Well. It's been a while.

Welcome to the newly revised Wilted. If you're new, welcome! If you happened to have stuck around from when I last updated, welcome back and thank you so much for the continued support. I've gone through all of your private messages, and, not gonna lie, I teared up a bit at your kind words. I may have disappeared for some time, but I never forgot about this story, nor my readers.

For those that have read Wilted before, overall, not much has changed. Some scenes have been added, some removed, and some modified. The plot, overall, runs the same, with a few tweaks, so if you jump to the newest chapter you might be confused at *some* parts. I can't say for sure how my update schedule will go, but I'm in a better place than I was back in 2018. And I have a lot of ideas for Ruby and Mercury's story.

Without further ado, enjoy, and happy writing.

WILTED

Chapter One

Girl in Red

"You've got to admit, that could have gone worse."

The dusty and dimmed atmosphere made the small little bookstore seem like a relic of the past, left long and forgotten. Dull colors with faded book covers lined ever so neatly with the periodic table kept in mind, save for a few gaps between books where a stray snatched up a purchase. Beyond that? No reason to think the place held any other life.

Well… not anymore.

Mercury Black thought this with a slight curve of his lips as he watched his coca-skinned partner, Emerald Sustrai, struggle with the mountain of a Faunus. Her hands were linked under his arms as she dragged his limp body into the back room.

"Yeah? Well I think if I had some help it could be going a lot better!" Emerald hissed as she grit her teeth. The way her mint green hair swayed violently with her movements displayed her wobbly attempt rather well.

"Oh, come on, I was the one that killed the guy," Mercury rebuked with his hands out in a 'what can ya do' gesture. "Besides, someone's gonna find him eventually, so why move him?"

A loud thump came from the back room. Seconds later, Emerald stormed out. "Oh? And would you rather he be found now, with us both just standing here, or when we're far gone and not at risk of blowing our cover before we can even report to Cinder?"

While Mercury wanted to irk her more, if only to see the fire in her blood red eyes burst into nuclear bomb levels, he had to clench his jaw and groan. She did have a point. "Whatever. What about the brain leakage Tukson had all over the carpet?"

He gestured to the still wet blood pool seeping into the carpet with a vague wave of his hand before dismissing himself from the situation entirely. A rack of comics drew his steel eyes. X-Ray and Vav?

Emerald groaned as he swiped up the comic. "Really?"

"I like the pictures." Mercury scowled. "Now do something about that."

"I'm not your fu—"

"Now that's not a nice thing for a pretty lady like you to say, Emmy," Mercury tutted with a tooth-filled smirk, his eyes rising from the waxy explosion of color. The hand on the cocked hip, the deep glare, the deeper scowl, it was all too much, and he just started chuckling. Her eyes narrowed and with a familiar chime, all the sudden his comic book was a blank set of white pages. "Aww, c'mon."

"I did half– more than half. Find something to cover this." Emerald sat on the counter pointedly with her arms crossed.

"I'd say it's been even Stephen—"

Emerald huffed. "I found the address on Torchwick's desk— you have no idea how unorganized he is."

"I say again, I killed him."

"And I dragged the product of your dirty work into the back room so just cover up the rest."

Mercury sighed heavily before dropping the comic on the counter. He walked around for a minute or so, snooping around, before he found a few rags that were likely used for dusting in the back. He stepped over the cooling body of Tukson as he reentered the main room.

"Are these to your satisfaction, milady?" Mercury presented the off-white rags to Emerald, who made a disgusted noise and snatched them from him. "I'm taking that as a yes."

"Just read your stupid comic," She grumbled as she laid the rags flat over the darkened stain. She had to place them in layers, since the first rag she threw down immediately began blooming with a vibrant red stain, though Mercury couldn't muster up another taunt as she growled and bent down to fix the rags the best she could. His fingers pinched the waxy pages as he stared at Emerald with bored eyes.

"Mercury."

"Hm?"

"Stop. Staring."

"You like the attention." Mercury chuckled as she whirled around and tried to land a punch on him. He easily caught her wayward wrist and flung her off balance just enough so her inertia carried her past him rather than toward him. She stumbled to a halt and made a strangled noise of pure frustration.

"Do you have to be a misogynistic ass all the time?"

"Only to amuse myself," Mercury replied tartly, a little soured at the actual hurt swimming in her eyes. He lowered his eyes back to the comic as he sauntered to the entrance. "C'mon, let's get back to Mister Mascara and his goons."

The muffled noise told him Emerald was trying to smother a snort. His jagged smirk turned soft.

The door swung open, and his fingers hooked around the handle as he walked into the outdoors and held it. Halted footsteps approached the door. Mercury groaned.

"Oh no, my arm, it's falling off. I can't hold it much longer." The monotone droning made it obvious.

"Don't be a drama queen," Emerald scoffed, but strutted confidently through the door with a twinkle in her eye. "Why are you reading that, anyway?"

"I like the pictures." He raised a brow as the two dumbass superheroes on the page faced off against a weird bear guy calling himself Mogar. The hell was the creator smoking? "You know the address?"

"Yeah, same place as before. This way." Emerald crooked her thumb to the left, and they began to walk down the deserted street.

The colorful pages were a nice relief from the overly dull streets of Vale. Really, he would have thought they would spruce the place up a bit for the Vytal Festival, though he supposed most of the budget went into the flying monstrosity that was currently just hovering for no real purpose. So much wasted on so little.

The little show of technological prowess didn't change the fact that Vale reeked of plainness, plainness and… roses? Wait a minute.

"Uh… Merc?" Emerald pointed, with palpable uncertainty, to the red mass growing larger in front of them.

Mercury snapped his comic closed as the mass grew larger, closer, at such speed his eyes could barely track. Not even thinking to use his semblance at his disposal, he kicked out just as it got near. He grinned, knowing he hit his target, and spun to knock the target down. Red rose petals flew around him at the impact. His bloodthirsty smirk grew on his face as the red ball began to take form in a cloaked person.

"What the— Mercury Black!"

Mercury jumped at Emerald's raging scream, the smirk morphing into a ugly scowl. "What, Emerald?!"

"What is wrong with you!? You just assaulted a child!" Then, without receiving an answer, she ran to the mass on the sidewalk, kneeling at the person's side. His scowl vanished as a frilly skirt and a girlish owwie came from the lump on the ground.

He just kicked a little girl in the stomach. Wonderful.

"Are you okay?" Genuine concern drenched Emerald's words as she grasped the young girl's shoulders and pulled her into a sitting position. The girl's face was obscured by choppy black and red hair that hung at uneven angles, what little skin he could see pale as moonlight. "I'm sorry for my idiot friend here."

The pure malice in her eyes was very real and mildly (very) terrifying.

Mercury cleared his throat, hands shoved into his pockets as he took a few small steps toward the girl. "Uh, yeah, I'm uh…" He stopped for a moment as the girl lifted her face, revealing her soft features. Button nose, thin but sculpted brows, and doe-like eyes. But her eyes… they were shining, metallic, a liquid pool of silver. He swallowed his surprise while keeping an air of neutrality. While the girl's silver eyes swept across his face carefully, he coughed yet again. "Sorry, about that. Instinct."

Emerald's flat look told him she wasn't impressed.

The girl began to smile though. "Oh, th-that's okay! I would be pretty freaked too if something came my way as fast as… well, me!" She went to stand, but clutched her stomach as she rocked back, eyes scrunched closed. "Phew, you've got a good kick."

"Uh… yeah." Mercury pursed his lips as Emerald flicked her eyes between the two in a pointed order, to which he was loath to follow but did anyway. He crouched down and held out his palms. "Here. Let me."

The girl opened her eyes to see his offered hands. Sheepishly, she extended her arms out only for Mercury to grasp just below her elbows and lift her up, to which she eeped with a dusty pink blush powdered on her face. "Th-Thanks."

She weighed about as much as a stack of papers. He smiled thinly. "My pleasure. Again, sorry for uh… kicking you. Reflex."

"You said that," Emerald grumbled. Mercury threw a glare her way before refocusing on the girl.

"Again, it's okay." She sent a blindingly, disgustingly bright smile at him. Instead of his trademark scowl wrenching itself onto his face, he managed a slight smile back. "I'm just glad you didn't think to actually take a shot. Who knows what type of dust you've got loaded in those!"

Mercury's brows furrowed. "Y—… You can tell—"

The girl giggled. "Heh, yeah. I'm a weapons guru. While no weapon can replace my baby Crescent Rose, I can't help but appreciate other people's designs. Oh, and I saw the firing chamber in your boot before it, uh, hit me in the stomach."

He didn't think it was possible, but she blushed a deeper crimson. His mind blanked. What did he say to that?

"So… I'm sorry, are you training at an academy?" Emerald asked, her eyes now curious instead of concerned. "It's just… you look kinda young to be a huntress. No offense."

The spark of frustration he saw in her eyes told him she did take offense before it vanished and a beaming grin lit up her features. "Oh, I am! I, uh, well I caught Professor Ozpin's attention and he bumped me forward two years so I could attend Beacon."

"So, you're fifteen?" Emerald blanched. At the same time, Mercury heard her voice echo in his ears with the red eyed woman's semblance. ::Didn't Torchwick have trouble with a kid earlier? Called her Red, or something?::

His slight, one shoulder shrug was his answer.

"Mhm. Oh, I'm so sorry, I-I didn't introduce myself! I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose. It's nice to meet you both!" The girl, Ruby, said with a big grin.

"I'm Emerald Sustrai, and this is Mercury Black." She gestured with some disdain toward him. "What's got you in such a rush?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just doing a little shopping for one of my teammates before I have to run back for some library time!" Ruby bounced on the balls of her feet. "She's been running herself dry lately, and I wanted to cheer her up!"

"That's nice of you," Emerald said with a plastic smile. "Got any ideas?"

"Oh, uh, well— she likes books! She's been pretty invested in one, so I'm gonna see if there's a sequel I can get for her or something." Ruby shrugged. "Isn't Tukson's around here somewhere?"

Mercury almost laughed at the expression Emerald pulled after that, with her mouth trying so hard to stay in a smile while her eye twitched. He cleared his throat.

"Sure is. It's actually right over there."

Emerald gawked at him while Ruby looked ecstatic.

"Oh, thanks! Uhm." She suddenly looked sheepish. She clasped her hands together and twisted her body to swish her skirt around a bit. "You don't happen to know if Ninja's of Love has a sequel… do you?"

Mercury coughed a laugh before he could stop himself at the question. What in the world was her teammate reading?! At Ruby's inquisitive look, he quickly wiped the smirk from his face and pretended to cough into his fist a few more times.

"Sorry. Allergies. Uh, yeah, I can help you out. C'mon, lets see if Tukson has anything."

At that, he grabbed Ruby's shoulder and pushed her forward a bit, and promptly ignored the death glare Emerald was giving him.

::What are you doing, you idiot!?:: Her voice rang in his ears.

He merely waved her off with a hand out of Ruby's sight, and kept his attention on the young girl. Might as well start gathering intel now. "So, tell me about your team."

Ruby beamed at the question. "We're Team RWBY! My partner is Weiss, and my big sister, Yang, is on the team too! Oh, and there's Yang's partner, Blake, who I'm getting this book for! I was made team leader."

"Accepted early and made team leader, huh?"

"Ah, well, yeah, but really it's, uh, well anyway!" Ruby's face lit up with a blush that spread from cheek to cheek. "W-What about you? Are you one of the transfer students? I-I haven't seen you around Beacon."

"Transfer students. Em and I are on a team."

"We're just taking in Vale before attending classes," Emerald piped up from behind them.

"Oh, what's your team name?"

Mercury blanched. "Uh—"

"CMSN (Crimson)," Emerald supplied quickly. "Mercury and I are partners."

"Cool! It's always nice to see team partners together!" Ruby exclaimed. They were nearing the store. "When my team first formed, we didn't exactly get along, which made me worry about other teams."

"Why's that?" Mercury pried.

"Well— I, uhm, I don't really know. I-I tried to be friends with Weiss, but whatever I did was always wrong somehow." Ruby looked down at her feet in disdain. "And Blake didn't talk to anyone, which doesn't sit well for Yang, who's the most social person I know."

Mercury edged forward and opened the door for the two ladies, playing the part of the gentleman. Ruby smiled shyly and rushed out a thank you while Emerald merely stormed in with her fingers already pressed to her temple, ready to use her semblance if necessary.

"So, how did you all get along eventually?" Just keep her talking, Mercury thought. He stepped in the store and let the door swing closed behind him, accompanied by the chime of the cheap bell.

He quickly redirected Ruby to the left side of the store with a hand on the small of her back when she seemed primed to head for the bell on the counter that Emerald rang to lure Tukson out. Her rosy (ha) face looked plenty flustered as he pushed her towards the adult section.

"Oh, well— I don't really know. I fell asleep studying one night and woke up to Weiss smiling at me with a mug of coffee in her hands. As for Blake, we, uhm, well—" her face scrunched up. "We – bonded – over something. It uh, it involved a lot of spent dust cartilages."

Mercury turned away from her and pulled a few books from the shelf. He began skimming their summaries. "Well that didn't sound ominous at all."

"W-We didn't do anything bad!" Ruby insisted. Mercury used all his willpower to keep from chuckling. It was amusing, watching her get all flustered over a simple comment. "It's, it's complicated."

He slid all but one book back on the shelf and turned to the young girl, deciding to place all his attention on her. "How so?" He did his best to look concerned. "It didn't have to do with that Torchwick guy, did it?"

Bingo. Her eyes went as wide as balloons and she almost jumped out of her own skin. "I– no, of course not!"

"It's just, you mentioned dust, and he kind of is big news right now—"

"R-Really, it's nothing like that!" She stuttered. "We— we're just huntresses-in-training, that's too high level a job!"

Mercury lifted his eyes to Emerald, who stood in the center of the room. The sympathy she had for Little Red couldn't be found now, and her crimson stare held an edge that Mercury knew meant she was not only suspicious, but annoyed. He quickly diverted his attention back to Ruby.

"Hey, I wasn't accusing you of anything. Or judging. If you did stand up to him, I'd be pretty impressed. But hey, not like you could share that info anyway, with all that red tape." Mercury put on his most charming smile, and winked at the silver eyed student. She blinked owlishly in response, and had a look of confusion, but also tentative gratitude laced in her expression. "Anyway, I think this one will work for your friend." He pushed the novel into her hands. "It's not a sequel, but I think it'll suit her interests."

"Oh. Thank you. I really appreciate you helping me." Ruby eyed Mercury with some contemplation. "And for… understanding." Ha! Basically a confession right there. "And hey, if you two want a tour of Beacon, feel free to seek me out!"

"Thank you, that's really kind of you," Emerald spoke from her spot in the center of the store. "I suppose we should be going now though. We have to meet up with the rest of our team."

"Oh, okay! I should probably get going too… Yang always gets antsy if I disappear for too long." Ruby blinked away her dazed look. "Um, where is Tukson so I can pay for this…?"

Mercury darted his gaze to Emerald. She rolled her eyes, but centered her focus on Ruby to create more hallucinations.

"Oh, hi! I didn't, uh, see you there, heh." Ruby stared at thin air. "Um, how much for— huh?…Really? Are you sure? I feel odd not paying you— oh, that's so nice of you!" Ruby clutched the book to her chest. "Thank you, sir!"

Mercury, not knowing what the hell Ruby was seeing, stared helplessly at Emerald, who smirked in return. She began to stride to the entrance, and held open the door for Ruby and Mercury. "Thanks, Tukson!" She called into the back of the store with a hint of mockery.

Ruby practically bounced out of the store with Mercury close behind, one hand still clutching his comic and the other in his pants pocket. As the door jangled closed behind him and Emerald, Ruby turned and beamed another smile at them.

"He was so nice! I didn't even know that students got their first book free!"

Mercury rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. Me neither."

"Well, anyway, nice meeting you two! Don't be strangers!"

At that, the girl vanished into a swirl of rose petals. Emerald immediately made an aggravated sigh once Ruby was out of sight. "That girl was way too peppy."

Mercury shrugged. "She wasn't that bad. Besides, I got myself a friend at Beacon."

"You just didn't mind it because you liked getting her flustered."

Mercury smirked as he waggled his eyebrows. "Is Emerald getting a little jealous?"

Emerald made a disgusted look and turned on her heel. "Let's just go. If Cinder finds out we're late she'll have our heads."

"Oh look, she sent the kids again. This is turning out just like the divorce…"

Mercury felt his annoyance zoom up to the very top level as his head was trapped between Torchwick's arm and side and a gloved hand fell across his eyes. The muscles in his shoulders tensed up at the contact until they were the weight of bowling balls on either side of him. Emerald made a disgusted noise to his left. Torchwick released them a moment later, walking forward.

Emerald huffed. "Spare us the thought of you procreating."

"That was a joke," Torchwick droned, holding a piece of paper between his fingers. "And this just might tell me where you two have been all day."

"What?" Emerald patted her pockets. "Uh—"

"I'm a professional criminal, sweetheart- pay attention, maybe you'll learn something…" Torchwick replied in one breath, taking an exaggerated pause to read the contents of the slip of paper. Mercury felt a smirk inch across his face as Torchwick cast an annoyed glance at them. "Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald leant forward and pointed at him with a coy smile. Mercury kept his gaze trained on the joke of a criminal in front of him, holding in his remark with all his willpower.

"Yeah, I would. Now where have you been all day?"

Mercury found himself stepping forward and throwing an arm out. "Cleaning up your problems… one of them, at least."

Torchwick looked like he wanted to lash out at him badly, but instead he kept his anger in - barely, since Mercury could hear the restraint in his voice - and said, "I had that under control."

He retorted quickly, "Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise."

"Listen ya little punk," Torchwick took a menacing step forward. Mercury rocked back on his heel with a disinterested look, daring the ginger to make a move. "If it were up to me I'd take both you and your street rat friend here, and I would—"

"Do what, Roman?"

The silky voice echoed off the warehouse walls and automatically brought a wide smile to both Mercury and Emerald's faces, while the color drained from Roman's own. Mercury turned and tilted his head upwards to see the queen herself in her tantalizing red dress and sequined gold shoulders glittering in the dim lighting. Her glass heels clinked on the ground as she took slow strides forward, standing with regal poise as the elevator descended.

Torchwick made a nervous little chuckle. "Ahaha, I'd uh...not kill them?"

"Cinder!" Emerald exclaimed with excitement, walking towards the woman with her arms up. Mercury nearly shook his head at his partner's desperate need for the boss's attention, and merely focused on the carefully contained wrath of Cinder Fall.

"I thought I made it clear that you were to eliminate the would-be runaway?" Cinder began her cutting assault as she made long strides, passing Emerald without even a glance. Emerald tried to hide her disappointment as Cinder passed and put down her hands. Mercury stepped to her side and bumped her shoulder lightly, only to receive a subtle elbow digging between his ribs. He grimaced.

"I was going to!"

"He was going to escape to Vacuo!" Emerald took the chance to gain Cinder's attention, looking to Mercury as she spread her arms. "Mercury and I decided it upon ourselves to go and kill the rat."

Mercury frowned. "I think he was some sort of cat actually."

"What?" Emerald huffed a silent laugh as she humored his offhand comment. "Like a puma?"

"Yeah, there ya go."

"Quiet."

Mercury and Emerald both shot their attention to the queen and she held their eyes with her scorching gaze. "Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"

Torchwick was making a laughing face as Cinder scolded them which prodded at the tension in his shoulders that wouldn't go away thanks to the ginger. Mercury frowned harshly at the criminal, a glare in his eyes as Cinder was focused on Emerald, who was trying to form a response, "I just thought—"

"Don't think. Obey."

Mercury couldn't stand Roman's mocking gestures from behind Cinder any longer, and he shrugged as he commented, "Well, I made a friend out of it, so that's something."

Silence erupted from the small meeting and Emerald sent him a look that promised death. Torchwick had his mouth half open and his cane hanging limply in his hand, giving him a look that was the equivalent to are you serious, while Cinder narrowed her golden eyes at him.

"I would hope that you would know not to waste my time with this piece of information, Mercury."

"It's not a waste, ma'am. This friend actually happens to be a huntress in training at Beacon academy, and I believe Mister Professional Criminal over there is acquainted with her."

"What are you talking about?" Torchwick growled.

Mercury grinned. "Does the name Ruby ring a bell?"

"I don't usually ask for the name of someone who is trying to kill me, so you may want to reword that question."

Mercury crossed his arms. "Well how about a short girl with silver eyes and a huge red cloak?"

Torchwick threw his upper body back and groaned dramatically. He threw out one arm and flung his hand upward. "Oh, but of course! Out of all the huntresses you just had to run into Red!"

Cinder frowned delicately, manicured hand cupped beneath her chin. "That sounds like the girl that was present with that blonde huntress at From Dust Till Dawn, is it not?"

"Yes, that would be Red." Torchwick shook his head as he continued, "The little pest foiled a robbery, and later her friends attacked me when I was out moving dust."

"It would seem then that something useful can be scrounged up from this disobedience." Cinder turned back to Mercury. "With what Roman is saying, then Ruby is a threat to our plan. A rather small threat, but a threat nonetheless. You say that you have gained her friendship, Mercury?"

"Yeah. She tried to hold back some information from me, but even then, she isn't the best at keeping everything in, so she's a good source of information."

"Very well. Monitor her actions Mercury, and try to become a part of her inner circle of friends if possible. Report anything of interest to me at once. The rest of the plan is unchanged."

The color drained from Mercury's face. He heard himself speaking before he could stop the spill of words. "Wait. Wouldn't Emerald be more suited for that?"

Cinder's molten eyes dimmed as she stared back. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, she's a people person." He spied the look of incredulity on Emerald's face. "Good at faking it, anyway."

"And you're not." Cinder looked unamused. He pushed down the itch to turn his eyes away.

"Well-"

"Didn't you say you made a friend, Mercury?" Torchwick drawled with a smirk. Mercury narrowed his eyes as the ginger twirled his cane idly. "Seems like you've got it down, too."

Mercury sneered. "Yeah? I also kicked her in the stomach so it might've evened out-"

"Enough!" Cinder snapped. Her dim eyes crackled into a roaring fire. "Mercury, infiltrating Ruby's friend group is now your priority. If at any point you think yourself incapable-" Mercury winced as she spat the word with a malicious curl of her tongue. "-then you will go to Emerald for advice. My decision is final. And as for you-" She whirled around to face Torchwick. "I thought you were supposed to deal with the would-be runaway?"

Cinder's cutting assault faded away. Mercury suddenly didn't feel all too happy with how this turned out. Socializing is not Mercury's mojo, and he usually left that requirement to Emerald. He was more comfortable in the form of a gun, a weapon to be pointed in a direction. But since Cinder asked him specifically, he had to obey.

This wasn't going to end well.