A week later Ruby found herself sitting with her hands between her legs, fingers fiddling with the stuffing through a hole in the faux leather of the bench as she swung her legs and examined the tacky carpeting outside the changing room of the dress shop she and Weiss were currently paroosing. "Weiss! Hurry up! We haven't got all day, just pick one already!" Weiss sighed dramatically as she walked out of the small changing room and twirled in front of Ruby. "What do you think?" "It looks great on you. Everything you wear looks great on you," great was an understatement. Weiss was wearing an elegant navy blue dress that brought out the heiress' polar white skin tone and silver hair. It reached just above her knees, showing off an attractive but not inappropriate amount of leg. The neckline too was modest but showed off enough collarbone to make Ruby's mouth water, "just like the other twenty -eight dresses you tried on from those four other stores."

Weiss turned quickly to hide her blush from the younger girl and headed back into the change room to take off the dress so she could pay for it. "I would have thought that someone in your...profession would understand the importance of looking good," she said from behind the door of the change room as she worked her way out of the dress and back into her regular clothes.

"Not as important as you think," Ruby replied, getting up from the uncomfortable bench that had served as her fifth observation deck of the day. She hadn't been lying when she said Weiss looked great in everything she chose. Of course her partner simply took it as Ruby trying to get out of there as fast as possible, which was partly true. The only good thing that came from today was that Ruby was given the opportunity to ogle at the beautiful heiress all day. Sure she came off as uptight and mean, but beneath it all Ruby knew that the girl had a softer side, and she was determined to bring it out. Plus, holy hell, was she attractive.

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you are so cocky that you think you could just waltz into that party dressed as some sort of hoodlum, in that ratty hoodie of yours, jeans and a pair of converse and manage to convince the head of the New York branch of one of the biggest engineering firms in the country that you are a world-class lawyer who can help him cover up the fact that his firm has been cutting corners on everything from bridges to jumbo-jets, buying counterfeit parts from countries where they could be produced at a much cheaper rate."

"N-no," Ruby stammered. How did this girl have that sort of effect on her? Sure she'd been attracted to the people she'd worked with before. Hell, she'd been attracted to her marks before too. But whenever that happened she would just put up a facade of confidence, hide behind the mask of one of her aliases and keep her distance. But something about the woman before her with her harsh stare and a no nonsense attitude that covered something bigger made Ruby unable to simply lie and pretend to be someone else, "I just meant that clothes aren't the most important thing when it comes to a con- here let me."

By now they were standing at cash ready to pay for Weiss's dress. The cashier rang it up and Ruby handed her a credit card. The woman swiped it and handed it back to Ruby, "would you like the dress to be sent to your place ma'am?" She asked.

"Yes, please. If you could just send it to this address, that would be lovely," Ruby said before giving the woman a smile that was proper and charming, conveying an air of sophistication, despite what she was wearing, that no lie could have.

The girls walked out of the store and Ruby turned to Weiss and smiled before saying, "see?" She then stood straighter with her shoulders back and her nose a little higher in the air in her own imitation of Weiss. "I don't think I'll have a problem fitting in."

She snickered as Weiss gawked at her then took the wallet out of her back pocket, removed any money inside and threw it in the nearest trash can.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked.

"Relax, I took it from that guy in the suit who was following us about three stores back."

"We were being followed?" Ruby saw a shadow of fear pass through the older girl's icy blue irises before they hardened into a look of determination. "I take it that was why you dragged me across town before doubling back here?"

"Yup." Ruby nodded, before fully absorbing what the white-haired girl before her was implying. "Wait-dragged you? I'm not the one who needed to go to five different stores before picking a dress! I'm also not the one who sticks out like a sore thumb wherever she goes."

"That's because unlike some people I have a sense of style and know how to dress for an occasion."

"I know how to dress!"

"That has yet to be proven."

"Just 'cause I don't need to spend six and half hours searching half of New York for the "perfect dress" for every occasion doesn't mean I don't know how to dress for a party!" How could someone so pretty be so annoying?

"So you're going to stick to this whole "clothes aren't important" mantra?"

"I never said they weren't important. I meant that they weren't the most important factor in a con." By know they had wandered into the warehouse district and were walking along the Hudson, they stopped in front of a warehouse and Ruby pulled Weiss through the door. Ruby closed the door, locked it, and turned to see Weiss with a look of confusion and barely concealed annoyance. "What I mean is that the clothes don't make the performance, they're just costumes. Like in a play. And really that's all grifting comes down to, right? I walk into that party and from that point on I'm putting on a performance, I'm Sophia Zawistow played by Red, which is appropriate seeing as I'm like the Maryl Streep of con women- "

"Who?" Ruby was struck dumb, which was particularly impressive considering how most of her jobs consisted of her talking. How sheltered could this girl possibly be?

"You don't know who Maryl Streep is?"

"No, should I?"

"Should you? Of course you should!"

"Well who is she? Do we need to meet her for the job?"

"Do we have to- No! Maryl Streep is an actress! How could you not know who she is?"

"I don't watch a lot of movies." Upon hearing this Ruby immediately felt sorry for the woman in front of her. Next to the chocolate chunk cookies from the little bakery down the street and spending time with her sister, movies were probably her most favourite thing in the world. From that point on she decided that she wanted to be there and show this girl all of her favourites, from Casa Blanca to The Sound of Music. She chased this thought from her head almost as quickly as it came. They were partners. Nothing more. After this job odds were that they would never see each other again.

"What does this have to do with anything anyway?" Ruby's attention went back to the irritated heiress before her. How does she do that? All it took was one sentence from the pale beauty to send the dark haired girl into dreamland and another to snap her back.

"Nothing, just trying to get to know you better is all."

"Well don't. I just want to get this job done as quickly as possible."

Once again, Ruby was found wondering how anyone so attractive could be so annoying. Sighing, she lifted her hands in the air in surrender, "alright. Was just trying to be friendly."

"I'd rather you try to be serious," she said, turning around. "Still can't believe I'm working with a child."

That was it. Ruby shot forward and got in front of the fuming heiress, ultimately cutting her off and glared into her cold blue eyes.

"Look Princess, this is a job, not some get together with all of the other members of Daddy's-Little-Girl club. While you were sitting at the pool having some attractive pool boy named Carlos rub sun-tan lotion over your back, and got whatever you wanted by just ringing a little brass bell, I grew up on my own, I did what I had to in order to survive, I didn't have any family to rely on until I had already figured out how to get by on my own! And when I finally did find a place to call home, I ended up becoming the best at what I do. I didn't become an internationally known criminal by not taking things seriously, and I sure as hell wouldn't be here listening the criticism of some spoiled brat who thinks she knows everything if I wasn't serious about this job! I'm the leader on this because I have skills that are integral to the success of this job and people are relying on me to do things right." Ruby was furious. She could take Weiss not taking her seriously, but she drew the line at her taking her jobs seriously being questioned. She knew deep down that Weiss didn't mean to anything by what she said; that the tough act she put on was just that. An act. The heiress was a clearly out of her depth and she was trying to compensate by lashing out at the younger girl over every little thing, but she needed to be reminded who was in charge and there was no room for egos on a job with a payout this high.

She took a deep breath and looked Weiss. The white haired girl looked flabbergasted and angry but within those enchantingly icy blue eyes sadness and regret swirled in vortex of pain that made Ruby's heart ache and she yearned to simply pull the other girl into a hug and tell everything was going to be fine. But Weiss needed to hear this. She needed to learn that she wasn't the center of the universe, and that, despite appearances, Ruby knew what she was doing. She looked down, studying the concrete floor of Ruby's warehouse abode silently opening and closing her mouth trying to come up with an answer, "I understand." She said after a few seconds.

"Good," Ruby said, taking a deep breath. "Because now that our little shopping date is finished, we have some work to do."