The air between them became heavy as they both processed what she had just said.

"That's not possible," he finally said, his tone dazed and confused. He stared into his own lap through his fingers, splayed over his eyes.

"It is, actually," Ruby said. "I can verify it in several different ways."

"Even if this is true, why are you here? Couldn't you just get it from my dead body?" Roman pulled his hands away from his face, replacing them on his temples, eyes trained on her.

"That's the issue," Ruby explained. "To properly study your genetics and manufacture a cure, we would have needed to get a spinal tap. But even if your body weren't charred to a crisp, we only managed to retrieve your leg."

Roman's eyes widened. "You did this to me. What's stopping me from diverting every single resource I have to killing the Ruby Rose here?"

"I think you already tried that. I think I already tried this, and it's starting a whole loop again."

"So?"

"You seemed to know," she wandered. "The night you died, you ambushed us at a warehouse. We all thought the information was suspicious, and we didn't even see Cinder there. I only figured out a couple of months ago that it was because you were probably tipped off that I was going to kill you."

Roman squinted.

"Don't you think it's indicative that since I've been here, I have only tried to keep tabs on you? Being the huntress that I am, and specifically one that has actually killed you in the past?"

"Explain to me how that bears any significance."

"Well, you tell me," Ruby scoffed. "If I already killed you once, why would I risk death by coming back to follow you around if I wasn't telling the truth."

"You could be lying. You could have another motive, and I may not be dead."

Ruby sighed. "Hand me my camera case." Ruby gestured to the bag haphazardly strewn across the floor. "I don't have a copy of your autopsy report, but I can do you one better."

Roman eyed her with suspicion, but he stood, crossing the room and bending over to grab the case. "What am I looking for?"

"Between the foam lining and the canvas exterior," she supplied.

Roman traced his finger along the edge until his skin brushed against the still crisp edges of the note, carefully maintained. He extracted it, unfolding it with one hand as he dropped the camera to the ground.

Ruby cringed. That thing was damn expensive.

Frowning, Roman held it up. "Who gave this to you?"

"I think you know who," she answered. "Now, can you cut me out of this or do I have to prove myself further?"

"You shouldn't even know who this is," he mentioned.

Ruby laughed sardonically. "Oh, trust me, she knows who I am, and she is not a fan."

"Why shouldn't I kill you right now?"

Ruby paused. "What?"

"You heard me," he snarled. "You killed me, you bitch. Why shouldn't I kill you?"

Ruby swallowed, tears pricking the back of her eyes. "Honestly, I don't know. I don't think it'll matter if I live or die, but I just know that you need to live. And if you die, and I'm not there to stop it, everyone I love will die…or worse. So to me, you matter more than anything else."

Tears brimming and gasps gently escaping her lips, Ruby swiped her palm over her eyes.

Roman examined her with critical analysis. No, she thought, he isn't capable of empathy—if I want to persuade him, I have to think like he does. What could be useful for a man who never pays for anything?

"Think about it this way," she said. "I come from three years in the future. Anything you want to know from now until then will be totally available to you if you keep me around." Ruby bit her lip. She sounded fraudulent, scheming. All of her ulterior motives had just been laid out in front of him, but still, she was unsure.

Roman shook his head. "How could I possibly trust you if you're supposed to be the person who kills me?" His fingers began to crinkle the note.

Ruby frowned. "How could you not? You found out from me. I'm selling myself out even just by telling you."

"And what happens if I go out and kill the younger you as you're walking down the street?"

Ruby stopped. She had not considered the implications of her younger self's death. One on hand, she was already changing the future—or, so she believed, but she still could not know exactly what would happen if she died. "I have a feeling we're just two separate people now. She's whole, exactly where she belongs, but I'm just a misplaced fragment stuck in this place. I think that once I start changing things, she's going to be a lot different from me in three years." Ruby cast her eyes out the window, gazing longingly at the street below. She counted the things she would give to go back and live the life she used to have before it was taken from her in one crushing moment.

She turned to focus on him. "I will be nothing but honest and forthcoming with you. Their lives depend on it."

"If what you're saying is true—that you're a different person—why should you care about them at all? Are they still your family?"

"Of course they are," Ruby declared, fuming at the implication. "They may be completely lost to me now, but that's still me walking around down there, and that's still them. If I have to suffer and sacrifice everything just so they can go on, then that is exactly what I'm going to do."

Tipping his head, Roman continued. "But the people they would become if I somehow manage to stop this supposed disease, you wouldn't know them at all. They would be entirely different from what you remember."

"From what I remember, that's a good thing. I hope they don't even recognize the wretched ghost I have become," she spat.

"Shit, you don't have a whole lot of self-esteem anymore, huh, kid?"

"I am not a kid. Not anymore."

Roman rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, where would that put you? Twenty years old?"

"Eighteen."

"What?" he said. "You're eighteen?"

"Yes," she responded, annoyance wavering her tone.

"You're telling me a fifteen-year-old is attending Beacon right now?"

Ruby groaned. "Yes, I got early admission."

"What sort of exception were you?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Really, really special circumstances. Look, it's a long story. Can we just cut to the chase here? I'm hungry." Ruby pointed to her other arm, still bound to the chair.

Roman gave her the pocket knife and stepped over to the couch, poring through every detail.

Ruby cut herself out of the zip ties and reached down to undo the knot around her ankles.

"'Idiotic hero complex?'" he asked.

"Yup, that's me. What about it?" Ruby sat up and stretched her legs.

"Nothing," he chucked lightly. "It just sounds like something she would say."

"Well, as cynical and patronizing as she is now, she's even more so three years later," she stopped herself before she could say—

"After I died?" he said, finishing her thought.

"Yeah," she muttered. Ruby shrunk in her seat.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Don't be so sure," she said. "A lot of people want you dead, and not a lot of people would have been happy to know that I'm doing this."

"Well in that case, you're going to need a better disguise."


Hey, everyone! Mima here, again. If you're here from Fallen World wondering where she is when updates to this story are being published, don't worry. She has to meet a deadline for some paperwork and all of her writing ability going into personal statements for scholarship appeals. She only started yesterday...and the actual deadline for everything she has to submit is tomorrow. Yikes. Well wishes to her, and to all of you! Until next time, lovelies! :)