Heya! Jae here, chiming in! Seriously, though, sorry for being so late putting this up, I've been so busy with work. Big thanks to all of you who have stayed tuned to read this far! And let me say, I certainly wouldn't have been able to stay motivated without those of you who left a comment and all that jazz. Really, it's huge seeing that. Feel free to leave a few words of your thoughts or even suggestions if you feel inclined to. Who knows, maybe it'll get in here.

Shout out to Sweetest Writer for the story picture, and The Crescent Rose for helping behind the scenes!

When Ruby was caught by her hood, she was like a turtle on its back. That must have been the one downside of having a hood. After Roman came, the brute holding her carried her back, up until the elevator. It wasn't anything as graceful as Roman carrying her like - no, she promised herself she'd forget that. She couldn't be remembering things like that when she goes after criminals. She could hardly breathe the whole way, mainly due to the fact that she was held off the ground entirely from the hood worn around her neck. It felt as though she was going to pass out until he let her down. From there, she was led back to that room at the end of the hall she was kept in. The White Fang goon holding a loaded gun behind her all the way didn't exactly put her at ease, but luckily he stayed outside when the two of them had gone in.

If only she could be alone, though. That might give her some time to cool down, maybe prepare herself for facing him. Roman sat down in the chair as soon as he stepped in. Ruby was left with only the option of taking a seat on the not-so-comfortable cot in the room. It let out a squeak as she jumped onto it. She sat there with her hands in her lap, expecting to hear of the repercussions. At first, she closed her eyes, almost bracing for harsh and sarcastic words from the man sitting before her, but when they didn't come, she stared down into her lap. A minute passed and still nothing. She impatiently let her eyes wander about the room, like a child told to sit and wait for too long.

She saw Roman, his chin resting on his two hands which are clasped together. It was as though his icy gaze pierced her heart and caused her to look away. She looked elsewhere: towards the desk, the ceiling, to Roman, back to the ceiling, down at her lap, Roman, the door, the walls, more walls, Roman. Her view was always drawn back to him, then quickly away just before making eye contact. She was screaming in her mind 'Gah! Why won't he say anything?" She steeled herself to say the first words.

"U-uh, what are you going to do?" she finally asked, voice trembling some.

"About what?" came a swift response.

"You know… trying to run… and all that…." it was getting hard to get more words out with his cold gaze not letting up.

"Oh, right. Well, I was thinking I would stare at you gravely until you've thought about what you've done," he shut his eyes as though he were searching his memory while he answered, then stared back at Ruby, "Is it working?"

"A bit too much," she felt as though she would break from all of the pressure.

"Look, all I want to say is that you're making things difficult for me," he came out sounding sincere, almost.

"Why would I want to make things easy for you? You're the bad guy!" she argued.

"N- …. Wh- …. I believe it would be in your best interest to," he stuttered as though he was about to say something else, but stopped himself.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure you like not being like Neo's attempts at cooking," he said.

"Is that a threat?" she asked, raising her voice, "Are you gonna get rid of me if I don't do as I'm told!?"

Ruby was both angry and afraid, as could be heard in her trembling voice. It seemed as though her outburst hadn't caused any reaction from Roman, until he slowly blinked and moved his position to rest his elbows on his knees. His facial expression changed minutely to show a pained look. He looked away and sighed.

"Not me, Red…. Not me."

"You're not making any sense," Ruby said, confused.

"I know. But there's only so much I can tell you," he admitted.

"Then why tell me anything?" she asked, "Not that I mind. I mean, I don't like being kept in the dark."

"Because I want to. Because I'm not the bad guy! Because you should…" he trailed off, "Because you need to know."

"You lost me. What?"

"Ugh, you're like a toddler questioning everything," he complained.

"But I don't get it. You're the infamous criminal Roman Torchwick! You headed dust robberies and other crimes all over!" she said.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," he joked.

"See! You're even taking credit for it," she pointed out.

"Right. Sorry. Force of habit," he apologized. As to why he did, Ruby had no idea.

"How can you not be the bad guy?" she asked.

"Red…. Ruby," he called her by her name, "All I am is an actor. A great one at that, too. Under certain circumstances, I've had to take the face of the villain….. And now that's all I'm seen as."

Ruby was genuinely confused at this point. For too long now, she'd seen how bad of a guy Roman was. She's even faced off against him, hero against bad guy. Now, being told all of that isn't true, rather, it's all an elaborate act… What was she supposed to believe? Here he is having a heart to heart with her while she's technically his hostage. Roman seems really out of character, apologizing and even calling her by her name, or at least she thought. Ruby lay back on the bed and rested her head on her arms. She thought for a moment. Can she really see him as someone other than a bad person?

"Do you remember that night at the dust shop?" Ruby asked all of a sudden.

"Dust shop? Talk about random," he said.

"Just answer the question," Ruby told him.

"Fine. Uh… which one? I get around, I see a lot of shops. Then again, it is hard to find one open late," he pondered aloud.

"It's… uhm… the one owned by the old guy, with a big window, and…. Sells dust…" she couldn't remember the shop to well herself.

"I'm messing with you," he admitted. He earned himself a pout from Ruby.

"Ugh. Well about that time when I stopped you guys and kicked your butt-" she started to describe.

"If memory serves, you beat on a bunch of all-bark-no-bite pansies that a guy loaned me and then needed to be saved by a huntress. Where are you going with this?" he asked after cutting her off.

"Were you 'acting' then too?" she asked. Ruby's sour attitude towards him all started from that one instance. But if it's as he says, if that wasn't really his genuinely being evil…. Just maybe - MAYBE she could trust him and maybe rely on him. She prepared herself to hear him laugh her off and tell her that the whole time he's been messing with her and is really a bad person. In her heart, though, she hoped he would say yes.

"Of course I was. What would make that time any different from the rest?" Roman answered.

"But you fired at me! Weren't you trying to hit me?"

"I was," he answered without a second thought.

"Then I could have gotten hurt! If I hadn't moved and got hit with one-" she began to rant until Roman chimed in.

"They're like firecrackers. In fact, that's literally what they are, mixed with a tad of dust for effect. You'd be fine anyways. I told you: I'm a great actor," he explained, "Although my 'partner' on the other hand…. Well it was good that that huntress came along."

"Who was she?" Ruby asked, then his scroll alerted him, "Who's that?"

Roman pulled out his scroll and held it up in front of his face. He was reading something off of it, but Ruby couldn't get a good look at it. His eyes narrowed as he read and he put on a sour expression unintentionally. He stood up suddenly, and Ruby sat up in turn.

"To answer both your questions, well, I guess you could say she's like a boss. And now I gotta go over and have a little 'chat' about a certain scythe-wielding escapist causing trouble," he still was upset about her actions.

"Eheh…. Sorry?" she tried to smile and make everything alright, but Roman did not look amused as he stood there.

"Sorry won't cut it right now. I'm gonna be honest, Red, and I don't do that very often. Something bad's gonna happen. I can't exactly lend a hand much more. But if you still don't believe anything I've said, you will soon," he suddenly sounded very sincere, and it took Ruby by surprise. He headed for the door.

"Where's that other girl that was here?" Ruby hadn't seen her for a while.

"She's out doing a guy a solid. It'll only take a day or so," he explained.

"Well, what am I gonna do while you're gone?" she asked. Boredom was her worst enemy.

"Take a nap, I don't care," he brushed her off.

"But I'm not tired!" she complained.

"Then why don't you fiddle around on your scroll or something," he told her. She almost forgot she had it on her after all of that commotion.

"You knew?" she asked sheepishly.

"Now I do," he answered with a laugh. And with that he left.

Roman dreaded what would happen next. He walked along the length of the hall with a heavy heart. Word of course had gotten to Cinder about the girl's rash behaviour and had decided to do something about her. He wanted to help Ruby, but what could he do? He asked himself that with every stride further towards the designated meeting room. When he finally got there, he found Cinder already waiting there. She held that aura of elegance that she always had about her.

"Roman Torchwick," she started, "How are you liking our esteemed guest?"

"I don't remember signing up to be a babysitter," he said, annoyed.

"I would say it'd be more along the lines of raising cattle to go to the slaughterhouse," she described it.

"That's a grim way of putting it,"

"Yes, well you've done your part. We needed her alive and well," she said.

"Hold on, needed? As in we no longer do?" he asked, concerned.

"That's why I called you down here. I propose one final test. If she shows no signs by tomorrow, then I see no reason to continue keeping her here while she'll continue trying to run away. We can't keep her here forever, you know," Cinder told him.

"Tomorrow? Cinder, you tried just the other day, aren't you being a bit impatient? Kids don't grow overnight," he wanted to avoid having that happen to Ruby again.

"If I don't get results soon, then I'll move on to… Plan B if you will," Cinder said, "I've already thought out what we are to do. I'll get the same results regardless of how. It all depends on the girl now."

She got into the specifics of her plan, but Roman stopped listening. Knowing her, she was going to make it work by any means necessary. If only she would listen to him, but Cinder doesn't care whether Ruby lives or not. She finished her rant and shooed him off. He asked himself that question again: what could he do? It seemed as though there was nothing to be done. Those words Cinder said stuck with him. It all depends on the girl now.