Chapter Text
8 months before present day
Detective Ruby Michelle Rose couldn’t really say anything was wrong on this particular Saturday evening in September. In fact one could argue it was going quite well, her division of the Vale Police Department had one of their biggest busts yet. Thanks to a tip from the current CEO of Schnee Construction and Distribution, Jacques Schnee, and Ruby’s own impressive work on the front lines. The investigative department had managed to completely and utterly dismantle a drug trafficking ring that had been plaguing the city and its surrounding area for years. Ruby’s work undercover has become something of a pride for Vale’s law enforcement and by extension the ability to brag that they have a prodigal detective/investigator.
The bust had gone so well and so cleanly in fact, Mr. Schnee offered to host a celebratory gala to recognize the work of the VPD and more importantly Detective Rose. Which brings us to the point we were at when we started this. Ruby was decked out in something wholly unfitting for what many would expect a member of the female sex to wear. Instead of a dress and what she calls ‘Stupid Lady Stilts’. Ruby was fashioned in a Black Bespoke Armani suit with a crimson tie, Calvin Klein black dress shoes, a silver Rolex watch on her left wrist, and a pair of Aviators in her front chest pocket. Her tousled red tipped brunette mane brushed enough to pull off a refined but slightly unkempt look that drew in more ladies than Ruby would care to admit. Her older half-sister Yang would often joke that it was the ‘Xiao-Long Genes’ at work thanks to their shared father.
In regards to her sexuality Ruby was certainly not in the closet about it despite what her demeanor at times may tell you. When she first joined the department she was a bit reserved but slowly came out of her shell thanks to others reaching out to her. While she had no issues with the male sex, after a few flirting attempts from guys in bars or on the street, and spending a good bit of time with the ladies of the department, she would quickly come out as a rather ardent lesbian. She had a few male friends such as Officers Jaune Arc, Sun WuKong, and Lie Ren but never really felt any sort of romantic attraction to them. However, being around some of her fellow female officers such as Nora Valkyrie, Blake Belladonna, Emerald Sustrai, and Penny Polendina, among others, quickly helped her realize her attraction towards other women. Little did Ruby know that there would be one particular person she would meet tonight that would surprise the hell out of her.
Once she was finally prepared, Ruby, erring on the side of caution, decided to put her beloved Colt M1911 into the concealed holster within her suit jacket along with a couple spare magazines. While tonight was a night of celebration and merrymaking, being undercover for several weeks quickly makes one realize the virtue of having an easily accessible weapon. After ensuring the safety was on and the chamber wasn’t loaded, the pistol was safely tucked into her jacket and she began browsing her collection of car keys. Aside from being a detective, her friends would quickly tell you that Ruby was a bit of a weapon nut and second to that, an absolute gearhead. Prior to joining law enforcement, Ruby had spent some of the summer months during college restoring classic cars with her father Taiyang. Her collection consisted of a 2004 Subaru WRX STI she had bought new and held onto since before joining the department, a 2002 Nissan R34 Skyline, a 2005 Ford GT, and her pride and joy, a Crimson and white 1966 Shelby Cobra Mk. III with a 427 cubic inch V8 engine.
Knowing it was a special night, and owing to the fact it was dry and the sun was still in the process of setting, Ruby decided to take out the Cobra. Knowing it would turn some heads and allow her to be a bit smug, she stepped out into the garage and headed over to the beloved machine, opening up the door and sliding into her seat. Ruby quickly pushed the keys into the ignition and turned them, causing the absolute unit of an engine to roar to life. Clicking the garage door opener, Ruby shifted the car into gear and the beast rumbled out and onto the street before Ruby hooked the car to the right and began taking off towards her destination.
Of course once she arrived, as anticipated and planned, heads turned in her direction. The valet stood waiting, but being the prodigal detective she was, could see the malfunction in his brain activity as she strutted over to him. Reluctantly handing him her key to her pride and joy she says in her most deadly tone, “Not one scratch on it. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
The poor sap swallowed the lump in his throat and took the offered key, “Yes ma’am.”
Ruby, satisfied that she intimated the guy enough, smirked and left him with her key as she turned towards the entrance of the building. The first thing she saw was the mass amounts of high class people, all mingled together with glasses in their hands as waiters walked around with different trays of hors d'oeuvres and the glasses of champagne. Overhead, light music fluttered through the speakers, “Would you care for a drink?” She turned her head to see one of the waiters had approached her while she had been taking in the scene.
She contemplated the drink for a minute. As she was used to being on duty and undercover, she needed her mind sharp and sound. However, because of the undercover part of her job, it was ingrained in her to blend in as much as possible, “Thank you.” She accepted the offered glass and gave the waiter a small toast as he nodded and walked away from her.
Sighing she takes one last look around and makes her way inward. In all honesty, she did not want to be here. While the gesture was appreciated, she thought this was vastly unnecessary. They were, after all, just doing their job. They had sworn to take an oath when first coming on the job to uphold the law. It was something she had always upheld to the highest standards when she was a patrolman out on the beat. And while in the past she had some recognition and honors along the way, it was the fanfare she always found awkward; but it was either suffer a night of this, or desk duty for a week. Quite frankly, she would rather not have desk duty. The streets and the underworld is where she belonged and could do the most good for Vale.
“Ah Ms. Rose! There she is!” And here we go , she thought as the host of the gala came towards her with his hand outstretched as she gave him her own. She felt his mustache touch her knuckles.
Ruby laughed lightly as she delicately removed her hand from his, reminding herself to bathe it in bleach, “Mr. Schnee, on behalf of the department, we thank you for this wonderful evening.”
While Jacques Schnee was an asset to the VPD, Ruby had always had a gut feeling about him that somethings did not add up to his philanthropist nature; but due to her lack of evidence, never fully told her superiors her suspicions.
“Ah the pleasure is all mine. However I cannot take all of the credit, it was actually my daughter who first came up with the idea. After all, working in law enforcement these days must be taxing with the lack of public respect.” Ruby raised her glass and took a sip to stop herself from offering him a comment, “Oh speaking of my daughter, here she is.” He said motioning to someone from behind her, “Ms. Rose, please allow me to introduce my daughter, heiress to the company, Weiss.”
Ruby internally sighed. It was bad enough to have to rub shoulders with this man, but now she had to play nice with his spoiled rich daughter too? Brothers, give her strength to survive the night. She lowers her glass to turn to invite their new guest to the conversation with a polite smile, but then all thoughts leave her mind as the stunning angel appeared before her.
Weiss Schnee, heiress to Schnee Construction and Distribution, was wearing a black knee length cross neck cutout halter sleeveless sheath dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. To help enhance her beauty, she accessorized with a pair of silver chain threader earrings. Around her delicate wrist was an 18-karat gold and silver chain bracelet. Ruby’s eyes then trained down perfectly toned legs to a pair of matching Azalea Wang haskell sandals with a killer crystal covered heel, “Ms. Rose. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.” The mortal angel said in a musical tone that could open up the heavens.
Ruby coughed, trying to clear her throat and divert her attention back to the stunning woman with white hair that was styled with a side ponytail with a small silver diamond studded crown beret, “The pleasure is mine.” The words were awkwardly said, however the intent was there.
“Well I have to get to our other guests. Please excuse me.” He said smiling in a way that made Ruby’s stomach turn for a different reason.
Weiss’s piercing blue eyes looked the detective over, appreciating every detail she could. When she heard that the famous detective was going to be present at the gala, she had admittedly been a bit skeptical despite the extensive background check she had done on the young woman.
Having first joined the VPD police academy at the tender age of eighteen years old, it was clear the young woman had a special gift for public service. Having graduated at the top of her class, she was placed on the front lines in the heart of Vale having won recognitions and awards throughout her years of service before rising through the ranks and landing in VPD’s detective unit. From there, it was easy to understand how the growing reputation grew.
Another waiter came around and offered her a glass of champagne to which she took and eyed Ruby over the rim of her glass, “So the papers say you were the one who single handedly took down the Fang. Is that true?”
Ruby took a sip of her drink, hoping it would give her the courage she needed to hold the conversation, “It was a team effort ma’am. I am just one kong in a slew of gears.”
Weiss snorted at the pathetic attempt to dodge a compliment, “Well, that is some modesty from the prodigal detective.”
“Modesty has nothing to do with it, if it is the truth.” Ruby argued back, “However it was thanks to your father that led us to the Fang’s ring. While I cannot say much on it, I can tell you if it were not for him, more children and women would have been in harm's way thanks to their reign of tyranny.”
“Ah yes. My father.” The tone was full of disdain that had Ruby’s survival instincts on high alert, “The philanthropist. Always has the community’s best interest.”
Ruby would raise her eyebrow at this, a disdainful tone towards her father? This might give me something to look into… , Ruby thought to herself before working up the courage to pry into this potentially juicy bit of information.
“So you’re not exactly a fan of your father either eh?” Ruby prodded before taking a small sip of the champagne she received from the waiter making his rounds. Perhaps this could shed some new light onto her suspicions of Jacques.
Weiss’ eyebrows would in response, also raise to this. The prodigal detective thought something was amiss about her father? Perhaps this was the chance she was waiting for to finally get him out of office and take over. All of those suspicious backroom deals, the strange men coming and going from Schnee manor, perhaps leaking the information to this prodigal detective might net her some freedom after all these years. The fact that Ruby looked like the damn poster girl for all lesbians just made it even better.
“Huh…you don’t happen to like my father either?” Weiss gently prodded trying to test the waters so to speak.
“Hm…got anywhere in mind that might be a bit more private for this discussion? You never know who is listening…” Ruby remarked somewhat darkly, being an investigator forced you to be aware of your surroundings and act like someone was trying to listen in on you.
Weiss took a second to to process this before nodding and grabbing Ruby’s unoccupied hand which took the slightly younger woman off guard as she now found herself being dragged along towards one of the more private lounge areas by this absolute bombshell of a mortal angel.
Once they had arrived, the noise of the party was dimmed down a fair bit due to both the distance and the fact this area was a bit more walled off to allow businessmen the luxury of relaxing and more private discussions.
Once the two were comfortable, Weiss would uneasily broach the start of the conversation. There was still the nagging worry in the back of her mind that this was a ploy by her father to get her to slip up and let her guard down but she had to take this chance. “So…you said you didn’t like my father either right?”
Ruby glanced at the white haired beauty beside her before leaning in closely and eliciting a blush from Weiss. “Between you and me…he’s hiding something, something that I know is there but never had enough evidence to act on or even take a closer look.”
Wess’ breath hitched from not only having the single chance she was waiting years for landing in her lap but also from the close proximity of the now at a closer glance, astonishingly dashing young woman beside her. “W-well…if you’re interested I would be willing to supply some, well, insider information that could prompt some investigation by you in particular.”
Is this too good to be true? Ruby thought hesitantly as she leaned back slightly to get a good look at the heiress beside her. There was something lurking in those striking blue eyes, and she didn’t survive this long on instinct alone. Treading with a bit more caution, she takes a sip from her still fairly full glass and states, “And what exactly would be in it for you?”
“What do you mean?” Weiss slowly asks.
“Hypothetically speaking, whatever information you give that would prompt this investigation could implicate you in some way as well if your father is found to be criminally involved.” Ruby leans forward again, making sure to make eye contact with her as much as she could, “In other words, you could be seen as compliant in these proceedings and could be looking at some time as well. So I ask again, what deal are you willing to make?”
Weiss leaned forward to match the piercing silver eyed gaze, “I am not compliant in anything. I personally have nothing to hide nor am I guilty of anything. I just want my father out of the company and getting what is coming to him.”
“In an effort to keep this formal, you are speaking to a Vale Detective Ms. Schnee. Do you wish to consult your lawyer before we take this any further?”
Weiss leans back and takes a sip of her drink. She watches the detective closely. The earnest look in her eyes, a connection being made between them. Sighing, she runs a delicate finger along the rim of the glass. Ruby silently watches that finger, the eerie sound coming from the glass filling the space between them, “No, I do not need a lawyer. I know what I am doing. As I said, I have nothing to hide.”
Ruby watches the older woman closely and takes a deep breath, “Alright. Then before we go any further, we need to make this legit. You would need to become my C.I.”
“C.I?”
“Confidential Informant. You are going to need to fill out some forms for me to make this legit. Otherwise the information you may have will be for nothing. I need to have my ducks in a row otherwise the DA’s office will not pursue the case. I love Pyrrha, but she can be a hardass when she wants to be.”
Weiss nods her head, “Of course, but I cannot be seen at the station.”
“Then join me for lunch!” Ruby said quickly before she could comprehend the words that came from her mouth. It wasn’t a bad idea, after all it would be a guise of just a work lunch, but then again the urge to hangout and get to know the woman in front of her was strong.
Weiss’s eyes went wide, “Lunch?” Like a date? It wasn’t a bad idea. This young detective intrigued her, like there was some sort of hidden power lurking behind the stunning silver eyes. There was no denying the magnetic pull between them.
Ruby smiled and Weiss felt as if her heart just skipped a beat, “Yes, I mean a working lunch. Fill out the forms, go over a few things. It’s a business date…not a date…date…thing.” Stupid! Ruby scolded herself. That was completely stupid and lame.
Weiss laughed lightly, and Ruby swore it was the most angeletic sound she ever heard, “It’s alright Ms. Rose. I understand. To answer your question, I accept your lunch plan. How’s Monday sound?”
“On one condition Ms. Schnee.” Ruby says feeling a bit bold now after hearing that laugh which made her soul sing.
“Oh?”
“It’s Ruby. Just Ruby.” She raises her half full glass in a salute manner.
Weiss smiles a true smile as Ruby fills her with a sense of hope for her freedom, “Then you must call me Weiss.”
“Weiss.” Ruby breathed out. She held out her glass, “To the start of a beautiful relationship?”
“To the start of a beautiful partnership.” Weiss said back. Together they clinked their glasses and shared a look as they finished their drinks together.
2 months before present day
In the months that followed, it was like a dream. Ruby had never known such relief and peace in her life. Being a detective and seeing the things she had seen, it was almost like a dark cloud had descended on her as she tried to not think or let it show too much.
Now though, having Weiss in her life. It was like a blindman seeing the light for the first time in his life. She brightened her day with each meeting, despite the torrid information she would share in regards to her father’s company. However these weekly meetings slowly started to develop into something more forbidden.
The half hour lunches soon developed into dinners on a more social level. Then dinners turned into dinner with movie nights. Movie nights started to escalate into late night walks. Those walks eventually led back to Ruby’s modern style two bed, two bath suburban home with a large separated garage for her cars and work machinery; and soon those late nights turned into adult sleepovers. These nights were special and something Ruby looked forward to.
Weiss was known as a shark in the company. A predator among the field of prey. Around Ruby though, that exterior melted into something more domestic. The woman who yearned for the love and touch she had been denied as a child. A father who was becoming more of a villain, a mother who gave up on life for the bottle, a sister who had walked out, and a brother destined to follow in the footsteps of the father.
In those silent nights, Ruby just held the white haired woman close, muttering sweet nothingness, and offered warm comfort and safety. It was these moments the both of them could lower their guards down and just be themselves. Although this time it was Weiss offering comfort to her, “It’ll be okay. I’m sure of it.”
“I’m sure it will be; but this will be hard.” Ruby said as her fingers tangled through the white tresses.
It had been a long day. She had been pulled into a meeting with Sergeant Ozpin and ADA Pyrrha Nikkos. The DA’s office had finally gone through enough information Ruby had gathered on Jacques to open a formal undercover investigation; and Ruby was going in at the helm. Of course, she never revealed who her C.I. was in accordance with the contract between her and Weiss; and to make matters worse was what they were doing right now- the clandestine affair.
That being said, the result of the meeting was Ruby was going to be made out to be a dirty cop which would have led her to be ‘kicked off the force’ to which if word got out correctly (and the right seeds were planted), she would try to get into Jacques' crime ring. It would have to be perfect, and not risk the safety of the woman in her arms that had become her whole world. Blue eyes locked on to her’s, slowly and with gentleness that was contrary to what happened early, their lips met.
Weiss’s tongue brushed along her lips, asking for access. Ruby allowed it and slowly their positions shifted as their tongues danced with one another. Ruby flipping gently on top of Weiss as Weiss locked her arms around Ruby’s neck. Eventually the need for air got to the two of them and they pulled apart, Ruby looking down at her and Weiss looking up, “How did I get so lucky?” Ruby breathed out.
“Luck had nothing to do with it.” Weiss responded as she took one hand to reach out and cup the young woman’s cheek, “You are good at what you do. We will weather this.”
“I do not want to get you hurt.” Ruby whispered as she leaned down to kiss Weiss’s neck.
Weiss stifled a moan and tried to not let Ruby distract her from the problem, “I won’t.” She forced Ruby to stop before she could start to make a trail downwards, “I will not get hurt. I promise you.”
Fierce blue met equally fierce silver. Ruby relented and rolled off of Weiss and they resumed their original position. Weiss rested her head on Ruby’s chest, and Ruby resumed playing with the white mane of hair, “There are things I have never told you that I did…or do while I am undercover.” Ruby started to say. She took a shaky breath and continued, “I will more than likely be made to do horrible things. Will you still be able to be with me? To be able to look at me? Forgive me?”
Weiss moved off of Ruby now and turned to her side, “Look at me.” She commanded. Ruby did not comply right away. Weiss could see traces of fear and doubt and it made her heart ache at the sight, “Ruby please. Look at me.”
Swallowing, Ruby turned to her side and Weiss reached out with both hands to hold Ruby’s cheeks while the younger woman held Weiss’s hips. Looking firmly into Ruby’s eyes, Weiss made her vow, “I do not care what you did. I don't even care what you will do. I know the person you are. I know you both inside and out. Nothing my father will have you do will change that.” Ruby closed her eyes and Weiss pressed a kiss to her forehead, “I love you Ruby Rose. There will be nothing that needs forgiving.”
Ruby nodded, unable to form the words right away to Weiss’s declaration. They had said those eight lettered words to one another before, but now…now it felt more real. More official than ever before. Opening her eyes, Ruby gazed back into the loving blue orbs that made her heart both ache and her soul soar, “I will do anything to make sure you are safe.”
“I know. Just promise me one thing aside from that.”
“Anything.”
Another kiss to her forehead was given, and Ruby felt her lips linger for a few moments longer than the last time. As her lips pulled away, she felt Weiss’s breath on her forehead as she whispered, “Please come home to me.”
As for the first part of an answer, Ruby pulled Weiss forward into her arms now, and briefly brushed her lips against hers. Just like Weiss did to her, Ruby took her time savoring the contact before pulling away, “Always.” Ruby breathed out.
There was no more talking for the rest of the night as the two just held each other, enjoying the moment of peace with themselves; because tomorrow…that is when the real work begins. Ruby would be going undercover officially, and the real challenge of their forbidden secret relationship would be put to the test.