It was Roman who broke the silence. "Nice place."

Neo set her glass down on the granite countertop. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Police raid tore your old apartment to pieces. I had already put a down payment on this place back when you were in prison.

"You knew my old apartment would get checked out?" asked Roman.

I think they just figured you'd need somewhere to crash. It was just a matter of time before they narrowed it down.

"So this is my place?" Roman eye caught the little details, the small touches of Neo's personal style evident in the furniture selection and the color scheme.

No, it's mine. Well, legally.

"Don't you think that's a bad idea? I mean, you don't have a legit identity."

It's not the one I was born with—that one's scrubbed. But you know that I can change my appearance at a moment's notice, and there won't be any questions asked because this one doesn't have a criminal record.

"I understand. But what if police come knocking on the door one day?"

Neo shrugged her shoulders. No one has a reason to open up a case on me, but if they did, it'd be because you smiled for the cameras all the way from your latest heist to here.

Roman contemplated the situation. He'd have to do a tactical evaluation of the area and find a quiet route with no closed-circuit security cameras. Then he'd have to worry about his appearance. He'd need a new wardrobe, a new haircut, and a new everything, basically. He can't drive or risk being pulled over by a cop. He'd have to go everywhere on foot. That shouldn't be a problem; everyone uses the subway. Anonymity shouldn't be a problem as long as he can keep a low profile.

"Neo," Roman started.

She glanced up in response.

"Red had your ring when she came to find me."

Neo looked away.

"I have one question," said Roman. "Why?"

Neo shifted uncomfortably, turning away to face the television. A news report was covering the investigation on last night's attempted robbery. Forensic analysis placed Roman at the scene, but given the amount of blood that was found there, detectives believe that he had an unidentified accomplice to get him out.

Red.

"Neo, I already asked her, and she didn't give anything up."

That's because I told her not to say anything.

Roman groaned. "And why would you do that?"

Trust me, I had my reasons.

"Bullshit," Roman laughed, "You've never had a reason to keep anything from me. That relationship was built on trust, which you're not doing right now. What kind of conspiracy shit is going on?"

It's not my secret to tell. It's hers.

Roman rolled his eyes. "And how's that?"

She came to me and told me that she wanted to tell you. That's how I found out. When I realized what was going on, I talked her down from it.

That's weird. "Why? What's the big deal?"

It wouldn't be unlike you to do something rash.

"Like what?" How would Roman react in haste to anything she had to say?

It's a little surprising, and I know how you don't like surprises. My first instinct was that you would probably just grab a sidearm and kill her, but then I realized you might have opted for torture.

Roman squinted. "I would hold a Beacon student who got in after interrupting one of my robberies captive during school hours to torture her for what, exactly?"

How do you even know that?

"I wasn't able to figure out how a fifteen-year-old stopped an armed robbery all by herself."

Neo cocked her head to the side. Good point.

"What are you basing these assumptions on? If I did anything to her, I'd open, set up, and close the case on her missing person report. Everything's there: a lack of an alibi, motive, evidence…"

And her fingerprints on the door.

Roman faltered. "What door?"

The door she dragged your body through.

He shook his head and leaned against the wall. Neo knew how deep she could cut by lying to him. "Neo, what the hell is going on?"

What do you mean?

"What do you expect to get from lying to me?"

I expect you to get closure.


Ruby sat curled up on her bed, still wearing the clothes she was wearing the past two nights. It had been well over a day since it happened. Ruby wondered if she would be the so-called accomplice they mentioned on the news.

The entire ordeal kept Ruby up at night. The questions, the truth, the secrets, the lies. Everything that happened in the past week probably would have given Ruby a sense of clarity if it didn't come with asterisks and strings attached. Ruby had no idea how to deal with it. With each answer she gets to one of her questions, she suddenly stumbles into ten more. One step closer to the truth, ten steps back. She had no idea what was going on, and the thing that scared her the most was Neo's dark omen:

"It will be the last thing you do."


To midblooder: thanks for the laugh omfg

To cipher111996: gracias (x3)

To SHMANDER: Just wait 'til it hits the fan

To Zero Sukio: Thank you :3 Bitches like me don't go down easy

BTW, this is a major FYI: I have made a decision regarding the future of this work. It will be completely T-rated. Any M-rated content will be written separately from this specific story to allow people to choose whether or not they will read it depending on their own personal preferences. And yes, it will be in the AU that this story is written in. Like all M-rated content on this god-forsaken website, these separate pieces will be non-essential to the plot, so don't worry if you want to skip over it.