Chapter 38

It's Hard to Survive...

Ruby woke up feeling as groggy as usual. She never opened her eyes but outstretched her arm to pull herself closer to Roman. Her arm hit empty air and bed sheets. She kept on feeling around to find him but he was gone.

With a groan and a yawn, Ruby reluctantly opened her eyes. She was alone on the bed. She rubbed her eyes a few times and lifted her head slightly to read the alarm clock. Seeing that it was a little after two in the morning she groaned again and let her head fall back onto the pillow. This was much too early for her to be up but the same thing went for Roman. She picked her head up again and scanned the room. The bathroom door did not have light coming from underneath it. The curtains to the balcony were open and revealed nobody there. That was when Ruby heard voices coming from the main room. She reluctantly got out of bed and crept to the door. She opened it a crack and could see Roman pacing back and forth while whispering on his scroll.

"Hey Junior are you awake?" Roman asked. He seemed stressed and antsy from his voice to his constant pacing.

If Ruby strained her ears she could hear whoever Roman was talking to. "What do you think dumbass?" The voice said.

"Well, usually your closing your club right about now so I thought I'd give you a call. I hope you don't mind."

"It's nothing big. The last customers just left so I was closing up the club. I take it you want to talk to me about something? After all, you did call me."

"Yeah about that… Look I just need you to… How do I put this…"

"Get yourself a drink and relax. I'm not going to bite your head off. That's your job."

Roman wiped what looked like a cold sweat off his face. "Look I-I-I can't."

"Why not? You love drinking."

"I quit drinking."

"WHAT?! HOW AM I GOING TO STAY IN BUSINESS?!"

"Shush, please. I promised someone that I would quit drinking and I'm not breaking it."

"Damnit Neo! I never thought that she'd actually get you to stop-"

"That's because she didn't."

"Then who the hell-"

"It's a long story."

"I'm getting the vibe that you've been doing something idiotic. Am I correct?"

"Very."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Nope. Moving on, I need you to stop by my place tomorrow. There's someone I need you to watch-"

"Aw hell no! There's no way I'm playing babysitter for whoever the hell you've kidnapped!"

"Please stay quiet. I didn't kidnap them and they're sleeping right now. Besides, when have I ever kidnapped anybody?"

"Well…"

"Don't answer that question. But I'm serious here, I need your help. I'm worried about her."

"A 'her'? This keeps on getting better and better-"

"Can you please listen to me?!" Roman yelled louder than he intended. He plopped down into a chair and pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a heavy, reluctant sigh. "I'm sorry. I've been a little on edge recently. I've been awfully worried about her."

"So I take it that this deals with someone close to you?"

"Very close."

"Do I know this person?"

"Cinder probably asked for her file once, so maybe?"

"Why am I getting the feeling that whatever relationship you're in, it's dangerous?"

"You have no idea."

"If it's so dangerous then end it. You're not one to take too many unnecessary risks."

"I can't end it. I'm in love with her and she's told me that she feels the same way about me."

She could hear this "Junior" breathe a heavy sigh and say, "Damn. Never expected you to find someone."

"Hey!"

"I don't mean anything against you with that comment. You just seem like you're the kind of person who would purposely stay single. After all, you've told me how you normally destroy your feelings before they develop, right?"

"Normally yes but I decided to give this one a shot. Boy did I not know what I was missing. I love everything about her. From her-"

"I don't need the mushy details. You're gonna make me puke with too much of that. So you want me to come over to your place to watch over this new lover of yours because of reasons you still haven't told me?"

"Pretty much."

"Will I regret this decision?"

"Quite possibly."

"What do I get out of this?"

"I'm asking you to do this as a friend. But if you need me to sweeten the deal I can. How about I spike it instead? You can have access to all my liquor."

"Deal. I'll be over there tomorrow morning. I'll see you then Roman."

"I'll talk to you later Junior." With that Roman hung up and stood up from the chair. Ruby saw that he was walking back towards the bedroom and scurried back to bed. She did not know whether or not he would be angry at her overhearing his conversation and decided not to take the chance.

Pulling up the covers again she assumed the exact position she was in when she woke up. Only a few seconds afterward, the door swung open and she heard him creep inside. He went back to bed carefully as to not disturb her. She felt his arms wrap around her as he held her close. He kissed her head lightly before whispering, "I'm sorry Ruby. I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep my life from interfering with yours. I'm sorry that I failed to protect you."

Ruby clenched her eyes shut to stop herself from crying out. She wanted to open her mouth and scream out to him that it was not his fault, that he did nothing wrong. Looking back on what she did she knew that was the stupidest moment of her life. In doing the dumbest thing she had ever done, she hurt the one she loved. Now adding to the feeling of dread for the safety of their future was guilt for making Roman suffer. Why did things have to be so complicated?

Roman started off the day about as well as he could. After an early morning shower, he had rejoined Ruby in bed until she woke up. She acted as groggy as ever which never ceased to make him smile. There was something about her being tired that he found incredibly cute. He tried to get her up but he let her stay. He felt as if he had lost the right to do anything with her. He was thankful that she was there and loved her with all his heart but that did little to ease the feeling of guilt he held in his chest.

He knew that he could have left Ruby alone. She appeared alright most of the time but he did not want to take chances. He would rather have her angry at him for getting a babysitter than to come back and find her hurt, or worse.

No matter how much he wanted to stay he had to go. Not for too long but for probably half the day. They were having leftover takeout for breakfast because there was no longer any fresh food in the entire apartment. He needed to restock his pantry desperately and he thought that he could get something special for Ruby to make up for the time he was going to be gone.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the ring of the doorbell. He breathed a worried sigh and got up to answer the door. "Hello Junior. Thanks for coming over." Roman said gesturing for his guest to come in.

Junior just stood there with a quizzical expression. He slowly stepped inside with his gaze never leaving Roman. "Uh… Can you explain the getup?"

Roman looked down only to be reminded that he was wearing Cobalt's clothes. "I wear disguises all the time. This is just a new one." Roman shrugged.

"I was referring more towards the facial area. Your hair is short and what accident did you get in? Unless if that's makeup."

It dawned on Roman that the last time the two men had seen each other was the night that he found out about Perry's death. Roman had been wearing a wig and that was before he took the hit for Ruby. "It's not makeup."

"Then how did you get that? It looks like it really hurt."

"Well it doesn't hurt that much when you're unconscious but that's beside the-"

"Roman where do you keep the shampoo we… just ran out… uh…"

Roman turned around to see a furiously blushing Ruby peaking out from behind the bedroom door wearing only a towel. Roman's only response was slowly bringing his hands to his face while he breathed a heavy sigh. Dragging his hands back down he decided to just roll with it.

"This is not how I had planned it but alright. Red this is Junior. Junior this is Red. Red the shampoo is under the sink in the back. Junior stop gawking at my girlfriend."

"I was not gawking!"

"Sure you weren't."

"Can you explain this? When you told me that you were with someone I thought, I don't know, maybe they were your age?" Junior said putting his hands on his hips and glaring accusingly.

Roman sighed again and said, "At this point I'm not even going to bother refuting it. I love her and she loves me and that's all that matters."

"Please tell me you haven't slept with her?"

"Beside her yes but no we haven't had sex. I'm not planning on that."

"For how long?"

"Probably never but I'm fine with it."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh… Well that's not too bad then."

"What caused this swift turnaround?"

"I know you're not a fan of one night stands but I didn't know what your 'intentions' would be if you found someone you have feelings for. Now can you give me the truth about why you wanted me here?"

"Look I know that I could leave her on her own and she would be just fine but it would really settle my stomach if someone I know was here to watch over her. I consider you as one of my best friends so I couldn't think of anyone else for the job."

"Alright. But why not Neo? You've known her for even longer than I have and you two are often inseparable."

"We… We decided to go down different paths. We're still friends but things are pretty tense between the two of us."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Later."

Ruby could feel the heat on her cheeks and it was not coming from the hot water pouring down it. This man he referred to as "Junior" was here to watch over her because Roman did not trust her enough to be left alone. She felt a little hurt but she could not blame him for this. She drove him to these measures. She lightly pressed her head up against the tile wall of the shower. She was not as much frustrated at him but more at herself. Breathing a sigh of resignation she lathered the shampoo into her hair. There was nothing she could do right now so she might as well go along with it.

When she was finally dried off and clothed she walked out to meet this Junior. He seemed like a burly man and was much taller than Roman. In fact, he looked a little familiar. "Wait a minute, you're that guy my sister beat up."

"Wait you're Blondie's sister? She still owes me money for trashing my club!" Junior said while grabbing Ruby's wrist in anger.

Everything happened in a flash. For half a second she was no longer in Roman's apartment but she was in Beacon. It was not Junior standing before her but Cardin with a sick and menacing smile. The flashback disappeared just as quickly as it arrived but her reflexes still activated. Before he could move another muscle Ruby was behind him and pressed his arm against his back. "Nobody gets near me. Got that?"

"Crystal clear. Ugh, you sure take after your sister." Junior grunted.

Ruby felt a hand be placed on her shoulder. She turned to see Roman who gave a weak smile and said "He didn't mean anything by it. I assure you he won't do anything like that again." Roman grabbed Junior's collar and pulled their faces together. "Isn't that right Junior?" He growled.

Ruby could see Roman's inner wolf arise with his threatening glare. She had to admit that he could be scary when he wanted to. Even though Junior looked fairly larger than Roman he quickly backed off. "Good. Now I don't want to hear anything bad from Ruby. If so I give her permission to do whatever she wants to you."

With that Roman turned and went out through the elevator. He mentioned that he would be back in a few hours with groceries and something special for her.

Once the elevator doors closed Junior breathed out a sigh. He walked over towards the kitchen and poured himself a drink. While doing so he said, "Look, I'm sorry. My temper flared there and I didn't think through what I was doing. I understand how it might have seemed but I assure you I would never do anything like that to you or anyone else."

That still did not ease her. She could tell that he was telling the truth but she was still shaken up from the flashback. She knew that it was all an illusion but she still saw it and it still scared her. She knew that Roman had to go because she too was tired of takeout but she wished for him to be right next to her right now. There was something about him being near her that made everything feel like it was going to be okay.

But instead she was left alone with someone she never knew to watch over her. They had sounded close but Roman's reaction to Junior's temper made something in her doubt that. She most certainly had the time to kill. She sat down on the couch farthest from him and asked, "So how do you know each other?"

He took a swig of whatever liquor he was drinking and sat down in one of the chairs on the opposite side of where Ruby was sitting. "Roman and I go way back. Are you sure you want to hear it? It can be a bit of a sob story."

"I've found recently that life is far from what it's like in fairytales. Sure, tell me."

"Alright then. Let's see it was about twelve years ago when we first met. I walked in on Neo and him trying to rob my folk's place."

"Then how'd you become friends?"

"Alright let me rephrase this. I ran into them because I was running for my life at the time. My old man was chasing me with a broken ale bottle and I was running so he wouldn't stab me with it."

"But how could your own dad do that? Dad's are supposed to be loving and sweet."

"I don't know what kind of old man you have but he sure as hell beats mine. This is going to sound cold but it's the truth. Just because you're someone's family doesn't mean that they love you, or you have to love them.

My father never loved me. In his eyes, I was nothing more than a vacuum cleaner that was sucking up his liquor money. I was a hindrance, not a person. I don't know what my mother ever saw in that man. But I have to give her credit she was one tough woman. She would never back down when he went on one of his drunken rampages. She would always be there to take whatever beating he had intended for me. If she would ever get pushed down she'd stand right back up. Then one day she didn't. I had to bury her in the backyard while my father was fucking some prostitute in their bed.

I hated him. I even made plans to kill him. None of them ever worked though. He would take whatever I gave him and dish it out on me tenfold. In fact I wonder sometimes how I even survived some of those. Then one night that I thought that the blood alcohol poisoning was finally going to get him, he broke his bottle and attacked me with it.

That's when I stumbled upon Roman and Neo. They were small little kids but they sure knew how to fight. When my father turned to fight them instead of me, they put him down in two seconds flat. You'd think that I would be somewhat upset, right? Wrong. I started laughing. I don't think that before that point I had ever laughed as hard. My old man who I had been trying to kill for months was put down by two little kids.

We ended up talking it out and I let them stay at my house. It was a good shelter while it lasted. Someone arsoned it a few years afterwards and we had to move to the streets. But by then we were best friends. I know it's crazy to think this but back then Roman was the same height as Neo."

Ruby snickered a little at the end of that. He did not seem too bad. But that did not mean that she put her guard down. "What's your relationship with Roman like?"

He put his hand up to stop her. "Hold it there. I just told you a deep secret now you have to tell me something about Roman. Not your kissy faces or whatever because that'll make me puke. I want to know embarrassing stories, stuff I can use to blackmail him to get small favors. He's messed with me enough times I want to return the favor." He said with a playful smile.

"I don't know. I don't want him to get angry at me."

"If you don't feel comfortable about it then so be it. I'll be right here if you change your mind. I'm here for as long as the liquor is flowing."

"Uh… have you ever been sober?"

"Define 'sober'."

"Like having no alcohol in you at all?"

"Well… Honestly I can't really remember. But I've got an iron liver so it takes a lot to get me drunk. But sober? Man it must've been years."

"That's not really comforting…"

His face softened as if he suddenly realized how strange the situation was. With a much more relaxed and apologetic tone, he said, "Sorry. Whatever else will make you comfortable I'll do. I feel bad for overreacting earlier and Roman's reaction scared me. It takes a lot to scare me. You must be very special to him."

"I'm glad. I love him."

"That's what he said. I stopped him from getting into the mushy details but he said that he loved you. I'll have you know that is a first. I've never heard of him saying that he loved anybody before. You must've made quite an impression on him."

"Yeah, I've been working on that for a while. I felt like there were parts of him that he was afraid to express so I've been working with him to be more open. Little did I know that I would fall for that inner him."

"Uh… Red?"

"Yeah? By the way my name is actually Ruby. Red is just a nickname he calls me to get back at me starting to call him Ginger Snaps."

She covered her mouth as soon as she said that but the sound of her gasp was overshadowed by the sound of Junior's laughter. He started laughing so hard that after a while he turned silent and his face turned blood red. She became genuinely concerned when he actually fell out of his chair.

"Are you alright?!"

"Oh my God… That might be the crowning point of my year. I'll have to see what 'Ginger Snaps' has to say in defense. Alright just that alone was worth coming over. Ginger Snaps, my god."

"I didn't mean to let that slip. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You've earned whatever you want to know about Roman from just that. Ask away."

"Oh… um… Has he ever told you about what happened when he was really little that scarred-"

"You mean Ruth? Yeah I know about her. That was a few years before I met Roman."

"Alright. How was Roman when he was a kid?"

"You sound like he's grown up when in reality he hasn't. He's always joking around and you know, being Roman. But ever since he started working for Cinder he's hardly ever been in a good mood. I'm glad that he's found someone. He deserves to be happy."

"What did he go through?"

"Roman, Neo and I have been through hell and back. Roman has that natural drive for being a leader so whenever someone of our group would die he'd take it personally. He was always in constant mourning. After a while he just started separating himself from everyone else. Only the people who knew him before could ever get close to him. He just gradually started to not care. I think it's the only thing that's kept him alive."

Ruby's mind drifted back to the scars that Roman had shown her on his wrist. "Yeah I think it is."

"He wasn't always the jackass he is today. He tried to hide it but we all know that it's nothing more than a coping mechanism. I assume you already knew that though."

"It was the reason I wanted to help him. Nobody else saw it but I could tell that it was just an act. I know what it's like to be hurting and having to put on a mask so I didn't want anyone else to go through the same."

"And then you got pulled into his life I take it?"

"Pretty much."

"You clearly know how to handle yourself. Plus you look awfully young, almost uncomfortably so. If I'm not being too invasive I'd like to know how you two met?"

"Well… How much has Roman told you about me?"

"Hardly anything."

"How much of what he's been doing recently are you aware of?"

"I know he had to go undercover for something but what for and where I have no idea. He should consider that a compliment. I'm an information broker as well as his friend and yet I wasn't able to find anything."

Ruby barely breathed out "Beacon."

Junior did a double take and his eyes grew wide. "So you're a hunt-"

"Yes."

"And you do realize he's Rom-"

"Yes."

"Aren't you two supposed to kill each oth-"

"Yes."

"And you still have feelings for him? Even knowing what he's done?"

"Yes I do. Even knowing who he is and what he's done I still love him. There's good in him, a lot of it. I've been helping him release it. Things are pretty rough right now, not between us but between our lives, so that's why he wanted you to come over. He's afraid that I might do something that I'd regret. I haven't been thinking clearly lately."

Junior took a moment to let that sink in. "Damn. I knew that relationships were complicated but I have never even heard of anything that quite matches this. How do you expect to resolve it?"

"Well Roman left Cinder because she ordered my death. Since then-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold the phone. Roman quit working for Cinder?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Is he an idiot?"

"Quite likely."

"Doesn't he realize what Cinder will do to him?"

"What do you mean?"

"As you might have been able to tell Roman did not work for Cinder because he wanted to. Cinder had given him several offers to join her ranks but no matter how much money she was willing to give he never accepted it. So one night in revenge she burned down half his syndicate. And I mean literally burning down. Half of the syndicate was killed in one night all around the world. Roman had spent his entire life building that up but he lost half of it in one night.

But that's not quite the end of it. Roman being the rebel that he is decided that after a while he had enough and he was done. He came to me a few hours later almost dead. All of the skin on his forearms was completely burned off and he was bleeding out. He hasn't attempted to leave since."

Ruby just then grasped the severity of the situation. "Wow. I never knew he would put so much on the line for me."

"Ruby… I'm kind of neutral in this fight between your careers. I sometimes will accept contracts from Cinder but at the same time, you'd be surprised to know how many hunters need an information broker. But from what you've told me you're trying to get him to switch to your side?"

"I haven't been forcing him to. If he wanted to remain a criminal I would've grown to accept it eventually. But if he was going to continue being a thief then I was going to have him at least be himself and not his mask. Over time he's rubbed off on me and I've rubbed off on him. He's switching sides not just to be with me but because he wants to."

He took a minute to process that before saying, "Just promise me to keep him safe. Whatever path he goes down to find happiness I'll support. But I still want him to live a long and fulfilling life. In the twelve years I've known him I've never heard him mention loving anyone or anything. What makes you so special to him I've yet to figure out but don't take his affection for granted. I swear with how he's acting it's like I never knew the guy."

Ruby felt a glow of warmth spread throughout her chest. Even if he was one of Roman's friends and not her own she finally found someone who accepted their relationship. It gave her a spark of hope that she could get her friends to do so too.

"Hey, Junior?"

"Yeah?"

"You seem like you've been through some rough times. What do you do if something happened to you that even though it's over, it's still hurting you and controlling you."

"Well, one of the common misconceptions when dealing with traumatic events is the idea of 'getting over it'. Eventually if one wishes for their past to stop haunting them then they need to make peace with themselves. Achieving that can take varying amounts of time or never at all. Everyone encounters these situations differently and there is no go-to answer. What I've always done to help me was meditation."

"Meditation?"

"Yeah, it can help a lot but it isn't the fastest method of treatment."

"Can you teach me anyway?"

"Sure, anything you want is equivalent to me learning about 'Ginger Snaps'."

So for the majority of their time spent together they practiced and practiced. It was exceptionally difficult to manage and often Ruby found herself getting frustrated and needing a break. During these Ruby learned a lot about the inner workings of the underworld as well as how Roman's syndicate worked. Eventually after much frustration, Ruby was able to successfully achieve a meditative state.

Shortly after, or at least that was how it seemed, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Opening her eyes and looking up she saw Roman standing right beside her. "Having fun there?" He smirked.

"When did you get here?" She asked rubbing her eyes and looking around her. Groceries were on the counter of the kitchen and Junior was preparing to leave.

"A few minutes ago. So how was this morning?"

"Alright I guess. How long was I like this?"

Junior responded, "A good half hour at least. While it took some time for you to concentrate enough once you did you were immersed in it. Well done and remember to do this for about twenty minutes per day and you should start seeing the benefits soon enough."

Junior looked over at Roman and said, "Oh and Roman…"

"Yes?"

"You got yourself a keeper. Don't screw this one up. She's good for you."

Junior brought his attention to Ruby to say, "Ruby if you ever want to drag this one out of here I got karaoke booths in my club. I can reserve one for a date night for you two."

She laughed when she saw Roman's eyes bulge and say, "You know I think it's probably time for you to leave."

"Whatever you say Ginger Snaps." Junior chimed before he walked out the door.

When the door closed and the two were alone again Ruby looked back at Roman to see him having face palmed himself. "Ruby of all things you had to tell him why that? Why that of all things?"

"It kind of slipped out but come on, I know you find it just as cute as I do."

"You know what? I got something special for you while I was out and now I'll keep it to myself." He said matter-of-factly.

"Hey! Give it to me!"

"You don't even know what it is."

"Yeah but you've got me curious now!" Ruby said jumping onto Roman's back.

"That's not going to help."

"I don't care anymore. Just tell me what it is."

"Nope."

"Argh."

Ruby then began a test of stubbornness between Roman and her. She would cling to his back until he finally told her what it was. Roman on the other hand, was completely unfazed by her clinging onto his back. He even proceeded to make them sandwiches for lunch. When he saw that she was not getting off of him to eat he took a sandwich and held it over his shoulder.

He was good at this game. He fed her over his shoulder like it was nothing. He never complained or tried to shake her off. He even made sure to sit down more upright than usual to not let her be squished when he rested on the couch.

"Ruby your determination is impressive. Do you have any plans of letting go?"

"Not really."

"Alright then. I'll tell you what your gift is but under two conditions."

"Yay! What are they?"

"First of all is that I need to set it up. Second is that I want you to stay just as determined with this with planning how to escape Cinder's clutches. I know things seem a bit bleak but there has to be a way hidden in the information. It's impossible that she could've prepared for everything but I'm going to need your determination. Can you promise me this?"

Ruby was taken aback by his sudden seriousness but she put on a confident face and rested it on his shoulder so he could see it. She said in the most confident voice she had ever said "I promise that we'll find a way. If it means that I can be with you forever then I'm sure we can find a way."

She turned his head to the side to look her in the eyes. He closed the few inches between their mouths for a single loving kiss before he withdrew and said, "Just keep that in mind while you spend the next several hours watching TV."

Ruby gasped and she could not withhold her excitement. She started bouncing which shook both Roman and her until he finally had enough and laid down on her on the couch to get her to stop.

"Meanie."

"Hey I gave in but you wouldn't let go. You deserved it. Besides, I'm more of a stirred over shaken kind of guy."

"Ha ha. But I thought you hated TV?"

"I do."

"But then-"

"You mean a hell of a lot more to me than some stupid grudge. Besides, if it will give you some comfort then I'll gladly provide it no matter what it is."

Roman got up and withdrew a thin black piece of metal from his jacket that was about a foot long, an inch wide and two inches tall. He set it down on the coffee table and pressed a few buttons before he joined Ruby on the couch.

He pulled out another object this time and Ruby could tell that it was a remote. He held it out before her and she asked, "May I?"

"I thought you could do the honors."

Ruby grabbed the remote with haste and pressed the power button expecting her face to be bombarded by holographic images. But there was nothing. No lights, no sounds, everything was just like how it was a few seconds before. While Ruby started button mashing Roman got up and muttered, "What the hell?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's not working."

"Really? I never would've guessed."

He turned back at her with an unamused face. Their eyes locked and for a moment there Ruby was afraid that he was angry at her. But she could see the edges of his mouth slowly creep upwards. He was trying his hardest to stifle a laugh but was failing. "It's official. You've spent too much time with me."

"Yeah you're probably right. After all, you're a bad influence."

"And someone like you is a bad influence for a criminal."

"You can't possibly think that you could argue that I'm worse than you right?"

"I can try."

"Good luck."

"I have all the luck in the world."

"If you had all the luck in the world then you'd be able to beat Cinder by now."

"That may be so but I've got something better."

"Which is?"

"You."

"Oh that's cheesy and you know it."

"Maybe."

Ruby looked back at the malfunctioning TV. "Where'd you get it anyway?"

"I may have stolen it."

"Roman!"

"I said I may have. I never said I did. "

"Roman Torchwick did you steal a TV?"

He hesitated for a moment before he bluntly said, "Yes."

Ruby put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. "Really? I thought you were better than this."

"I can't help it, it's in my nature. These hands are attracted to everything."

"Surely not everything."

"Everything," Roman said with a smirk.

It dawned on Ruby what the suggestive, underlying tone of that meant. She looked away and blushed intensely.

"You're too innocent."

"Humph."

"You know what they say, it's the thought that counts."

"It still wasn't yours."

"It was in a super chain store. I sincerely doubt that it will be missed."

Ruby groaned as she began pacing the room back and forth. She was not really too angry at him. She was just ticked. He had warned her before that stealing was in his nature even if he converted to her side. She tried to look at the positives of this situation. At least if he was going to steal something then it was just a TV and not a shipment of dust or the assassination of another ruler. Plus he did it for her. She did not like the idea of him committing crime for her but considering his area of expertise, she could not expect much more from him.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sounds of a grumbling and increasingly frustrated Roman. "Why are you having so much trouble there?" Ruby asked.

"Because being the genius that I am, I neglected to pick up the manual that came along with this."

"Really? The great Roman Torchwick who robbed enough dust to affect Vale's economy, forgot to read the manual?"

"We all have our dumb moments, don't judge me."

"Well I think I'm going to read up on more about Cinder from your records. You alright with that?"

"Why would I not be? I need a fresh set of eyes to look over that information, especially from such a capable strategist as yourself. My records storage should be the computer the farthest to the left."

Ruby left the room with him grumbling something about "I created a homemade dust detonator, I should be able to fix a freaking TV." She entered the computer room again and this time took a minute to appreciate the technology there. She felt like she had just walked into Atlas's military command with how many flashing lights and sounds were around her. Being a crime lord clearly had its perks.

Ruby went to the computer farthest to the left and began opening up the files. The pure vastness of information that popped up surprised her but with some searching, she was able to narrow it down.

She skimmed over the file names and found little insight from what was available. Since Roman had not come in yet to say he was done, she figured that she could keep reading over other records. She stumbled upon some video logs and opened the first one she saw.

Before her stood Roman with his classic attire. He looked a little younger but it was clear from his voice that he was in pain, physically and mentally. When he spoke it was hard and certain, contrasting his shattered appearance.

"Look… Even I have no way to sugarcoat this. If you're still alive to watch this then you're lucky. We… We lost a lot of good people today. I am accepting full responsibility for their deaths and will not put it against you if you want to leave. We fought to keep our independence and lost. I am going to be having a meeting with the remaining leaders over the terms of surrender. While we may work under the orders of Cinder now, make no mistake. This is not the end. It may not be today and it may not be tomorrow but we will fight again. And we will win. For now, I ask you all to suspend any and all operations until further notice. I'm sorry."

"I still am."

Ruby jumped at the sound of the voice behind her. She spun around to see Roman glaring down at her. His face was in a vicious snarl. She shrunk in her seat and looked away. "I'm sorry if I saw something I shouldn't have. It was just on here and I thought that everything could help-"

She was stopped by the feeling of his hand gently touch her shoulder. She looked up just in time for him to kiss her forehead. "I'm not mad. It just brought up some bad memories, that's all."

She stared at him as he walked over towards what looked like an inventing table to the side. "Do you want to talk about it?'

"Everything's placed before you. You can find it yourself. I'd prefer to let buried memories stay buried if you don't mind."

Ruby opened her mouth to say something but promptly shut it. She heard how his voice quivered at the end of his sentence. He needed some time alone. "If you ever need to talk I'm here."

He turned his head back to give her a small smile. "I know Red. The same goes for you."

With that, he was off into his own world again. Ruby kept reading up on the records of money reports to blueprints of successful and failed heists. She felt like she learned more from these few hours than all of her time in criminal psychology classes.

The two of them cooked dinner together and helped each other with chores around the apartment. They talked and Ruby told him how she felt about making him worry and that she did not need anyone to watch over her anymore. She was appreciative of his concern but he could now spend his time and energy on something else.

That something else being the TV. It was almost comical with the amount of time and effort he put into it. Now that it was getting late Ruby just wanted him to give up on it. When she was ready for bed she walked back into the computer room and saw him still slaving away on it. She groaned, "Roman come to bed already."

"I will as soon as I get this blasted contraption to work."

"If it was going to work then I think it would've already. Besides, why are you so hung up on this?"

"I got this as a gift for you and the fact that I can't get it to work is downright irritating. If I'm going to be able to fall asleep then I need to get this done."

Ruby sighed and said, "Alright fine. Put your arms up."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"I don't understand the point-"

Ruby interrupted him by jumping on his lap. She laid herself against his chest and unbuttoned his suit. Snuggling into his chest, she wrapped the suit around her like a blanket and closed her eyes.

"What is this?"

"I have trouble sleeping if you're not there with me. Since I can't get you to come to bed, then I'll have to sleep here with you."

"Ruby this really isn't the best place to-"

She ignored him afterwards. Whether her plan worked or not was not a concern. Yes, Roman was not a bed but he could lull her to sleep just by himself. Having his suit as a blanket surrounded her with his natural scent of cinnamon, something that she could never seem to get enough of. Her head was resting against his chest and allowed her to listen to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Once she blocked out Roman's soft rejections it was not long until she drifted off to sleep.

Roman growled lightly to himself. He wanted to go to sleep but the fact that his pride was still hurt kept him going. Then, of course, Ruby had to fall asleep on him. After about half an hour he could not take it anymore. Ruby's breathing when she was asleep could be described as a soft, barely audible snore that was one of the cutest things he had ever seen. He kept on getting distracted by bringing his attention away from the machine to her and after a while he gave up. She was right, the two of them needed to go to bed. He picked her up carefully as to not disturb her and brought her into the bedroom.

He laid her down and then left to change. When he came back he wanted to spend some time on his terrace to think but Ruby seemed to be restless so he soon joined her. Once he did, she gravitated towards him to cuddle in a way that made it almost seem like she was still conscious. Yet the slowness of her breathing said otherwise, which made him have trouble keeping a straight face at how cute it was.

He returned her embrace and began thinking about the day. Frustration was present in everything he did although he was not new to this. He was frustrated because he had not trusted Ruby enough to be on her own, that bad memories were brought back and that the stupid TV would not work. He wanted to do something nice for Ruby and it all fell apart. But knowing the end result it would be worth it. Who knows, maybe if he finally got it to work then it would save their lives?

But the most important thing that he thought of that day was how pointless his worrying was. He had come to the realization that no matter how much he worried about her that would not change anything. Ruby had said that she was safe and he would trust her on that. But just because she was safe did not guarantee that she was happy. So he vowed that he would still do everything in his power to make her happy and secure that they would live long enough to have a future.