22"It's not funny, Yang." Ruby shouted at her sister from where the blonde had fallen on the floor laughing. The blonde however continued to laugh despite the glare the redhead had leveled at her. It didn't help that beside the blonde the shorter two-toned woman was making her own mirth known as she whipped tears away from her eyes. "I'll shoot both of you." There was little heat in the threat making the two women only laugh harder.
From her spot in the kitchen Blake shook her head as she mixed her tea, "Honestly Ruby this is kinda your own fault. If you didn't want to get caught texting her you shouldn't have made it so obvious you were so interested in your phone." Ruby pouted at the panther but she couldn't deny the accusation. Since just after two twenty in the morning till about a half hour ago when the white hair woman had finally said she was about to collapse and that she was going to go to sleep Ruby had been glued to her phone talking to the white haired beauty known now as Weiss Frost.
Ruby had noticed the white haired woman right away at the diner. How could she not have? The woman held herself with such confidence and grace that she moved as if she was effortlessly skating. Her voice was soft and bright and full of a hidden life that made Ruby sure she could sing as brilliantly as an angel. And her eyes, gods, Ruby loved her eyes. Their brilliant blue was clearer than any sapphire she had ever seen and were in her opinion more valuable in their steady gaze. Even with the sweat and slightly oily shine to her skin Ruby could tell the woman took good care of her smooth pale skin. Even the only flaw the Ruby could see, the pale scar that marred the skin over her left eye added a beauty to her. Ruby was never one to see scars as subtracting from someone's beauty, she had plenty herself to think that. She had contemplated leaving her number for the white haired beauty during their breakfast but there were just so many reasons to not get involved with another person, too many risks, too many unknowns. But Yang, her older and more childish brute of a sister had taken it upon herself to give the beautiful waitress her number.
Ruby wasn't too sure if she should shoot her sister or give her a big hug. Yes the loss of the young girl was devastating and the life she led held a lot of risks but if she couldn't move past those, move on to become better and not let the fears and risks rule her life she'd forget to live. And that was something she couldn't do, it was her mother's last advice to her, 'Don't forget to live, Little Rose'. When she had gotten the first message last night, she felt like her heart had skipped a beat. She couldn't think of anything to reply back with except for, 'Yes this is Ruby, excuse me while I kill my sister'. Weiss' reply had come back extremely quickly in the form of an apology for stepping over a line and that if she didn't want to talk it was fine. Ruby was pretty sure that she had been typing that while she had replied back and the messages had crossed. A few more came in from the white haired beauty saying that she never did anything like this before and was sorry for texting randomly at two thirty and that she was stepping over so many lines and on and on until Ruby finally got her to stop saying that it was okay and confession, much to her embarrassment that she wanted to leave her her number but had chickened out at the last minute and that while Yang had overstepped she was glad she did because she wanted to talk to her. From there the two fell into a long conversation.
They talked for hours about the most mundane things; work, shows they were bingeing, food, and just random topics that popped up. Ruby had been concerned at first when Weiss had admitted to almost being accosted earlier but was saved by Blake and Neo. Ruby almost ran to their room to thank the two for their intervention but stopped as she remembered the state in which those three usually slept and decided it was better for her psyche to just avoid that image. They had talked for so long that Ruby had forgotten her initial embarrassment only for it to return in full force when the blonde had drug herself out of bed to start breakfast only to find her walking out of her room at the same time smiling like a loon at her phone. It was then that Yang had started to question her and like a big sister does she quickly figured out what Ruby had been doing.
Ruby huffed and crossed her arms over her chest and glared her sister and her second girlfriend. Finally, Neo got herself under control and signed, 'I'm glad, it's been a while since you had someone besides us to talk to.'
She went to protest the shorter woman's comment when Blake added, "She's not wrong." The panther sat down and cocked her head to the side, "It's been what? Three, four years since you've had a meaningful conversation with someone outside the family?"
"I talk to people." Ruby huffed, she puffed up her cheeks in annoyance.
"Threatening cultist doesn't count." Yang chuckled, "And neither does passing comments to people in the market, work conversations with clients or discussing a case with the detectives." The blonde added making Ruby cringe. Yang sighed as she shook her head giving Ruby a sad look, "Look Ruby I get it, hell we all do but you can't just wall yourself off from the world to deal with it. She knew the risks, she was an experienced hunter, she made the choice to not call for back up until it was too late. It wasn't your fault."
"I know Yang." Ruby sighed as she looked away from the blonde, "But it doesn't make it any easier. Everyday I feel like I should have-"
"Ruby, you were in no shape to help." Yang growled, "Your back was shredded and you were lucky to be alive. If you had been there you would have died as well. I get that she was your partner but it was her call and it got her-"
"Yang." Blake cut over her giving the blonde a pointed stare before turning to Ruby who was trying to still avoid their gazes. "The point is we're happy that you're talking to someone who's not caught up in our madness. It will be good for your mental health to have someone to talk to mundane things about." She gave the younger girl an encouraging smile.
Ruby just nodded, "Yeah. We'll see how long that lasts though."
"Ruby." Yang yelled as the crimson woman got up from the table, leaving most of her breakfast untouched.
"I'm gonna go train. Thanks for breakfast Yang." Ruby said quietly as she left the room, her eyes down cast.
"Damn it." Yang growled at herself as she watched her sisters retreating back. "Damn it, damn it, damn it." A soft hand gripped her forearm. She looked over and saw Neo giving her a sad smile as she shook her head. "I fucked up, didn't I?"
"A little but not enough that she's going to be mad at you." Blake shook her head, "She's just desponded and us dragging up the past didn't help."
'We just want her to be happy.' Neo signed, 'She just takes on too much herself.'
"Not arguing with that." Yang huffed, "She's been doing better but that last hunt; it really pulled on a lot of memories for her. She's never been effected like that in a long time."
'Those bastards are to blame.' Neo signed heatedly. 'They took an innocent child for their twisted means.' Blake nodded in agreement.
Yang leaned back in her chair as she sipped at her coffee, "I just hope that priest didn't share his idea with anyone else. So far, they've used anyone that's been 'innocent' before, they've always used people who could be considered tainted believing that the darkness within them will help bring the Grimm into our world. And those Grimm have been weakish, at most they've been Boarbatusks or Creeps, not anything special and not really strong, but that one they got the other night, it was something else."
"Raven called it a Beowolf right?" Blake asked getting a nod from the blonde, "It must be something that's rarely called or needs a lot more energy to break through. Maybe the girl had nothing to do with it." She dropped into deep thought.
'We'll need to do some more research.' Neo signed as she shoulders dropped. 'I wish I could be more help but…'
"It's fine babe." Yang pulled the shorter girl into her side and kissed the top of her head, "We get it." Turning back towards Blake she decided to change subjects. "So, about this Weiss Frost."
Picking up on the blonde's train of thought Blake changed gears, "Well Frost is not her real surname." That made Yang raise an eyebrow, Blake had tried to explain it last night but she had not been any shape to listen. "It's Schnee. She may think she's doing a good job of hiding, and frankly she is, but it's unfortunate for her that I memorized all of the Schnee markers. Who knew having ties to a terrorist organization would be helpful?" Yang chuckled at the panthers twisted joke. "But she's definitely a Schnee. Way too many familial markers to not be."
"So why is she going by Frost?" Yang questioned, "And better yet why is she here?"
'Disowned?' Neo questioned. 'She's living in a low rent area and from what I was able to tell she's pretty tight with her money.'
Yang hummed, "A good possibility. If she was the Heiress to one of the families then her being disowned would be very public though."
"No, I don't think so." Blake shook her head, "The Schnee's hate any bad publicity. If she was the Heiress a branch family and then disowned, they'd do everything possible to sweep it under the rug. I guarantee you the only reason she's still alive is because she has something on either the Head of the SDC, is his daughter or both. They'd never allow a branch member to leave unless there was a chance of blowback."
"So, she's either a disgraced Heiress of the big man himself or she's able to blackmail him." Yang groaned, "Maybe it's not the best idea for Ruby to get involved."
'Don't you dare do anything Yang.' Neo warned, 'She needs this.'
"I agree." Blake nodded, "She's a big girl and can handle herself." Yang held up her hands in surrender.
"Fine, fine. I won't say anything. But if Ruby gets hurt-"
"'We know, you'll pound her into dust'" Blake and Neo finished at the same time.
Ruby was breathing hard as lay on the ground of their underground training facility. She had been going hard in the rope cage which was an area full of thick ropes strung at various angles and tensions. During her training she had been leaping through the rope, hanging off of them with her hands and feet while she shot at various moving targets. Every move had to be planed and thought through before being quickly executed as she had also set the paint guns to follow her and fire at random intervals, they would even track her and predict where she would land meaning she had to be able to twist and move just as she landed in order to prevent getting hit. If she got hit, she would restart the whole process.
As she lay on the ground panting from exertion, she did everything she could to prevent thoughts of her former partner. Their last mission together had ended with her needing nearly two weeks of rest even on top of their advanced medical techniques and when Ruby had tried to talk her out of doing the follow up solo she had just waved away her concern and said it wasn't a big deal. Only it had been, the follow up that wasn't supposed to be a big deal had turned out to be a trap meant for both of them and she had died. Ruby knew it wasn't her fault, she knew that her partner had decided to go alone with no one close by to provide backup should the need arise but that didn't stop her from blaming herself for not being there. If only she had been there then maybe she would still be alive.
"You'll beat yourself up if you keep thinking about it." Raven called as she walked out as she walked up beside Ruby and looked down at her, red eyes stared at her knowingly. Ruby looked away as her second mother stared down at her.
Ruby Rose was very much aware of how weird her birth was. She was born through a genetic mixture of Raven Branwen her wife, Summer Rose. Through the procedure she had come out looking like a mix of her mothers. Her hair was a darker crimson than Summer's, having black low lights that matched Raven's jet black hair. Her silver eyes were defiantly Summer's but the intensity of them was reminiscent of Raven's blazing crimson. Ruby also had Summer's slim body type but she had inherited a bit of Raven's buxom chest, though she knew she'd never be as large. In all she was a combination of her two mothers though she tended to dress more like Raven with dark colors and leather where Summer would wear more whites and flowing dresses.
"I can't help it." Ruby mumbled as she sat up leaning against her knees.
Raven shook her head and handed her youngest a towel and a bottle of water, "Summer had the same problem, she'd beat herself up over and over again over things that were beyond her control. She'd worry herself sick if I didn't catch it in time." The black haired woman paused before shaking her head.
"Well at least we know that's one thing I inherited from her." Ruby sighed.
"Yes you did get her temperament." Raven agreed almost happily, "Yang getting mine was bad enough." Ruby snickered at that. Both Raven and Yang were prone to short fuses when it came to their temper. Though Yang had inherited her father's monstrous strength making it a bit more dangerous when the blonde was enraged. "Anyways, go get cleaned up, I got a call from Port, he's got a bond jumper his officers are too busy to put much effort into finding." The older woman rolled her eyes as Ruby snickered; the force wasn't too busy just too lazy to bother with criminals that jumped bond. But Ruby wouldn't complain too much, she enjoyed the work. As they walked up the stairs Ruby question her mother about the others. "Well Neo and Blake are doing that PI job we got a few days ago and Yang is going to man the office, much to her annoyance. Tia and Qrow are due in court today, they're testifying against that bounty they picked up last month, Goodwitch added weapons and drug charges to his already long list."
"Wasn't he already being charged with possession and trafficking of stolen property?" Ruby asked as Raven nodded. "Well he won't be getting out anytime soon."
Raven shrugged, "Not our problem. So long as they pay us, we'll keep catching them." Ruby nodded in agreement as she left the older dark haired woman and went back to her room to get cleaned up.
After a shower and putting on clean clothes she walked over to her far wall and opened a set of doors that revealed a trove of weapons and equipment. Dead center were her twin black pistols, they had been her mother's before she died and Raven had seen it fit to give them to her. She always marveled at the scroll work and details that were etched into the black metal resembling thorny vines and a blooming rose on each handle, though they couldn't be seen there was etching on the inside of each of the cylinders that allowed them to pull bullets into the empty chambers. Below the revolvers was the black leather belt that had loops for bullets along with two holsters for the guns, the leather had been etched with silver thread in a vine and thorn pattern with a rose above each holster. Under each loop was a silver runic circle that allowed for the bullets to be stored inside the belt and replace themselves when she reloaded the revolvers. This was her equipment for hunting and today she was not hunting so Ruby moved her gaze to what she would need.
With a critical eye she inspected her belt before looping it around her waist adding accessories as she reached their spot. This belt was black with silver eyelets punched into it with a pouch that rested at the top of her thigh, usually she kept extra non-lethal means, and keys to her handcuffs inside the pouch along with a pad of paper and pen. The accessories she looped though the belt as she put it on were a pair of handcuffs, four extra clip holders, a holster for mace, another pair of handcuffs, and finally a tazer holster. Making sure the belt was nice and secure Ruby moved on to her next piece of equipment.
Again after inspecting her shoulder holster she put it on making sure it was securely attached to her belt. Unlike Raven or Yang Ruby had gone for a holster that also strapped under her bust as well feeling it was more secure and it fit her frame better. Once she was sure it was totally secure and could still move freely in it she moved to her weapons.
Picking up a nine millimeter pistol and making sure it was in good working condition she put a clip in and racked a round before putting it on safe and secured it in the holster. Making sure the leather clasp held the gun tight she added her extra clips to their appropriate holders. Next she picked up her taze and making sure the battery was fresh and ready to go she placed it on in its holster, gather three extra heads for the tazer she placed those in the pouch along with a can of mace. Once she was satisfied that everything was secure she grabbed her leather coat and left her room.
Fortunately she didn't encounter anyone else until she reached the garage where Raven was waiting and talking to Neo and Blake on the phone, "Alright if you feel that it's necessary then see that it gets done, have Yang submit the paperwork." She chuckled, "Oh yeah I'm sure she'll be very happy to fill it out." Seeing Ruby, Raven nods to the other side of car she was leaning against, "Okay well be safe and keep a low profile." After hanging up she gets into the black car herself, "Ready Ruby?"
"Let's rock this." Ruby smirked.
Weiss let out a long yawn as she finally managed to drag herself out of her slumber. As she lay in bed for a few moments trying to get her brain to boot up properly her ice blue eyes stared up at the ceiling trying to remove the last bits of slumber. Slowly she recalled why she was so tired. She had spent hours on the phone talking to a beautiful crimson haired woman and to her utter delight she was just as interesting to talk to as anyone she had met. She was only two years younger than her but had both a Private Investigators license but was a registered Bounty Hunter in Vale, Vacuo and Mistrial. At first Weiss had been very concerned about how dangerous the job seemed but after Ruby had reassured her that it was a family business and that they had been doing it for as long as she remember it didn't seem two bad. She still worried however when she remembered Ruby had told her she'd likely be going after a bounty today.
Weiss sighed as she finally worked up enough strength to remove herself from her bed and made her way to the kitchen to get breakfast. Yawning again Weiss poured her cereal and milk into a bowl while she waited for her coffee to brew and plunked herself down at her small table. She couldn't help but smirk at the thought of her parents seeing her now; hair a mess, wearing pj's at a table, eating cold generic cereal and drinking off the shelf preground coffee. She was sure her mother would have a heart attack and her father would just sneer his condescending sneer. But Weiss was content for now, she may not have all the luxury she had when she was younger, she may miss the expensive gourmet coffee but she was free to do as she pleased and one day, she knew she'd be back on top and destroy her family.
Letting out another sigh sipped at her coffee wondering what she should do first today. She needed to do her laundry and clean her apartment, she also knew she should probably go to the store and pick up toiletries and some groceries she was running low on. When her breakfast was finished she leaned back in her chair and looked at the clock, it was just before noon, so she decided it would be best to hold off on her shower until she was finished cleaning, no need to get clean then work up a sweat while doing her cleaning.
It took about two hours but when she was finally finished sweeping, dusting and doing the dishes Weiss sat down on her couch feeling accomplished. Even when it was her day off, she wouldn't feel right if she just sat around and did nothing. Picking up her phone she paused contemplating texting Ruby again, the last message they had sent to each other was a good night text and Weiss asking if it was okay to text her when she was more away, of course Ruby had responded positively. She knew that the redhead would likely be working her job and didn't need a distraction, especially if she was going after a fugitive. But after a few minutes Weiss sent her message, 'Afternoon Ruby, hope you're doing well. If you're busy when you get this I hope you focus on what you're doing. Stay safe and message back when you can.'
Weiss felt that it was an appropriate message and was about to close her phone when a message came in from Ruby.
'Geez Weiss you're so formal. Nope not busy, just finished catching our bounty and his girlfriend with my mom.' There was a winky and a smiley face in the message as well making Weiss roll her eyes. The redhead seemed to have an obsession with emojies in her messages but instead of finding it annoying Weiss found it cute.
'Glad you got him. Did anyone get hurt?' She asked.
'Nope, well they got roughed up but me and mom are good.' Ruby's message said. It was the 'mom' part that always confused Weiss, from what she remembered Johanna had said Ruby's mother had passed some years back and while it wasn't uncommon for parents to remarry after one of them died the redhead never mentioned if it was a step mother or even her dad. It was a mystery Weiss wanted to solve but until the redhead brought it up, she'd hold back. As she contemplated this another message came through, a picture. It seemed Ruby had taken a selfie. It showed Ruby smiling at camera in front of a black car while off to the side of the car was a taller woman with wild black hair handing off two people in handcuffs to two police officers. Both of the people in handcuffs had their hair and clothes roughed up showing that there had been a struggle of some kind, but what Weiss narrowed in on was the cut that was across Ruby's lower lip.
'No one got hut huh? Then what's with the cut on your lower lip?' Weiss asked.
'Uhhhh, the girlfriend may or may not have hit me?' Ruby replied.
Weiss narrowed her eyes at her screen. 'Care to explain?'
'Well she was harboring him and didn't really like it when mom and I dropped in so as he bolted, I tried to hold her back and she elbowed me in the face. Really dumb on her behalf cause now she's being charged with harboring a fugitive, assault and resisting arrest by an officer of the court. But no big deal for me really.' Weiss sighed as she read the message of course Ruby would say taking an elbow to the face was no big deal, she had probably dealt with worse.
'Just so long as you're sure your fine.' Weiss replied.
'Yep, nothing a little medicine and a ice pack won't handle.' Ruby's message chimed and as if to change the subject she sent another message as well, 'So what are you up to today?'
'Nothing much really, just finished cleaning my apartment and now I need to get cleaned up so I can go do my laundry.' Weiss answered as she made her way to her bathroom and turned on her shower letting it warm up.
'Full day huh?' Ruby's message joked with a winky face.
'You know it.' Weiss replied and added, 'As much as I'd like to, I can't just laze around, doesn't feel right if I do nothing.'
Ruby teased back, 'You sound like Yang. If she's still for more than twenty minutes she's moaning and complaining.'
'I'm not that bad.' Wiess protested not liking being compared to the big boobed brute.
'No you're probably not, you'd probably enjoy doing paperwork for the office, she hates it. Which sucks for her cause that's her job today.' Ruby's message read. She had mentioned that her family traded jobs around for who was doing what each day when it came to their work.
Feeling the water was warm enough finally Weiss put down her phone and got into the shower. Though she really wanted to talk to the redhead she also wanted to take her time and enjoy her hot shower. After thoroughly washing her hair and body Weiss exited the shower and wrapped a towel around herself picking up phone seeing a few more messages from the redhead. The first one she read got her heart pumping faster.
It read, 'So if you'd like I'm done for the rest of the day, mom's going to handle the paperwork and Yang is manning the office so I don't have much to do at all so I could help you out with any errands you need to run if you want.' The next messages were a run on of sudden panic the redhead must have felt, 'I mean only if you want, I don't mean to presume anything.' 'Like I said I'm just free and have nothing else to do.' 'And it would be cool to hang out.' 'If you want' 'I'm just gonna stop rambling now.'
Weiss had to hold back her laughter as she imagined the madden red blush that had to be covering the crimson woman's face right now. But Weiss had to consider her options now, usually when she did her laundry she took the bus to the laundromat a few blocks away and did the same thing for her groceries, she could get them delivered but the cost was never justifiable in her mind. Having someone who could drive her there was a much more ideal situation because she wouldn't have to deal with anyone on the bus and feel self-conscious as others eyed her. Just as she saw Ruby typing another message she decided to spare the redhead any further embarrassment and quickly typed out, 'Ruby hold up.' The typing stopped so she continued, 'I was in the shower so I just got your messages, but if you're sure it's not a problem for you I'd like to take you up on your offer. Taking the bus is alright but if you're offering sure.'
There was a short pause before another message came through, 'Awesome! I'll be by in an hour if that's okay?'
Nodding to herself Weiss sent back, 'Yeah that's perfectly fine. See you then.' And sent her address along as well.
'C'ya soon.' Ruby's reply came in.
Weiss smiled and walked over to her dresser and opened the drawers to get dressed only to stop. She had just agreed to hang out with Ruby while she did her laundry, laundry that included her bra's and panties. Panties that were her parents would not consider 'proper' a few of them were even so skimpy that the tags that had come on them were bigger than the cloth in the back. With a red face Weiss slammed her head onto the top of her dresser, she couldn't just not take them either as she was running low on underwear and Ruby might find it weird if she didn't have any in her bag. "Oh God, this is going to be so embarrassing." Weiss muttered to herself.
A/N: Welcome to May everyone! Hope you're all staying safe and practicing safe measures when you're out and about. Please remember if your area is opening to use common sense and continue social distancing. We'll get through this together. Anyways enough of that PSA.
Yay chapter 3 of this madness is finished! And next up Ruby and Weiss finally meet up in person and not just at a diner! Oh boy Weiss what type of underwear to do you have? (Ruby likey) Also before anyone goes onto the the whole 'Two women can't have a child together' rant I'm going to point you back to chapter 1 where I said if I can't come up with a reason I'm just gonna shrug and say it's space magic and move on. Don't like it? Tough. That's the way it's gonna go. I'll explain the whole family situation at some point in the future so don't really think to hard people it's called fiction for a reason. As in not totally rooted in reality. Also I know a little about laws and the bounty hunting situation but it's enough to know how to follow the laws and know I don't want to be on the wrong side of it. So for the most part if I screw up the laws and what bounty hunters can legally do and get away with I'm not going to worry too much about it, again fiction! But enough of that I'm rambling. Until next time!
P.S: As always; thanks for stoping by, I hope you're all doing well and continue to do so, and until we meet again keep a smile on your face and a song in your heart.
