End of September is always so stressful. Sigh. Here's the next chapter and it's a pretty long one so I hope that satisfies you guy for a while! I'll update as soon as I can! Enjoy!

Chapter Five

Desolation

"Damn it, Torchwick, wake up!"

How many times had she called out to him now? Still, he remained unconscious, arm pinning her torso to the ground and head pressed into her side – which was getting rather uncomfortable now. Ruby could feel the warmth of his body heat, whatever was left of it, radiating into her own. The idiot wasn't waking up.

Wait... was he...? Ruby snapped her head down, wincing when the pain arose, and focused on Torchwick's face. His pale skin seemed paler but right now she was looking for signs of breathing. Why the hell did he even pull me back? She cursed silently, trying to use her free arm and reach over their entangled bodies to the bridge of his nose. Her body screamed for her to stop moving but she ignored it.

She lowered her shaky hand, feeling the faint brush of his flyaway strands of hair swipe past her fingers. Soft. She shook her head and proceeded to bring her fingers just under his nose, keeping careful to avoid touching his skin.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Ruby sighed in relief. There was a weak feel of air being blown onto her numb fingers but he was breathing. Unfortunately. Well, that was that. Now what was she supposed to do? She didn't exactly welcome to the idea of sharing body heat, no matter how cold the cell was. He had a strange smell too.

Kind of like cinnamon.

"I hate cinnamon," Ruby mumbled to herself.

"That's a shame..."

Ruby jolted in alarm, feeling like her skin had left her body. His voice came like a husky whisper but it was clear. She looked down quickly to see one slanted green eye looking up at her deviously, a lopsided grin on his lips as he blinked. Ruby swallowed, inching her face back. Her heart began to pound.

"Uagh! You're awake!" she almost screamed. The bastard.

Torchwick rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Really kid, you need to control that loud mouth of yours. My head is killing me."

Anger bubbled to the surface of her skin. Ruby felt herself flush with rage. The nerve of the guy! "Hey!" What else was she supposed to say? She was alive thanks to him but she wouldn't admit that openly. He would enjoy it too much. "Can you get off me already?" she snapped.

Torchwick groaned, making eye contact with her. He didn't look too pleased. "That's the thanks I get for saving your life?" he scoffed, craning his head up and hissed when something pained.

She knew he would come to it eventually. Now what was she supposed to say?

"I'd like to say I told you so Red, but I just don't have the energy."

Why wasn't he moving already?

"I didn't ask you to save me." It came out more bitter than she'd intended but it was the truth. She didn't look forward to being indebted to the man who was partly responsible for the deaths of innocent people.

There was silence. It droned on like a bad history lesson but sure enough, she felt herself being free from the weight across her torso. She watched as Torchwick pushed himself up with one arm, practically lingering above her head now. His eyes were closed and his long bangs hung down, revealing the second eye behind it. He was grinding his teeth, almost like it was agonizing to get up. He had scuff marks on his skin and even now she could see his arms had a few burns.

He really is hurt.

Ruby felt her already dry throat tighten, and she bit her bottom lip. Guilt was such a horrible feeling. When she looked up again, she was staring directly into two green irises, shadowed over by some kind of darkness. Torchwick narrowed his eyes down at her intensely that she felt her heart stop. When had the atmosphere become so icy?

Without warning, Torchwick looked away and moved off. She watched as he shuffled back leaving almost a metre of space between them. The sudden feeling of being empty and hollow dawned on Ruby. Cold air seemed to attack her again, wrapping her in an icy sheet. Alone.

Everyone leaves me.

"You know what Red?" Torchwick's sudden voice shook her awake. His tone of voice was cold, sardonic even. She looked towards him to see him clutch his upper left arm with his right hand, cradling it. His gaze was lowered so his bangs shadowed both eyes but she could see his lips moving clearly. "I think I preferred the annoying kid who stopped me from stealing from that Dust shop 2 years ago."

The words were like a sharp slap across her face and knives being thrust into her heart. It tore her apart and worse, she could understand where he was coming from. She sat up with great difficulty, feeling her back pressing against the cool bars that had once scorched her skin. Her tangled hair curtained her face as she looked down at her lap.

"You're not the only one..." she murmured to herself.

And that was the truth.

Hey Ruby, are you ok?

Do you want to patrol together?

Should I stay with you tonight?

I can get you something to eat if you'd like?

Stop being such a brat! You're not the only one hurting!

Ruby isn't herself right now...

When did she become so cold hearted?

We get she's upset about Yang and Blake, but that doesn't give her the right to treat us like crap.

Each and every one. She turned her back on everyone. Her friends. Her teachers. Her classmates. They all gave their support when Yang fell into a coma and when Blake... Still. They were right. She knew they were. Everyone else was just as torn up over the past events and she treated them like a piece of chewing gum stuck at the end of her shoe.

Why did she even think they needed her back there? They were probably overjoyed that she was gone. One less problem to deal with and she wasn't exactly a picnic to be around anymore. Yang was better off without her around to mope and pray she would wake up. She probably made it worse by being there anyway.

Everything was a mess.

A strange noise echoed around her and her chest constricted to a point where she couldn't breathe. Something warm and wet trickled down her cheeks. To her horror, she realised the noise was coming from her.

She was crying.

How long had it been since she last cried like this? Weeks? Longer? She felt like she was finally releasing all those pent up feelings of anger and anguish that had built up over the weeks. She finally realised just how alone she really was. Everything seemed meaningless. Why try to escape when there was nothing left for her out there? Someone else could easily take her place. Perhaps Weiss. She and the Ice Queen had always had their differences and there were times she thought she and Weiss could become as close as she was to Yang. But that proved to be untrue.

Her palms covered her face, gasping out sobs. Her chest hurt more than her body but she was grateful for it. What an insufferable person she had become! It made sense that she died in this cage alone.

"When you're done crying, you wanna talk?"

She almost stopped when she heard his voice. Her hands refused to move.

"Why- Why would I talk... with you?" she managed to sputter out. Her shaking voice was pathetic.

She could just see him rolling his eyes.

"I don't deal with crying kids, and seeing as we're stuck in this hellhole together with nothing to do, what's the harm in a little friendly chat?" he said, humour in his last words shining through.

Ruby wiped her face harshly, feeling the dampness on her cheeks and nose. She must have looked a sight. She needed a bath, badly but what were the chances of her getting one now anyway? When she finally looked up with sharp eyes, she saw Torchwick sat in his previous position. One knee up. Elbow rested atop. Tilted head with a stupid grin on his face.

"All right then. Why are you here in this cell?" she challenged, feeling the anguish leaving her mind as she was forced to forget.

He seemed to frown but didn't hesitate, for once. "I got caught by Cinder. Ta-dah, I'm here. Next question."

Was he trying to be funny?

"You mentioned earlier that she double crossed you. What happened? And what exactly did she promise you Torchwick?"

Now he hesitated. His eyes were guarded and shifted to the side as if he were thinking of a lie to replace the truth. This was Torchwick after all.

"Jeez kid, one question at a time."

"Stop stalling and answer them."

He grinned again. "How about this, an answer for an answer. You've asked me one question, I ask one in return. We go on. Everyone's happy." He did stupid hand gestures as he spoke though it must have killed his arms to do it.

A chill ran down Ruby's spine. The thought of what he could ask her was frightening but she could always lie as well. She straightened herself up and nodded. "Deal."

"Have you always been so annoying?"

"Excuse me?!"

Torchwick held up his hands in surrender, laughing it off. "Kidding! Well, not really but what I really-"

"You've asked your question. My turn."

"H-Hey wait! That wasn't a real question and you know it!"

Ruby turned her head away in a huff. "Tough."

She heard him groan and mutter curses. Somehow, she felt herself smile at the thought. It was like her crying moments ago never happened. How did that happen? She turned back to see Torchwick still mumbling and frowned at her.

"Well, you didn't give me an answer," he said with a sly smirk suddenly appearing on his lips, the green in his eyes glinting in the poor lighting.

She glared at him. He took the hint.

"Tch, whatever, ask me your question already." He leaned his head down against his arm. She caught the wince. Those burns on his arms must be hurting. As did hers. She tried to ignore this detail.

"What happened... that day?"

Silence. Then a sigh. From Torchwick. She concentrated on him so she would be able to tell if he was lying to her, which he seemed to be a pro at. He looked anywhere but at her, which made her wonder what he was thinking. He knew exactly what day she was talking about. That moment she truly believed she had defeated Roman Torchwick.

Just before the fall of Beacon, the Resistance was formed like someone had predicted the oncoming apocalypse and shortly the members were sent out to capture and find Cinder and her loyal band of followers. Roman Torchwick seemed to always make a getaway no matter how hard they tried to defeat him. Someone or another would always come to his rescue. And obviously, someone had that day else he would not be breathing before her right this moment. Ruby could still picture the memory fresh in her mind.

How the Resistance was able to discover a hidden batch of Dust being kept at a warehouse in Southern Vale. The mission was to recover the Dust, get out and come back to safety... only, that didn't happen. Not exactly. It felt way too easy - the information about Dust shipments being hidden at that warehouse reached their ears without any of them having to do much scouting. They prepared for a trap. And a trap was what they got.

Roman Torchwick and a group of his men were ready and waiting inside, already shifting the crates of Dust into their trucks. Hell broke loose. Havoc followed. Flames enslaved the warehouse and soon everyone fought to get out.

Ruby had been fighting alongside her team, when she had one, which led to her finally knocking Torchwick out cold when he was off guard. It was strange, he seemed less prepared that day, afraid even. The building was collapsing in on itself and Ruby was forced to leave Torchwick for the flames to swallow him like his name. She watched the building break down as if it was made of glass and someone had cracked it open from the top making the walls shatter and crumble down.

He should have died.

Ruby looked up, breaking out of her memories to see Torchwick in deep thought. That was the last she or anyone had ever seen or heard from him. Now he's here, in this prison with Cinder as his enemy just as much as her own. He practically had no one now. No one to rescue him.

Alone in this cell... possibly for two years since the incident, how did he manage? How is he still sane?

A twisting ache developed deep in her chest and Ruby had no idea what it meant. Perhaps sympathy for the pathetic man she loathed so much. He looked helpless, especially in front of Cinder earlier. Ruby swallowed, feeling her dry throat which reminded her again, that there was no more water.

Ugh.

"Lovely day that was, truly," Torchwick says, startling her with his sudden voice. She watched him brace a casual expression. Great, he's going to lie. "After you so kindly left me there to die," he shot her a glare before continuing. Ruby didn't flinch. "I eventually woke up to see one of Cinder's lap dogs breaking out from the ground. Next thing I know, I'm out cold again and wake up to this glorious chamber of mine." He gestured to the cell they were sat in.

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows together. So that's how he got out, but that didn't explain why he was locked up in here. If Torchwick was carrying out a heist for Cinder that day, surely that didn't leave any time for her to double cross him as he accused earlier? Ruby glanced up sceptically, suddenly doubting everything he's told her.

"Why would Cinder lock you up in here? How did she even betray you if-"

She was stopped by a gloved hand raised up to silence her. A casual grin embraced his lips as his flop of hair brushed against his nose.

"Ah ah ah, your turn is over. My go now."

Ruby bit back her curses and drew in a pout. Why did she agree to this? "Fine," she said through gritted teeth. Torchwick looked satisfied, but the tilt of his head was intimidating not to mention it made her anxious. Just what was he going to ask her now? He wasted his first question, luckily.

"What happened to you, Red?"

His voice had lowered considerably, seriousness laced within his words. Ruby bit back a gasp and felt the formidable feelings of fear rise up again. He knew it affected her, she could see his malicious smirk as he watched with contentment at her suffering.

Shifting her eyes side to side, trying to come up with a response, Ruby trembled. What could she possibly answer to that? How could she answer that?

"I mean, everyone knows not to attack head-on alone against an army. That was pretty stupid on your part. Where are your little sidekicks?"

The words cut through Ruby deeply. Flashes of her past whizzed through her mind and voices echoed in her ears. Screams and cries for help. Yang. Blake. Her head fell down so her chin touched her chest. The hollow feeling inside her broadened and the pain only intensified. She acted recklessly that day because she was angry. Angry for everything Cinder had done to her and the innocent people in Remnant. So many lives lost.

Torchwick let out a brief chuckle. "Your little band of chicks were always a thorn in my side. Especially that Kitty in your group, she always managed to get a blade on my neck more times than I can count. Still have no idea how. You should have brought her along."

"Blake is dead."

She didn't know what compelled her to say it. She didn't know how she managed. Most of all, Torchwick didn't deserve to know that. Her voice was cracked, on the brink of breaking completely. She became very still, slowly breathing in.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Time passed. The seconds of silence were too long and somehow Ruby begged for Torchwick to say something. Anything. His stupid jokes would even help but she wanted to forget everything. She should be crying but her eyes were dry, stiff from the tears that had dried from earlier. How many times had she cried for Blake? Too many. Maybe she had no more tears to shed. Her heart had iced over. It didn't settle the heavy ache inside it.

"Well, this is awkward."

Perhaps not. She hated his voice now. She couldn't deal with his insensitive comments even though she should expect nothing sincere to leave his mouth. Why would he care? He was their enemy for god's sake, he would never sympathize with petty things that didn't involve him. How would he have felt, being there that day when Beacon finally fell at the hands of Cinder Fall? When Blake was captured, defenseless and Ruby was there to watch her cry out her name as the life was squeezed out of her? Or when innocent students died after having their semblance and powers drained from them? How could anyone understand the torment she went through everyday knowing she failed to save one of her best friends?

Blake who was always so cool and collected. Blake who became like a sister to her. Blake who she had met on her first day at Beacon.

Cinder took away everything.

And Ruby became reckless, which worried her friends and sister Yang. It was her fault her own sister was in a coma now. She fought to protect Ruby, to protect everyone. Ruby waited for the tears but nothing came. It was as if she had forgotten how to cry.

"I'd say sorry if I meant it. Stupid thing to apologize for really. It's like saying s-"

"Shut up!" Ruby gritted her teeth against each other, suddenly furious as she looked up to stare Torchwick in the eye. He blinked in surprise. "Just stop, okay? I don't want to talk anymore." Her voice broke at the last word and she curled up, ignoring her body that protested against the idea. She welcomed the pain. She hid her face deep within her arms as she drew her knees up to her chest.

"But we were getting to the good part!" he retorted with a whine sounding almost like a child. Ruby looked up briefly to shoot him a furious scowl.

He laughed it off nervously, raising both hands. Ruby dropped her head back into her arms and waited for death to finally take her. She was beginning to feel her hunger weigh down on her too.

"Do you want to know why I'm here, or not?"

Taken aback, Ruby raised her head and blinked. She was in no mood for his cocky attitude and lies but Torchwick had lost all signs of his irritating absurdity and now looked serious. Completely. She couldn't work out whether he was pleased with the idea but she couldn't let this chance pass. Instead, she lowered her arms and straightened herself up, ready to digest all information.

Torchwick released a sardonic grin. "Hn, just look at you, looking as if I'm about to read you a bedtime story. Too bad," he whispered the last words bitterly before closing his eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity, Torchwick finally moved his lips and formed words.

About freaking time.

"I wasn't expecting you and your little army of pests to turn up at that warehouse."

Wait, what? Ruby felt her eyes widen as she realised he was talking about that day. When she left him to die. Could it be true? Was that why he looked afraid that day when they fought? She didn't understand anything. She looked to Torchwick for more answers. His eyes narrowed and looked to the side, away from her.

"I was simply sent to collect the Dust then bring it to Cinder. What she didn't tell me was it was all a ruse, a plan forged to eliminate me." He finally looked back at her, a fire ignited within his green iris as his dark eyebrows furrowed down. His jaw was taut, she could see it from here. "She knew about your Resistance discovering the Dust at the warehouse, in fact, she made it pretty easy for you to find it."

Ruby was shell shocked. This was news to her. She knew it had been too easy and all this time they all believed it to be a trap for them, when in reality, Cinder had set them up against each other in hopes Torchwick would be killed.

"But why, Torchwick? Why did she want you dead? It just doesn't make any sense!" she cried out, noticing how shaky her voice had gone.

Torchwick merely scoffed. "Probably due to the fact that I had found out her little secret." A smirk replaced his pursed lips.

"What secret?" Ruby was probably looking overeager but something told her that whatever this secret was, then it would benefit her greatly. If it was so big that Cinder went as far as to set Torchwick up and have him killed, it must have been big. But didn't she trust Torchwick?

"Eager, aren't you Red?" said Torchwick, arching one eyebrow up in amusement. Ruby felt her face warm and looked away. He sighed then, groaning a little after. "I'm afraid that story time is over."

Ruby jerked forwards. "NO. You better tell me what this secret is Torchwick or I'll-"

"You'll what?" he snapped, suddenly patronising. His eyes narrowed into slits, danger lurking behind them.

Ruby felt the frustration. How irritating he was! He would give half of an answer then leave you hanging. She had to find out what this secret was and find a way to tear it out of Torchwick. Speaking of the devil, he was now grinning to himself, obviously pleased that he had achieved to annoy her, laying down on his back, grumbling curses as his body protested. She had to smile at that.

But even still... there was that particular question. She bit her bottom lip and sneaked a glance to see the thief humming to himself quietly. Odd but made sense in this cell.

"Hey, Torchwick..." she called out, noticing how quiet her voice had gone. She heard him groan.

"Questions are over kid, sleep or something."

She didn't feel sleepy. That's all she had been doing since she got here practically. But she was desperate to know. Her eyes fell to the rusty bars behind her as she remembered the way something warm pull her back away from the searing pain of the currents. Something held on when she just wanted to let go. Ruby took a deep breath.

"I want to know why-"

She was interrupted then. Torchwick had even sat up, looking startled. Both of them exchanged glances before turning their heads in direction to the passageway where the shadows lay. There were footsteps. Loud thumps against the concrete as they walked slowly. Ruby was almost relieved. She had half been expecting that typical clink of Cinder's heels rattling across the ground.

From the shadows emerged a familiar figure that made Ruby turn as still as a statue. There, in his black and gray attire, standing wordlessly without any remorse on his face - Mercury. A step behind, another figure stepped out. Emerald.

Ruby narrowed her eyes spitefully in their direction at once. Right now, she held more hatred for them than she had for the man she was sharing the cell with. Those two scumbags ruined Beacon from the inside, they forged a fake friendship with her and her friends only to reveal themselves as Cinder's subordinates gathering tidings on them just before the big battle. They fed Cinder details about students with the most powerful semblance's. They were despicable.

Ruby grabbed hold of the bars. "You two!" she snarled through gritted teeth.

"Hello, Ruby."

"Don't," Ruby hissed through gritted teeth. "Don't even say my name. You traitors!"

It was Mercury who laughed with Emerald smiling in amusement. She raised a finger to her chin and pretended to be thinking.

"Hm, theoretically, we were never your friends so I suppose that doesn't make us traitors. Right Mercury?" she turned to him.

Mercury nudged her lightly, innocently agreeing as if they had done nothing wrong. Ruby felt her blood begin to boil and at that point she didn't care if her body was in severe pain, she would give anything to bust out and rip their heads off with her scythe. The rough metal of the bars dug into her skin deeply as she squeezed tighter.

"You lied to us. We did nothing but offer our friendship and you threw that back in our faces!" Ruby could feel her voice on the brink of breaking down but she had to keep it together.

Mercury looked surprised. "Oh. Strange, I don't recall ever asking for your friendship."

Ruby felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been thrown over her. Her body shivered as she bit down hard. "Please, Mercury..."

She heard him groan. "Oh don't beg. It's so unattractive in a woman." He paused. "Well, I guess you don't really classify as a woman, right?" he sneered, turning his nose up with pride.

Ruby felt her cheeks heat up at the insult but her anger refused to reside. What could she possibly say? All she wanted to do was bash their heads together but she was trapped. Just remembering the past killed her. She and her friends bumped into Cinder's little group after the night Ruby first bumped into them. They were even in her classes. She assumed they were there for the Vytal festival, oh how wrong she was.

It was her own fault for being so naive. She hated the girl she was, thankful that had changed. She would never trust anyone ever again. She allowed herself to grow close to Mercury and Emerald. She enjoyed watching them both tease and annoy each other like best friends, their banter was always great entertainment. It was clear now that they were both close partners in crime.

Cinder's pawns.

"What do you gain by following Cinder around like dogs?" she said before she could think.

That snagged their attention all right. Both of them suddenly lost their smiles and grins, eyes darkened and sharp. Both turned to glare at her – Emerald looked ready to cut her throat. Ruby couldn't help it. She smirked.

Mercury put out an arm to stop Emerald. "Don't," he told her, throwing Ruby a dirty glare. "I'd keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut if I were you."

"Hah, seems to me like you're too scared to attack me. Afraid that you'll upset your master and miss out on getting your bone? I bet she's sick of you two hanging around her like a rash."

"Why you...!" Once again, Mercury was the one to hold back Emerald as the sharp sound of her blades being pulled out rippled through the still air. Ruby smiled in satisfaction. Though she aimed to break Mercury, she was somewhat glad it was Emerald who was more affected.

A low throaty chuckle came from behind Ruby as they looked back to see Torchwick's shoulders shaking as he laughed, sat casually as if he were watching TV.

"You got quite the mouth Red, I'm impressed."

Ruby turned her gaze away, ignoring him.

"But you got to admit, she has a point. I always saw you as Cinder's personal mutts. Tch, fleabags."

Something sliced past an inch away from Ruby's cheek leaving a trail of wind and the shrill of something metal hitting a wall from behind her. Eyes widened, Ruby turned her face to see a silver dagger jammed into the wall which Torchwick was leaning against, an inch away from his face, brushing against his orange bangs.

He looked surprised for a moment before relaxing with a smile on his lips. His head tilted to the side mockingly.

"Really kids, you need to work on your aim. Hasn't Cinder trained you for that?" he uttered casually without an ounce of fear in his voice. He picked out the dagger and started twirling it around his hands. The movement had them all silent.

How does he do that? Ruby thought to herself, amazed at his behaviour. So it seemed he had a vendetta against the traitors just as much as she did. Terrifying how much she and Torchwick had in common now. She yet to uncover why Cinder wanted him dead though.

"You're one to speak, you weren't so smart to know you were being fooled," Emerald snapped, straightening up after throwing the dagger. Her red eyes were ablaze, fired up with pride. But her patronizing tone reached Torchwick's weak spot as he snarled in retaliation. It was that same kind of throaty growl he made when he was furious.

Ruby couldn't stop staring at the dagger.

They had a weapon. Sure it was small and probably wouldn't do much damage but they had something. Maybe they could use it to gut Cinder whenever she made her next appearance.

"Whatever, we haven't come here for chit chat. Grubs up," said Mercury, scoffing a little in amusement for some odd reason.

His slate eyes were dancing, enjoying himself. What was going to happen now? Ruby narrowed her eyes, easing back away from the bars. Her eyes met Mercury's and for a moment, she felt she could really try to talk him round. His eyes looked sincere but after a second they looked away. Ruby felt another hole being punctured inside her.

He gestured a small bow as a member of the White Fang walked out from the shadows carrying what looked like a tray. Her eyes caught the plastic bottle and perked up. Water. But what if, this time, it really was poisoned?

Sure enough, Torchwick didn't seem too worried. In fact, he looked a little agitated and occupied with his thoughts. The anger from moments ago disappeared leaving a brittle face. Ruby felt her insides freeze over as a horrible feeling began to knot up in her stomach. Something was wrong, or something bad was about to happen.

The little space at the bottom corner of the cell had its own door, too low for even a cat to fit through but wide enough for the tray to be pushed in. Ruby followed the tray with her eyes as it landed between Torchwick and herself.

The water bottle was filled to almost half way. Huh, how generous, did she forget that there are two of us in here?

At that horrid thought she remembered how she chugged down the water given by Torchwick. Her hands almost flew to her mouth. Oh god, did he drink from that water bottle too?! I think I'm going to be sick. The nausea piled on in her stomach and she turned to glare at Mercury and Emerald who were murmuring amongst themselves and smirking with satisfaction.

Besides the water bottle, there was a stale looking chunk of bread, an apple, gloriously red and clean. Ruby never felt more shocked on seeing a fruit. She hadn't seen or eaten an apple in months. Or any kind of fruit to be honest. Most of their harvest was destroyed or taken by Cinder's army. Her stomach twisted as she recalled her past school food fights.

So much food gone to waste.

They all regretted it, of course. No one expected an apocalypse like this. The pain swirled inside of her as she pushed aside her happy memories of her friends.

There was even a couple nuts. Even food back at the Resistance camp was better than this. Minus the apple.

She could see Torchwick staring at the tray, eyes narrowed and didn't meet her own. Could they share it between them like civil people? Hah, unlikely. She would have to prepare to battle for her food.

"Well, enjoy. This is your first and last free meal," Emerald informed her, the ends of her lips curled up.

Free meal? What the hell did that mean?

She was interrupted in her thoughts when she heard movement from behind her. Torchwick was pushing himself up, dagger in his hands as he tried to keep his pain hidden. She could see it in his face. His body, clad in black except for his stupid scarf around his neck, was up and standing. Ruby felt her eyes widen in horror.

She hadn't really noticed it before but now she could see clearly – the burns, the bruises and scuff marks all over his body. His bare toned arms were covered with them. How is he managing? There were small holes in his t-shirt where something burned through, like her own attire. But he was standing strongly.

"You're forgetting this," he raised the dagger, his eyes derisive.

What was he doing?! That was the only weapon they had! Ruby opened her mouth to protest but Emerald got there first.

"Keep it. Think it as a pity gift, you'll need it after all."

Ruby didn't like the way she ended that sentence and eyed Torchwick carefully. He avoided her gaze again. They were hiding something, something she yet to uncover.

"Well this was a lovely reunion and all but I'm tired. Have fun," Mercury yawned, giving Ruby one last grin before walking off out of view. He slammed the door of hope on Ruby's face.

Emerald followed but not before giving Torchwick a knowing look. She looked... too happy. "Hey guard, you know what to do."

Ruby tensed up. The White Fang guard nodded and moved to the cell door and began to unlock it. Behind her, Torchwick seemed to shuffle closer to the door like he was preparing to leave. At that moment Ruby felt a horrifying feeling of loneliness. She was suddenly afraid to be alone. Even if she constantly wanted to wring Torchwick's neck, his causal words of complaint and relaxed behaviour made her forget they were in a tough predicament.

"Wait, where are you going?" she said almost too quickly.

Torchwick glanced back down at her and winked. "Don't miss me too much now."

Something cold struck at Ruby's heart. A deep feeling of emptiness and fear. On instinct, Ruby reached a hand and grabbed a handful of one trouser leg. Torchwick startled and turned to look at her, eyes wide and questioning.

Swallowing the lump in her throat and ignoring her shaking body, Ruby cleared her throat. "Where are you going?" she repeated, more sternly this time. The sounds of the cell door being unlocked stole her attention. Maybe she could...

"Don't even try kid, the guard has a detonation remote. One move and this place is blowing sky high with you and me with it. Stay here and eat like a good little girl." One end of his lips curled up.

What? Ruby glanced around the cell. Laced with magic – or Dust - and it would blow up if they tried to escape. No wonder Torchwick was still here. How the hell was she going to escape if this entire place was escape-proof?! The last fragment of hope she had diminished along with her will to fight. Everything was hopeless.

She slumped down in her spot, shoulders sagging as she took in everything.

She would never get to leave. Cinder won. Again. She would never see Yang again or her friends... And now Torchwick was leaving too. What was wrong with her?! So what if Torchwick left? She would've killed him at some point anyway. She wouldn't have to put up with his irritating self anymore.

"How touching. You look afraid Red. That worried about me?" Torchwick teased, smirking with pleasure.

Ruby felt herself stiffen, ignoring the feeling of her heart riveting against her ribcage. She glared in response, suddenly finding it difficult to insult him in some form. "D-Don't... I hope you don't come back!"

Why did her face feel all warm? This was ridiculous.

"Move it," came the gruff voice of the guard. Ruby looked up, freezing when she saw the guarded and sombre look in Torchwick's eyes. She swallowed.

"Your wish might just come true, Red."

Stunned, Ruby didn't respond. She watched as Torchwick walked out the cell slowly, not sparing a glance her way as he did. The cell door snapped shut then locked. The guard gave her a look of disgust before following Torchwick behind.

Ruby was left alone with nothing but the silence and emptiness of the cell as company. She glanced at the empty spot then the tray of food for her to eat. Her hunger long since vanished and deep down inside her, Torchwick's last words lingered... and now she hoped someone would actually come back through that cell door.

Hope that gives you a little more insight on what is happening and on everything that has happened so far. :-)

Let me know what you thought! Any theories on what will happen next? Where is Torchwick going hmmm...

Thanks so much to TheManOfVictory, frik1000, Foxtrot Agent 21, mistywind, Mr Ruffles and bowow0708 for the reviews, it means a lot! Glad you're all liking the story :-)