A/N: And I'm back! I'm sorry this took so long, but I've been super busy lately and haven't had the time to post anything. I'm also not really happy with how this turned out, so I'm sorry if this chapter sucks, I had major writer's block and just decided to power through that last scene.

Gobsmacked was one of Ruby's favourite words. It always had a humorous little ring to it that added an aspect of silliness to any situation. Unfortunately, she had never found the right situation for the word.

Until now.

Ironically enough, it did not help lighten the situation.

"You mean to tell me-"

"Yes."

"Oh, Weiss-"

"Stop." The former heiress interrupted. Her tears had been forced back and all the sadness in her eyes masked behind a cold, determined glare. "I don't need or want your pity. I got along just fine before, and now that I'm out of that place, the memories are coming back. I just want to get back to work."

"Okay," Ruby nodded, closing her laptop. Neither had voiced it, but a face and a name had just been put at the top of the suspect list for who was behind these strange crimes.

"Now, tell me why you wanted to have your friends arrest those people."

Ruby sighed. Just as she thought she was making progress with Weiss, the older woman had to go and shut herself off from the outside world again. The only thing to do was forge ahead and hope the damage wasn't irreparable. "You remember that day I had you escape that tail after visiting Velvet?"

"You mean after almost getting me shot?" The venom in Weiss's voice made her wince internally.

"Yeah, that." She replied cheekily, she wasn't going to let this spurt of defensiveness get to her. "Well, the guys tailing us worked for a guy named Junior-"

"-Junior, really?"

"If Sun and Neptune weren't big enough hints, not a lot of us use regular names." Ruby did a victory dance in her head at the quirk in Weiss's lip. "Anyway, Junior's in charge of most of the Canadian branch of The Ashes, an international gang with people in every big city in the world. If anyone could give us a clue about Bowler-Hat-Guy it'd be him. Unfortunately, he and I didn't leave on the friendliest of terms last time we saw each other."

"So your plan is to make him like you by arresting two of his subordinates?" Weiss asked sarcastically.

"Sort of." Ruby explained, "In this business, the quickest way to make friends is to solve a problem. If you can't find a problem to solve… you make one."

"I guess that makes sense." Weiss said.

"So we're going to get the Malachite twins arrested, then when we approach Junior, we let him use the money from the bank to blackmail the judge into letting them go. That way he'll owe us a favour, and will give us the info we need."

"Alright, I can accept that. When do we do this?"

"We're hitting the bank tomorrow, since Wednesday's hump day, most people's eyes will be on the clock instead of us, so spend today getting anything you need done squared away, because things are going to get a little crazy after tomorrow." Weiss nodded before standing and heading for her bedroom, she was at the doorway before Ruby worked up the courage to speak again. "Hey, Weiss?"

She stopped at the door and turned, her frigid mask in full force. "What?"

"It wasn't pity. It was empathy. I know a thing or two about loss, and I won't force you to, but if you ever wanna talk… about anything, I'm here for you." Ruby smiled as Weiss's eyes softened for a moment.

"Thank you." She whispered, before opening the door and disappearing into her room.

Ruby sighed as she pulled out her laptop and got back to work, one hand scrolling through various files and messages, the other fiddled with the ring in her pocket as she contemplated this new information. She scrolled through her programmes to the tracker she had following everything related to these strange anomalies in her predictive software. She quickly added the information Neptune had told her and sent the programme off to find anything relating to those crimes. She quickly eyed the now closed door in the hallway before turning back to the search programme.

Along with anything pertaining to memory loss she typed in one name:

Augustus Schnee

*(OoO)*

Weiss paced the length of her room for the fifty-eighth time. Her head was a mess of jumbled up thoughts but two thoughts kept bubbling up to the surface:

Her issues with her memory were not in her head.

Her father was responsible.

She sighed and took a seat on her bed. Even now, she couldn't escape her father. Her mind drifted back to what Red had said to her earlier.

I know a thing or two about loss.

What could she have meant by that? Weiss knew that she had been an orphan, but something about the way Red's eyes seemed to gloss over made her think the brunette wasn't mentioning something.

Of course she's keeping something from me, I don't even know her real name!

Weiss sighed as she laid back and rested her head on the pillow. Everything had been so crazy recently, that she hardly had time to think.

As her thoughts swirled about, she found her mind settling on one thought in particular: a memory from back in the cabin in Quebec.

"Look, no one knows better than I do what these kind of things do to a person. But in this business, you can't risk thinking about most people as anything more than pieces on a board."

Weiss frowned as she considered what Red meant that night.

"I learned real quick that anyone who is willing to bend the rules to get what they want will see you as less than that and only be thinking of how they can use you to advance their own plans. The only way to stay alive is to play the game and stay two, three, ten steps ahead."

She once again wondered if there was something more to the reason behind Red's cynical outlook on life. She sat there for a long time before a simple thought slipped to the forefront of her mind, bringing with it a feeling of dread that she hadn't felt since she last spent time at her father's house.

What if she thinks I'm just another piece?

She tried to ignore the lingering doubt, but it gnawed away at her, consuming all other thoughts until it was the only thing she could think about. She laid there in the soft bed, tears stinging her eyes as she came to a startling conclusion.

She always knew when her father was using her, and even though it crushed her to think that the man who was supposed to raise and protect her saw her as nothing more than a pawn to further his schemes. But as she considered the possibility of the girl she called her friend; the girl who made it her personal goal to make her laugh at least once a day; the girl she had willingly left every part of her old life behind to follow into the seedy underworld the brunette called home. As she considered the possibility of the girl she was falling for seeing her like that, she knew it wouldn't just crush her.

It would destroy her.

She sniffed and rolled over, her eyes landing on the bedside table as she zeroed in on a small white rectangle. She reached out and grabbed the card staring blankly at the numbers scrawled across the back.

"Mademoiselle Adalise is a complicated woman… If you have any questions, call this number."

She sat there for what seemed like forever before noticing that she had already pulled out her phone and was staring at the call screen. She gulped and entered the numbers before her courage left her.

Before she knew it, the phone was at her ear as she listened to the dial tone. Her voice caught when she heard a voice on the other line.

"Hello?"

This was a bad idea. She should just hang up now.

"H-Hello?"

"Hello. Who is this?" The voice on the other line was kind and somewhat familiar.

She could still back out of this. All she had to do was say that she had called a wrong number.

"My name is Weiss."

"Hello, Weiss. I'm Pyrrha, and if I'm correct we've met before, haven't we?" Pyrrha's voice was laced with warmth and she heard the sound of children laughing in the background.

Come on, just say she must be thinking of someone else!

"U-um… yes. I think so."

God dammit!

"Well in that case, it's a pleasure to hear from you again Weiss! May I ask what it is you're calling for?"

What was she calling for? She looked down at the business card in her hand pondering that question.

"A woman named Velvet gave me this number, and told me to call it if I ever had any questions about Mademoiselle Adalise- or Red…"

"Ahh," Pyrrha sighed. "Yes, well, I can see why. Red is not the easiest of people to understand."

And just like that, it all came pouring out. She told Pyrrha about everything that had happened since they visited the orphanage back in New York. She talked about how Red had saved her from the tyrannical control of her father and how she might be starting to develop feelings for the younger woman. She finally told her about how she was worried that Red thought she was just another piece on the board to be disposed of when she was of no more use.

She sat there in silence, inwardly panicking at the amount she had divulged to someone who was essentially a stranger, for a few minutes before she heard Pyrrha's voice come through the speaker.

"Wow…" She said. "Sounds like you've needed to get this off your chest for a while."

"So do you have any advice? Red said you have known her longer than anybody, do you think you can provide some insight?"

"Well," Pyrrha started, "I think what you've been doing a good job of communicating with her, and though I might not be able to help too much with how you feel about her I can tell you this: Red doesn't divulge any information about herself carelessly. To tell you what she has about herself means she cares for and trusts you enough know about her life. Have faith in that, because the fact that you know those things makes you indisposable to her. It may not look like it now, but as you gain her trust and loyalty, I guarantee you those fears will be chased away as you see how she will burn the world to the ground to help you without a second thought."

Weiss sat there, thinking about what Pyrrha had just told her. She then thought back to what Red had said before she ran away to her room.

I'm here for you.

Could it be as easy as that? Maybe all she had to do was trust in those four simple words. And really, anything was better than her previous life, right?

"Thank you, Pyrrha. You've been very helpful."

"Anytime, Weiss." Pyrrha said, "If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me." With that she hung up, and Weiss was returned to being alone with her thoughts.

Weiss stood up slowly and made her way for the door.

I'm here for you.

Weeks ago in a cabin in Quebec she had promised the same thing, and starting now she was going to work twice as hard to keep it.