Chapter 1
The sickening squelching was the only sound that could be heard as a man warily made his way down the hall. He had heard about the whispers of a human trafficking ring beginning to crop up. While he and many of his companions weren't the most morally righteous of people, they did still have rules. So long as they kept the body count and property damage to a minimum , the cops wouldn't be to insistent on arresting you. There was also one thing that would almost guarantee a Huntsman or Huntress team kicking down your door and maybe letting you walk out the door alive: trafficking kids.
When rumors first cropped up, the entirety of the Valean underground came together to stamp out the fledgling ring before the public got too spooked and the authorities started pressuring them. So here he was, wasting his weekend, hunting down these wastes of space. He sighed as came up to one of the rustiest doors in the rundown complex he found himself in. It didn't help that the squelching had gotten louder as he approached it.
'Guess there's even more of a reason to put them down.'
He readied himself before ripping open the door. It easily fell from the frame, and he burst through the opening, cane at the ready. He came to an abrupt stop at the sight that awaited him inside the room. Sitting in a large pool of blood was a little girl, if the long hair and tattered dress were anything to go by. He cautiously circled around her, the dim lighting from the failing light above doing little to ease his nerves. The girl was playing around with the insides of whoever the poor sap in front of her was. Her hands were steadily pulling entrails out, then setting them to the side before plunging back in.
Maybe he'd seen a few too many gruesome scenes before coming to Vale, but the sight didn't disturb him as much as it should have. He stood there watching her, trying to decide how best to approach the situation. He lit a cigar and took a few puffs. He let out a long breath. The girl apparently heard him that time as her head swiveled to him. Beneath her dark bangs, deep purple orbs stared at him. The flat, dead stare took him back for a moment before he composed himself.
"Well, kid. I'd say you've done a fine job," he kept his tone light, "I do have to ask if this is some kind of art project or…something."
The girl just kept staring at him. They stared at each other, neither budging an inch. The man decided he'd had enough, taking a puff of his cigar, he stepped forward. "How about I get you out of here. My… associates are combing through the place, looking for more people like whoever this was." He pointed to the mangled corpse, "I doubt they'll take very long clearing the rest of them out and trust me… there won't be much left when their done."
He took a long drag of his cigar, throwing the but to the ground. Exhaling, he extended his hand. "Roman Torchwick, gentleman thief, at your service."
The girl stared at the hand, her face blank. After a long, awkward moment, she grabbed his hand and stood up. A smile on his face, Roman led the way out of the building.
Hei Xiong, more commonly known as "Junior," was cleaning the bar top when one of his men approached him. He leaned in and whispered, despite the music blaring. Junior sighed, putting down the washcloth. "Zed, mind the bar. I've got some 'special guests' to attend to."
He quickly made his way from behind the bar, pushing open the door to the back offices. He opened the door to his office to find one of his more annoying "customers" to deal with. He was about to ask what he was doing here when he noticed the tiny extra sitting in his chair. "I hope you know that chair cost 250,000 Lien."
Roman shrugged as he turned towards the taller man. "What can I say? Kid's got good taste."
The bearlike man sighed, then he noticed the prevalent smell and the faint dripping sound. He rushed over to the girl and pulled her from the chair. "Why is the kid covered in blood?"
Once again, Roman shrugged. "That's the thing. I found her playing around with the insides of what I think was one of those traffickers. I was wondering if I could get one of your girls to wash her up and get her a change of clothes."
Junior put the blood-drenched girl down. "So they already nabbed someone. She say anything? Anyone else that might have been related to her?"
"Nope. Squirt here hasn't spoken a word since I found her, and I didn't see anyone else that might've been nabbed."
"So no clues as to who she is?"
"You know our 'friends' as well as I do. I doubt the buildings still standing. We might have even caught them before they notarized anything."
Junior could feel the headache coming on from the shitshow those upstarts were trying to start. "I'll send someone to clean the girl up. Unfortunately, I'm gunna be understaffed until this all blows over. We don't know how big their group was, but hopefully that was all of them. You're gunna have to watch the girl yourself."
"Oh goodie." Roman put a hand on the girl's head, causing her to stare up at him. "Hear that, Red? Looks like you and me are going to be stuck together for the time being."
Junior gave Roman an unimpressed look. "Really? Isn't that kinda morbid?"
Roman shrugged. "She likes it. You like it, right, Red?"
The girl simply blinked in response. The thief looked up triumphantly. "See? She likes it."
Junior rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Don't go anywhere and don't touch anything. One of the girls will be back here soon."
Roman plopped himself down on one of the less expensive chairs as Red hurriedly plopped back down in Junior's chair. The two spent the time simply idling away when a girl in all red walked in. "Mr. Torchwick, Junior said you had a 'cleaning' request."
He motioned to the girl swinging her feet in Junior's chair. "She's all yours, Melanie."
The red girl grit her teeth. "I'm Miltia, sir. Melanie is my sister."
"Right, right. My bad. It's just so hard to tell you two apart. Ever think of wearing name tags?"
She ignored him as she marched up to Red. "C'mon. Let's just get this over with." She tried to grab the small girl's hand, only for Red to hop down and skirt around her to hide beside Roman. They both looked at Red before Roman started laughing. Melanie looked on, frustrated, as a ghost of a smile graced Red's lips.
"That was great," He ruffled Red's hair. "but you do need to take a bath."
The girl looked down, pouting. "I don't know what's got you being so expressive, but how about I sweeten the deal?"
She looked up at him. "You let Melanie here clean you up, and I'll take you out for some ice cream."
Red gave him a confused look. It was Roman's turn to give her a confused look. "What? Have you never had ice cream before?" A brief shake of her head. "Right… Well, no time like the present. Go on and follow the poor girl. I promise it'll be worth it."
With that Melanie stepped forward with her hand extended and Red, hesitantly, took it. Roman watched them leave as he reclined in the chair; propping is feet on the desk. 'I wonder if Sugar and Dust is closed.'
The time ticked by as Roman napped away, his hat covering his face. He was roused from his slumber as the door to the office opened. Collecting himself, Roman looked to the door as it opened. Red came bounding in, she stopped in front of him and held out her arms as she slowly spun. "Looks great, kid. Although, I do have to ask why it took so long."
"One word: bubbles."
Roman looked up at Miltia. "What happened to you?"
The normally red-dressed twin practically collapsed into the other guest chair. Matching red tank top and baggy sweats took the place of her dress as her hair looked a mess. She buried her head in her hands. "Why did nobody tell me she was soaked in blood? Do you know how hard it is to get out of lace?!"
"I thought it would have been obvious."
She fixed him with her harshest glare. He threw up his hands. "Anyway, we'll be outta your hair. Give Junior my regards."
Roman quickly scooped up Red as he hurriedly left the nightclub. A spring in his step, Roman carried them both through the nighttime cityscape. The industrial constructs slowly giving way to apartment complexes as became more common. Red looked about, her head looking from one building to another.
Their walk took them passed a number of buildings that she could only imagine the insides of. Roman had promised her that they'd get sweets, and she couldn't wait. It had been far too long since she last had any. Those guys that took her hadn't offered her any and had only yelled at her. Her mood took a turn as she thought back to her stay with them. All they had done was grab her from her house while she was napping, yet they still kept yelling at her when she tried to leave that room. She hadn't been very happy to be stuck in that room, but she did get to have some fun with that guy, and she got to meet Roman.
He looked so cool. The lighting gave him a sinister air, but he hadn't yelled at her. He'd been nothing but nice since she met him. What was wrong with those other people? She hadn't done anything different, but Roman was so nice to her, he was even taking her to get ice cream.
"Here we are. Welcome to Sugar and Dust."
Red broke from her thoughts to look at the darkened storefront. She scrunched her face up, confused, and looked to Roman. He merely chuckled as he set her down by the door, then started lockpicking it. She stared at him as he messed with the door until she heard it unlock and the door swung open. Roman held his hand out, gesturing for her to enter. As she walked through the door, she shivered as the cold of the building. "Don't worry. We'll be in and out before you know it."
Roman was behind the counter before she knew it and the clanking of bowels rang through the building. She calmly walked up to the glass display, not that she could see into it. "You know, I found this place a few years back, and it has some of the best ice cream on Remnant. Honestly, could teach those prudes up in Atlas a thing or two."
He handed her a bowl with three colors of ice cream as he led the way to a table. As soon as they sat down, Roman started eating as Red just stared at the ice cream. Roman stopped once he noticed. "It's Neapolitan. I didn't know what you wanted, so I got you a little of what kids usually get."
She looked at him then back at the ice cream. Gently, she took a small bite of the triple flavored dessert. Her face lit up in bliss as she savagely tore into it. Roman laughed as he watched. "Don't eat too fast or-"
She cringed hard, the discomfort clear on her face. Roman shook his head, amused. "That's what you get for being too hasty. A nasty ol' case of brain freeze."
Red shook her head before digging back in, resolutely. Roman chuckled as he went back to his own frozen dessert. The two indulged in the frozen sweetness until it became clear that Red was fighting to stay awake. Quickly dumping the dishes in the sink, Roman carried her back out into the Valean night. Soon he was back in his apartment, going to one of the guest rooms, he put Red to bed. "See you tomorrow, kid."