Chapter 2

"Any news on our latest pain in the ass?" Roman asked as sipped on his drink.

Hei Xiong continued cleaning glasses as he looked out over the empty dancefloor. It was just before opening, and his boys were just as slow as ever with getting everything ready. "So far we've gotten nothing concrete, but they were more widespread than we thought. Apparently, they're from some improperly governed part of Vacuo. They've got more backing than we thought, but everyone knows what'll happen if we leave them. With everyone out looking, it shouldn't take too long to completely gut them."

Roman sighed as he put his empty glass to the side. He pulled a couple Lien cards out and set them beside it. "Any word where Red's from?'

Junior fixed him with an amused look. "I thought you enjoyed having her around. Speaking of, where is she?"

Roman pointed over to where Miltia and Red were sitting in one of the booths. "For the record, I may enjoy her company, but the kid is seriously cramping my style."

"Well, you're going to have to get used to her. None of the warehouses that have been raided had anything about any recent kidnappings. Odds are they either didn't notarize it, or they didn't get a chance to before we found them." The bear of a man swiped up the Lien and the glass. "Although… we might have gotten a potential break through."

The thief raised an eyebrow at that. "'Might have?' What? Did we grab some schmuck?"

Junior grumbled for a bit. "Not just any schmuck. This one seemed important to the guys that grabbed him. He's tied up in the 'backroom'. Nothing's started yet, but once we do… well, hopefully it'll put an end to this headache."

Roman turned around on the barstool, to look at Red as she colored some picture book under Melanie's watchful eyes. The memory of how he had found her playing in his mind. The thought of what exactly was going to happen to the dumbass in the back making him ponder something he wouldn't normally consider. "Hey, Junior. What do you think about letting Red lead the 'discussion'?"

Junior gave Roman a hard look. "Seriously? It's one thing to drag a girl, soaked in blood here, but forcing her to do something like that? Have you lost your mind?"

Roman held his hands up, placating. "Don't just brush off the idea so quickly. How do you think I found her? She was buried up to her shoulders in some dead dudes intestines by the time I found her. Don't know how she did it, but I'm sure she could do it again."

"Why on Remnant would I want to let a little kid handle something like that?" Junior's tone is harsh. It doesn't matter how Torchwick found the kid. He had standards.

"Call it a gut feeling… but I know that girl isn't just some ordinary girl. Something about her doesn't sit right, so why not test the waters?" While lackadaisical, the thief's face is very serious.

Junior sighs as he sets the glass down. He knows that Roman's "gut feeling" has gotten the thief out of many pressing situations. "Fine. Just know that if things don't go anywhere, my boys are taking charge."

Red's curiosity peaked as Roman lead her into a room where a man was bound to a chair in the middle of the room with a couple of the suit guys standing around him. Her short legs carry her to the bound man, his clothing torn and slightly bloodied. She tilted her head as she looked to Roman, a clear question on her face. The man stopped before looking down at her. He gestures to the bound man. "This here, Red, is one of the bad men that took you and put you in that room. It would really help us out if he gave up his pals, but he's just being so stubborn about it." He bent down to her level. "Between you and I, I'd like to see your 'artwork' again."

For a moment, Red was confused, then she remembered how she met Roman. Her smile twisted into something cruel as her dull purple eyes began to glow. He wanted her to play with this man, then she'd gladly do so.

She stalked towards the bound man as he glared at her, his breathes heavy through the gag. Just as she was upon him, Roman spoke up again. "Just a moment, Red. Aura?"

One of the suits immediately lashed out at the man. His head snapped to the side as a deep blue light encompassed his body before fizzling away. Roman nodded. "He's all yours, Red."

While she didn't know exactly why Roman had that done, she couldn't find herself caring as reached out to touch one of the bound man's leg. As her fingers made contact with him, they started melting through. The man's muffled screaming filled the room.

Several long seconds passed as Roman and the suits stood watching Red work. She pulled her hand away from the stump that was the man's leg, his ragged breathing only interrupted by the steady drip of blood from what remained of his leg. Red turned to look at Roman, her face covered in a light sheen of sweat, but that did little to detract from the smile on her face.

"Great job, Red." Roman strutted up to the bound man. "Feel like talking yet?"

The only response he got was a defiant glare from the trafficker. Roman shook his head. "A real shame. Well, you heard the man, Red. He still wants to play."

The man's eyes widened as he turned to the girl. Her smile nearly feral as she once more set upon him.

Time seemed to disappear as the trio watched Red "play". The muffled screams had long subsided into barely audible whimpers. The restraints had lost all usefulness as what remained of the man lay in a growing pool of his own blood. Red sat beside him, her hands mere moments from plunging into his sternum. Roman placed a hand on her head, drawing her attention. He bent down and moved the gag. "Feel like talking yet?"

The man barely nodded as tears poured down his face. "I-I'll talllk… Plleeease… keep her waway."

Roman clapped his hands. "Splendid! See, we of the Vale Underground have a few rules about how things are done." He started pacing. "Your group has broken a NUMBER of these rules, and well… that causes problems for everyone else. So be a pal and sell out all your friends."

The trafficker groaned in pain. "Ookay… Okay."

A few minutes of pained interrogation passed. Roman puffed on a cigar as the man finished talking, he looked to the suit taking notes. The suit nodded. The thief released a plume of smoke. "This has been fun and all, but Red's bed time is coming up REAL soon, and you would not believe how hard it is to clean up all the dirt and whatnot she gets into. Normally, I'd have her clean up her toys herself, but I'm sure the boys here don't mind 'cleaning up', do they?"

The suits got the memo as they moved towards the downed man as the realization dawned on him. "WAIT! PLEASE! I'LL-"

A single gunshot cut off his desperate cries. The suits picked up the corpse and carried it out of the room. Roman looked at Red. Her breathing was rather heavy, her hair matted by sweat, and her eyes had gone back to the dull purple that they had been when they first entered the room, but that smile still remained. "Had fun?"

Red looked at him and nodded her head before reaching up with both arms. Roman sighed but relented, picking her up. She snuggled into his neck as he carried her from the finding himself back in the main bar area, Roman strutted to the bar where he could see Junior making the final preparations for the night.

"Well?" the bear of a man asked. Roman took a seat as the girl lightly snoozed in his arms. "Got the locations of the few places we haven't torched. Your sources weren't wrong, they have someone backing them, but, according to him, they weren't from Vacuo. Said they sounded like they were from Atlas."

Junior sighed. "This whole thing is becoming a ridiculous shitshow."

"Amen." Roman waved down Miltia. The red Malachite reluctantly walked over, already having a feeling as to what he wanted. "Say, Mel-"

"Just hand her over." Miltia sighed. Immediately upon touching Red, she knew exactly how the night would go for her. With resignation in her steps, Miltia carried Red back to her apartment.

With Red handed off, Roman turned back to Junior. "What do you know about glowing eyes?"

"What the hell are you on about?"

The thief fixed Junior with a serious look. "Let's just say that I figured out how Red does her tricks."

The barkeep fixed him with a look. "Stop being all cryptic and just say it."

"Take all the fun out it." Roman grumbled. "While we were in there, Red's eyes started glowing, then she touched the dude and her hand melted through him."

"Could just be a Semblance."

"That's what I thought, but I could tell that she doesn't have her Aura unlocked and without that she can't have a Semblance. That leaves us with her glowy eyes, so… what do you know?"

Junior took a moment when he heard the first clutter of guests entering the establishment. He sighed. "Nothing offhand, but I know a guy that might know a thing or at least know where to look. Either way it'll take some time to get it all together. Why don't you and Red head back and I'll let you know what I find."

"I don't think so."

Both men looked to the newcomer. While she was in plainclothes, the two could easily identify her. The tall brunette gave them both a hard glare before fully marching up to the counter.

"It's been a while, Silkie. How have you been?" Roman asked.

"Save the shit, thief. I hate having to be here, but the Chief wants an update, so spill. Now." She spat.

Roman gestured to Junior, who sighed as he called for one of his suits to get him "the new list". The suit hurried back with a small note that was snatched away by the undercover cop. She scanned over the note. "This it?"

"Well," Junior started, "we just got that a few minutes ago, so we haven't had time to verify it, but based on a recently lost source, it should be good."

She scrutinized the note a final time before turning to Roman. "Chief wants you to hit up one of these places. Soon."

"What?!" Roman started. "Come on! I've got my hands full already because someone couldn't find a single girl's family."

"I told you already that wherever that girl came from, they didn't document her birth, so she doesn't exist in the Kingdoms. Not that that is too unusual." She scoffed. "Not that any of it matters. The Chief wants you to do it or he'll drag you in himself."

Roman shivered. "Crazy bastard. Fine. I just have to hit one of them, right?" Roman grabbed the note and scanned it before forcefully handing it back and marching off. "Mind asking Miltia to watch Red tonight, Junior?"

"No problem." Junior called as the thief left. He turned back to the officer. "So… you buying or what?"

She scoffed before storming off.

Roman had quite enough of the Vale Police Department by this point. His only arrest on record had been when he first came to the city. 'Stupid drunk getting in my way.' Roman thought to himself as he recalled that embarrassing day. He brushed all thoughts of that day away as the building came into view. Roman was unimpressed as he stared upon the building. It was in shambles, even more run down than the warehouse where he found Red. The paneling was falling to pieces with chunks having clearly fallen away, the windows stained beyond use, all in all it was more a ruin than a real warehouse with only the ground floor still accessible.

Pushing his annoyance aside, Roman marched up to the door, the only one he could see. Pushing the door open, he noticed only a single guard as he was scrambling to his feet. A single flare to the chest cut that option from him. He stalked towards one of the rooms in the back when the door opened. The goon managed to see the flare right before it impacted his face, eliciting a scream from someone else in the room.

A female Faunus ran out of the room with her gun at the ready only to receive a flare to the gut, blasting her back. 'Seriously? These idiots make Junior's goons look competent.' Roman shook his as he started searching the rooms, beginning with the room that held the only other people that might have been in the building. He checked the desks, the file cabinets, even going so far as to search the corpses for information but came away emptyhanded. The next room held even less as all that was there were just a couple sleeping bags and coolers filled with cheap alcohol.

Heading further in, he began hearing a familiar sound. Something that gave him a serious case of déjà vu. The sickening squelching echoed louder as he drew nearer to a rusty roll door. 'Seriously, what kind of stupid luck do I have? It's even a goddamn rolling door! Why even have that?' Setting aside his balking at the bizarre coincidence that had lead him to this point, Roman gripped the door and pulled it open.

Once again the poor lighting had him on edge, but he carried on, ready to get this over with. There, sitting in the middle of the room, was a girl, her hair split into a pink half and a brown half. She was far too entrenched in stabbing the corpse in front of her to notice him walking up on her. He stopped just beside her. "I think you got him, kid."

The girl jumped as she turned to face him. He chuckled at the way she brandished the knife at him. Holding his hand out, he spoke. "Roman Torchwick's the name. Gentleman thief, at your service."