Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters
White pulled Black's jacket around her closer. He gently nudged her head with a steaming cup of coffee and she looked up at him. He placed the cup in her hands and the little lion on his head hopped onto his lap. White absently petted the small creature and felt its claws to make sure that it wasn't too sharp. The small creature often clutch onto Black's head.
Black stood heads and shoulder over her. His deep brown eyes that sparkled with mischief now looked down at her with concerned. His brown hair was ruffled in such a way that remained her of a lion which he could never tame. She always felt safe around him because she always felt that he would help her and he was fully capable with broad shoulders and muscled arms.
"Thank you," She took the cup. She was thankful that she had Black to help her, though he couldn't quite leave like the others. She still remembered the day he had stumbled into one of her circus tents and broke virtually everything in it in his haste. She would've forgiven him until she saw how one of the lions gravitated toward him, she knew that he would be perfect for the one act she was missing.
She told him that he would have to pay for all the damages, and like she guessed, he didn't have any money. She all but cheered as she declared that he was now her eternal employee. Black agreed on the condition that they left that night. She agreed and she never regretted it but she always wondered what he was running from, but after so long and nothing came up, she just didn't think too much.
Black sat at her side and she could see the others gather around them. She knew that they were all curious about what why she had called a meeting. She went to the desk and opened a locked drawer. She took out some letters, and placed them on her lap as she sat back down. She didn't hand them out though and kept her eyes trained on them.
"If any of you want to leave my employment, I fully understand your choice." She began. "I've been getting letters telling me that I took something from them and if I didn't return it to them, that he would shut down my circus. I didn't think much of it, just some pranks. Even when things started going wrong, I didn't connect on it. Then I started getting photographs. I should've gone to the police then."
Ruby stayed to the back to the crowd and took in everything White was saying. He needed to get his hands on those letters and photographs but it didn't seem like she would relinquish her hold on them. He could easily pick a lock to get them but she might panic if she found the letters missing. No one could discover that he was undercover. It would hurt the investigation since Silver believed that the killer was a one of the performers.
"Can we see the photograph?" Ruby insisted a little too forcefully. Black sent him a quick glare. Obviously Black didn't like Ruby was being so pushy and was close to her. He thought of a way to find if anyone had something to hide. "I was just thinking that it might help… unless you don't want the police to get involved."
"Idiot!" Sapphire hit him over the head and glared at him. "How can you even suggest that one of us could be the one harassing the circus? Ain't nobody here hiding a secret!"
Ruby held back his grin since he knew that she would say something like that. He took a quick look around the group to see who reacted to her words. He frowned when more people than not reacted. How could single out the killer? He should've guessed that most of the performers would have a reason to hide in a circus. God, this was going to be hard for him. Then he smiled to himself, thinking that he would need help from someone that knew a lot about the Circus. That meant he needed Sapphire's help.
He was sure that he could reason with her. In that time, he could woo her again and win her back. With that plan in mind, he went back to studying his suspects. Wally already opened up to him so he could probably find more information about everyone from him. White must have kept records on everyone so all he needed was to get into her cabinet. This was going to be an easy case.
"Okay, no photographs, but can you at least tell me what they were of?" Ruby asked. White pressed the back to her hand to her mouth and reluctantly placed one on the table. Ruby breathed in sharply, recognizing the scene. It was one of the murders Silver thought was connected to the circus.
Rage rushed through him and he slammed his hands on the table. He was a passionate man, and that could sometime cause him to act without thinking. "You have photos of dead people sent to you and you brush it off as a little prank? You're only now taking this seriously?"
"I'm sorry," She said to the photo rather than him. "But I want to make this right! I'm not going to give up this circus to him and he won't leave us alone. He wants the treasure so all we have to do is find it! I'm sure that we can if we ban together."
"What treasure?" Ruby asked and everyone looked at him in shock, as if this was common knowledge.
"When I first bought this circus, there was a myth about the legend the previous owner left behind a large amount of wealth." White explained. "He told that it was hidden somewhere here but I never bothered to look for it. It sounded so cliché that I thought it was just a legend. Obviously this killer thinks that it's real."
"What should we do Prez?" Black asked.
White leaned back, as if trying to figure it out as he was asking that. "He wants money so either we find the treasure or get enough to pay him. Once he has the money, he'll leave us alone. Since there's no hint on where the treasure is, we'll just have to find enough money to appease him. That should be easy! But, I guess it's only fair that I let you walk out right now."
"Of course we won't," Sapphire declared. "We're a family."
Ruby leaned back as the trailer moved down the open road. They had been on the road for a week now, driving so fast that Ruby knew that White had something to run from. No one questioned her choice or even argued with her. He had to wait until the circus stopped for the night. They usually drove through the night with everyone alternating driving but tonight White wanted them to rest and to practice their acts.
He hit a wall when it came to Wally. It turned out that Wally only just joined the circus so didn't know that much about the other actors. Though Ruby doubted this since there were times Wally knew more than he said. It seemed that was the case with everyone. He supposed that was to be expected from people who used the circus to escape their problems.
He felt the trailer stop and he all but crash through the door. He wasn't one to enjoy the outdoors and would often avoid dirt but he had been trapped in that trailer for so long he was relieved for the fresh air. As soon as he got out, he stretched, eager to find his gem.
They had stopped at an empty field and White maneuvered the wagons and trailers into a circle. White had negotiated with the landlord to let them stay awhile. Everyone else seemed to be relieved for the rest as well, for they exited their trailers with glee. He looked around to look for Sapphire but she wasn't anywhere in sight. He sighed, thinking that she was in her trailer hiding from him.
A shadow cascaded over him and he looked up to see an elephant tower over him. The small form of Sapphire leaned over the large animal and glared at him, as if she expected for him to run long before now. He shadowed his eyes as he looked up at her.
"Can we talk?" he asked and she turned her nose at him. He saw that she was going to say - or rather yell- something to him so interrupted her before the tirade could start. "It's about the circus. I would rather talk with you privately."
"Let's just get this over with," She leaned over and he smiled to himself. She was a little shocked since she only felt his hand around hers briefly. It still sent shocks through her body and she closed her eyes against the mixture of excitement and pain. He had so effortlessly swung himself behind her. She then urged the elephant away from the group by gently nudging it behind its ear.
Ruby wrapped his arms around her waist, a move so familiar it hurt. He placed his chin on the top of her head and pulled her closer. She had a petit frame yet strong muscles but one had to be a trapeze artist. Her slender frame fit so naturally against his body but it hurt that she was so tense. "Remember all the nights we did this, just riding Rono and reading the stars?"
"You said you wanted to talk about the circus," She redirected the topic. She was stronger than this, so why was the thought of his arms around her hurt so much? Maybe because she wasn't the girl in his arms as he smiled down at her. He expected grace and ladylike, but she couldn't be that. She could only be Sapphire Birch.
"I was thinking about the killer," He sighed but promised to himself that they would speak about where their relationship later. "Maybe we can capture him together or at least find who he is. We'll make a good team since you know everything about this circus and I can probably get some of my police friends to go over the evidence."
"I thought you were a police officer," She stated and he was surprised that she remembered that. He didn't speak about his job much, tending to talk more about his passion of design. Of course he couldn't tell her that he was still an undercover cop because it would interfere with the investigation. He didn't like lying to her so told as close to the truth as possible.
"I just retired early," It was true that he was retired but this was his last assignment. "I thought the circus would be a good change of scenery for me and I really want to try this again, try us again. I know that I messed things up but what we had was special, too special to just give up on it. You must've felt that spark between us."
"Your father just let you go? Just like that?" She was surprised that his father would let Ruby leave the team since she knew he could be overbearing about the family business of being a police.
"My father passed away a couple months ago," Ruby felt a sudden lump in his throat. He should be glad that he wasn't chained to a job he didn't love. He didn't even know why he stayed at that job for as long as he did. He didn't know why he didn't stand up to the man either.
"I'm sorry for your loss," She said in a soft voice. He knew that she was also thinking of her father, who had a direct contradictory to his relationship to his with his father. "I know you two never see eye to eye but I also know that losing someone so close is hard. At least you're free to do what you love, making all those clothes, living in the city of lights and all that."
Ruby didn't say anything, mostly because he didn't know what to say. He felt so many mixed feelings and saying any one of them would have her angry by saying the wrong thing. He was always straddling the wall between love and contempt for his father. For god sake, he didn't even cry when the man died doing his duty to his city.
"My father has nothing to do with this," His voice was strained and she nodded. "Will you help me find the killer? I know I'm the last person you want to team up with but think about your circus."
Sapphire closed her eyes to think about the pros and cons of them working together. But only the images of their moonlit escapades flashed before her lashes. She couldn't even close her eyes without the memories tormenting her! It was bad enough when they were apart but now that he was behind her, she didn't know how she could stand much more of him.
It wasn't right that she was the only one being tormented by this. She knew that there could never be anything between them but thunder. Their personalities were too different and their interest lied in different dimensions. If her lie hadn't broken them apart, then their differences would've pulled them apart. Why risk her heart?
But then there was her circus. She was feed up with not being able to do much to take down this killer. At first he was just a nuisance but now it was clear that he was a killer now. She knew that White was already having trouble with the circus. If this could help her home, then she would have to put this aside.
"I'll help," she signed her fate. She could practically see the smirk on his face and felt his hand rubbed her leg.
"So tell me about this treasure. "You looked pretty skeptical when White said it didn't exist. You've been in this circus longer the than White so you obviously know more than she does, no insult to her. What makes you believe that there's a treasure?"
"I didn't think much on the myth," She started, guiding Dono to a pile of hay Black laid out for the animals. Ruby slid off before she did and held out his arms to her, she ignored them though and slid down the other side. Ruby sighed as she went to brush down the elephant. He looked back to make sure that no one was watching them.
"Nelson, the previous owner, seemed to have more money than he knew what to do with. We never had money issue even when we had a bad year. He often joked with us that he had a treasure hidden in the circus and I think he does. He often crept around the circus when there was no reason to and there were places he would never let us go."
"So you're thinking that it might be in one of those places?"
"The myth is actually that someone a hundred years ago robbed a bank and ran to hide in this circus. He only planned to hide there until the police moved on but he fell in love with the lion tamer. He decided to stay as the magician and live out a new life with his love. But when she found out about his past, she left him and in his grief, he left the circus because it held too many memories, leaving the treasure behind."
Ruby nodded, "Do you think that White kept the records of all the performers before she bought it? It should be easy to find if the myth is true by looking there. We just need to find if there was a female lion tamer that was with a magician some hundred years ago."
"One problem," Sapphire pointed out. "White probably won't let us see the records because of the confidential agreement that binds everyone in the circus."
"Then we just won't ask her," he grinned down at her and took another brush to help her. He brushed Rono's side lovingly until he was at her side and placed his hands over hers. "I'll do this for you. And by the way, I'm looking forward to working with you."
"I have the marshmallows!" White exited her trailer with bags off food in each arm as she made her way to the circle of performers. It was later that night and they sat around a fire. Ruby thought that this was rather rustic and that this was something a group of gypsies would do. She sat at the head and handed the bag to the person next to her.
Ruby scanned everyone at the circle and asked, "Where's Missy? I thought everyone was going to be here."
"She doesn't join us much, like to stay to herself," Sapphire explained. It hurt that even as she sat next to him, the distance between them felt like acres. "She usually just stays in her trailer. It's a shame that she doesn't join us more but we can't force her to do anything. She's probably practicing her act. Don't worry about her much, Dia usually checks up on her so if anything is wrong, he'll tell us."
"Hey White," Black came behind her, with his costume over his shoulders. "Can you mend this for me? Musha kinda got a little too physical playing with me. I tried to fix it myself but…"
White took it and examined the rip in his costume. Her brows furrowed as she looked at the uneven stitches he made. He wouldn't have bothered her if he could do it himself since he knew that she was feeling a lot of stress lately. He was smart but he had little talent with a needle.
She was taller than the average woman and her brown hair was usually in a messy ponytail, giving her more height. Her light blue eyes were almost the colour of ice and it intrigued him how the hue changed with her mood. Though most of the performers were older than her, she had a good business mind and he had no doubt that they would be able to get past this.
"I'll do that for you," Ruby volunteered. "I have some experience with design so it won't be much trouble. In fact, I think that I want to redesign all of the costumes for you. They're okay but I think that they can be better with a few tweaks here and there. Of course you can have a say in their design since this is going to be an expression of your character."
Sapphire saw the excitement on his face and felt something ache in her heart. She had seen that expression so often that she wanted to be happy for him. She should be happy but knew that he would happier in one of those big cities. No matter how much she imagined their future, one of them would be unhappy. She didn't fit in the city and he didn't want to live in a circus.
She stared at the marshmallow at the end of her stick without seeing it, seeing instead Ruby's eyes when he told her that he loved her in the fire. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she almost jumped. When had he gotten so close to her? She made the mistake of looking into his crimson eyes and drowned in grief.
He pointed to White's trailer and knew that he wanted to go through the White's records. She nodded though she did feel a little guilty that she was going to look into their secrets. But what could she find that would be that bad? She thought to herself. She had been with them for years and none seem like the kind of person would have a criminal record.
She followed him as he lead her away, making the excuse that he wanted to take her measurements. Dia looked worriedly after her since he knew of their past. He didn't want his friend to be hurt again though he did speak to Ruby that night and it seemed that he truly loved her. He was caught between wanting to stop them and seeing what would come from this courtship.
He couldn't make a decision before he saw the pair disappear into White's trailer. Suspicious, he followed the pair, standing below the window. What were they doing? He had to strain his ears to see what they said and his imagination filled in the rest. It seemed like Ruby was looking for the treasure but White already said that it was just a myth.
If Ruby did have a connection to the Killer, then he might hurt Sapphire again and she didn't deserve that. Though there was a glaring contradiction to this since Ruby was there when the killer attacked. Dia couldn't see Ruby in a dark light since he did save Missy but he would have to tell White about this. He went to tell White but went to Missy, wanting to warn her as well.
"Hey, guess what, Black used to be a scientist!" Ruby took out the file on the man in question. "He quitted though it doesn't say why he did."
"That doesn't help us, we need to find that magician." Sapphire pulled out the lowest drawer which held the older files. Ruby knelt next to her so that he could pick the lock. She rolled her eyes when he did so easily and smirked superiorly at her. She wanted to take that smirk away from in two different ways. She wanted to slap it off him and the other was to kiss him. One couldn't smirk when kissing another, could they?
"This would be easier if this was done electronically," He grumbled as most of the files were fading and didn't know if his camera phone could pick up most of the text.
"There's not much information on Missy," Ruby noted. Sapphire clenched her jaw since he had asked so many questions about the woman already. "I thought you could find a decent amount of information on her since she has a lot of information on her since she has such a strange name."
"Missy is just a name that Dia gave her," Sapphire explained. "Dia found her lost at a hotel and he invited her to join the circus. We don't know much about her but Dia just saw a man call her Missy and thought that was her name. Why are you so interested anyways?"
"I was just curious since we know so little about her. I don't like the gaps in this picture, it makes it harder to solve this mystery" Ruby looked back at Sapphire and saw the conflict of emotion in her face. Was she jealous? He jumped with glee in his mind but stopped when he came upon another file.
"Is this her?" He pulled out a file of a woman. When Sapphire wasn't looking, he took a picture of it and sent it to Silver for a background check. "There aren't many female lion tamer so this might be her. There's something familiar about her too but I can't put my finger on it."
"I've seen that golden barrette before," Sapphire tapped her chin and she clapped her hand at the connection. "Some of the older costumes had jewels similar to these but Nelson left them when he sold the circus. We could never find them again though."
"So the jewels on the costume might be the treasure! Nelson might've found the gold and used them for the costumes! That narrows down what we're looking for." Ruby declared. "Let's go before someone starts to question why we're missing."
Platina brushed her hair back as she clipped her hair back with golden barrettes of her fortune teller costume. She sighed to herself and touched her cheek, where a bruise once graced her skin. She felt her heart stopped when there was a knock at her trailer. She cautiously looked out the window, fearing that she had been found. She let out a breath of relief when she saw that it was only Dia.
She went to open the door yet looked behind him to make sure that there was no one hiding in the shadows. When she saw that there were none, she looked up at Dia and greeted him politely. He smiled back at her and held out some food for her.
"I thought you might want some company, so made you some. Of course, if you don't want me to…" Dia started and she smiled softly up at him.
"I would love some company," She moved so that he could enter and closed the door quickly behind him. She asked him where Pearl with and he explained that the man had caught a stomach flu so was resting.
"That's a beautiful barrette," Dia commented and touched it gently. Slowly his fingers traced a path down her cheek and she leaned into his hand. She looked up at him and when their eyes connected, he nervously took his hand away, blushing as he did so.
"Thank you," She said in a trained even voice. "It has been in my family for years. I'm quite hungry, so let's dine on this fine night."
Dia smiled, happy to obliged and set the food on the small table at the middle of the room. The small act of kindness was so familiar to Platina and she was glad that she was able to find some happiness in her solitude. She felt a little guilt that she had to lie to Dia but it was safer for them both for her to do so. It hurt so much because she wanted to tell him, to be as honest as he was to her.
But in the end she was one big illusion.
Sorry for taking so long, but balancing university, work and fanfiction is hard. Review if you liked.