Weiss sat at the table in the back of the warehouse taking in her surroundings. All around her was evidence of a life lived to its fullest. The walls were adorned with trophies from Red's conquests in the criminal sphere. Stolen paintings hanging from walls; sculptures from every point in history; bits of machinery that, according to Red, were prototypes that were supposed to revolutionize the technology industry at the time. Compared to her room at her father's house where the only proof that someone lived there was the closet full of clothes and some papers on the desk.
"How long is your dad in Dubai for?"
The sound of Red's voice brought Weiss's attention back to the younger girl in front of her. Despite how much she resisted she couldn't help looking the girl over. She was no longer wearing her oversized hoodie, discarding it after entering the makeshift flat. She now wore a tight black t-shirt that hugged her torso deliciously, showing off a toned abdomen and a pair of well-rounded breasts.
"Weiss?" Red look at her now, her silver eyes shining with curiosity. Weiss blushed at the fact that she was caught staring and then shook her head to clear her head of thoughts that she hadn't had for years. Not since France.
"Sorry. He should be there for about two weeks and then leaves for Moscow a month later," Weiss said, forcing the thoughts down.
"Alright, that should give us enough time to infiltrate Ironwood get invited to the meetings in South Keyes before he gets back, then after he leaves we can head down to Florida with a couple days to spare for some R-and-R. Now that we have that covered, do you have some place other than the Schnee estate to stay until he gets back?"
"No, why?" Weiss asked.
"Because it's under surveillance and I'd like for you not to be followed around at all hours of the day," Red said matter-of-factly. "Gets in the way of business."
"How do you know my father's house is under surveillance?"
"Because I've seen the guy who was tailing us earlier, he works for a guy who goes by the name Junior. And if Junior is having you followed, you can bet he's got your place under watch."
"Great, so what am I supposed to do?" Weiss was not a fan of having what little privacy she had invaded, especially when she was planning on committing a felony.
"Don't worry, I've got an extra cot lying around here somewhere. You can stay here and borrow some clothes from my closet."
Weiss was floored by the nonchalance with which Red had invited her into her home. They had only known each other for a week, most of which was spent gathering information on James Ironwood, the CEO of Ironwood or snagging invitations to the party using Weiss's name and Red instructing her on what to say. She was practically a stranger to the dark haired girl, and yet this girl had been more honest and sincere with her than anyone she had ever met before. Red saw her for more than just some pretty face to be put on display to help her father's business deals. Sure she had said some pretty harsh things to the young heiress when they had first arrived, and even though Red would never know how wrong she was about Weiss's life being easy, she was sincere when she had yelled at the other girl. There wasn't malice in the tirade, but frustration with a girl who, admittedly had probably been a hindrance to getting the job done. After hearing about Red's past and seeing the evidence of her accomplishments all over the younger girl's walls, Weiss conceded to the fact that, despite her age and carefree demeanor, Red was clearly very good at what she did.
Face it, you've been nothing but a bitch to her all week.
And still this girl was willing to let her stay with her for the remaining two weeks.
"Why?" she whispered, almost inaudibly.
Red looked up from the document she was reading on her laptop and looked at Weiss, brow raising in curiosity, "Sorry? Did you say something?"
"Why?" Weiss asked again, louder.
"'M afraid I don't follow."
"Why would you let me stay with you? You barely know me, and I've been nothing but a bitch to you all week."
"Because you need a place to stay," Red said simply, before returning to the document she was reading.
"That doesn't make any sense. People don't just do things for other people like that. What do you get out of this?"
"The pleasure of your company?" Red asked sarcastically. Eyes not leaving her screen.
"I'm serious, Red."
Red sighed and put her laptop on the table before standing up. "I'm hungry. You want anything?"
"Don't try to change the subject Red." Weiss was getting annoyed. If Red was hiding something, she wanted to know what it was.
"I'll just make you some in case," Red said before zipping up the stairs to upper floor of the warehouse.
Weiss sighed irritably and leaned back in the plush leather chair, glaring at the table.
She forgot her laptop. Weiss thought as she noticed the slick black computer sitting open where Red had left it before leaving to cook the two of them dinner. She contemplated bringing it up to the younger girl as a peace offering before apologizing profusely for her behaviour over the past week. She imagined the younger girl standing in front of a stove, an apron tied around her waist and hanging onto the girls every curve as if it was moulded to her form. She imagined the girl turning to look at her and smiling her cute lopsided smile before taking Weiss between her arms and leaning her face in, lips precariously close. She imagined herself leaning in to meet the younger girl's lips-
A loud ringing ripped Weiss from her thoughts. The laptop was ringing. She shook her head as she stood up and walked around the table. Those kinds of thoughts were wrong. Her father had taken extra care to enforce that lesson. She was a woman, and thinking of another woman in such a manner was sick and wrong.
At least that what her father would say.
She shook her head once more as the ringing went off again, and approached the laptop. Displayed on the screen was the name "Yang" and a picture of a women with blonde hair in clothes that could barely pass for appropriate to be worn out of one's own house. The picture showed the woman with her arm around Red, both had huge smiles on their faces as they stood in front of what looked like the Great Wall of China.
Before Weiss knew what she was doing she pressed the answer button. She stared wide-eyed as the blonde from the picture appeared on the screen next to a woman with black hair and a bow. Unlike Red who had crimson highlights throughout her hair, this girl had hair that was the colour of jet.
"Hey sis-" the blonde said before noticing who was on the other end of the call. Weiss panicked and was about to close the laptop when the dark haired woman started speaking.
"You're our fourth aren't you?" While the blonde looked surprised that Weiss was sitting at the computer instead of Red, the dark haired girl looked completely unfazed. "I'm Blake. This is Yang. We're your other partners for this job. I take it you've met Red?"
"Y-yeah," Weiss stammered. She cleared her throat, trying to regain some composure. "My name's Weiss."
"Nice to meat ya, Weiss. I hope my sister hasn't given you too much trouble." Yang said with a smile.
"N-no. I mean no, she has been rather pleasant over the last week."
"That's good, she can be a handful sometimes, ya know."
Weiss laughed nervously, not really knowing what to say. She looked anywhere but at the screen for a minute feeling awkward.
"Something on your mind, Weiss?" Blake asked in a calm tone that spoke of intelligence and grace.
Weiss sat down in the chair Red had occupied not five minutes before and sighed, "Everyone on this team is so young. I was expecting, I don't know-"
"Someone older? More professional?" Yang suggested.
Weiss nodded her head slowly. She had just ended potentially offending everyone that she was going to be working with over the next few weeks in the span of three hours.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Red's young but she knows what she's doing." Blake said.
"I didn't say anything about Red!" Weiss exclaimed, feeling a blush surface to her cheeks.
"Well, Blakey and I are easily your age or a bit older, and you wouldn't be the first person to be concerned about my sister's age."
Weiss sighed. Was she really that obvious? "Fine, but you have to admit it's a little hard to believe someone that young is the best in the business. I mean how could she to do all this-" Weiss gestured at Red's collection of trophies that covered the wall of the warehouse "-and not attract the attention of every law enforcement official in the country?"
Yang and Blake looked at each other and smiled before looking back at Weiss.
"That's because she does attract their attention." Yang said.
"And not just in the U.S., Red's wanted around the world." Blake added.
"How can that be possible? She's only eighteen."
"It's possible because when it comes to committing crimes my little sister is some sort of genius." The pride in Yang's voice was emphasized only by the smug smile on her face.
"Wow…" Weiss sat there trying to compromise the brilliance of something like that with the funny little girl who was making her dinner.
"Yup, my little sis is pretty smart," Yang said, smiling with pride. "Bet she knew everything about you before you even opened your mouth didn't she?" Weiss nodded.
"If you ever need proof of just how good Red is, ask her how she knew all that…" A loud bang was heard on their end, and both Yang and Blake turned when a voice shouting something in what sounded like Portuguese came from off screen.
"Looks like that's our cue to leave. Take care of my little sister for me, would ya?" The call was finished before Weiss could think of an appropriate thing to say in return. Standing slowly, she closed Red's laptop and headed up the stairs nearby to see Red and apologize for the way she had been acting.
She reached the top of the stairs faster than she thought she would, and by the time she was standing in the doorway of Red's little kitchen she still had not thought of a way to apologize for the horrible way she had treated the other girl over the past week. Red was standing there in front of the stove stirring a pot of what smelled like spaghetti sauce, softly humming to herself and for some reason Weiss felt a feeling of calm and happiness come over her and couldn't bring herself to move or say anything. This wasn't right. She shouldn't be feeling so content just standing there in the doorway watching her partner in crime cook dinner. What was it about this girl anyway? They both had gotten on each other's nerves right from the get go, and yet when Weiss saw the little lopsided smile that graced Red's face as she added some spice to the sauce, her chest would start ache in a way that was that was unfamiliar to her and the only thing that would make this strange feeling go away was the thought of getting closer to the younger woman before her. She couldn't for the life of her understand where these thoughts were coming from, but she planned to get to the bottom of them. And she had the next two weeks to do it.
This realization brought with it equal amounts joy and dread. She was filled with joy at the thought of getting to spend two weeks with this girl, the dread was for what was in store after those two weeks were finished and she was back at her father's house living under his tyranny. Her back was still sore from the last time she had seen him, and the scars from that day in France still ached on occasion when it rained. But after this job was finished, if she played her cards right, she'd never have to see him again.
Red turned around, sauce spoon in hand and jumped when she saw Weiss in the doorway, getting sauce on her shirt in the process.
"Geez! Be a little quieter why don't you, Mr. Wayne!" She shrieked sarcastically.
Weiss cocked her head in confusion, "Who?"
"You know, Bruce Wayne? Batman?"
Red sighed when the look of confusion on Weiss's face deepened. She reached for some paper towel and dabbed at her chest trying to get the sauce off. Sighing she took off her shirt leaving her in only a deep red bra and Weiss unable to form a coherent thought. She ran the garment under the sink before rubbing at it again. After sufficiently scrubbing her shirt, she looked down and noticed some sauce had seeped through onto her chest and she proceeded to bend over the counter and grab more paper towel before rubbing it along the top of her breasts. Weiss didn't know how much more she could take. If the burning of her face was any indication, she guessed that her complexion was as deep a crimson as the undergarments covering Red's breasts. She couldn't be doing this on purpose, could she?
Why am I even watching her? She was just standing there, watching Red. Watching the dip of the skin of her breasts under the pressure of the napkin and Red's hands. Red hadn't noticed. She scrunched up the napkin and tossed it into the garbage before grabbing a plate of pasta and sitting down to eat at the table. Weiss was frozen in place, her imagination having a field day with the amount of skin the younger girl was showing. The next two weeks were going to be torture, she knew it.
"Are you gonna sit down?" Red asked with a look of curiosity and a mouth full of spaghetti. Weiss shook her head for the millionth time that night and grabbed a plate before sitting down and eating her food. Her eyes never left her plate as the topless girl in front of her babbled about everything and anything between shoveling mouthfuls of pasta.
When they were both finished, Red took both their plates and placed them in the sink. The girl stood there looking out the little window for a moment before speaking. "Look, I don't want you thinking that me letting you stay here is a completely selfless act," Weiss remained silent as she watched the dark haired girl sigh and slouch her shoulders slightly as she leaned against the sink. "This job-there's a lot riding on it going well, and the other two are relying on me as well… so you can see how you being watched could throw a wrench in those plans," she sighed once more before turning and looking at Weiss, desperation shining in those beautiful silver eyes. "I need this job to go well. So regardless of whether you choose to sleep at my place or not, I'm gonna be there with you."
Weiss was stunned, how do you respond to someone saying something like that? This girl was much too good to be doing what she did for a living. Ruby sighed and turned to leave, stopping at the doorway, she looked at the ground as she spoke. "There are clothing rooms just down that little hall there you can borrow a night shirt or something. You'll be happy to know that tomorrow we'll be doing even more shopping." With that she turned and went down the stairs to get ready for bed.
Weiss nodded and headed to the nearest room on her left and opened the door. She chuckled when she saw how filled the rooms were, finding humor in the irony of a girl such as Red, who was indifferent to the fashion world, owning rooms filled with clothes. She quickly grabbed a nightgown from a hanger and shed her clothes, relishing the silky feeling of the nightwear against her thighs. When she was done changing she went downstairs to find that the entire warehouse was lit with a warm red light. In the middle of the floor were two beds, Red was already nestled in one breathing softly. Weiss smiled at the younger girl before settling into the other bed.
Maybe this whole criminal thing wasn't so bad.
A/N: Alright so maybe that whole "fixed schedule for updates thing" is just a pipe dream. But I've been pretty stressed for the last few days and writing helps me to relax. Soooo... new chapters! A huge thank you to the people who have favourited or followed this story and another one to those who take the time to review as well. I love reading what you guys have to say about the story, and its kinda helping me through a tough time in my life. Any ways as always thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.
VagueJester