A/N: I'm procrastinating studying, so here's another chapter. Props to anyone who caught the reference in the last chapter. Thanks again for following/favouriting this, and another big thanks to those of you who left a review. It makes me really happy to see that people appreciate my work.

Anyway, hope you guys like it:

They were nearing the end of their second week since the heist, and for Weiss, it had been… enlightening. The first few days were spent with both of them on the couch; Red staring at her laptop while Weiss watched the movies and shows the brunette put on Netflix as background noise.

As entertaining as the movies were, Weiss soon found her curiosity getting the best of her, and as she sat looking at the girl across form her, valiantly ignoring how adorable she thought it was when Red bit her lip in concentration, she found herself in the awkward position of having to navigate past metaphorical walls that may even be bigger than her own.

"So…" She paused as she searched for the right words, "what exactly has had you glued to your computer for the last couple weeks?"

Red looked up at her, a hint of confusion on her face, before turning back to her laptop and replying, "Oh, nothing much. Just keeping up with some current affairs. You know, rigging elections, blackmailing businessmen, the usual."

"Okay," Weiss said. "Well, um… what about our current problem? I still don't see how everything we've been doing ties together with finding the man who shot you."

Red sighed and closed her laptop. "Look," she said. "I know I haven't been the most… trustworthy… person lately, and I promise you I'm working on it." She turned and put a hand on Weiss's shoulder and the former heiress could see the sincerity in her silver eyes. "But this guy… he's good. I don't think I've ever seen someone who can disappear so completely. Normally, I'd see this as a challenge, but after seeing what he's capable of and the lengths he's willing to go to," Weiss's eyes drifted down to Red's stomach, where she knew a small scar lay just beneath the brunette's shirt. "It's going to take everything I've got just to track him down."

"I understand that," Weiss said softly, "But why does that mean you can't tell me what you're planning?"

"Part of that is me," Red sighed, and Weiss could see in that brief moment just how exhausted the younger girl was. "I'm so used to not having anyone to trust. Normally when I run a job, I make sure I'm the only one who knows the entire plan, that way no matter what, I have a some semblance of control over the situation and don't have to worry about one of my partners pulling the rug out from under me. I'm sorry for playing everything so close to the chest, but I swear I'm working on it."

"What about the other part?"

"The other part," Red explained, "is that whoever Bowler-Hat-Guy is, he's got one hell of an intelligence network."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Weiss asked.

"Well, think of it this way: If you're playing chess, and you're opponent can see what you're planning five moves ahead, how do you outwit them?"

"Plan six moves ahead?"

Red laughed. "Almost. You keep three things in mind: your short-term, your long-term, and your endgame."

"Isn't that how you normally play chess?" Weiss asked.

"Pretty much."

"You know you really need to work on your analogies."

"Probably," Red laughed. "Let me try again. Bowler-Hat-Guy can see what I'm going to do five moves ahead, right?"

"Right," Weiss answered. "And he knows your endgame is checkmate, so he can probably predict what your long-term is."

"Right, but what if he thought my endgame was a stalemate?"

"Why would he think that?"

"Think about it, that guy oozed cockiness. He thought he was untouchable. So odds are that the idea of someone actually beating him hasn't at all crossed his mind. He probably thinks that if someone were to come after him, they would aim for the next best thing."

"And what would that be?"

"Well, think about it, he stole almost a hundred million dollars from right under our noses, that's enough to make most people pretty angry. And if there was no way to get that money back, most people might be driven to do something pretty extreme, maybe even violent."

"Are you saying you want to kill him?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"No," Red said soothingly, "but odds are that's what he's expecting. He thinks it's only a matter of time before one of us walks in and points a gun at his face."

"So you plan to make it look like you're planning for one thing when you're actually planning for something else?"

"Exactly. As long as that's what he thinks we're out for revenge, that's what he'll see our actions as."

"But if his intelligence network is as good as you say, won't he be able to see through your bluff soon enough?"

"And that's where the chess analogy comes into play. He thinks our endgame is killing him, and soon enough he'll be able to see that our long-term goal is finding him, so that only leaves one thing…"

"The short-term."

"Exactly." Red grinned, "As long as we keep our short-term actions unpredictable, he won't be able to figure out what our real goal is."

"I think I understand," Weiss said, "but why does that keep you from telling me?" She couldn't keep the tinge of disappointment from her voice.

"Because –and here's where you're going to need to trust me –for this plan to work, I can't plan too far in advance."

"So, basically you're playing this by ear."

"Pretty much."

Weiss turned back to the TV as she absorbed what she had just been told. To say it was a bit of a shock that the woman who always seemed to have a plan for every eventuality was just… making it up as she went… would be an understatement. How could she trust Red to have a plan, when Red just told her she didn't have a plan?

Her thoughts drifted back to her many misadventures with the brunette sitting next to her. Maybe it was a good thing to improvise every once in a while, if anything, the time they had spent together had proven that things don't often go according to plan.

Her mind made up, she turned back to her friend, a look of determination on her face.

"Alright, I'll trust you." Red grinned and Weiss felt a warmth in her chest that was quickly becoming synonymous with making her friend smile. "So, what's next?"

*(OoO)*

"So let me get this straight; we're here because this Junior fellow can help us find our bowler-hat-wearing attacker?"

"Yup."

"And in order to get him to talk to us, we made sure his top drug smugglers got arrested?"

"Yup."

"All so that we can use the money we robbed from a bank to blackmail their prosecutor by making it look like he's been taking money from the mob?"

"Yup."

"Therefore allowing Junior's friends to walk?"

"Yup."

"And this doesn't at all strike you as just the slightest bit convoluted?"

"Look," Ruby sighed. They had been sitting outside Junior's nightclub for the past fifteen minutes while Weiss voiced her doubts. "I know it's complicated, but in this business, the quickest way to get someone to do something for you is to solve one of their problems first. And if you can't find a problem… you make one!"

"I guess that makes sense," Weiss conceded.

"Of course it does, now come on." They got out of the car, and again Ruby had to stop herself from staring at the way her friend's hips swayed in the light blue skirt she wore.

Never should've suggested dressing up. Ruby thought, shaking her head. How am I supposed to impress her with my A-game if I can't focus?

She was brought back to the present as they approached the bouncer. Immediately she allowed herself to slip into her role, her shoulders back and her chin held high as she cockily strut forward.

"Scarlett Romanov," she said in her most sophisticated Russian accent. She turned and casted a look down her nose at Weiss before turning back to the bouncer. "Plus one."

She smirked as the man's eyes widened before he hurried to usher them in and point them to a table near the back of the VIP section where a mountain of a man sat angrily pouring himself a shot of tequila as he surveyed the club's patrons.

"Junior," Ruby greeted with as much contempt as she could. "A pleasure." She nodded for Weiss to take a seat before sliding in next to her and staring down the man across the table.

"Romanov, I wish I could say the same." Junior grunted. He knocked back his shot and turned an appraising eye on Weiss. "Who's your friend?"

"She's none of your concern," Ruby stated. "Now tell me, what is the cause for such frigid behaviour?"

"She's my concern after you walked away in Italy with eighty-thousand dollars of my money in the purse of one of your Italian bimbos." Junior growled.

"I can assure you, Samantha is here for nothing more than her good company."

"Sure," Junior deadpanned. "And I guess it's just a coincidence that you show up at my door so soon after Melanie and Miltia are arrested because of an anonymous tip?"

"Junior, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were accusing me of something." Ruby raised in eyebrow dangerously.

"And you would be right." The large man rumbled as he nonchalantly placed his hand on the table and pointed the gun he was holding at them.

"You're making a mistake, Junior." Ruby threatened. She felt Weiss reach for her hand under the table, and gave the heiress a reassuring squeeze before turning her attention back to Junior.

"You know, I don't think I am." Junior smiled and turned to Weiss. "Tell me –Samantha was it? –do you know what the good thing about owning more than half the muscle in the country is?" He asked.

"No." Weiss replied evenly, and even though she was squeezing Ruby's hand for all it was worth, the brunette had to commend her friend on her poker face.

"From here, I can see three councilmen, a union official, several off duty cops, and a judge." He lifted the gun off the table and waved it between the two of them before settling on pointing it at Weiss while turning back to Ruby. "Now, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to blow your little friend's head off right here, right now in front of 'em. Now, Ms. Romanov, that's power you can't buy! That's the power of fear. So, if I were you, I'd be very careful if I were you."

Ruby felt her heart pounding as she looked down and smirked, before laughing lightly.

"And what exactly is so funny?" Junior asked.

"I came here because I keep my ear to the ground, and heard about your little problem." Ruby explained as she pulled out a folder from her bag and slid it across the table. "In there is everything you need to get your friends out of jail and back on the streets within a week."

Junior reached out to grab the folder, but Ruby snatched it back before he had a chance. "But now you've gone and made me angry." Ruby reached into her bag once more and pulled out her phone. "You tried scaring me, and more importantly, my friend, but what you don't understand is that it is you who should be afraid of me. You remember my friend, Yang Xiao Long?"

Junior's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Ruby's sister's name. "You wouldn't…" he muttered.

"Oh, but I would." Ruby smiled. "And that's not even the worst of it. You know me, Junior. You might own half the muscle in the country, but everyone from the President of the United States to the heads of the Russian, Italian, and Irish Mobs owe me favours. And if you ever try threatening me again, I won't hesitate to call every single one of them in to destroy you." She smirked as she watched Junior's face pale. "Now, put the gun away, and we'll talk like proper adults."

Junior scowled slightly as he lowered his gun, and Ruby passingly thought that it was the closest she would come to seeing a grown man pout. "Fine," he mumbled, "what did you have in mind?"

"Well, seeing as I am a generous woman, I think I will still let you free your friends. But first, you're going to do something for me."

"And what would that be?"

"I recently ran into a man, and I'm looking to find him again." She explained as she pulled up the still she got from the security cameras back in Florida on her phone and showed it to the man.

Junior scrutinized the photo before knocking back another shot. "Name's Roman Torchwick." He grunted. "Can't tell you much about him, only met him once."

"And what did he want?"

"Said he wanted to buy some of my guys for some job down south."

"Come on, Junior. You know I need more than that."

"Sorry, that's all he said."

Ruby sighed in frustration. She threw the folder on the table and motioned for Weiss to stand up with her. "You owe me for this Junior, remember that."

They turned and made their way toward the exit in silence. Neither said a word until they were already in the car and on their way back to the safe house.

"So," Weiss started. "I'm guessing by the serious look on your face, we didn't get what we came for?"

Ruby smiled softly at her friend's concern. "No, not quite." She pulled the car into the parking lot and brought it to a stop before turning to face her friend.

"But it's a start."