Approximately 5.5K words this chapter, sorry I'm late. I decided to make chapters shorter so I can update more often, please review!

Illegal Love

Chapter 2

...

She was mad, livid, and confused. But of course she would not admit that herself quite yet, for she needed to keep her head in the game for their mission, all the complaining could come after, if it even does at all.

Ruby was waiting outside, a small backpack with her to hide her trusty weapon, it was bound to draw attention if visible, and the last thing someone like her needs is attention.

Her eyes observed Jaune through the glass doors to the hotel, he was inside, talking with the receptionist about something.

Stupid Jaune and his stupid drinks and his stupid stupidity.

Her cheeks reddened ever so slightly. damn it, Ruby, keep it together!

"You okay there? Your face is a little red, sure you don't have a fever or something?" Said her partner in crime. She hadn't even realized he was out thanks to being lost in thought.

"Spare me your worries, what were you talking about?" She said as she started walking, they were already somewhat late, if there's gonna be any talking then it should be on the way.

"Huh?" He replied as he casually followed her.

"The receptionist called you over, what did he say?" She clarified.

Oh, that... shit.

"Just boyish things, Y'know, the weather, sports, that kind of thing." He mouthed.

Ruby abruptly stopped to turn around and look at him, her expression said it all but she still spoke. "You met yesterday and spent two minutes in an elevator with him and now you're friends that talk about sports and the weather?"

Jaune shrugged and kept walking before Ruby sighed. He wasn't stupid, he never expected her to buy into that, he just hoped that she'd be able to pick up a hint. He couldn't tell her what he was talking about.

He grimaced at the thought of it... explaining to Ruby that the adjacent room had complained about them being too loud last night was too awkward, especially given the air around the both of them now.

It's not like it was going to happen again anyway, so no harm done in not telling her. Hell, he'd be sparing her the embarrassment.

Ruby finally picked up the hint upon seeing his expression and then she decided that he probably had his reasons.

Furthermore, she completely trusted him, he wouldn't ever keep something that she needed to know away from her.

It might be awkward for a bit, and they might have had lots of periods in which they detested the company of each other, but that doesn't change the final result and fact.

The two were inseparable. From the moment they met they had just clicked together, Jaune didn't quite believe that soulmates existed but if they did, Ruby would be his.

"Alright, I'm dropping it." She said.

"Appreciated." He answered.

A few more minutes went by as each though of a different subject.

Ruby was thinking of going out to visit a bookstore, excluding Tukson's, of course, since that one is likely not going to open for a while after today.

Jaune, albeit considering the possibility of enjoying a day out, ultimately decided to return to the hotel for the day after the mission, his head still hurt from the hangover.

"We're getting pretty close, a few minutes away, maybe. Are you ready?" Jaune said.

Ruby was taken aback, she could never ever get used to his voice when he is serious. Period.

Whenever he's about to get into business, his eyes narrow, his body straightens and his voice gets filled with an aura of command.

It was admittedly pretty hot.

"Yup." She poked her backpack to feel her weapon, just to make sure.

"Alright. You know the deal, little noise, no distractions and we leave with a result no matter what."

Ruby nodded in response before speaking. "And don't shoot for no reason at all like a dense idiot." She added.

"Right." Jaune said as they turned the corner, the shop should be on their left in just a few seconds.

And so, after a few steps, they found themselves in front of the bookstore.

"It's... closed." Ruby said, almost in disbelief.

"The hell? It should be open today." Jaune- equally confused- added.

"No, it was open, in fact. It is." Ruby pointed out. She then pointed through the glass. "The lights are dim but they're on, and there's a noise coming from inside, can you hear it?"

Upon closer inspection, he found that she was right.

They looked at each other as they heard the voices from within.

"And are you going to fight back?" Said a female voice.

A moment of silence followed, whatever was happening in there was intense, and speaks of anything but friendliness.

"Yes!" Said a much deeper and manly voice followed by the sound of chaos from within.

Jaune wasted no time as he kicked the door.

...

To say that Mercury Black was surprised was an understatement.

Here he was, doing his job with Emerald. Everything was executed perfectly and the stupid puma faunus -Or whatever the hell he is- was just a second away from having a bullet to the face as breakfast.

But then some random white-knight wannabe kicked the glass doors, the sound of glass shattering was enough of a startle to Mercury for him to miss his kick.

And next to him walked a young woman, late teens or early twenties at most.

The guy was carrying a sheathed sword whilst the woman pulled out a red square-like thingy before dropping her backpack on the ground.

"Jaune."

"Yes?"

"Remember when you said little noise?"

"Yes...?"

"Does that exclude the noise that comes with kicking glass doors in?"

Mercury exchanged a confused look with Emerald whilst Tukson was standing still like a statue, obviously keeping an eye on each of them and looking for a chance to escape.

He then decided to interject the two random people who seemed as if they were about to start a casual conversation.

"Hey lovebirds, not the best store to be in right now." He mouthed.

Considering the fact that someone probably heard the glass breaking, Ruby agreed. Though sadly, she couldn't just leave.

"We don't choose where we get sent." She replied. Noticing the hostile glares from the people in the room, she added. "But we do get to decide who's ass we want to kick."

Jaune opted to stay out of the talk, deciding that it would be better to be on guard, to his left was Ruby, and in front of him stood the man he assumed to be Tukson and the two people they hadn't accounted for.

The woman was standing unnaturally still, like an actual statue. Moreover, her chest wasn't moving, was she not breathing?

Hearing one misstep to the left was all he needed for his head to jerk and focus on the sound. She always had more trouble when using her semblance on multiple people.

Emerald panicked as he looked at her, the real her. She had made too much noise with her last step. And whilst the girl with red hair did not seem to notice, he did.

Jaune glanced to where the woman stood but a moment ago, she wasn't there, his hand reached for his sword.

Emerald had no choice but to pull out her weapon and try to stab the red-headed girl before she too could notice that Emerald was practically right next to her.

Jaune, however, was faster. His shield -The one Emerald thought was a mere scabbard- intersepted her.

He didn't stop there, however, as he brought his knee up to smash her hard in the stomach.

She leaned forward, hands dropping her weapons and grabbing a hold of her stomach as a reaction, Jaune wasted no time as he used his hand -The one holding the sword- to smack the back of her head with the hilt of it.

Aura worked to protect, but it could only do so much.

To use Aura properly, you need to focus on the part of your body you want protected, in this case, Emerald was subconsciously forced to focus her aura on her stomach thanks to the kick she received in that area. Leaving her head with little Aura to protect it.

It was enough aura to stop permanent damage, but not enough to stop her from falling unconscious.

Ruby kicked her weapons away, just in case, all whilst smiling at the shocked Mercury.

She then decided to unfold her scythe, just in case he didn't get the message.

"Shit... you two are Huntsmen, aren't you?"

There was visible relaxation on Tukson's face with the mention of the word.

Jaune glanced at Ruby, she snickered. "Hell no." She replied to Mercury.

And there goes the relaxation from Tukson's face.

Jaune stepped into the middle of the shop, between everyone, seemingly unfazed by Tukson's claws.

"We're here for the same reason you are." He paused and saw the bruises on the faunus. "Only, it doesn't involve murder. That shit only brings trouble."

Ruby stepped up next to her partner. "Just take your girlfriend and leave, no need for more drama today."

Mercury's face darkened. "You knocked her out, and she's not my girlfriend!"

"Firstly, she tried to stab me, secondly, I don't give a shit. Just leave." Her eyes narrowed and her hand tightened around her scythe.

God-damned assholes, that was all what Mercury could think of them as. It was going so damn well!

He reviewed his options, he could listen to them, it isn't like Cinder would stay silent about this event, he'd have his revenge eventually. Hell, Cinder could just use one of her puppies -Torchwick, for example- to track these two down.

His other option was to fight against two people That he had no knowledge of.

And one of them had just beaten Emerald with a mere two hits.

In the best case scenario, Tukson would run away, in the worst, however, he'd join their side. The latter was unlikely but possible.

And if their words could be trusted, they were here to neutralize Tukson anyway -Minus the murder part- so he technically got what he came here for.

"This isn't the last you hear of me." He said.

The duo seemed uninterested in his threat and simply made way for him to leave, and to his surprise as he left the store -One knocked out Emerald in his arms- they hadn't tried anything. They just let him leave.

...

Tukson had by now run out of curses to mutter under his breath, but at least the silver guy and his girl had left.

But it wasn't over yet, and his claws were still out, just in case.

"Is it my or your turn?" The blond asked the redhead.

"Yours, have fun." She answered.

Tukson's eyes kept gazing at the girl as she casually just went to one of the still-standing bookshelves and started browsing.

The guy then walked towards him. "Tukson, correct?"

"Who's asking?" The faunus replied. He noticed that the man had sheathed his sword once more.

"A potential friend... or an enemy, depending on this conversation."

"What the hell do you want? If this is about the White F-"

"I don't want your life story, Tukson." Jaune interrupted. He soon added. "I'm simply here to inform you about a deal you cannot refuse."

"Not interested. Leave my shop or-"

"You see, Tukson, I don't think you really caught what I'm offering here." Jaune interjected once more, his hand brushed the hilt of his sword, he was sure to make it visible as well. "It's a deal that you cannot refuse."

...

Ruby stretched as the warm sunlight and soothing wind frizzled her skin. Damn was it dark and depressing in that shop.

"Poor guy must've just had the weirdest morning of his life." Jaune joked as he walked out of the shop as well.

"It was his decision, it's never smart to get involved with the White Fang, that's just asking for drama." She replied.

"True, those idiots operate like a cult, taking it a bit too far if you ask me... I can understand wanting to steal dust but they actually don't allow members to leave? Stupid."

He could understand their demands for equality- and maybe even why they turned violent- but the senseless havock they've been causing lately is not being criminal, it's being stupid.

If one were to want to leave their gang, then by all means, they could leave. Maybe they want to start a family, maybe they just want peace and quiet, he could respect both motivations.

That said, the moment they decide to leave, they're on their own. Nobody's gonna care what happens to you from the gang, nobody's gonna be covering you and your tracks from the authorities, if you're caught then it's all you.

And of course, ratting out any information about the gang would at the very least get you killed.

"It's still early in the afternoon, we should run by Roman and tell him Tukson's taken care of. Then we'll have the rest of the day off."

"Sure thing, he'll be happy this is finally off his chest."

"And Jaune." Ruby sighed, though not out of frustration, it sounded more like a sigh of preparation. "Thanks for having my back in there, that woman nearly got me."

She never doubted him when it came to things like these, and he paid her trust back in full.

"Bah, you'd have done the same." He replied before patting her on the shoulder. He didn't stop there, however. "Just don't go out of your way to trash talk like that again, who knows what could've happened if I wasn't there."

He brought a hand up and flicked her forehead, she jumped back, surprised. "Ow, what was that for?!"

"It's because you were stupid in there."

Ruby glared at him as she rubbed her forehead. "Asshole."

"It's better than what that woman could have done."

She glared even harder but did not argue.

"That's what I get for trying to show my appreciation." She huffed out.

...

The hideout was the same as always.

Then again, what were they expecting? They had just been gone for a single day.

After making their way up the stairs, knocking on Roman's door and getting permission to enter, they went in.

Though Roman wasn't alone, Neo was with him and they seemed to have been planning something prior to the duo's arrival, likely a heist of some kind.

"I trust you have good news for me?" Their boss asked, eyes still set on a blueprint of some building.

"You look like shit." Jaune pointed out as they closed the door behind them.

He wasn't lying at all, in fact, it was pretty spot on.

Roman's looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open, there was an empty cup in front of him -one that smelled of coffee- and the way his back cracked loudly upon stretching indicated that he had been stuck on that chair working for a while.

"Tell me something I don't know, kid." Roman replied as he forced himself off the seat. "This damn heist she wants us to pull off is damn near impossible, I've been stuck planning all night."

Ruby was about to ask about who 'she' was but then she remembered Cinder.

The concern visible in Neo's eyes as she watched Roman proved that he wasn't kidding. Damn, did he really tire himself enough for Neo to get worried?

"Well, we have good news, Tukson's dealt with, no blood, just like how you asked."

"I'd give you a hoorah but my throat hurts from all the boiling coffee." Roman half-joked.

Ruby giggled before stepping up, pulling out a book from her backpack and handing it to Roman.

"What you asked for, Tukson's notes on the White Fang." She mouthed.

Roman happily took it and set it on his desk, it was Cinder who wanted that book, something about using it to blackmail the White Fang, she never really gave him all the details.

"And you made sure nobody's gonna hear from him again?" Their boss asked.

They nodded simultaneously and Jaune then spoke. "We convinced him to hand over the notes in exchange for two things." He explained. "One; not getting his ass kicked, and two; a promise to cover his tracks until he's out of Vale- and he'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Alright, as long as we don't hear of him again then he can consider it done." Roman sighed. "Let's just hope she doesn't find out he isn't dead."

"Who is the 'she' you are referring to, dear Roman?"

Everyone in the room -Neo included- found a chill running down their spine after hearing the calm and soothing yet somehow terrifying voice.

Speak of the damned Grimm, she couldn't find any other time to show up? She even heard him say that last line? The gods were trying to be funny today, apparently.

"Aha, Cinder! We were just discussing our next big heist operation! Lots of dust to come from this one!" Roman looked as if he had all the energy he ever needed all of a sudden.

"Do not wing the subject, Roman." She walked closer, between Jaune and Ruby and then stood right in front of him.

"I heard that Tukson is finally taken care of, it took you long enough." She added.

"Not to doubt you and your godly wisdom, but sorry if I was a little busy doing every single other thing you want done in the city!" He argued, Cinder seemed unfazed.

"I heard Tukson is not dead, was I not clear when I gave you the task?" She asked.

"He's as good as dead, you'll never hear from him again." Roman said, he reached for his desk, grabbed Tukson's book and handed it over. "And here's your book."

"That's... good enough, I suppose. But do not alter my orders in the slightest from now on, do what you are told."

She opened the book, took a quick glance and then closed it, looking up at Roman once more.

"Who did you send for the task?" She asked.

Roman smiled, at least that's one thing that wouldn't cause him trouble. He pointed at the duo Cinder had walked past just a moment ago.

She turned around. "So, it's you two." She said with a smile that would scare the personification of death itself.

"Yes." Ruby replied simply.

She walked up to them. "You wouldn't have have happened to meet two people there, would you? One with Green hair and one wearing Grey and Black."

They knew better than to lie, especially to a rhetorical question, which this one obviously seemed to be.

"Yes." Jaune mouthed.

"Those were my pawns."

"They were hindering our mission, the one you wanted done."

"They were doing it for you, seeing how you took weeks to take care of it."

"And that's why they attacked us?" Jaune shot back.

"They attacked you?" Cinder showed the slightest of reactions.

"The woman, she was standing in the middle of the shop, she then somehow found her way behind my partner and tried to stab her."

"Then I have a thing or two to tell her." Cinder was still as calm as ever, just surprised that Emerald would lie about being attacked first.

Roman really was about to bang his head against a wall. "All is well that ends well, eh?" He said.

Cinder turned around. "Indeed..." The way the word dragged on brought Roman's nerves up, she wasn't done speaking. "Roman, I want these two."

Roman's face turned to one of absolute shock. "These are some of my best, they get a lot of the tasks you ask of me done, not having them would affect my progress."

Cinder brought a hand up and cupped his chin. "Then maybe I should find someone else, one who wouldn't be hindered by losing just two people."

"I- well, when you put it that way..."

"Good." She turned around. "Get yourselves ready, I have use of you two."

"With all due respect, ma'am, my loyalty is with Roman." Jaune worded, stopping Cinder in her tracks as she was already moving to leave the room.

Roman didn't know if he should yell out of fear of what is about to happen or delight that there might be a chance of him not losing his best duo.

"He's right." Ruby added. "We work for Roman."

Cinder walked back to them ever so casually, though her eyes spoke of terror. "You'd reject my offer?" She asked.

"Yes." The duo spoke.

Roman was ready to jump under his desk, Neo was ready to escape with him if it came to that.

Jaune's hand lingered just above his sword whilst Ruby was ready to activate her semblance at a moment's notice.

Cinder opened her mouth to speak. The air stilled and time froze, everyone was ready to act.

"Very well, then." Was her shocking answer. She faced Roman one more time. "It's good to know that not all your men are rabble and that some are loyal."

She made her way to the door and turned the handle. "Be sure to pull off the heist well, we are proceeding to phase two soon." She spoke before leaving.

With the door clicking behind her, everybody's shoulders relaxed and they all let out a breath they hadn't known they were holding.

"What in the god damn just happened?" Roman said as he collapsed on his armchair out of stress.

...

The duo and Neo left Roman to his work- though they did advise him to rest.

Neo wasn't nice, she wasn't a friend to anybody, either, and she knew it. She was just Neo.

And the closest thing she can come up with to explain her relationship with people is through an imaginary tier list in her head.

The bottom tier consisted of people who wanted to hurt Roman and people who expected her to share her ice-cream. Those two types of people she'd enjoy torturing.

The one above was for random people, because who the hell liked those?

Then the middle tier was made up with pretty much all the gang members, people she could at least recognize the existence of.

And the second best tier was for those who were valuable or very loyal to Roman- Ruby and Jaune were already on this tier next to a few other henchmen but after their display against Cinder she considered making a new tier just for Ruby and Jaune. It would likely be be called the 'I guess you're cool' tier.

Yeah, that'd be good enough.

The final tier had only two things in it, Roman and Ice-cream.

Come on, that shit was delicious.

Neo was snapped out of her thoughts by Ruby speaking. "Man, that woman is insufferable."

Both Neo and Jaune nodded in response. "Can't wait until we get rid of her." Jaune added.

Neo was closest to Roman, meaning she would likely know what's going on in his head, that's why Ruby decided to ask her. "You think Roman is making any plans to get away from her, Neo?"

She shrugged in response, she had no idea.

"I think she'd try to get rid of us first." Jaune pointed out.

He wasn't wrong, someone like her would definitely despose of their useless pieces after getting what they want.

"It's gonna be hard for even her to pull that off, though, she doesn't know Roman's semblance, in fact, she probably doesn't know he has one." Ruby exlained, Neo nodded.

"Yeah, I guess, he's the mastermind, no real need for a semblance for him since he's mostly out of sight. Should still be a good surprise in case she tries to double-cross us."

It's fun to be around people who aren't complete idiots for a change. Neo thought.

These two know full well how dangerous Cinder is, which is good since she's gonna need all the help she can when Cinder finally decides to turn on Roman.

It didn't require a genius to figure out Cinder's motive. She makes any room she enters smell of danger for dust's sake.

The problem was how she was operating behind the scenes, and how exactly does she plan to do things, she's very secretive when it comes to that.

Ruby's words snapped her out of her thoughts again. "Got any tasks today, Neo? I'm planning to drag Jaune for some ice-cream, you can join if you want."

Jaune interjected. "When did I agree to that?"

"Approximately three seconds ago, right when I suggested it." Ruby answered.

Jaune sighed. "Fine, but you're paying." He said.

"Naturally." She replied before turning to Neo. "So?"

Neo raised one finger up.

"You have one task? Is it gonna take long?"

Neo nodded with a frown.

"How many hours?"

Neo raised two fingers.

"And if you had help?"

Neo's eyes lit up. She raised one finger but only a little.

"Less than an hour?"

She nodded.

"Alright, let's get this thing over with." Ruby said.

Jaune silently followed the two as they picked up the pace, why does he keep getting dragged into stuff like this?

"So, what kind of task is it anyway?"

...

They could both see why this would take two hours, -for someone like Neo, anyway.

She just had to go around town and collect money from shops that owed the gang.

Now, that should be easy, it would take five or less minutes for each shop.

But Neo could not 'ask' for the money, per se.

And even though most of the shopkeepers would recognize her and know what she wants, some of them could play dumb.

And then she'd have to use action to make them understand.

Actions took more time than words.

"Must have been a sick joke from Roman to send you of all people for this." Jaune said as they left the final shop.

Neo shook her head before pointing at herself and then using her finger to draw letters forming the word 'volunteered' on the air.

"Why would you volunteer for this, though?" He asked.

She took out her scroll, opened a notepad app and wrote a sentence before showing him.

'Too many missions and not enough men.' Followed by a sad face emoji.

"Man, shit really has been going haywire since Cinder showed up." Ruby groaned.

The two were right, and the worst part is- they couldn't do anything about it.

Neo mentally groaned, maybe a new bottom tier should be made just for Cinder?

Alongside dirt, perhaps?

No, dirt is infinetly more likeable.

She'd have to consider this later.

She continued walking with the duo, they were talkative but not obnoxiously so, nor were they too loud and they didn't pressure her into giving her thoughts on anything.

Maybe they weren't too bad.

To an extent, she liked them just because they were very loyal to Roman.

But now they had helped her and offered her to join them for ice-cream.

Ice-cream.

She couldn't possibly say no.

They also spoke with purpose, not just opting to throw a few random words and call it a conversation.

No, they spoke of things that mattered, or things they were both interested in.

"Here we are," Ruby said as they entered the shop.

They all sat down soon, Jaune asked what each of them wanted before going to the clerk and placing the order.

He wanted chocolate, Ruby wanted strawberries and Neo went for the obvious flavour.

Jaune also stood beside the clerk and chatted with him whilst he made the ice-cream, leaving Neo and Ruby to sit alone for a while.

Neo brought up her scroll, wrote something and showed it to Ruby.

'Is he always like this? Leaving you to talk with random strangers?'

Ruby tittered. "Nah, he does it occasionally but we spend most of our day together anyway."

Neo replied via her scroll once more. 'Are you planning to confess soon?'

Ruby would've spat out water if she had any in her mouth. "What do you mean?!" She rocked herself back as she said so.

'You're completely smitten with him!' Neo wrote.

Ruby replied a bit too defensively with the classic. "I am not, he's just my friend!"

'You've been screwing him for years.'

"It's been on and off! And now we officially called it off for good."

Neo didn't believe it for a single second. 'I'm sure you said that the last four times you broke up.'

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "How do you even know this?"

Neo rested her head on her hand and used the other hand to type. 'You know how fast rumors fly in the gang.'

Ruby huffed. "Drama queens."

Neo ignored her as she wrote something else.

'So, you wouldn't mind if I take him? He IS pretty good-looking.'

Ruby's expression shifted and told Neo everything.

It was one of pure horror.

Neo proceeded to give the most smug 'I knew it!' face in history of Remnant.

...

Cinder Fall was not angry. She was livid.

A few slaps on Emerald's cheek had done wonders in getting her to a better mood. And it wasn't without reason, either, it was punishment, punishment for lying to her.

If she had failed then she should have just said so.

At least it would have been a single slap.

Mercury spoke the truth once asked, he was always that much easier to deal with. Emerald was just too emotional, too afraid.

Cinder sighed as she laid on her bed, it wouldn't be too long until she goes to Beacon herself.

But that boy and girl... she had use of them, she'd considered it before, but now she was sure of it.

The girl -Ruby was her name- was a great asset, having a semblance that would help in making any infiltration take but a few moments.

And being a thief, she had the experience to not mess it up, either.

Not to mention, from the brief moments she fought her a while back, she could remember the girl being both a proficient sniper and a deadly scythe wielder.

Truly a wonderful asset, she would be.

The boy called Jaune was a bit more of a mystery, though.

If he was on the same level as Ruby then he definitely was worth it.

A sword and shield wielder, according to Mercury... she had no complaints as long as he knew how to use them.

And she had gone as far as doubting her own ears when Emerald confessed that he managed to knock her out without breaking her Aura. It was only Mercury's confirmation that let her believe.

That was extremely rare, to know aura so well as to just bypass it altogether? That requires an absurd amount of combat knowledge.

Not to mention that it would also require perfect technique to pull it off, for the knowledge was not enough on its own.

He must have known where and when exactly Emerald would focus her aura, and followed up with a perfect attack since Emerald's aura was no joke in of itself, it was akin to that of a huntsman.

That's what made him so interesting... and she didn't even know his semblance yet.

So much use out of those two yet they ever so blatantly refuse me.

She had to physically restrain herself from burning the bed.

"It's fine." She whispered to herself. "If one comes, the other will follow."

And she'll get them.

She'll get what she wants.