Chapter 28

What One Will Do For Love

Ruby stared in horror at the sight in front of her. Just as Cobalt finished his outburst his body went limp as his eyes rolled back in his head. A few seconds later his unconscious body fell off of the chair and landed on the floor with a sickening thud. He then remained there unmoving, perfectly motionless. The silence was almost deafening as she slowly slid down the wall she was leaning against to the floor. After sitting on the floor for a few minutes she was able to calm her breathing enough that she could think properly. He called himself Torchwick. The Roman Torchwick. The person that she was in love with just referred himself as Torchwick. It had to be a trick. It just had to. He was delusional and drunk. Yeah that was it. He was just drunk. He did not know what he was saying.

Ruby shook her head wildly trying to get those thoughts from leaving her head. What she had to focus on right now was ensuring his safety. She crawled over to where he lay and put a finger against his neck. Ruby breathed a sigh of relief at his beating pulse and slow but regular breathing. He was not dead which was always a good thing. Ruby began brainstorming on what to do next. He was alive but knocked out cold. She could not just leave him there. She could not fetch help either because then she would have to answer why she was in a boy's room this early in the morning. Winging it she lifted him up and took him over towards his bed. He was heavier than he looked but so was her scythe so it was not a problem. Laying him on his bed she took the covers and placed them over him.

When she was done with all of that she sat down on the side of the bed and looked at him. He looked peaceful as if his episode had never happened. She removed her gaze as quickly as she could. The more she looked at his face the more it started to look like his. She did not want to believe him. She hoped with all her heart that this was some trick or misunderstanding. She wanted him to wake up right now, grab her and hold her in his arms, and say that it was all an elaborate joke. She wanted him to kiss her afterwards and say that he loved her too. That visualization made her heart feel another stroke of pain. He never said it back. Of course she would never force him to say it. If he did not feel that way then she did not want him to say it if he did not mean it. It still hurt though. Taking out the pack of tissues originally meant for him she dabbed her eyes and said to herself "Some mess you're in huh?"

"Some mess you're in huh?"

Leaping off the bed she looked back at her recently unconscious companion. He was still laying there in the same position. His breathing rate did not change and it looked like he never said anything. The whisper was so soft that it could have been described as a trick of the ears but she knew otherwise. He really did just copy her. Walking over she checked for some time to see if he was faking being asleep. She poked his face several times, flicked his nose and shook his head. She even tickled his only ticklish spot, his neck, to no avail. He really was out cold. "I must be hearing things." She said in resignation.

"I must be hearing things." She saw him mutter softly.

Now this was getting unnatural. For reasons yet to be explained he was unconsciously repeating anything said nearby. While unusual it was not a bad thing. Ruby being the kid she was decided to have some fun with it. "I like to eat food off the floor."

"I like to eat food off the floor."

Giggling, Ruby said "I'm going to wear a tutu tomorrow."

"I'm going to wear a tutu tomorrow."

"I'm going to dance around like a monkey and only eat pickles for a week."

"I'm going to dance around like a monkey and only eat pickles for a week."

Ruby's laughing stopped suddenly as she thought of another thing she could say. She debated about whether or not she should but just when she decided she would not it slipped out. "I love you too Ruby."

"I love you too Ruby."

Backing away with a gasp she clutched her chest. She felt as if a searing blade was thrust into her heart and someone was twisting it. She should not have done that. He was unconscious and helpless and she used him. What was worse than the fact that she just used him was that he sounded genuine. He sounded like he was really saying it. The fact that it was nothing more than a copy brought tears to her eyes.

Curiosity fueling her she knew that she had to begin investigating. The very thought that he could possibly be the criminal mastermind was sickening. She knew that if she did not prove his guilt or innocence then that question would haunt her. She could feel it eating at her already. Looking around she checked for anything that might hold any proof one way or another. Over by his desk he had a large duffle bag of the same shade as his coat. She felt guilty enough for forcing him to copy her and this would just add to that. She had to be certain though so she opened up the bag and looked through the contents. He had several other identical coats and other clothes just like how she always had seven pairs of her classic battle skirt. To her surprise she found more of his sunglasses with blue lenses. He could have kept wearing them all this time. He must have stopped because he knew that she disapproved it. She was about to give up and check elsewhere until a small glint caught her eye. Hidden underneath it all was a tiny zipper for an almost invisible pocket. Opening it she found a scroll. Ruby tried to open it and a small robotic voice said "Sorry but access denied. Voice recognition code required."

She had seen him open his normal school scroll countless times and never had to use a voice recognition code. This was some other, more personal and private, scroll that he used for reasons she had yet to identify. She sat down on one of the beds thinking for a minute. "What could he say that would work? What code could he possibly have? Would it deal with me or something else? How would I even get into it? It's not like I can have him say whatever-oh wait a minute yes I can." Ruby walked over to him and held out the scroll by his mouth. She had to think carefully as to what she would say. She racked her brain for anything that might be of use. That's when it dawned on her. She did have a possible phrase that she could use. She never thought much of it at the time but now one little slip up on his part could be the difference between guilt and innocence. Cobalt or Roman.

She said "Cinder is a-" before she stopped. She did not know who this "Cinder" was but she remembered Torchwick calling her a mean term when he opened his scroll on the night of the art heist. Now she just had to say it. "Cinder is a-" She started before backing off again. She could not do it. If she was right and this worked that would instantly prove him to be Torchwick. The very fact that she had to do this scared her more than a horde of Grimm surrounding her with no escape. "Cinder is a-" She began but dropped off. This time was not because she did not have the courage to face her fear. This time was because she realized that she would have to curse. It was stupid, she knew that, but her biggest obstacle now was that she would have to curse. Surely this was for the greater good and it would be worth it but the notion that she would be doing something dirty could not leave her. She tried to compare it to what she had already done to prove it was nothing large, having forced him to say "I love you" and having gone through his personal belongings, but that only made her feel more guilty. With one last push of courage she looked away and said "Cinder is a bitch".

"Cinder is a bitch." He softly mumbled. She heard a click and the scroll opened up to reveal a video feed. Utterly horrified, Ruby's hand shook enough that she dropped the scroll which bounced off of the bed and hit the floor. Ruby could not stop shaking as everything dawned on her. He really was who that malicious voice said he was. He really was Roman Torchwick. The Roman Torchwick. The same man who brought chaos to Vale and brought down world communications in Atlas was also her boyfriend? Ruby fell to her knees as she felt like she was going to throw up. Just a few minutes ago she had wanted him to tell her that he loved her back. She wanted to kiss him and hold him close and tell him that she would never leave.

She laid down on the floor and curled up into a fetal position as she cried softly. She felt as if someone put a slab of concrete over her chest making it hard to breathe.

"Why? Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't he have just been Cobalt? It was all a lie. He played me like fiddle. None of this was ever real. He was just using me for his own gain. Here I was thinking that I met a good guy and it turns out to be fake. I should have known that it was too good to be true. I should have seen the signs. I should have just left him there in the cafeteria. I should have killed him like he told me to by the flower shop. It's all my fault.

No wait it's not. It's his fault. He lied to me! He used me! He was acting this whole time to get close so that way he could see the pain in my eyes as he stabbed me in the back!"

Ruby got up from where she lay and with a steady flow of tears still falling down her cheeks she stared daggers at the unconscious occupant of the bed. She could feel a spark of anger lighting inside her setting ablaze all her feelings and emotions for him. Her kindness turned to hostility. Her benevolence turned to spite. Her compassion turned to hatred. Her love turned to… It would not turn into anything. Even now staring death at the man she could not erase that feeling. Even after all he had done to her she still loved him. This only angered her further to the point that collateral damage was the least of their worries. Starting with his scroll she was about to step on it until she saw the video feed was still playing.

She picked it up and read the description on the video. It was called "Neo spy cam". She could tell from the parasol that would occasionally come in and out of video that it was that ice cream girl of his that he always had around. The same one that had saved him countless times and almost killed Yang. She was walking around a dark hallway of what looked to be a mansion. Making it to the final door at the end she entered this new room silently and began crouching to stay out of view. It was a bedroom that was one of the wealthiest rooms she had ever seen. Ruby then recognized the design. Pyrrha had many items that matched that decorating style: it was Mistral. Ruby saw Neo pull out the blade inside her parasol and stand up straight over the edge of the bed. Ruby could see an old sleeping man dressed in fine silks and on the dresser next to him lay a crown on a pillow. Ruby gasped as Neo thrust her blade through his heart and immediately pulling it out to slash his throat. Neo flicked any blood off her weapon and wiped it on the bed sheets which were steadily growing more and more red. Just before the feed went out Ruby saw her place a tape recording that had Torchwick's insignia on it on the pillow that held the crown.

If it was not confirmed enough it was now set in stone. He was indeed Torchwick and was going to watch one of his associates murder someone. Thinking horrible thoughts about him laughing at another's suffering a lightbulb turned on in her head. This was the personal scroll of Torchwick and if she could somehow download all of his files she could find out about all of his future plans. She could save countless lives. With as much haste as she could muster Ruby began the downloading process. Thirty seconds in it stopped. Torchwick's scroll said "Invalid authorization for request of copying sensitive files. Deploying defensive maneuvers."

At that very moment his scroll shut off and so did her own. Turning hers back on a black queen chess piece appeared and the screen turned red. When it finally disappeared she looked in horror to see that every file was deleted. Every piece of notes, every game and even every photo. Every record of her first year at Beacon was gone. All gone in one instant. In rage, Ruby took Torchwick's scroll and threw it against the wall thus embedding it. It took as much self-control as she had to not strangle him until he breathed his last breath. She planned several ways that she could kill him to make him feel her pain. Envisioning herself doing that her anger began to melt into shame. She had just planned on killing someone. Yes it was someone who was a piece of scum corroding the planet but still. She had felt no remorse. That was not the way of the huntress.

Ruby stood up and began planning some way that she could turn him in. She would make sure that she would testify against him in court. She had no doubt that she would watch his public execution. She felt her heart break when she thought of that. There was no doubt that he would get the death penalty for all that he has done. Yet just the thought of that hurt enough that it was almost physical. Her mind began flashing images of all of their happy times where there was nothing but love and kindness exchanged between the two of them. She kept telling herself that it was all fake, that it was all acting on his part, that they never had anything. The underlying thought that she was trying to suppress was the idea that he really meant it when he showed compassion. Ruby laughed at the idea that the other occupant of the room, the most wanted man alive, showing compassion for another human being. Yet it all seemed so real, so genuine.

Ruby knew at this moment that as much as she wanted to, she could not turn him in. Not yet anyways. She needed to ask him and hear from him that it was or was not real. It went against every instinct she had as a huntress but she did not care if it was selfish or not. She needed to know this and nothing was going to stop her. Since she could not ask him now she would have to wait for tomorrow. Storming out she opened the door and about to slam it closed she looked back. He was still lying there unconscious but instead of finding it cute she looked upon him with hate. Cobalt was dead and Torchwick was there instead. Closing the door softly she stormed back to her room hoping that some time tonight she would be able to cry herself to sleep.


Cobalt woke with a start to the sound of his alarm. The sun was shining through the window and birds were chirping. Sitting up his head suddenly felt like a bullet ripped through it. Making a remark about having one hell of a hangover he tried to get out of bed, only to end up falling and hitting his head on the floor. Grumbling about his head hurting both inside and outside he looked around him. He saw two chairs by the window and his scroll embedded in the wall.

"I really should stop drinking." He thought. "What happened last night? I remember my call with Cinder and then drinking my entire flask but then I blacked out." He had the underlying notion that something bad happened. Something very, very bad. If only he could remember the nights events. Little did he know that the day's events were going to make him wish he still had a few drops left in that flask of his.


Cobalt was doing surprisingly well for a day that he woke up with a hangover. His teachers were fair and he was assigned no work. His concern steadily grew as the day went along though. His notion that something bad happened when he blacked out gradually increased until it was on his mind constantly. It was strange, as if he did remember something but did not at the same time. He knew that he should have remembered it but to save his life he could not. Something else that brought him concern was Ruby or more of the lack of her. He never saw her in the halls, by her friends or even at mealtimes. It was as if she just disappeared. He checked everywhere looking for her but with the sheer size of the building that did not do much good. The day coming to its close he left to go to their special tree to see if she was there at all. Even if she was not at least he could be distracted from his worry of Ruby by his sense of relief for Neo. He considered himself too lucky that the mission was a success and that she was still alive. Cinder's call echoing through his head he would take great strides to make sure that she would never be harmed.

Just as he pushed away the branches to their tree he saw Ruby. His stomach dropped at the sight of her. She had bags under her eyes and looked like a mess with her unkempt hair and slouched position. She was sitting up against the tree and brought her knees to her face when he entered. Jumping to her side he leaned in to touch her shoulder and said "Ruby! What's wrong?! Where were you today?! What hap-"

"Don't touch me." She said softly while swatting away his hand. He backed up at the sound of her voice. She sounded like she had not slept all night and her voice was unnaturally cold. All remnants of sweetness and innocence were gone. It all made his heart break. He had to tread carefully as she had that look of instability that he had seen plenty of times before. Sitting down with his back to the branches he gave her a five foot berth. With as much of a calming voice that he could have, he gently said "Ruby when you want to talk I'm here. You don't need to be afraid."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes with Ruby just staring at the ground. When she broke the silence it was so quiet that he could barely hear her. "Why? Why did this have to happen?"

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"You know what happened." She said with fresh new hostility and a menacing glare.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand."

"Last night. I'm talking about what happened last night."

"Shit." Cobalt thought to himself. He knew that he had done something wrong but now whatever he did, he did it to Ruby. "Ruby I want you to know that I'm sorry. I got drunk last night and-"

He was interrupted by Ruby jumping onto her feet and yelling with tears in her eyes "That does not excuse what you've done!"

"I was going to say that after eleven I blacked out. If we had a conversation after that I don't remember anything from it."

"You… Don't remember… Anything?" She said in a hushed whisper. She looked at her feet with a face like she had seen a ghost. He could see a few tears land on the ground as she stood there motionless.

Cobalt's heart was pounding out of fear of what he could have done to make her this way. "Ruby I'm very scared now. I understand I've done something to upset you but I need to know what. I didn't hurt you did I? Please tell me I did not try to have my way with you!"

Her eyes closed as she began to laugh. It was not her beautiful laugh that made his day even if he felt like he was in hell. This laugh was corroded and broken, a cheap mockery of the excellence that it once held. "Playing dumb I see. Any other day I'd believe it in a heartbeat. Just shows you how gullible and stupid I am. On the off chance that you aren't lying the answers to your questions are 'no's."

Feeling very panicked, Cobalt said "I'm not lying to you. I really don't have any idea what I've done but if you tell me then I can fix it."

"Fix it! You men are all the same! The first thing you all think of when you see a woman crying is 'What can I do to fix it?' You can't fix things! You can't fix this! How about you just sit back and listen like I want you to?!"

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I've done but I'm-"

"How can you be sorry if you don't know what you've done?!"

Jumping to his feet he yelled "Because I can see the pain your feeling! You're being consumed by it and are not doing anything about it! I feel absolutely horrible for even bringing this much hurt to you for a millisecond. So please tell me what I've done? Please?"

She brought her hands to her face as she tried to hide her crying. "Just answer this one thing for me please? I'll tell you everything after you answer this. Was this all real?"

"I don't understand the question."

"Just answer it! Was any of this real?! Did you at any point feel a scrap of affection towards me or was everything nothing but one of your lies?! Did you ever feel remorse for what you were doing?! Did it ever cross your mind that you… you…" She fell to her knees and could not stop her crying. Cobalt had no idea what to do. His mind wandered towards the one thing that he could have done but he dismissed it. There was no way that he would reveal himself.

Going down to his knees to even the height difference a little more he said "Ruby where is this coming from? I-"

In a sudden burst of energy she closed the gap between them and grabbed his shirt collar holding his face up to hers. In her eyes was a fiery rage burning so hot that he had never seen anything like it before. In a combination of a growl and scream she yelled "Answer the goddamn question Torchwick!"


A/N: Hello everybody! I'm back after a while and thought that now was as good of a time as ever to post a chapter. I have finished writing my rough draft of the entire story so I'm excited about that. Updates will be few and far between but whenever I can I'll edit and update. Except for breaks, only expect around one chapter a month. It all depends on how much homework I end up getting.

But I felt like I should clarify things a bit more from the last chapter. I will be the first to admit that Roman's outburst was an unusual one. But when you consider everything you can understand it a bit more. As you've seen I've been slowly teaching him morals but it's been having some negative side-effects. Ideally his conscience.

One's conscience can work in a multitude of ways. It can range from an annoying whisper in the back of one's mind towards full-fledged self-torture committed by one's own body. Luckily for yours truly I have the later. So too does Roman. Ruby confessing her love was the straw that broke the camel's back. His mind could not take any more guilt and in his weakened (and drunken) state his conscience decided that since he was not being punished, it would do the job for him. And with Roman, subtlety just isn't his thing.

So with that lovely note I bid you all farewell. I hope to see you again soon.

And as always~

All content is courtesy of your local red headed, cane wielding, and impeccably dressed maniac, Italian Torchwick.