A/N: And we're back! Sorry for the wait, but job-hunting and a broken keyboard have delayed my progress while writing this (not to mention it was kinda fun watching the reaction you guys had to that ;P). But now we're back so worry no more! I can't say I'm too happy with this chapter, but life has been distracting me and if I kept trying to improve on this, it would never get posted. That being said, I hope you guys and gals like it as we wind up for the final act.
As usual thanks to those of you who follow this little tale of mine, and an extra big thanks to the ones who tell me what you think and if you want to talk about my writing (or literally anything else) or follow for updates on what I'm working on, you can find me at .com. It really helps keep me motivated knowing people actually like what I'm writing.
Motherfucker!
Ruby clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes tight as the chlorinated water soaked the hole in her shoulder like liquid fire. She had to resist the urge to gasp as pain raced down her left arm and across her collarbone in bolts of white-hot lightning. Her ears popped and she swallowed when the back of the stiff wooden chair settled at the bottom of the pool with a soft thunk. She swallowed once more and tried to ignore the nearly debilitating pain as she ran her tongue over her gums for a few moments before expelling a small of air from her nose in victory as she maneuvered the tiny plastic hairpin between her teeth. She leaned forward and could feel her lungs start to ache slightly as slipped the hairpin into her waiting fingers.
Thank you Eagle Scouts.
She thought wryly once she had her right hand free. It was a tad more difficult picking handcuffs underwater, but it was still only a matter of seconds before her other hand was free and she was swimming the twenty feet up to the surface. Despite avid protestation from her lungs and her wounded shoulder, she remained just below the surface. She could just barely make out the muffled sound of Adam and Blake speaking as she reached down to pull the ceramic knife from its sheath in her boot, concealed by her pant leg, and observed the placement of the three thugs guarding the room.
As carefully as she could, Ruby kicked her way over to the nearest ladder where one of the White Fang goons stood, his back to the pool and his pistol holstered. She grabbed the bar with her bad arm and winced at the strain on her wound while she folded her legs up and planted her feet on the second highest step. She took a moment to compose herself as she envisioned the rest of the swimming area.
To her right sat Adam, he was the most dangerous, but Ruby had seen him move to holster his weapon when she was throwing herself back in that brief moment between the bullet hitting her and her hitting the water thankfully, her quick thinking had saved her from a bullet to the heart. Behind her was the thug who had forced her into that godforsaken chair in the first place. Judging by his stiff, jerky movements, he would be unable to draw his own pistol in one solid motion. That gave her time to deal with the large Brazilian man to her left who had inspected her and Blake when they first entered and had the large automatic rifle sung around his shoulder.
Her plan set, she silently counted to five before using her wounded arm to pull while her legs pushed and propelled her up and out of the water behind the first goon. The man didn't even have time to yell in surprise as she slashed the knife through both of his Achilles tendons on her way up and slipped his gun out of its holster on his way down. Maintaining her momentum, she took a step onto the pool deck and pivoted as she hurled the knife through the air at the thug to her left, cutting through the strap holding the rifle up, sending it clattering away from him, and pinning the man's hand to the wall behind him as the blade sunk through his flesh. She kept spinning and turned to face the man behind her –who had just managed to draw his gun –and put two quick bullets in his kneecaps before coming to a stop, both feet on the deck and gun trained on Adam's head.
"You know," She quipped as Adam fought to regain his composure, "you'd be surprised how quickly you get tired of being shot."
"Ah, Red, how nice of you to join us." Adam said cheerfully, as if greeting an old friend before turning to Blake. "See, my love. I wasn't anywhere near her heart. No harm done."
Blake looked torn between wanting to ask Ruby if she was alright and staring at the ground meekly, avoiding eye contact as she listened to Adam. Ruby looked between the two of them and smirked as she pulled the trigger for a third time. Blake shrieked in surprise, but it was overshadowed by the screech of pain coming from the man next to her as the bullet hit the corner of his sunglasses, shattering them and slashing his left eye.
"Looks like we both missed." Ruby drawled as Adam cradled his injured eye –blood already starting to trickle between his shaking fingers –and scowled furiously at her, his newly exposed tar-black blazing with a menacing flame. "Only difference is: I missed on purpose. Now," she clicked back the hammer and centered the gun on his forehead, "tell me everything you know about Roman Torchwick and who he's working for, or I promise you I won't miss a second time."
"Red, wait!" Blake exclaimed as she leapt between Adam and the gun. Ruby could just make out the flash of perverted glee cross Adam's face before he hid it behind a mask of poorly maintained impassiveness. "Adam already agreed to give us everything we need."
"Oh? How very magnanimous." Ruby observed skeptically. "In exchange for what?"
"There's a facility owned by the American government that develops experimental technology." Adam grunted as he readjusted himself in his seat. "Find it and get me the files designated MH-4023 and I'll tell you everything you need to know."
"You expect me to supply a terrorist with experimental military hardware?" Ruby demanded. "How stupid do you think I am?"
Adam attempted to smirk, but it looked more like a grimace. "I don't have the resources to build it. But I have received offers from people who do. Of course, you could always shoot me… but then you won't learn anything. Come on, Red…" he hissed, "make a deal."
Ruby sighed and lowered the gun.
"Fine. You have a deal."
*(OoO)*
Weiss walked through the safe house, her restless mind not allowing her to sleep until she knew Red and Blake had returned safely from their meeting with Adam and the White Fang.
"Any word from them yet?" Yang asked as she paced the length of the little kitchen/living room they found themselves in.
They were holed up in a worn down, one story house in a particularly abandoned section of the city and had little else to do but worry and wait for Red and Blake to come back.
"Not yet," Pyrrha replied from her spot at the small table where she nursed a warm mug of tea.
Just like when you asked ten minutes ago. Weiss thought to herself as she peeked at the pitch-black streets through the blinds on one of the windows.
"How are you two so calm?" Yang demanded. "I can hardly keep from tearing my hair out at the thought of them out there, yet you're both acting like they're just out getting groceries or something."
Weiss kept her eyes on the street, not willing to show just how worried she was about her partner. "I like my hair." She muttered.
"Alright, you know what, Princess -?"
She tensed at the use of her nickname and prepared herself for the inevitable beating that was coming when Pyrrha's phone went off.
"It's Red," She informed them as she read the text. "She says they should be here soon and not to say anything until we're all in the back."
"Does that mean everything went according to plan?"
Yang scoffed. "We're not that lucky."
"It doesn't matter," Pyrrha said, standing up to rifle through the few possessions they kept in the drawers of the 'kitchen'. "Red will explain everything when she gets here." Weiss barely had time to register the first-aid kit Pyrrha grabbed along with the massive steel knife when the door to the side of the house opened, revealing a shell-shocked Blake who merely stared at the ground beneath her feet forlornly, and a soaking wet Red whose loose white blouse clung to her skin and, much to her horror, was stained crimson from the blood flowing out of the hole in her partner's shoulder.
Tears sprang to her eyes and she opened her mouth to ask any number of questions when she made eye contact with the brunette and was silenced pre-emptively with a shake of her head. She followed dumbly as Pyrrha threw Red's good arm over her shoulder and helped lead them into the back of the safe house. Barely a second after the door closed behind them in the copper-mesh enclosed space, Yang exploded.
"What the hell happened to you?!" She demanded. "What did Adam say? Is he the one who shot you? Why are you soaking wet? Are you okay, Blake?"
"I'm fine," Blake mumbled as she sank into one of the cheap love seats they had brought into the room. The entire back half of the safe house had been converted into a sort of den that was split into two halves: to the right was the communal area where they had set up a few love seats around a table along with a corkboard for planning; the rest of the room had been appropriated by Red as a sort of work space that the rest of them generally left alone (it wasn't like they could really understand most of the complicated blueprints and calculations anyway). "Red took the worst of it."
Yang looked conflicted as she looked back and forth between her clearly shaken girlfriend sitting on the couch with her knees tucked under her chin, and her badly wounded sister reclining in her desk chair. Weiss sympathised with her and felt a small smile tug at her lips when Pyrrha lit the small furnace at the back of the room before setting the knife on the edge, and dragged a stool in front of Red, freeing the blonde to look after her significant other. Weiss moved toward her partner and remained silent as she watched the brawler inspect the bruises on Blake's arm while whispering soft comforts in her ear.
Feeling like she was intruding on a private moment, the snowy-haired woman turned her attention back to the bleeding brunette. "How are you feeling?" She whispered. She swallowed past the hot, spiky lump forming in her throat when Pyrrha cut through the still-damp shirt, revealing the gaping wound in her partner's shoulder.
Red attempted what Weiss thought was supposed to be a flirtatious smile, though it ended up looking more like a grimace as she replied. "Nothing like the face of a beautiful woman to make you forget all your troubles."
Weiss smiled at the poor attempt at levity. "Clearly you're already becoming delusional."
Red chuckled, but cut herself off with a grunt as Pyrrha dabbed at the wound with a cotton swab dipped in antiseptic. "Maybe. I am starting to think I didn't pick the safest of career paths." She grunted again before Pyrrha leaned in to inspect the wound.
"Looks like the bullet's still inside," she observed.
"You can thank Adam's use of a heavy duty suppressor on a twenty-two and my quick thinking for that." Red intruded.
"I'm going to need to take it out and clean the wound before we can close it." Pyrrha replied seriously.
Red heaved a deep sigh and looked down at her desk. "Alright. Do it."
After fishing a pair of pliers out of the kit and handing them to Pyrrha, Weiss turned around and tried to blot out the sound of flesh squishing and Red's groans of pain while memories of the last time she had found herself in this situation surged to the forefront of her mind.
I need you to talk to me… Gives me something to focus on so that I don't pass out.
"What happened out there?" She asked.
"We met with Adam to negotiate, only he didn't want Red listening in, so he cuffed her to a chair and shot her so she fell into a swimming pool." Blake replied stiffly.
"Uh, I pushed myself into that pool, thank you very much." Red interjected before yelping as Pyrrha scowled and smacked the disinfectant wipe on her wound. "Watch it!"
"You're smarter than this, Red!" The redhead growled in frustration. "How could you let him get the drop on you like that?"
"A few reasons, actually." The brunette riposted defensively. "The first being he knew I was Red."
"What? How?" Yang inquired.
"He said something about her friends not being good at keeping secrets." Blake muttered.
Weiss's eyes widened at the implication. "You think he found a leak in your network?"
Red winced as Pyrrha stood up to grab the knife from the burning furnace. "I know he has. Which means he also is aware of my reputation."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"The plan relies on two things:" The younger woman explained as she took the glowing blade from her friend. "The first being Adam believing that he could convince Blake to side with him over us."
"Which would never happen." The burglar added bitterly.
Red smiled as her sister held the thief tighter. "The second part is Adam has to believe he's smarter than me."
"So if he's aware of your reputation, he's going to be more cautious." Weiss reasoned.
"Exactly." Pyrrha said as she took off her belt and placed it in the con woman's mouth before securely grabbing on to her best friend's shoulders. They watched Red press the side of the red-hot blade to her bullet wound. The smell of burnt flesh and young woman's loud groans of pain filled the air as Red's legs thrashed around while the burning metal forced her wound to knit together, "Hold her arm steady." She instructed.
Weiss did as told and grabbed her partner's arm holding the knife and held it still over the injury. She had to keep blinking away ears from both the rancid smell the cauterization produced and the sight of the woman who meant so much to her writhing in agony. A few more seconds later, Pyrrha nodded to her and she guided Red's arm away before the brunette dropped the rapidly-cooling knife on to the concrete floor where Pyrrha splashed water from a bottle over it.
Now, instead of a gaping, bloody hole, Red's shoulder bore an angry, mangled burn that made Weiss's back itch and reminded her vaguely of cigars and rage. Though when she tried to figure out why, she was greeted only with foggy, indistinguishable images and half remembered feelings.
"I guess," Red panted tiredly, her skin glistening with sweat and her still damp hair clinging to her face, "I won't be wearing bikinis anytime soon."
"So how does that bastard knowing about your rep relate to you letting him put a bullet in you?" Yang asked angrily once her sister had calmed down a bit.
"It doesn't," Red answered, "I knew from the start that I'd have to let him get the drop on me. I just made the mistake of assuming he would show some sort of restraint in front of Blake. Once he revealed that he knew who I was, though, I knew that I had to turn the tables quick."
Blake smirked slightly and finally looked up. "I'd say you performed that with gusto."
"But won't that just make him even more cautious of you?" Pyrrha queried.
"No, he'll just see it as a challenge." Blake replied. "Especially when his pride has been wounded."
"The real challenge is going to be making the right mistakes at the right times." Red supplied. "Before, it would have been enough to plant information and have Blake play the role of the double agent, but he's smart enough to call my bluff now that he knows who he's dealing with. As a result, he planted a tracker on Blake and bugged her phone."
"We ditched the tracker, but we're going to leave the bug on my phone."
"Why?" Weiss asked.
"The mistakes Adam will be looking for are going to be things he thinks I'll have overlooked, either out of arrogance or ignorance." Red explained. "For example: using an unsecured phone network to communicate with each other. The bug in Blake's phone not only turns it into a personal listening device, but can be used to listen in on every phone she calls with it, meaning he'll be able to listen to what any of us are saying at any time."
"So that's why you lined this room with copper mesh." Blake concluded.
Red nodded. "Yup. Until we're don with him, you all have to assume that you're being listened in on at all times outside of this room."
"Right, so trust no one," Yang yawned and stood, pulling her girlfriend to her feet with her, "what do you guys say we finish this conversation later? Let you sleep off branding yourself, and wait for Ren and Nora to get here."
They all nodded their agreement, and one by one headed to bed. Tomorrow would be the start of their next big step on the hunt for Torchwick, and they all knew they would be needing their rest to face the challenges to come.