"Bleh! I don't think I could be more bored." Ruby whined as she stared up at the ceiling from her bed. A book dangled precariously in her hand off the edge of the cot. She grumbled to herself as she tried to figure out a way to entertain herself, having read over book in her hand three times in a row already.

I wish Rexxie wasn't busy, seems like something's got everyone more busy than usual and I've barely seen Roman. I wonder what's going on? Is this them preparing for a job? What will I be doing? Roman told me he wanted me to prove myself, but if he's not going to give me a chance then how-

Her thoughts were cut off by a sudden and loud banging against her door. She bolted up from her bed, letting the book fall to the floor as she got up. The banging from the other side of the door continued, it didn't sound like someone knocking, it sounded like they were hitting the door with something.

"H- hold on! I'm coming! Just a sec!" She jumped out of bed, nearly falling flat on her face as the blanket ensnared her foot. As the banging kept going she desperate shook her leg to extricate herself from it, nearly falling again in the process.

Now freed, she ran to the door, trying to look a lot less embarrassed than she actually was, the humiliation of nearly being bested by a blanket was immense! She took a steadying breath, before opening the door.

"Hello Red." Roman Torchwick stood at the door, his cane in hand, staring down at her with a serious look on his face that made Ruby nervous.

"You're back!" She smiled, feeling hope rising within her. "Everyone's pretty busy so I've been kinda stuck in here since I wasn't given anything to do and I-"

"Red…" Roman silenced her nervous babbling. His eyebrows were raised in annoyance. Ruby blushed slightly and tilted her head down.

"Y-yes?" She stammered, forcing her gaze up to meet his.

"Shut up and follow me." His voice was cold and flat with a tinge of aggravation. Ruby's smile faded completely as she stood silently for a long moment, a sense of worry building in her chest. Still, she gave him a tiny nod and followed him out of her room, shutting the door behind her.

Ruby walked closely behind Roman who kept a pretty slow pace as they descended the stairs. She couldn't help but allow her mind to wander and that only made her fear worse. As they stepped out into the big warehouse room, she saw many unfamiliar faces… or rather, unfamiliar masks. She wondered silently what was going on, there was a lot of manpower in that room.

She felt more nervous than usual as their eyes fell on her. She quickened her pace, drawing closer to Roman, keeping pace with him at his side so she'd be hidden from view. She couldn't be sure if he noticed or not, but he didn't her to move or changed his pace. They came to as stop at the threshold of a long hallway with no doors on either side, only another staircase at the end of it.

"Almost there Red." Again, without another word or even a glance at her, he continued on. Ruby followed behind him, her fear gone and now replaced simply with confusion, she had no idea what was going on or why Roman was so serious. Still, she continued to follow him.

They walked up the stairs only to be spat out into another long hallway going to the opposite direction, with another set of stairs leading up. However, she noticed a single door on one side of the hallway. She looked at it curiously before being jerked to attention as Roman spoke.

"That's my room, and there's a reason I chose that one all the way up here and out of the way, and it's right up those steps. Come on."

Ruby watched him go down the hall, bypassing the door he said led to his room. A warm smile formed from her lips, his tone wasn't as cold anymore, there was a spark of warmth to it and it made her feel more at ease. After lingering a moment longer at the threshold, she followed Roman up the stairs ending in a flat metal door on just above the final step.

He stood with his back against the wall, arm outstretched to the doorknob beside him as he smiled expectantly at Ruby. She stood just two steps below him with a perplexed look on her face, but knowing that'd she'd find out soon enough judging by how eager he looked to show her.

"Well little Red, here you go." His grin widened as he turned to knob and pushed the door open, a blinding stream of light shined in, the sudden brightness nearly making her fall back down the steps but then… she felt something, a rush of fresh air. After giving her eyes a moment to adjust, blinking them rapidly to ease the strain, she pressed forward, her hand resting against her forehead to further protect her sensitive eyes.

"Wow…" It was the only word she could think of as she stepped out the door. A warm, gentle wind swirled around her, caressing her hair and cooling her skin as sunlight bathed her skin from above. She took in a long, deep breath, imbibing her first time truly experiencing what it meant to be outside. She giggled slightly as the thought to herself. 'That might be the biggest upside to having no memory, I get the experience all the best things as though it were are my first time experiencing them!'

"This is the roof of our temporary headquarters, aside from me, only Neo knows this place has roof access… well, until now." Roman walked beside her, his hands in his pockets with his cane balancing between his arm and hip.

"It's beautiful up here!" Ruby was still awestruck as she took in more and more with her senses; the smell of the air, the subtle difference in each breeze, the white, fluffy clouds above her. As her eyes grew more accustomed to the light, she could make out the tallest buildings in the city in the distance.

"It's not very high up either… you could easily survive a jump from here."

"What!?" Ruby spun around, looking at him with shock and confusion.

"All I'm saying is, if you want to bail out, this is the time and place." He walked up the the edge of the roof, there was no barrier, just a straight drop. "I don't know if I buy your amnesia bit, but it doesn't really matter. You've been here for a while but you haven't seen much, you don't have any harmful information. If you want to bail, with no repercussions, now's the time."

Ruby's face was pale, her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. She stared at him, but he never turned away from the edge of the roof. she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and tears welling up in her eyes.

"How could you say that!" She shouted, her voice so filled with anger and pain that it surprised even her, but Roman didn't flinch.

"Because Red, this is it, we've got a job for you and you're going to have to break the law and if it comes to it, hurt people." He finally turned to face her, his face complex, but she could see a deep kind of anger in his eyes as he walked up to her, standing only feet away.

"Ruby, if you're working with the police, you're better off doing it now. Go, tell them what little you know, make something up, embellish, it doesn't matter. But if you bail in the middle of a job, if you give us up like that, it won't be a happy ending for you… I'll see to that."

His voice was dark and malicious but… also sad and hurt. Ruby blinked at him, her gaze locked into his deep green eyes, trying to decipher the intricate feelings they portrayed.

He's hurting… but is he hurting for himself or maybe… is he hurting for… Her expression was overcome with conviction as she took in a deep breath of the warm, fresh air.

"I'd come back… even if you made me leave, I don't want to be anywhere else, I don't want to be anyone else. I want to be here, I don't care what I have to do. Whatever life I had before, it's not me anymore, it's not. You don't have to believe me, I'll just prove it! Just tell me what I need to do!"

Roman's hard and cold countenance fell apart as he looked down at the girl who's silver eyes blazed with strength and certainty. His mouth hung open and his cane lost its balance, it's end hitting the ground. Ruby didn't yield, she burned her conviction into him with her gaze, she would make him understand!

"I won't fail, whatever you ask me to do I'll do it right and you'll have no choice but to believe me! So just tell me what you need me to do, tell me how I can prove myself! I want you to know... I can do this." Ruby was huffing as she shouted with anger and passion, never once breaking eye contact with Torchwick.

The shock ebbed from his face, replaced by a more neutral, inscrutable expression as he reached into his pocket for his cigar and lighter. He flicked his lighter and dipped the end of his cigar into the fire before snuffing it out. He took a long deep breath, turning his head out towards the city, looking wistfully out into the distance.

"Alright Red, I told you I'd give you a chance to prove you're with us, so here it is." He turned back towards her, his expression returned to his normal, suave and detached appearance. "We're robbing a Dust shop, it's going to be a big haul. Unfortunately, the police are on high alert and they're watching the place… but there's another one just down the street and the cops are there too."

"Okay, so where do I fit in?" Ruby asked, trying to think of how should could help with any of this.

"I'm getting to that." He said with a hint of mock irritation. "So, we can't go in while the place is being watched, way too much heat, but, if the alarm were to go off at a neighboring Dust shop, the police would swarm the place, thinking we fell for their trap. While they leave the other shop unguarded, see?"

"So, you want me to set off the alarm?" She already understood but Roman's nod confirmed it.

"You got it. You see, you stand the best chance of not getting caught, and even if you do, you could just tell the cops that you escaped from us and were just trying to get help." He gave a smug, self satisfied grin. Ruby couldn't help but smile a little, realizing he felt pretty proud of his plan and just wanted to brag to her.

"I won't get caught." She smiled confidently.

"That's what I like to hear!" He gave a toothy grin, bringing his cane up over his shoulder while taking another deep breath of smoke. "Well Red, it'll be showtime soon, we should get back." He strolled past her, putting his hand briefly on her shoulder as he walked by before reaching for the door.

"Actually… I think I'll stay up here just a little bit longer… if that's okay." She turned her head up to the sun, closing her eyes she soaked up the warmth of the light.

"Yeah, I'll come get you if you're not down soon. Later Red." The door creaked open and he stepped into the darkness of the building, the light of the sun making his orange hair appear ablaze.

"Torchwick wait!" Ruby blurted out. For a short lived moment, she had hoped that he hadn't heard her… but he stared at her, holding the door open as he waited with a curious but impatient look on his face.

"I- I um… I-" She gulped, wishing she could take it back. No, I'm this far now… I have to know! she shut her eyes for a moment, steeling herself before opening them and meeting his eyes with her own, unwavering.

"Torchwick… you're the reason I lost my memory… aren't you? I- I saw the bloodstain on the clothes I woke up in and I was your prisoner right? So I just figured… I mean-"

"Yes… I did it." He sighed, bringing his cane back to the floor. Ruby listened intently as Torchwick seemed to mull over what exactly to say.

"We fought when we first met, I knocked you out and kidnapped you. You were out cold for three days. I fully intended to ransom you, but apparently you lost your memories. I honestly thought about just killing you at that point." He couldn't seem to meet her eyes, instead he focused on his cigar between his fingers, watching the embers slowly consume it.

"I see…" Ruby looked down at the ground, not entire sure what she was feeling, but it wasn't a nice feeling, whatever it was.

"If it's any consolation Red, I think you're much more interesting now." He tapped his cigar with his thumb, letting loose a small cloud of ashes that danced as they became swept up in the breeze.

"Thank you… for being honest with me." Her tone was soft and cool though she smiled warmly at him, her big silver eyes sparkled with sadness and gratefulness at once.

"Yeah…" Was all Roman could say as he turned away from her, facing down the dark stairwell before stopping the closing door with his cane. "We leave in thirty minutes… get yourself ready, there's no going back after this."

Without another word, he let the door close behind him, leaving the young girl alone on the roof, staring at the door with a serious expression. She turned once more back to the city, and closed her eyes.

Okay Ruby… this is it. I'm moving on to my new life, the life where I belong.