Ruby looked out on the dance floor from the second floor's balcony. Even though she knew from the Beacon dance that strobe lights made picking particular faces out of a crowd challenging, Ruby expected to see Yang. A finger tapped her shoulder.
Ruby turned around and saw a woman behind her, jabbing a thumb in a customer's direction. He waved his hand eagerly in the air, garnering the attention of not only the waitresses but also the customers around him. The people at his table seemed particularly annoyed with him.
Ruby took a deep breath and approached the table, a notepad in her hand. As she came closer, he took the menu from the middle of the table and began reading over the choices, a frown beginning to mar his features. When he finally decided, he slurred, "I'll have whatever your most expensive scotch is." Across the table, one of his friends snickered—did he know how much that costed?
Ruby almost wanted to ask, "Are you sure? That's really expensive," but she remembered the one of the rules Yang gave her: no talking. Instead, she hastily scrawled down the order on her notepad and stumbled off.
She quickly made way for the stairs, examining the note on her paper. Her hand must have been shaking terribly—the note was poorly written and hardly legible. Ruby probably should have stopped to write it again, but she wanted to draw as little attention as possible.
Ruby reached the ground floor, packed with people. As she pushed through the crowd, Ruby wondered how she would make her way back upstairs without spilling alcohol on everyone. At the bar, a man in a suit was retrieving a bottle on the second shelf from the top. She made her way behind the bar as he came down, bottle in hand. When she saw his face, Ruby realized with a start that he looked eerily similar to Torchwick's men in From Dust Till Dawn a while back, but then she remembered that Yang investigated this place a month ago for that exact reason. Yang saw a connection between Torchwick and these guys' boss, but the first time she talked to him, she thought he was holding back, so she decided "third time's a charm!" Ruby decided not to ask Yang what she meant by "third time."
The man in the suit looked at her with a confused expression until she raised the paper to his face. He pushed his glasses further down his nose and squinted at it, nodding at her when he deciphered her lousy handwriting. He moved the ladder to the far side of the wall and climbed only two rungs to reach a boxy, glass decanter filled with brown liquid. He poured a glass halfway and handed the drink to Ruby in an outstretched hand. Carefully, she took it from him, picking up a napkin on her way out of the bar.
For a brief moment, standing behind the bar, Ruby held the napkin in her palm and looked at it. The design looked like an orange and red gradient, but if Ruby looked closer, she could see that it was just two colors very close in hue to each other, seemingly the same color. Ruby sighed and stepped out from behind the counter.
Ruby wove carefully through people, yelling "Excuse me!" even though she knew no one could hear her. She kept her gaze trained on the drink in her hands, trying like crazy not to spill it. Ruby felt relieved when she reached the stairs.
Ruby hustled to her customer's table and set the napkin down, followed by the drink. As she turned away, Ruby caught a glimpse of the man's face. His face was contorted with what can only be identified as irritated suspicion, but why?
Ruby remembered her sister telling her that the government had no idea that this establishment even existed, so it naturally became the perfect place for anybody who wanted to avoid the law.
Does that mean she just served a criminal?
Her heart began beating at an irrationally faster pace, urging Ruby to find someplace safe. Without thinking too much about her choices, she made way for the bathroom, hoping to settle the nauseating wave of panic that washed over her. Ruby knew that she walked into the lion's den, but she forgot that it meant interacting with them. Yang's plan was such a stupid idea!
Ruby pressed her hands against the door, haphazardly pushing it out of her way, and fumbled for the scroll in her jacket pocket. After turning it on, she noticed that she had gotten a text from Yang.
"I can't find Junior. Have you seen him on the top floor?"
Ruby unlocked her scroll and typed up her message: "I don't even know what he looks like."
Ruby turned off her phone and set it face down on the counter, looking at her own reflection. At first glance, she didn't recognize anything about herself…except for her silver eyes. Ruby is unique in that way: no one else had the light, grey tones in their eyes like she did. Unfortunately, that meant that without a doubt, people could pick her out of a lineup even if she wasn't wearing any of her signature red identifiers like her cape or her scythe. Ruby could only pray that her enemies latched onto the things she wore rather than the color of her eyes or the shape of her haircut.
The thought of walking back outside made her sick. Too sick.
Yang sent Ruby a picture of Junior's face. It was blurry, but it was just clear enough to make out the features of his face. Looking at Yang's photo snapped back the memory of the man snickering at his friend for ordering whatever had the highest price. If he was the club owner, that he knew just how much it would cost him made sense.
Ruby quickly responded. "I saw him on the second floor in one of the booths."
Yang responded only seconds later. "Who was he with?"
"I don't know. I didn't recognize them."
"Take a picture."
"Yang, are you insane? I'm surrounded by criminals!"
"Just do it discreetly. You'll be fine."
Ruby wanted to text back, but she grumbled to herself, knowing that Yang would keep pressing until she finally took the photo even though she strongly advised against it. Ruby growled under her breath as she hastily walked out of the bathroom.
Ruby realized how anxious she was the moment she stepped out of the bathroom. She was still carrying the notepad she pilfered from the kitchen, but she carried her scroll in her other hand. If anybody from the underworld saw her taking a photo of the people up here, odds are that they'd pitch a fit, and the fact that most of them would do something about it makes things even more perilous. Ruby cursed herself for thinking too much.
Ruby placed her scroll and her notepad in one hand, adjusting her grip so that the camera stuck out over the edge of the paper. The result was mildly discreet, but pointing a notepad at someone hardly seemed like a rational thing to do. Plus, if the head of the bar was talking with someone, Ruby could expect them to be the real deal, meaning the flash better be off when she takes the photo.
Ruby drew in a shaky breath and walked around to the booth she remembered him sitting in. She raised her scroll halfway, but she stopped when she saw that the booth was empty—Junior was gone along with anyone he was with. Or maybe not. Ruby lowered her head and travelled down the stairs as quickly as she could.
She texted Yang: "Junior's gone. He's not at the booth anymore, and neither is whoever was with him."
Ruby prepared herself to act and look around for him, but Yang sent her another text. "We have to go. Now."
Ruby came down to the bottom step, focusing her attention on the screen. She started to type, "What happened? Did Junior see—" but she couldn't finish her text because she walked right into someone's back. She stumbled back, tripping on the wedges and falling backward. Ruby's scroll slipped out of her hand as her body made contact with the floor.
The man she bumped into turned around and silently offered his hand. She took it gingerly, keeping her eyes on her feet to make sure she wouldn't fall again. Ruby quickly muttered, "Thanks." Embarrassed, she moved away from him quickly, keeping her head down. His voice called her back.
"Wait!"
Ruby got ready to bolt, but he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. He was holding her scroll in his hand. "You dropped this."
Ruby couldn't stop herself—she looked up. Though dim, the light coming from her phone illuminated the edges of his face. Ruby quickly snatched her scroll from his hand and sped off onto the dance floor. She pushed aside crowds and crowds of people, suddenly spurred on by adrenaline and unfortunately, her semblance. When she felt she had enough cover, she deleted the message she typed up earlier, replacing it with another.
"Roman Torchwick is here."
