A/N: Hey all! First, let me just say thank you for all of your support for me continuing writing this in light of what happened. You guys are amazing! Also, this would have been up a fair bit sooner, but I had to deal with a bunch of real life problems followed by moving into my new apartment. I actually only just got internet today, so I immediately set to work getting this up.
Anyway, this was originally going to be one extremely long chapter, but I decided to split it up both for narrative purposes and so that I had something to post right now. As always, thank you to those of you who follow/favourite, and a second thank you to those who drop off reviews. Nothing gets me in the mood to write more than the reading what you guys thought of the last chapter and what you think is going to happen.
Weiss sat alone one the deck of the boat, thinking about the current situation she and her friends had found themselves in. After the revelation of the existence of a group of individuals intent on controlling an entire continent for reasons as yet unknown, Ruby had become uncharacteristically withdrawn for the remainder of their meeting while the rest of them discussed possible next moves. That is, until her laptop had dinged notifying them of an alert.
They had all sat frozen and watched as their leader read the alert before informing them in a quiet monotone that the United States had just won the rights to be the first country to implement the CCS on a national scale. She then stood up, and, with an expression that Weiss had only seen once before in a small garage in New York, told them she had some work to do before leaving. Once the door had slammed behind her, Pyrrha stood up and read the rest of the article, which said that the CCS would be up and running in several major cities by September, and be fully implemented nationwide before the New Year.
That had been a week ago.
Since then, Yang had suffered from a minor meltdown –though Weiss was unclear as to the reason behind it –and had only calmed down once Pyrrha had informed them that she would be returning to New York in order to look after the orphanage and keep her ear to the ground. With that settled, Blake had taken her out and together they went to visit some of the burglar's contacts in the area in an effort to gather information. Antonio returned to see his friends and ask if they had any new information as well. This left Weiss on her own in the middle of a very poor part of what she hoped was still Brazil. Deciding she too needed to do something productive, at the very least for the sake of sanity, the former heiress had taken to spending her days helping the locals however she could (not an easy task, considering the language barrier. Though things were going more smoothly after she had befriended an older woman who was also fluent in Spanish). Her nights were spent back on the boat (she refused to spend the night in that motel after seeing what looked like a beetle the size of her fist scurry under the bed), wracking her brain for every possible detail she could remember about her father.
As she took pen to paper, she forced herself to face the memories that still haunted her. There were very few that could in any way be considered even remotely positive, and almost all of them had the familiar veil of fog she had come to recognize as a sign of tampering. It had been a grueling affair, reliving her past, but from it she was slowly constructing a detailed profile pertaining to everything related to Augustus Schnee. In reviewing her 'lessons', she eventually found herself able to look past the pain –both physical and emotional –and gleam valuable information on how Schnee thought and worked.
She was also thankful that parts of her memory that were left intact could still be recalled with perfect clarity. This included every business meeting and facility tour, every handshake and party, every single person she had seen Augustus associate with was added to the list for Ruby to look into.
Weiss had just finished working for the night and was resting on the deck of the ship when Ruby arrived. She sat up as her partner strode past her, but before she could so much as wave, the brunette had ducked below deck. A minute later, Ruby was already on her way back out, a large duffle bag slung over her shoulder. Weiss was so focused on her friend's retreating form that she didn't even notice Antonio taking a seat next to her until he spoke up.
"You should go after her."
"Why me?" Weiss asked, her eyes still fixed on the direction in which Ruby had gone. "You're her grandfather. Surely you know her better than any of us."
"Which is how I know she needs you."
Weiss hesitated a moment, but one look at the concerned, resolute look in the older man's eyes told her that he wholeheartedly believed that she was the one who could get through to his granddaughter. She nodded to him as she stood up and made her way off the boat. She picked her way down the decrepit street, noting how much more threatening it looked without the large community of friendly faces that were present during the daytime. She paused and looked around for Ruby before sighing in relief when she spotted Senora Huarez closing up her little kiosk where she sold the fish her husband caught on his daily fishing trips. After asking her if she had seen a woman of Ruby's description recently, the elderly woman pointed Weiss in the direction of an old, abandoned auto shop further down the road. A quick thank you later, Weiss was already making her way determinedly down the block to her destination.
Fortunately, she found Ruby in the back of the rundown building, a small trunk sat next to her usual duffle bag of tricks by her feet and a pair of goggles covered her forehead as she hunched over whatever it was she was working on, the smell of solder filling the air.
"You know, for a country without a single RadioShack as far as the eye can see, it's weirdly easy to get your hands on a working laser pointer."
Seeing the deflection for what it was, Weiss decided to play along for the time being as opposed to pushing her partner too hard.
"That is strange."
Ruby hummed and nodded. "Apparently, quite a few people used to own cats in this part of town. Good for dealing with rodents, I guess."
"That would explain the frankly unsanitary amount of strays." Weiss noted, taking a step closer to see what it was Ruby was working on. On the table were sever disassembled laptops, phones (a quick tap on her pocket confirmed that her own was among them), circuit boards and electronics of various kinds, and more than a few laser pointers. "Mind explaining what this is all for?"
"Hopefully, finding a way to circumvent the CCS." Ruby grunted as she wiped the iron on a nearby sponge.
"And this?" Weiss tapped the small metal box on the floor with her foot.
"A last resort." Ruby sighed minutely and resumed her work. "Though I do wish I didn't need to use them."
"Why?"
"Take a look for yourself."
Shrugging, Weiss bent down and picked up the box which she now realized was a safety deposit box. It brought back memories of their time in Canada, when everything wasn't so complicated.
Please, it was always complicated.
Pulling over a nearby chair to sit in, Weiss placed the box on an open section of the large workbench and opened it. She reached in and grabbed the first of what looked like many sheets of paper and read it.
State of California
California Department of Public Health and Environment
Certified Abstract of Birth
State File #: 1051995034902
Name of Recipient: Julia Summers
Date and Time of Birth: August 26, 1990, 01:16 AM
City of Birth: Los Angeles
Mother's Maiden Name: Cynthia Jane Baker
Mother's Place of Birth: New York City
Mother's Age: 23
Date Filed: September 13, 1990
Sex: Female
County of Birth: LA
Father's Name: Christopher Gregory Summers
Father's Place of Birth: New Mexico
Father's Age: 25
This is a true certification of name and birth facts as recorded in this office.
Weiss raised an eyebrow at the document before replacing it and taking out another. As it turned out, the box was filled with all sorts of false documentation for what seemed like several different aliases, all of them ranging in both age and gender.
She couldn't understand what Ruby found so distasteful about such flawless forgeries. From the birth certificates, to the records of enrollment and employment, to the blank passports. They even looked like they had been aged to match those of the aliases. It seemed as if everything was in order for them to assume new identities and disappear.
It wasn't until she reached the bottom of the pile that Weiss found the source of Ruby's discomfort using these particular identities. Sitting beneath all the other documents, she found a death certificate corresponding to one of the aliases. Then another. Followed by another after that. In fact, it seemed as if there was on for each set of documents. But what truly made her gasp in shock and revulsion were the dates of death on the certificates.
Without fail, each death was recorded no more than a few weeks after the recorded date of birth. One of them was marked as less than twelve hours following the time of birth.
"Are…" She whispered unevenly, "are these what I think they are?"
With a sigh that could only be described as a mixture of exhaustion and defeat, Ruby put her soldering iron back in its cradle and stared down at nothing sadly. "It's called identity farming. People acquire the documentation of stillborn and sick babies and use them to create a sort of ghost in the system. Enrolling them in schools, applying for jobs, paying taxes. Each one is tended to for years, creating an alias that, for all intents and purposes, is foolproof due to the legitimacy of the documentation." The blank expression on her face and the monotone way in which she explained them did nothing to hide the shame and guilt swirling around in Ruby's eyes. She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair before returning to her work, and Weiss could almost feel the waves of sadness and disgust rolling off her friend. "Ever since I found out about them I've worked to acquire as many of them as I could, and, though I always told myself I would never stoop so low as to assume the identity of and desecrate the memory of a deceased infant, I could never bring myself to destroy them. Now, not only do I have to make use of them, but I have to convince the people I care about to do so as well. All because I'm being forced to run away with my tail between my legs and hide."
"I'm sure these people would understand," Weiss told her, nodding towards the box and the documents therein. "Especially considering you're using them to help others."
"But that's just it, isn't it?" Ruby snapped as she shot to her feet and whirled on Weiss. "I'm not doing it to help anyone but myself. I'm just using them to cover my own ass so I don't wind up killed, or thrown in jail."
"And what about your sister?" Weiss demanded, refusing to back down. "Or Blake? Or your grandfather? Or me? You're not the only one in danger, and you're not the only one these documents are going to help protect."
That seemed to mollify the brunette slightly. She collapsed back in her seat and ran her hands over her face and through her shoulder-length locks. All at once Weiss could see just how young the girl before her was and how old and weary the world had forced her to become. Silently, she watched and waited as Ruby glared down at her hands, clearly trying to organize her thoughts. Eventually, though her gaze remained fixed on her hands, focusing on some faraway nowhere, she spoke in a fractured whisper.
"Four hundred million."
Weiss's eyebrows lifted in curiosity. "I'm sorry?"
"The population of South America. Roughly four hundred million. That's how many people I'm letting down because rather than finding a way to help them, I'm running away. While I'm hiding in some dark corner of the world where no one can find me, I'm condemning four hundred million people to live under a sociopathic terrorist, a mysterious cane-carrying murderer, and a power-hungry megalomaniac who are conspiring together to control their countries, their jobs, their lives. Instead of figuring out why they want control of a continent already steeped in violence, poverty, and corruption, I'm defiling the memories of several children who never even got the chance to live so that my friends and I can scurry away and hide. In a country of over three hundred million people who have willingly agreed to give up their personal lives to be bought and sold as simple commodities, no less!"
Weiss watched the storm of emotions playing across her partner's face and felt her heart break for the woman before her. The mask had all but shattered, and if the tears welling in those beautiful silver eyes meant anything, it was that the grief and guilt and empathy Ruby was insisting on carrying were finally threatening to crush her.
Observing her, Weiss noted the similarities between herself and the young information broker. They both wore figurative masks to control and contain the pain and sadness that were constantly on the edge of overwhelming them. But, where Weiss had crafted a veneer of cold arrogance and borderline cruelty to deal with the pain inflicted on her by her father and prevent others from gaining the opportunity to do so as well, Ruby, seeing the sadness in those around her and being unable to ignore it, had created a façade for herself that lay far deeper, behind even the image of the criminal genius, Red.
In order to alleviate as much of other's suffering as she could, this woman –this brilliant, beautiful, tragic woman –had changed her very self so she could seek out the pain of those around her and do whatever was necessary to alleviate it. From committing every morally and legally reprehensible act short of murder, to willfully and happily taking responsibility for and accepting the hunger, the loneliness, the hatred of countless people who saw her as everything from a saint to the lowest scum there was. Despite her consistently charitable intentions, Ruby was ready and willing to accept the mantle of the villain in almost every situation, if for no other reason than it kept others from having to do it themselves.
But, for someone like Ruby, who Weiss had seen was painfully aware of the suffering of others, whether she wanted to be or not, the idea of hundreds of millions of people being condemned to lives of dolor and choosing to be what she saw as compliant… the guilt, self-inflicted or not, would have to be unbearable.
"I get it." She murmured softly, standing up and pulling Ruby with her. Slowly, as if she was dealing with a scared animal and not the woman who had quickly become the most important person in her life, she grabbed both of Ruby's hands, stepped forward to lean against her body, the way their bodies seemed to fit together once again allowing for almost complete contact between the two from torso to toes, and gently guided the brunette's hands around her waist so as to keep holding her close. Weiss smiled as she felt Ruby's acknowledgement of her actions and the accompanying tightening of the grip around her waist. Sure that Ruby wouldn't let her go anytime soon, she brought her own arms and gently wrapped them around her partner's neck, and rested her head in her favourite comfortable nook between Ruby's neck and shoulders. Her one hand reached up to run through silky brown locks and guide her head down, and once she felt her partner's face buried in her hair, she placed a gentle kiss on the lightly tanned pulse point before taking a deep breath of that intoxicating smell of roses and strawberries and continuing.
"You think we've lost. You think that due to you being unable to predict this soon enough and take action to stop it, you are solely responsible for any misfortune that is about to befall those who will be affected. You're upset because you feel like you're giving up, and angry that, in spite of that, you're still required to risk the lives of the people you love just so you can capitulate in peace." Weiss paused for a moment, letting her words sink in. If she was to be at all successful in getting through to the woman whom she was quickly finding it difficult to imagine living without, she needed her to understand that she did understand what Ruby was feeling, even without her having to outright tell her, and that she cared about and supported her unconditionally. "You want to know what I think?"
Ruby said nothing, opting instead to bury her face further in Weiss's hair and hold her as tight as possible while she valiantly fought to control her tears.
"I think you're absolutely right." This seemed to shock Ruby enough to pull back slightly and fix the redhead with a curious look. Weiss smiled softly and pulled her back close before continuing. "I think that if you're going to simply accept this situation and risk all of our lives just to run away and hide in shame, then you will have not only lost, but most likely gotten us all killed as well. If you decide the only course of action is hiding away and ignoring those who are going to need your help, then their suffering will be your fault. If you choose to give up, then you deserve to be upset with yourself and you should be ashamed."
"What would you have me do?" Ruby mumbled brokenly into her hair. "They've already won."
"Maybe. But that doesn't mean you've lost." This seemed to pique Ruby's interest, and Weiss had to supress a smirk before going on. "If I've learned anything from you in all our time together, it's that so long as you're breathing, you haven't lost. If your opponent is about to win, you change the rules. Adam, Torchwick, and my –and Augustus have used subterfuge, money, and intimidation to put themselves in a position of public endearment. They may yet have still more powerful cohorts that will be able to use that to their advantage and forward agendas that we aren't even aware of yet. To them, they've already won and we're nothing but a minor nuisance to be dealt with at their convenience."
"You do know that comforting someone is supposed to make them feel better, right?" Ruby croaked hoarsely.
Weiss didn't restrain her smile this time and planted another kiss just below Ruby's jawline, happy that at least her partner's sense of humor hadn't been lost.
"What I'm trying to say is: just because we're falling back, it doesn't necessarily mean we're giving up. Whatever these people plan on happening, it's going to take a long time, it's going to happen gradually, and it will be in more places than one at a time."
She took a deep breath and was about to continue when she noticed Ruby stiffen in her arms. A quick look up revealed an expression on the con woman's face she had seen before, and like last time, she quickly found herself being kissed passionately before a brown-haired whirlwind started flying around the small workshop.
"As always, Weiss, you are a genius!" Ruby exclaimed as she gathered her laptop and some files before kissing her breathless once more.
"While I won't deny that claim," Weiss replied cheekily once she had regained her breath, "how am I in this particular case?"
"You reminded me that I'm a genius!" Ruby explained hurriedly. Her grin grew even brighter when she saw Weiss roll her eyes. "More importantly, you reminded me that, not only do I not have the luxury of giving up, there is always something else I can do."
With one final passionate kiss, followed by a quick peck on the nose, the reinvigorated con woman rushed out the door in a flurry of renewed enthusiasm.