A/N: Hey guys, sorry I haven't been updating very often. It's midterm season right now and most of my attention has been spent studying or procrastinating :P. So I thought a double update would be in order. I encourage you to leave a review. I love reading about what you guys thought of the chapter and what you think will happen in the future. So without further ado:

The story.

It was still relatively dark when Weiss awoke. The glow of streetlights was her sunrise and, surprisingly, the gentle deluge of a saxophone was her alarm. She listened to the music as it floated throughout the air and pulled her blanket closer. The soft crinkling of the inflatable mattress reminded her that she was not, in fact, at her father's house, but had slept on the ground of a warehouse that sat along the Hudson. She rolled over to find the bed on which her hostess had been sleeping empty, and instead saw the brunette sitting at the same table as last night, wearing her large red hoodie over a tank top and some track pants. She was reading over the same folder, with a look of concentration on her face that was nothing short of adorable.

Okay, this needs to stop. Red is my partner, I shouldn't be thinking those kinds of things about her. Or about any girl really.

Memories of her adolescence started to resurface, but were quickly forgotten when mercury met icy blue. Red smiled at her and she blushed, knowing she had been caught staring. She looked away and stood up, feeling the satisfying pop in her joints as she stretched.

"Morning Weiss," Red's voice was as energetic and full of enthusiasm as ever, despite the early hour. "Hope I didn't wake you."

"It's fine." Weiss replied. She was used to early mornings anyway, they were the only time she got to herself before being rushed off to lessons or some public appearance for her father's company.

"You want breakfast?" Red asked as she rose from her seat and headed towards the stairs at the other end of the warehouse. As she passed, Weiss realised that the younger girl was taller than her by at least three inches.

Two plates of chocolate chip pancakes later and both women found themselves in the exact same positions as the previous night: Red curled up in her comfy leather chair reading that same folder, and Weiss sitting across the table from her having no idea what to do. Soft jazz music was still playing from a nearby record player that looked like it belonged in a museum (judging by Red's décor it probably did) as Weiss once again inspected Red's collection of treasures. Directly to her left was a massive bookcase, the first four shelves were filled to the brim with different reading materials. As far as she could tell Red had everything from Tolstoy and Dickens to Rowling and Tolkein. What caught her attention though was the sheer number of encyclopaedias and manuals with subjects ranging from fine arts and history to aerospace engineering and international business. In the two shelves above the plethora of reading materials were vinyl records of all different kinds of music. Staring at the bookcase, Weiss was not lost on the irony that something so filled with personal items could reveal so little about the young brunette sitting across from her. There was simply too much information, and that was probably how Red wanted it. She looked once more at the young girl sitting across from her and decided if she was to better understand the riddle that was Red, she had to at least talk to her.

The only problem is she had no idea what to say. The only kind of talking she was good at were the small talk and pleasantries she was forced to partake in during her father's corporate events, and even then she knew she acted cold and harshly with most people. She didn't know how to get to know somebody, let alone start a proper conversation.

"See something you like?" Red asked with a smirk, though her eyes never left the folder in her hands.

She had been caught staring. Again.

Weiss quickly stood up and turned back to the bookshelf next to the table and studied its contents while fighting down a blush.

"Feel free to borrow some of them. God knows I've read them all cover to cover so many times I must've memorised most of them word for word by now."

She let out a sigh of relief. Trust the con woman to know how to carry a conversation.

"I had just noticed how broad your tastes seem to be." Good just keep talking to her.

"Yeah, I'll read pretty much anything."

"Easily pleased?"

"Something like that." She had to hand it to the brunette, she was very good at maintaining a level of mystery that was enough for anyone to be interested in learning more.

"Do you… have a favourite?"

"Not particularly."

Another sigh, this time of irritation. "You know, I'm trying to get to know you and you're making it very difficult."

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are!" This made no sense, how could this one girl be able to make Weiss react on every possible end of the emotional spectrum?

"If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it's quite conscious."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh I didn't say that, a mister Kingman Brewster Jr. did, and I'm giving you your first lesson."

"My first what?"

"Your first lesson," Red proceeded to stand up and come around the table to join Weiss in front of the bookcase. "If we're gonna con one of the biggest engineering firms in the country, we're gonna have to do it together."

"Well of course we are. I'm getting you into the party aren't I?"

"Your job's not done there," Red said, shaking her head. "Once we get into the party, I'm gonna chat up the head of the New York branch and get myself invited to the corporate event in Miami, but you need to be there as well. Meaning you need to learn how to talk someone into giving you what you want without them knowing. Also known as: a con. And don't tell me you know how to deal with people at a party, because that isn't a valid argument here."

"And why not? I've been to more parties and corporate events than I care to count and have been able to deal with the people there since I was a little girl." Weiss was surprised that Red had been able to figure out what she was going to say before she had even thought of it, but more than that, she was annoyed that brunette standing before her was assuming she knew more about dealing with the upper class than the heiress did.

"Exactly you know how to deal with them. You don't know how to con them, just how to keep them from conning you."

She was right. Weiss didn't know the first thing about talking to people, and as annoyed as she was with the other girl for pointing it out, she was more angry with herself for lashing out at her over something Weiss herself had accepted right before this conversation had even started. She took a deep calming breath and looked the brunette in front of her in the eyes. "You're right." As much as she hated to admit that she was wrong, she needed this job to go well so, for the time being, she would swallow her pride and listen to the girl in front of her.