"Uuggghhhh!" She crossed her arms and leaned back into the couch, "What if I called you Orange?"

"Oh c'mon, Red. Does Orange sound like a name for a bad-ass criminal such as moi?" He made a face and posed as if acting like a person of royalty.

"Heh, it does now!" She laughed, and the sound of it rang through Roman's ears. She has such a cute laugh… He wanted to hear more of it, and he wanted to always see her smile. She had the cutest little smile on her face, making everything about her even more adorable.

"Hey! That's not very fair, Red! You can't steal my stuff!"

"Whatever you say, Orange." They both laughed again, forgetting all about the horrible things that had transpired that night. After a while, Ruby yawned rather loudly, causing Roman to smile.

"Is it past your bedtime?"

"What! I don't have a bedtime! I can go to sleep whe-*Yawn*-whenever I want…" She rubbed her eyes, her aura already working on healing her bruise. Red was obviously exhausted, but was too stubborn to admit it. Roman found that amusing, then checked his watch to see what time it was.

12:00

Midnight.

She should probably be getting back to her school now… Roman thought about sending her off before another image of Mercury flashed in his mind. That stupid smirk on his stupid face. He couldn't stand Mercury. Roman looked towards Red, who was starting to nod off to sleep. I can't send her back. Who knows what Mercury will do? Will he be waiting for her? How can I make sure she's safe? The memory of Ruby standing in the alley crying while his arms were wrapped around her came back up in his head. He felt angry and annoyed, but most of all, he felt worried. Since when did he worry? He didn't care about anyone, that got you nowhere in life. So why was he suddenly panicking at the thought of someone hurting Red? What the hell, Roman. This isn't like you! Don't let this stupid girl get to your head. He instantly regretting thinking negatively about her. Everything about her was perfect. Wait, what? Perfect? Roman looked once more at the small girl curled up on his couch. He had made up his mind.

Roman stood up and picked up the girl bridal style, causing her to freak out. "Alrighty, Red! Up you go!"

"Wait! Wh-what are you doing?!" She didn't fight back, instead her cheeks flaring a bright red.

"I'm taking you to bed silly."

He thought it was impossible, but her face got even redder, "Wh-wh-wha-wha-what d-d-do you m-mean?!"

"I mean exactly what I said. I'm taking you to bed." He looked down and winked at her, finding it funny that she was taking this the wrong way. He made his way down the small hallway and opened a door to the right. Inside was a room with deep crimson walls and black furniture. The bed was a king sized one with big luxurious linens and pillows. There was a nightstand on either side of the bed, one supporting a square lamp. On the opposite side of the room from the bed was a dresser, made of the same black wood as the rest of the bedroom set, and a mirror that stretched up to the ceiling. There was a closet on the left side of the room, and a small door that lead to what Ruby assumed was a bathroom on the other.

Roman carried Ruby over to the bed and gently lay her on it. Afterwards he went to the dresser and started roaming through the drawers, pulling out shirts of various sizes. He finally settled on a large black t-shirt that was extra-long.

"Here, try this on." He threw the t-shirt at the girl and it smacked her in the face.

"Mmph!" The impact made her flop backwards onto the bed. She sat up and looked at the shirt, then looking up at Roman with a face as red as her dress.

"What are you waiting for, put it on." He raised an eyebrow at the huntress, not really sure what her problem was. "Do you not like it?"

"I-I can't ch-change while you're w-watching!" Roman could almost see the steam coming from her face as she scowled at him.

"Why not?" He shrugged, finding the whole situation amusing.

"B-because you're a b-boy and I-I'm a girl!"

"Oh please, Red. It's not like you have to get nude. Unless you're not wearing undergarments?" Roman's cheeks flared up a little as his imagination ran wild.

"P-pervert! Get out!"

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving." He held his hands up in surrender as he exit the room.

Ruby got up and locked the door before slipping off her dress and replacing it with the shirt. She removed her pumps and slipped off her leggings, folding everything neatly and placing it on top of the dresser. Although it was a long shirt, it still only came down to her mid-thigh. She slowly walked over and unlocked the door.

"O-okay, you can come in now…"

Roman peeked his head into the doorway. "Ah, damnit, the shirt isn't short enough." He looked at Ruby, making a slightly disappointed face.

"Wh-wh-what?! You said this was the longest shirt!" Ruby grabbed the bottom of the shirt and held it down, trying desperately to cover up as much of her legs as she could. A small laugh echoed through the room as Roman watched her.

"I'm just kidding, geez Red. You really are modest after all, huh?"

"Shut up! Don't tease me!"

"Okay, okay, sorry. Is there anything else that you need?"

"Uh… No. I think I'm okay." She looked around the room, thinking. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"Right next to you." Roman winked at the girl as her face turned as bright as strawberries.

"I-I- But- Y-you- You c-can't!"

"Only joking, Red." He laughed once more. "There's bottled water in the fridge if you get thirsty, and the bathroom is over there. Get some rest, kiddo." Roman turned to walk out of the door before feeling a small tug on his sleeve. When he looked back, Ruby was looking at the floor, her hair concealing her face.

"U-um… Th-thank you, Torchwick." She looked up at him with those big silver eyes and his heart melted.

"Sure thing, Red." He turned and left the room, slowly shutting the door behind him. Ruby was once again alone.

She turned off the lights and slowly wandered over to the bed. Roman Torchwick. She was in the bed of Roman Torchwick, her enemy. But was he really her enemy? My boyfriend hurt me, but my enemy helped me… Ruby was beyond confused, but she was too tired to ponder over it. She'd wait until morning, when she got her rest, to really think things over. For now, she needed sleep so she could let her aura heal her eye. She slowly closed her eyes as her mind drifted into sleep.

oOoOoOo

After Roman shut the door, he stood there for a moment. What are you doing, Roman? You're keeping a small girl, a huntress for crying out loud, in your apartment. And she's in your room sleeping! Roman was confused. Why did Red make him feel this way? He shouldn't care about her, or be concerned for her. But he was. Those big, beautiful silver eyes. Her round little face framed by her deep red locks. A smile that could warm you even more than that blonde's semblance. How had he not noticed her before? He must have been either blind, or stupid.

C'mon fella. Roman plopped down on the couch and put one arm over his face. She's not your type. Plus she's six years younger than you! He knew that age played a big role, but people with large age gaps dated all the time. Love is love, and whether it be a boy, girl, older, or younger, if you loved each other, none of that mattered. But she's a huntress, and you're a criminal. Roman sighed. He knew what she was, and he knew where he stood compared to her. Yes, his line of work wasn't exactly the most noble, but in a way, he was being forced to do it. It's not like he has anything to gain by working with Cinder, it's just that he can't afford to lose, and everyone knows what happens when you disobey Cinder. Just look at Neo.

Neo. She lost her voice after she had disobeyed Cinder for the first time. Her punishment was so severe, Cinder causing her so much pain, that she literally screamed until she couldn't anymore. Of course, she can still speak, it's just rather painful for her to do so. Roman couldn't stand it. Cinder knew that Neo was a weak spot for him, and she used that to her advantage. He couldn't back out. If he did, Neo would pay the price for it. He didn't want to hurt his baby sister anymore. But now… Now he has a new weakness. One that he never thought possible until tonight. Red.

Isn't Ruby just the cutest little munchkin? ^U^!

Also, hot damn, I'm having to contain myself from writing a full on sexy-ass Roman. Maybe I'll do that later on in the story... *wink wink*

Response time! YAAAAAY!

Knight7572: It was always highly unlikely that Rosewick would become canon. It's a crack ship, and a trash ship. Doesn't mean we can't love it though ^_~!

PattyPOP: OMG, that's great xD! I was basically bouncing up and down in my seat in class when I brought Roman in. Everyone just kinda gave me that one "wtf" face.

MidnightRoyalty: Ruby's such a cutey! And yes, she does have quite the strong spirit. Also, careful what you say :P I thought about having something like that, but I feel so weird writing it D: I'm okay reading it, but writing it's rather difficult. I also like to research how people feel in certain situations so that I can relate that to my story and how the characters feel. I'm pretty sure my dad would flip out if I started researching about that though O3o (P.S. I love PattyPOP's reactions too! They're the best xD!)

Nox Dracul: Yeah Mercury, you ass. Stahp it. And yeah, Torchwick didn't see this one coming at all. Then again, neither did Ruby ^_~! Also, I'm glad you enjoyed the video :P I was laughing the entire time I was making it!

If you guys haven't already checked it out, my YouTube channel, Rosewick, has a few funny videos on it, as well as some AMV's. I'm working on more (especially Rosewick... Heh) along with this story that I'll post in the future.

Thanks for reading my story, and I hope you've enjoyed it so far (not sure why you'd still read it if you didn't, but whatever floats your boat)! I'll probably post a new chapter every Friday, but no guarantees!

Rosewick out! ^_~