A/N: Oh look, yet another chapter! I'm trying to crank these out and hopefully be done somewhere around chapter 50 so that should be some indication of where we are with this story. That being said, it's tough finding an appropriate balance between introspection and action at this point in the story and I hope I managed to get across in this chapter (and the last few as well) what I intended to as far as the characters go while still advancing the plot appropriately.
Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter and tell me what you think in the reviews. Enjoy!
Her motivation restored, Ruby spent the next two weeks perfecting everyone's aliases. She went over every facet of their new lives, ensuring they were iron clad and more realistic than most of her friends' actual identities. With that done, she had grabbed Weiss and dragged the unwilling heiress to a party she had caught wind of a week earlier through some rather unsightly members of one of the gangs that controlled a good portion of the surrounding area.
"Why are we doing this again?" Weiss asked exasperatedly. She was dressed up in a tight, sky-blue dress that complimented her eyes and contrasted her hair nicely. The effect mixed with the way the fabric clung to the other woman's every curve and the teasing glimpses of skin just above her knees and below her collarbone made it exceedingly difficult for Ruby to take her eyes off her long enough to answer.
"Because, there's a person with something we need there." She paused and looked up at the sky, smiling when she couldn't see anything past the cloud cover. A quick survey of the street for any onlookers later, and she grabbed Weiss's hand, dragging her over to the nearest car on the block and pulling a small set of tools out of her purse. "And, I think you could use a nice relaxing drive, followed by unwinding with some drinks and maybe a dance or two with your favourite puckish rogue."
Weiss huffed, visibly fighting a smile, as Ruby jimmied open the door and set to work hotwiring the car. The engine started with a roar and Ruby smirked as she stood up and bowed dramatically, holding the door open for her partner.
"Your chariot awaits, Princess."
Weiss finally failed in keeping her composure and smiled as a blush lit up her cheeks making Ruby's smirk grow into a full-blown grin. The transporter sat down behind the steering wheel and visibly relaxed as she adjusted the seat and mirrors before shifting the car into first. They drove in silence for several minutes, passing increasingly better-off (though that term was used relatively in Ruby's opinion) neighborhoods on their way to the club Ruby had heard about.
"Hey, Ruby," Weiss asked when they eventually came to a stop at a red light.
"What's up?" Ruby replied, deliberately keeping her eyes on her phone and not the gorgeous woman sitting less than two feet from her.
"I still don't understand how this CCS thing works. You said it was some kind of virus, right?"
Ruby sighed as she tried to figure out how to explain something even she didn't fully understand yet. "Not in the typical sense, no," she answered, shifting in her seat. "It's more like… like a toll booth. Or a border patrol."
Weiss's eyebrow raised as she focused on the road ahead of them. "I'm not sure I follow."
"Well, you know that, for example, everyone in the US with a driver's license is in some sort of database, right?"
"Right."
"Alright, well, what the various countries are agreeing to is giving the CCS unrestricted access to pretty much every database they have, along with things like surveillance and traffic cameras, and electricity grids. That alone provides a fairly detailed profile of every person, but what the CCS does is it links that information to everything you do through various physical systems. Cars, planes, TVs, you name it. From there it can essentially gain access to people's computers and phones."
"How does it do that?"
"The internet. All data is interconnected; from hard core pornography to Facebook to email scams to online banking. It's all part of the same network. CCS just intercepts the information and saves a copy of whatever it finds."
"That sounds terrifying," Weiss whispered.
"Of course, odds are that'd just be a small part of it, and it's just my best guess at the moment," Ruby amended.
"How are we supposed to hide from something that can literally see everything?"
"By not attracting too much of its attention."
"Why does that sound like it will be easier said than done?"
They came to stop outside an old, worn down cathedral and exited the car. The strobing, multicoloured lights shining through the stain glass windows illuminated the street in front of the door and much of the block on either side. Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The loud thumping of the bass was somewhat reminiscent of drums signifying a hunt as their pounding reached her ears and beat through her almost unhindered by the thick stone walls.
They crossed the road and walked directly up to the bouncer, cutting in front of the long line of disgruntled partygoers waiting to be let in. A few sultry words and a dropped name later, they were allowed over the threshold where they were almost immediately met surrounded by countless writhing bodies.
Keeping her eyes open, Ruby guided the now straight-backed Weiss to a more secluded corner where she could see the entire club before wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her closer. There was quite a bit of protesting on the part of the redhead, but it quickly died down as Ruby shifted her hands to Weiss's hips and started swaying their bodies together to the beat. Soon enough, Weiss started moving herself without guidance, and they were bumping and grinding together as a giant grin adorned her face. It was hard not to lose herself in the sight and smell and heat of the woman in her arms as their bodies moved fluidly together in a primal dance. Each seeking more contact with the other.
Luckily, the current song tapered off before what little remaining self-restraint Ruby had could, and she managed to catch sight of who she was looking for. Her eyes never straying from her prey, she leaned down to speak in Weiss's ear and told her to order a drink and find a table to wait for her at. Upon receiving a nod from the redhead, she stealthily maneuvered her way through the jungle of drunk, rich kids and vacationing college students, pinking the odd pocket here and there as she went. Finally, she emerged from the noxious cloud of various perfumes and colognes mixed with sweat, and found herself standing behind a tall, dark-haired man in his early thirties. He wore baggy shorts and a plain white t-shirt, setting himself apart from the overdressed locals and the underdressed tourists. He surveyed the crowd with an almost professional interest, as if he was studying the blatant exhibitions of decadence as part of some research project.
She waited until he placed his drink on the table he was leaning against then allowed herself to be pushed out of the crowd and bump into him rather dramatically.
Within a minute she had him bragging all about his job, and what he was doing there.
Within three she had him on the dance floor, hands on her hips as she grinded sensually against him.
Two songs and a noticeably well-received lap dance and she had him following her dumbly to the back where a few private rooms lay hidden. The discarded clothes littering the floor told her at least one of them were already occupied.
Thirty-eight seconds after the door closed, he was pinning her to it. His shorts puddled at his feet as he kissed her while clumsily fumbling with the buttons of her blouse.
Another minute and she had him laying on a nearby couch, valiantly trying not to think about how often the cushions were cleaned as kissed down his newly exposed chest while his attempts at getting her shirt off resulted only in the first two buttons being torn out.
Five more and her shirt had lost another button while he snored rather obnoxiously as the drugs finally kicked in.
Standing up, she fixed herself as best as she could, shedding her blouse and leaving her with the tight black tank-top she wore underneath. She left the man where he was and made sure to grab his wallet and keys from his shorts before making her way back to the main dance floor and looking for Weiss.
She found the transporter sitting uncomfortably at a table while a rather large gentleman in an auspicious looking suit seemingly tried to talk her into joining him for a dance. He pointed to the area she had just come from, and she watched as he subtly moved his hand when Weiss looked away. Fury burned hot and righteous in her chest before quickly chilling her veins as she quickened her pace, reaching them just as Weiss was reaching for her drink.
"Babe," she yelled over the music, smiling like she was having the time of her life as she took the bottle from her partner's hand, "you can't drink that. You're our designated driver, remember? Now come on, let's get another dance in before we leave."
"Excuse me, but I believe the lady was about to go dance with me." The man shouted, annoyance clear on his face.
"That's nice," Ruby replied in a faux-sweet voice, "but how's about we let my girlfriend decide who she wants to dance with."
As predicted, the predatory gleam in his eye merely grew stronger and he smiled perversely as he leaned closer. "Well, if that's the case, why make her choose? You can both dance with me. That way everybody's happy."
How is it the guy I just ruffied is still more appealing than this guy?
"You're not really my type."
"Then how about you let florzinha here dance with me and wait your turn?"
She felt Weiss's hand shakily grasp hers behind her back, the only indication that her haughty dismissive tone was at all forced as she spoke for herself. "I'm sorry, but I much prefer not being crushed and dry-humped in a cloud of Axe when I'm dancing."
Ruby just barely contained a snort even as the man's face darkened while taking another step forward. Anyone else probably would have found a six-and-a-half-foot, two-hundred and fifty pound knuckle-dragger looming over them intimidating, but Ruby couldn't help smirking as she held his eye while pulling Weiss to her feet.
"Come on, Princess. Let's go dance before Lady Killer here has an aneurysm trying to think of a comeback."
The brute's face turned an interesting shade of purple as he exploded in rage. "You think you can get away talking to me like that, cadela?!"
Ruby tapped her chin as if mulling over her response. "I'm pretty sure I just did."
"Do you have any idea who my father is?" He snarled.
"No. Do you?" She countered. Her smirk grew again when she head Weiss try and fail to stifle a snort of laughter.
The man took another lumbering step forward and grabbed her wrist in a vice-like grip. Behind her Weiss stiffened noticeably. Making sure to keep her body as relaxed as she could while maintaining a position between the agitated giant and her body, Ruby cast a bored look at the hand gripping her wrist. She noticed the tattoo on his wrist and recognized it immediately.
"That's right, cadela, I'm with the Santa Blanca cartel. You know what that means right?"
"I'm sure you're about to tell me either way." Ruby deadpanned.
Clearly, he wasn't amused as he jerked her in close as he could lean down and snarl in her ear. "It means I own theses streets and all the worthless bicharada living here. My father runs these parts, and pretty soon I'll take over for him as he and the rest of the big players move on to bigger, better things. This is my church. My party. These spoiled trust-fund brats are all my customers. Nothing goes on around here without my permission. You would do well to respect me, or I won't hesitate to take you out back and blow your little head off." He reached behind him and pulled out his gun from where it was tucked in his waistband and Ruby saw her opening.
She kneed him in the groin as hard as she could, yanking her arm free as he doubled over. She followed it up by grabbing the arm holding the gun and twisted it until he dropped the weapon and fell to his knees. Anger still flowing through her veins, she picked the gun up, dragging him to his feet as she pressed the tip of the barrel against the base of his spine. She directed him out a nearby door into the alley behind the church images of the man she left unconscious back inside flashed through her head, only instead of him it was Weiss she imagined laying helpless on the filthy couch. This brought up images of what the sorry excuse for a man standing before her would have done had she not gotten there when she did. As the images flashed faster in faster in her mind's eye, Ruby growled and forced him back to his knees with a swift kick to the legs, before placing the gun right next to his head.
"Please," the man begged, tears starting to stream down his face, "please don't kill me! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Please just don't kill me. I'll do anything!"
"Really?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What did you mean by 'moving on to bigger and better things'?"
"All I know is that we've gone into business with someone."
"Who?" Ruby demanded.
"I don't know, I swear! Just that it's someone big and that in return for sending them a portion of our shipments along with a bunch of men, they are going to help us crush the other cartels and take over their turf."
Ruby's eyes widened as she processed what she was being told. "Where are they sending the shipments?"
"I-I don't know," the man stammered, "south. I think. But that's all I know, I swear! Please, don't kill me!"
"Oh, calm down, you idiot. I'm not gonna kill you." Ruby retorted condescendingly. "That being said," she paused, waiting for the current song inside the church to hit its crescendo and squeezed the trigger, shooting him in the kneecap and shattering his eardrum.
The man collapsed in a heap with a shriek of pain and she reached down, plucking his wallet out of his pocket. She pulled out all of his ID, memorizing all of is information before tossing it at his face and kneeling next to his good ear to whisper in perfect Portuguese.
"I am only going to tell you this once, Rafael Oliveira, so listen closely. If I ever see your name come anywhere followed by anything less than upstanding civil servant, I will come back and ruin more than just the other ear and kneecap. Am I understood?"
Rafael nodded and she smiled. "Good." She stood up and gently guided Weiss back around the church to the street. They were both silent as they walked past the car they arrived in, continuing down the block. Ruby took the chance to go through the wallets she pilfered, withdrawing the cash and credit cards before throwing the rest away as she wrestled with the feelings of guilt and disgust roiling around in her stomach over how she handled that situation. She had allowed her anger to direct her actions and had resorted to senseless violence, only just getting something useful from him when she could have easily gotten far more if she had just kept her head. She also felt shame at letting Weiss see such an evil side of her, and while she was sure she had finally shattered the image she knew her friend still had of her as some sort of paragon of virtue, she wasn't sure she would be able to handle it when Weiss inevitably started regarding her as just another criminal. She couldn't (wouldn't) quite put her finger on what it was she was feeling for the other woman yet, but she knew that should Weiss decide to leave, it would leave something inside Ruby broken irreparably.
"Sorry about that," she finally said once she felt she had regained full control of her emotions. "We were just supposed to be in and out."
"What exactly were you doing in there?" Weiss asked, eyeing her tank top and generally ruffled appearance suspiciously.
"Had to grab these," Ruby replied, holding up the wallet and keys taken from the man who would still be snoozing away come morning.
"And that involved, what, sleeping with him?"
Ruby noticed the dark look on Weiss's face and couldn't help but laugh loudly. "No need to be jealous Princess. I didn't sleep with him. I just ruffied him."
"Why?"
So I could be sure he didn't show up unannounced. Speaking of which, you sober enough to fly a plane?"
"Of course. That was my first drink you stopped me from drinking."
"You're welcome, by the way," Ruby teased as she crossed the street and used the button on her stolen keys to unlock the doors of a grey Hyundai that was clearly a rental.
"For what, exactly?" Weiss inquired, watching curiously as Ruby popped the trunk and started looking through it.
"That asshat had slipped something into your drink just before you were about to take a swig." Ruby grunted and pulled out a large brown suitcase. She opened it and pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that, while at least a size too big, would fit Weiss passably well in the dark. "Here, put these on."
"Again, why?" Weiss parroted even as she started slipping out of her dress.
"Because there's an ultralight sitting in a hangar sixty miles from here and as fantastic as you look in that dress, you need to look like the pilot for a well-respected National Geographic photographer, not her hot date." Ruby was going to take the opportunity to ogle and embarrass the redhead, but when she caught a glimpse of a nasty looking scar on her hip, she forced herself to turn away, remembering that Weiss's modesty was not a product of innocence, but rather the lack thereof.
"You know," Weiss stated once she finished changing and they were driving along the poorly lit streets towards the highway, "not that I'm not extremely grateful for what you did –because I am –but isn't it a tad hypocritical of you to get so worked up over that man trying to drug me when you were literally just coming back from having done just that?"
"It would be," Ruby replied slowly as she inspected the camera in her lap, unwilling to look up and see the look judgement that she had no doubt would be on her friend's face right now. "If I thought I was justified in doing it because I'm smaller than him, a woman, and doing it for the job instead of trying to take advantage of someone. But I don't. It's wrong, regardless. I just do it anyway."
"Ah."
They were silent for several minutes, and Ruby could feel the tension growing by the second. Eventually, it became too much for her to bear.
Might as well get this over with.
"Look, Weiss," she sighed, "Just because I disagree with what Torchwick and your father are planning doesn't mean I've got some sort of moral high ground over them. I've done all sorts of terrible things in my life, and I can assure you that if you stay around me, you're gonna see me do more. I know I've probably said it before, but you need to keep in mind that we're not the good guys. There aren't any good guys or bad guys. There isn't even us and them. There are only different perspectives."
Weiss remained silent, her eyes fixed forward as she looked like she was contemplating how to properly answer. Instead, she merely took her hand off the gear shift and put it on Ruby's thigh. Ruby smiled at the silent show of support and gripped her partner's hand in her own.
They continued on in a comfortable silence all the way to the airfield, nothing said between them save for Ruby explaining to the lone man guarding the flimsy gate in front of the airfield that she was the photographer for National Geographic, there to take pictures of an interesting new form of algae, and Weiss was her pilot. Having successfully conned their way into the hangar, Weiss took the time to do a quick walk-around of the small, two-seated ultralight before climbing in the pilot's seat in front of Ruby and starting the plane.
Ruby spoke to the air traffic controller in hurried Portuguese, and watched as they quickly ascended above the trees surrounding the airfield, once again both grateful for and amazed by her partner's talent for controlling anything with an engine. The plane evened out, and Weiss directed them towards the coordinates Ruby had found in Hemming's letter, where Antonio's friends had apparently confirmed all sorts of activity taking place.
"You're gonna want to stay below radar altitude," Ruby said into the speaker of her headset as she pulled a large camera out of the bag in her lap and turned on its infrared feature.
"No problem," Weiss replied, clearly focused on the task at hand. "You're aware of the dangers of flying that low, right?"
"I am, but I'm banking on them having fewer eyes on the sky than anywhere else. Hopefully they've been notified that an aircraft like ours would be nearing their airspace, but even then we're only going to have a small window before they notice us and order us to leave. So, we've only got one shot at doing this right."
She pulled out a second camera to join the first, turned on its thermal imaging setting, set both cameras to the highest amount of frames per second she could, then affixed them to the riggings on both sides of the windowless cockpit.
"We're coming up on the island now," Weiss called back, "are you ready?"
"Let's do it," Ruby replied, hitting the record button on both cameras simultaneously and leaning out to look for herself.
Silence filled the cockpit as Weiss cut the engines and they glided slowly in gradually tighter circles around the small island. Ruby spotted roads and the lights of several cargo trucks making their way toward the centre of the island and strained her eyes as they glided closer as well.
She couldn't make out much of the buildings other than their general shape in the negative space of the floodlights illuminating almost every square inch of the ground between them and the treeline thirty feet away. She spotted a small bay as well, and several boats full of boxes docked nearby. A quick count of the small forms of people scurrying to and fro told Ruby there were at least sixty people on the grounds and she made a mental note to check later to see how many of them were guards.
A quick tap on the shoulder told Weiss they were done here and she silently steered the aircraft away from the island just as some the clouds parted washing everything below them in moonlight. They glided towards the nearest edge of the island, and Weiss waited until they were almost buzzing the treetops before starting the engine and regaining their former altitude.
Ruby pulled the cameras back into the cockpits and set about removing their memory cards before returning them to the bag on her lap. They flew around aimlessly for another thirty minutes as an extra precaution before Weiss pulled them in for a smooth landing at the airfield.
"We get what we need?" Weiss asked as Ruby tossed the bag back in the trunk of the car.
"Hopefully. We'll see."
*(OoO)*
"So," Yang grunted as she ducked beneath a kink from her sister, "why haven't you banged the Princess yet?"
"What?" Ruby's step faltered just enough for the brawler to get in close and grapple her to the ground. She grunted as her back hit the sand and tapped on Yang's shoulder before they both stood up and returned to their starting positions.
After returning from their little midnight flight, Ruby had immediately thrown herself on the nearest bed and slept until morning before electing to join Yang on a trip to Fortaleza to meet one her sister's contacts. They were now waiting behind an almost abandoned hotel for their contact to arrive, so they decided to do a little sparring on the tiny piece of beach behind the building.
"You heard me." Yang smirked victoriously as they slowly circled each other. "It's obvious you two are dying to jump each other's bones, so why don't you?"
"What's it matter to you?" Ruby inquired, throwing a quick jab. Yang blocked and moved forward to retaliate only to miss as Ruby danced out of reach. They quickly fell into a comfortable back and forth as they exchanged blows.
"Because, I'm your sister. It's my job to worry about these things."
Ruby rolled her eyes as she blocked a right hook. "Yeah, right. You're just trying to find something else you can use to make fun of me."
"Please," Yang chuckled. "I don't need to try to find stuff to torture you over, Rubes. You do that all on your own. I'm just wondering why you're acting so hesitant when it's so clear you both care for each other."
A deep, accusatory voice rattled around Ruby's head as her sister's words dragged up recent memories.
You are poison.
"There are more important things going on at the moment that Weiss and I need to focus on, okay?" She snapped.
Yang watched her sister get angrier even as she closed herself off. Her sparring got clumsier and more aggressive as she thought about whatever it was that was eating away at her.
"Woah," the blonde exclaimed as she blocked a kick.
Ruby's ears rang as she couldn't stop thinking about how right Yatsuhashi had been. She wasn't even aware of Yang calling her name or even her own movements until she felt herself crash into the ground before being wrenched into a tight arm bar. She struggled, ignoring the pain of purposely straining her still-sore shoulder, and grunted as she tried in vain to escape.
"Ruby. Calm down," Yang ordered. "I'm not gonna let go 'til you do."
Ruby ignored her sister and kept struggling for another minute before finally taking a deep breath and tapping Yang's leg.
"That's better." She released the brunette and sat down next to her on the ground. "Now, wann tell me what that was all about?"
Ruby sighed and rolled onto her back. Her eyes focused on the few stars that had appeared so far in the evening sky, twinkling indifferently above them as she spoke.
"I'm letting her control the pace of things," she said slowly. "Among other things, her father wasn't very approving of her more… Sapphic interests. She's been handling everything that's happened to her remarkably well, including whatever is going on between us, and I don't want to push her in case she's not ready."
Of course that wasn't exactly what was bothering her at the moment. She had already accepted that she would let Weiss set the pace. Blue balls be damned.
You corrupt everyone you come into contact with.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Normally, insults just rolled off her. Especially when they were directed towards Red and not her. So why was she having so much trouble ignoring the words of one corrupt Interpol agent?
Probably because they're true.
"As noble as that is," Yang replied softly, "I know you well enough to tell when you're avoiding the subject."
"Well what do you want me to do, Yang?" Ruby asked cooly.
"Tell me what's wrong."
Ruby shot to her feet and glared down at her sister. "Tell me, what good would that do? I already have a lot on my mind with the whole figuring out how to break into a heavily guarded facility, hacking into what will undoubtedly be one of the most complicated systems ever, making sure we have the means to hide from people who will have the means to see literally everything we do, getting out, and ensuring no one dies along the way. You'll have to forgive me if I put a few of my other problems on the back burner for the time being, because I don't have the luxury of moping about and complaining at the moment." She looked down at her sister and, noticing the look of concern in her lilac eyes, immediately felt guilty for snapping at her like that. "I'm sorry," she sighed, "you were just trying to help and I bit your head off for it."
"Hey, it's fine," Yang said calmly as she stood and wrapped her younger sister in a hug. "You were there when I was at my worst, and considering how crazy I was feeling all the time, I'm sure I snapped at you more than once. You're just returning the favour."
Ruby giggled and buried her face in her sister's chest. "You were pretty nuts."
"You would be too." Yang retorted good-naturedly. They both stood there silently, holding each other for several minutes before they pulled apart and Yang looked down into her eyes. "You are right about needing to focus on the job right now. But once we've finished it, I hope you'll at least talk to someone. If only to remind yourself that there's more to your life than all this."
Ruby nodded and hugged her sister once more, thankful to have someone like Yang in her life to remind her of what was really important. They pulled apart and turned to face the rundown hotel together.
"Come on," she said quietly, "we don't want our friends waiting too long for us."
"Right," Yang nodded before following her back into the building and towards the door to the small conference room.
Ruby took a moment to look through the small window in the door at the various people gathered within and sighed before turning to her sister.
"Let's get this over with."