Ruby braced herself against the bathroom counter. She got off at the wrong stop thanks to focusing too much on what happened at Torchwick's place. All she has ever wanted since that day was to meet him, the guy with the scar underneath his right eye. Today, no more than one hour ago, she finally got her wish. But she wasn't brave enough to tell him why she cared so much. She choked, she ran out without saying another word, and he didn't do a single thing to stop her. That door is probably closed forever, locked tight with the ugly secret that she kept.

She can't do this on her own.

Ruby snatched her phone out of her pocket and dialed in Yang's number, ignoring the long list of missed calls in her notifications. She started to shake again, feeling tears prick the back of her eyes. The call went to voicemail. Right, Yang was probably in class right now. "Yang," Ruby stuttered, "I need to talk to you." She quickly pressed end call and wiped the tears from her sticky cheeks.

She stood up and ascertained her reflection. Her mascara ran down her cheeks, and her red eyes puffed out. At least she made it out of the door before she let herself start crying. Get a grip. Now.

Well, she wasn't going to run into anyone she knew. She was too far away from the major cities in Vale. Actually, she didn't know what she was doing this far away from Beacon. Oh please. You know why you're here. Ruby steeled herself with a deep breath before she turned away from the mirror and shouldered open the door, letting the cool air blast her in the face. Train stations always regulate their air conditioning at hauntingly cool temperatures, and Ruby, who used the metro all the time when she was younger, was used to the feeling, but the sensation ripped shivers into her skin.

This is the first time she's visited this particular train station in six years. Before she went to Signal, her family lived pretty close to this station. But then they moved, and Ruby had absolutely no reason to return to this wretched place until today, a day on which Ruby felt it calling to her like a voice in her head drawing out the masochistic child within her.

Ruby didn't regret it. She didn't regret any of it.


Ruby slid quietly through the door to her dorm room, shutting it as noiselessly as possible behind her.

"Ruby!"

Ruby jolted at the sudden interjection; she thought she was alone. Nope.

"Where were you?" she shouted. "We were worried about what might have happened to you!"

Ruby slowly turned around. Yang's anger visibly dissipated into concern when she took notice of the black streaks on her sister's face.

"Ruby, what happened? It's almost dinnertime."

Ruby replayed the day's events in her head. The memories on their own punched her in the gut—talking about them would just make them more real, more painful.

"Is this about Torchwick?" Yang guessed.

Ruby's eyes snapped back to her. "How did you know?"

"You told me when you were on pain medication," Yang explained. "He had a scar shaped exactly like the cuts on that boy's face. That's what you told me, at least."

Ruby nodded.

"Wait a second, were you at his place all day? Oh God, please don't tell me that you two were—"

"No!" exclaimed Ruby. "Holy crap, you're the second person who suggested that today!"

"Wait so you were with Torchwick this morning?"

"Yes," Ruby admitted, "but—"

"And you're telling me that you didn't have sex with—"

"Yes, yes, yes! I'm only fifteen years old for crying out loud. Let's just change the subject," Ruby interjected.

"Age of consent is sixteen here, and your birthday is in, like, a month, so maybe you—"

"OH MY GOD CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT IT," Ruby shouted. Oh crap, people can hear anything through these walls.

"You didn't go there to do that?"

"Torchwick has tried to kill me on three separate occasions. No, I did not." Ruby collapsed on Weiss's bed.

Yang pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. "So what happened?"

Ruby sighed. What could she tell her about? How she panicked when he asked about why she helped him? The things she found out this morning? Like where he lives?

"How about we start with the fact that your shirt is covered in blood?"

Ruby looked down. As much blood there was on the front, Ruby knew there was more on the back. He lost that much blood…maybe that's why he let her leave. He was too weak to do anything else.

"Ruby, whose blood is that?"

"Torchwick's." Ruby pulled off her hoodie and threw it to the ground. She opened a dresser door and noticed the glint of Neo's ring on her finger. She forgot to give it back. That's going to come around to bite her one day.

"Holy shit, what happened?" Yang asked.

"I can't really talk about it," Ruby whispered.

"Why not?" Yang said, lowering her voice to match Ruby's tone.

"I'm pretty sure I interrupted a robbery in progress. Was the East Ordinance Bank on the news this morning?"

"Yes. All of their safety deposit boxes were in the kitchen of an empty restaurant next door," Yang pondered. "Torchwick was involved?"

Ruby nodded.

Yang furrowed her brows. "That wasn't in the news report this morning. I don't think they placed him at the scene."

"What do you mean? His blood went all over the place."

"That's my point," Yang affirmed, gesturing with her index finger. "It'll be there tomorrow. They're probably going to have the lab tests expedited."

Ruby's stomach dropped. "Oh crap, I was at the scene."

"Relax, it's his blood, right?"

"Yeah, but my fingerprints are on the door! I could get summoned for questioning!" Ruby pressed the back of her hand to her forehead.

"They'll brush you off as an innocent bystander or something. It's fine, chill out," Yang assured.

"This is the second time I showed up at one of his robberies. Don't you think that looks suspicious? The only reason I was able to get out of it is because Professor Ozpin himself pardoned me. In person."

Yang paused. "Oh shit. Okay, you gotta tell me what happened."

Ruby started pacing back and forth. "I can't."

"What? Why not?" Yang asked.

"The reason I was there," Ruby declared, exasperated to the point of exhaustion.

"What is it?" Yang asked.

Ruby pictured Yang talking about how she would totally get Neo the next time she saw her. Yang would immediately shut her down. She needs answers. Ruby shook her head.

"Look, Ruby." Yang stopped Ruby, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to look her in the eye. "I can help, but I have to know everything."

"You'd just go tell Weiss and Blake!"

"People are going to find out anyways. If you get called in for questioning, they're gonna have a lot of questions that I won't be able to help you with. Besides, I'm not going to tell them. You are."

"I was just walking by, and—"

"Stop it. The robbery took place at four in the morning." Yang let go of Ruby. "You don't have to tell me what happened, but I won't be able to cover for you if you don't."


Yeah sooooooooooo

I won't respond to all of the reviews, but I will say thank you! Seriously, they make my day. I loved reading every single one of them :) As for the review on Roman possibly being an informant... you'll find out in Chapter 18 ;)

Thank you so much for reading and sticking around for this long! I'm so thankful that you guys take time out of your day to read my shit. I appreciate each and every one of you! (Especially because I'm lousy at updating on a consistent basis)