62

Chapter 62: Strange Bedfellows

White Fang Warehouse, Location Unknown

Roman sighed for the umpteenth time, not even trying to hide his annoyance anymore.

Couldn't just be a quick drop off. Nooo, horny bastard's gotta make me wait for two hours.

He leaned lazily against the wall, drumming his fingers impatiently on his crossed arms. Just to his side, Neo sat on an empty shipping crate, tapping away at her scroll without an apparent care in the world.

Roman's eyes darted around the small room out of sheer boredom. At one point it had been the supervisor's station for the decrepit factory they were in. Now it was the headquarters of Taurus's Lieutenant, as made evident by the weapons scattered about the room and the White Fang flag taking up the whole back wall. Just outside the office, the sounds of heavy machinery and rushing feet were easily heard as White Fang members scuttled from place to place, moving around their ill-gotten goods.

Ill-gotten goods they got from me, Roman thought bitterly. The thought of all the money moving about in that warehouse, all of which he'd probably never see again, had soured his mood immediately once he'd stopped and thought about it. Months, years of his life spent collecting and stealing all manner of weaponry and technology, all for the best money he'd ever made.

And now, he was giving it all up. A certifiable gold mine, one he could keep milking for years to come, going up in smoke. By his own hand no less! And for what?

He could practically feel Summer's silver eyes glaring at him from wherever they might be.

Right… because if I don't, my snot-nosed little nieces are going to get squashed. He let out a growl of frustration. Damn it all! What happened to life being simple? Break this, take that, get paid. Easy! But, nooo, I just had to remember family. Ugh…

Fed up with only having his own thoughts to distract him, Roman turned his eyes to the only other person in the room: Taurus's Lieutenant, sitting patiently behind his desk, reading some kind of report in front of him.

With his damn mask still on, Roman snarked to himself. Seriously, does he ever take that damn thing off? It's got to get stuffy at some point.

Deciding to have a little fun, he called out. "Hey, Tag-Along. Is Taurus ever going to show up, or does watching us sit around like idiots just amuse you?"

The Lieutenant glanced up (at least, Roman thought he did. Damn masks), fighting back a growl as he spoke. "We are waiting for a vital member of our group to arrive."

Roman blinked. Well, it's more than he said since we got here. "I'm assuming by that, you don't mean your boss."

The Lieutenant growled in the back of his throat, and Roman grinned wider at the thought of a brewing argument, just to break up the monotony.

Much to his disappointment (and Neo's relief), whatever the Lieutenant was going to say was interrupted by the office door opening. Roman raised an eyebrow as the newcomer walked in with the suicidal overconfidence he'd come to associate with the White Fang.

If this was who they were waiting for, she didn't look like much. She at least had a bit of originality to her compared to the other White Fang grunts, given her lack of sleeves and hood. The ponytail and dark splotches across her skin stood out a bit, too.

As the newcomer entered, the Lieutenant gave her his full attention, though shooting Roman one last glare. "You're late," he stated gruffly, just shy of a growl.

The girl clasped her hands behind her back in attention, holding her head high. "I'm sorry for the delay, sir. I was slowed down avoiding some Atlassian patrols."

The Lieutenant sniffed dismissively, then pulled out his scroll. He tapped its surface, his call being answered immediately. "Sir. She's arrived." He placed the scroll face up on the desk, taking a step away from it.

"Welcome back to Vale, Ilia," Taurus's gruff voice came from the scroll. Roman nearly snorted at the obviously faked nice-guy voice he was putting on, like he actually gave a damn.

If the newcomer noticed at all, she didn't react to it. "Thank you, sir," she answered in a clipped, respectful tone.

"Did you have any... issues on your way here?"

"None, sir. The boat ride was peaceful and I had no issue avoiding law enforcement."

"Good, good. Just as I expected from you."

Aaaaand that was as much absurdity Roman could take in one sitting. As he'd unfortunately expected, Taurus wasn't going to make a physical appearance, so he'd have to fall back on Plan B. Staring at the scroll with clear annoyance, Roman said as obnoxiously as possible, "Are we really doing this over scroll call? What, Bully Boy, you been binging spy flicks or something?"

The Lieutenant's hands clenched at the clear disrespect Roman was showing, not that the conman cared. He was mildly amused by the Faunus girl's look of fearful disbelief, along with the mildly annoyed sigh that Neo let out.

"Roman," Taurus answered, his surprisingly calm voice raising a red flag in Roman's mind. "Charming as ever, I see. I assume you brought the weaponry I asked for?"

Roman rolled his eyes, not caring that Taurus couldn't see it. "Yeah, about two hours ago. Eighty machine guns, just as promised. Even managed to snag a few crates of ammo for you. Now, is there a reason you kept me sitting around here, or can I finally get my payment and go?"

The way the Lieutenant kept bristling mildly amused him, but Roman couldn't really enjoy it as even he could feel the tension rising in the room.

Taurus let out a dark laugh. "Patience, my friend. First, introductions. Roman, this is Ilia Amitola. She was one of my best operatives before she transferred to Menagerie. Ilia, meet Roman Torchwick, the man responsible for nearly all the resources and weaponry the White Fang now has."

Roman looked at the girl out of the corner of his eye. He saw her do the same, making out just a tiny bit of sky-blue between her mask's eye slits.

"Charmed," he said with a smug grin.

"...same," Ilia replied, clearly uncertain of him. Good. Kid wasn't a complete idiot.

There was a brief pause before Taurus spoke again. "To answer your question, Roman, there is a reason I brought you two here. I believe, given recent events, we all have a common goal that could be solved... relatively quickly."

Roman's pocket buzzed, his eyes drifting down to it. He pulled out his scroll, finding an email sent to him from Taurus' number. Raising an interested brow, he opened it, noting Ilia doing the same next to him.

His eyes narrowed as the faces of his nieces and their two partners appeared, along with details about their skills, weaponry, and history.

"Do you recognize this information?" Taurus asked knowingly.

Roman scoffed. "Uh, yeah, seeing's how I was the one who stole it in the first place."

And ain't that just biting me in the ass right now? Bird Brain, I blame you.

He could feel Neo's eyes trying to glare a hole through his head, but paid her no mind as he focused back on the scroll. He let out a condescending scoff. "So, what? You finally decide to get rid of the mutual thorn in our sides?"

"To put it mildly."

Roman clenched his fist at Taurus's almost amused tone but kept the smile on his face. "So, you need me to work more of my magic?"

"Not exactly," Taurus said, making Roman raise a brow. "I brought you both here because the three of us have a vested interest in these four girls, and I felt it if we worked together, it would be child's play to… deal with them."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, it's obvious for you, Roman." Said conman scowled at his dismissive tone. "Since the start of the school year, the youngest one, Ruby Rose, has consistently foiled every solo plan you've had. And after your screw up at the docks, not to mention the utter fiasco with the Paladin, would I be wrong to assume that you're not fond of the other three as well?"

Roman clenched his jaw, biting back his knee-jerk response. Taurus was trying to rile him up, not even bothering to be subtle. But if he thought he could make Roman crack, he obviously underestimated the decades of experience the conman had over him getting under people's skin.

Didn't piss him off any less, though.

Taurus chuckled, almost like he could feel Romans frustration through the scroll. "They must be causing you quite the headache."

Roman blinked, then couldn't help but let out an amused, almost manic laugh. "Oh, Bully Boy…" His tone darkened, freely letting his frustrations bleed into his voice. "You have no idea."

Taurus gave one last small chuckle, before moving on. "As for you, Ilia…"

Roman watched as the girl's back straightened, a motion Roman wouldn't have found too ridiculous if not for the fact that she was putting on a respectful act to a scroll.

Taurus continued, using a tone like that of a concerned friend. "I know it hit you hard when Blake turned on us. It must have been quite a shock given how… close, you were to her."

Roman raised a brow, which only went higher when he noticed the girl's hands tighten subtly. It was hard to tell with that damn mask, but from the hard line her lips were set in, Roman guessed she was trying not to scowl. "Blake's betrayal hurt all of us, sir," Ilia replied, her tone calm and even.

"Of course," Taurus said, and Roman had to stop from rolling his eyes. Taurus may have been one hell of a fighter, but subtlety was not among his strengths. Roman recognized the falseness in his tone instantly, having pulled the same trick himself for decades. The awkward emphasis on certain words, the way his voice slowed down; telltale signs of someone trying to emote sympathy when they felt none.

And this dumb kid's going to take it hook, line, and sinker.

"But you were her best friend. Her confidant. The one person we thought she would trust with anything. But that was evidently untrue… wasn't it? She gave us no warning that she would turn traitor, and wasted no time in finding… other forms of companionship. Correct, Ilia?"

Ilia gritted her teeth (yep, definitely scowling), calmly grinding out, "So it would appear… sir." Her clenched hands were starting to shake, her shoulders slightly tensed.

Warning bells were going off in Roman's head, and he couldn't help but wonder just what the hell Taurus was trying to do. It was almost like he was trying to piss her off, and, well… mission accomplished, apparently. Ilia was staring at the scroll so intensely, Roman was waiting for flames to appear.

Evidently, Taurus found her agitation amusing, given the humor bleeding into his tone. "Which is why I decided to bring you two in on this with me. Blake, and the members of her Team RWBY, have managed to both harm our overall plans, and affected us all on a personal level."

Roman crossed his arms, eyeing the scroll warily. "So, you want my help taking them out. Not that I'm against it, but that seems pretty straightforward. Why all the cloak-and-dagger?"

"Given the current state of our operation, I feel that discretion is warranted regarding these plans."

Roman blinked, then didn't even bother to hide his bark of a laugh. "Oh, I get it now! You haven't told Matchstick about this, have you?"

Ilia shot him a confused look out the corner of her eye, while Taurus's Lieutenant stiffened.

When Taurus spoke again, his tone had noticeably darkened. "...Cinder is being over-cautious. She's under the belief that pursuing Team RWBY would be a waste of time and resources. But when she sees the results of our labor, she will realize the value of… removing this annoyance before they become an actual problem."

Roman couldn't help but snicker. "Bully Boy, when she finds out you went against her orders on this, she is going to burn this city to the ground."

A feral growl sounded from the scroll, making Ilia and Neo jump, the former now staring at the scroll with wide eyes. "I do not answer to Cinder Fall. She is just a means to an end, and if she is so short-sighted to not see the necessity of removing this problem, the White Fang will find success without her."

Roman stared at the scroll with mounting disbelief. He would have called Taurus out for exaggerating had his Lieutenant not straightened up and nodded along with his every word.

At that moment, Roman could not be more relieved that he was getting out of this whole mess of an operation. He's finally lost his mind. Cinder's going to completely flip, and then… good gods, Taurus is about to start a turf war just to get back at his ex.

Plastering on his usual smarmy smile, Roman let out an amused chuckle. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy watching that, but Cinder's the one who's paying my bills. Much as I'd love getting Little Red and her freak parade out of my way, there's not much point if I go broke doing so."

"...Lieutenant."

Without a word, Taurus's Lieutenant reached down behind his desk. He pulled out a large black briefcase, oddly embossed with the SDC logo. He sat it on the table, spun it to face his audience, then opened the lid.

Roman felt his heart skip a beat.

"...Okay," he said faintly, his voice miraculously calm given the stacks upon stacks of Lien facing him. "You have my attention."

Taurus chuckled darkly. "I thought I might. As you can obviously see, if the matter of money is your only hang up, I will gladly match whatever rate Cinder is offering you. Even with a little extra, perhaps."

Roman swallowed, feeling Neo's gaze alternate between glaring a hole in his head and staring dumbfounded at the money. Already, the numbers were rolling around in his head as he checked the size of the briefcase, the value of the Lien bills. Trying to keep up his indifferent facade, he asked lazily, "And what exactly do you need of little old me to warrant that kind of cash?"

"Simple. You know this city better than anyone else alive. It's the entire reason Cinder hired you in the first place. So I assume you know how to find certain… uncouth individuals. People willing to follow any order if the price is right, but who have the skills to warrant spending the money."

Roman gave an honest smirk this time. "I might know a few guys. Any type of person you want me to look for specifically?"

"Anyone," Taurus responded in his darkened tone. "Anyone would do so long as they are capable of fighting Hunters, and have no problem killing them… no matter their age."

Roman gripped his cane tightly, using all his attained skill to keep the anger off his face. It wasn't so much what he was saying as it was the sick grin Roman could hear in his tone as he spoke of murdering his nieces. "Again, I know a few guys. They're not going to come cheap, though."

"Which is why I'll be giving you this portion of the payment here and now."

Roman and Neo both blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

The Lieutenant snapped the suitcase shut, bringing it over to Roman even as Taurus went on. "Use it to pay whoever you deem useful for our cause. Once our mutual problems have been... dealt with… you shall receive double your current payment."

Roman swallowed hard as he stared at the suitcase. Even at just his ballpark guess, there were well into six figures in that case. "Uh… this ain't exactly chump change, Bully Boy. I ain't complaining... but ain't that a little overkill?"

"I want these matters taken care of as soon as possible." Taurus' tone dipped even further, Roman hearing his irritation slowly become something more. "The money can be regained easily, but the damage these girls could inflict in the near future could cost us everything. To prevent that, the price is inconsequential."

Roman nodded, more for his own benefit than anything. He didn't need Neo's blazing gaze to know it was time to shut up before he made Taurus focus that anger on him. Given the legion of misspent youth marching around just down the hall, pissing Taurus off anymore would be bad for his health. He waved a hand forward, motioning for Neo to take the suitcase."Alright. I'll start making some calls as soon as we're done here."

"Good. Having the extra muscle will make things far easier. As for you, Ilia-"

The White Fang grunt, who had been silently watching the conversation with wary interest, straightened up in an instant. His curiosity officially piqued, Roman focused his attention on her, noting how tightly she had her jaw clamped down.

"I expect you read the orders I gave you?"

Her tone low and even, Ilia answered. "Yes, sir. I am to make contact with Blake and convince her that I am on her side, and convince her to follow me to the ambush point."

"Correct," Taurus replied, in a tone Roman would just barely describe as satisfied. "Your role here is key, Ilia. I will start organizing our forces and Roman will supply the extra muscle, but you need to make Blake trust you, at least enough to make her follow you. Once she understands her situation, her… Mates, will not be far behind."

Roman tilted his head up a bit as he thought things over. Use Kitty-Cat's old friend as bait, huh? Not that bad an idea. He smirked, hiding his humor behind a faux-impressed look. Too bad I'm here to screw everything up.

Oblivious to his thoughts, Ilia nodded in confirmation. "Understood, sir." She hesitated for a moment, then respectfully asked. "May I ask a question, Adam?"

"You may."

"In your orders, I didn't see a clear end goal. Once I have Blake's trust again and have let her to the ambush point, what do we do with her then?"

Taurus was silent. Then let out a dark chuckle. "Well, that depends on Blake. She was loyal to our cause for several years, and I'd hate to think it all meant nothing to her. I shall give her a single chance to explain herself, to tell us why she Mated with a group of humans, especially with one of which being a Schnee. If she denounces her Mates and pledges to our cause once again, handing over the Schnee heiress while she's at it, then we shall welcome her back into the fold."

Ilia seemed to straighten up even more, the blue of her eyes becoming more visible through her mask's eye slits. "And… what if she refuses?"

Again, there was a long pause. When Taurus finally spoke, his voice was so dark and cold it sent a shiver down Roman's spine. "Then I'm afraid she's a lost cause. If she chooses to stand against us, with the Schnees, then we will treat her like the traitor she is… and remove her."

For a brief moment, Roman could have sworn he saw Ilia's lips part slightly, her eyes widening to fill the slits in her mask. The shock was gone from her face in an instant, but Roman couldn't help but raise an amused brow at her.

Having second thoughts, kiddo? What, you didn't know you were working for a complete psychopath? If it wouldn't have potentially blown his cover, Roman would have chuckled.

Ilia's lips tightened to a firm line as she stood up a little straighter. "I won't let you down, sir."

Taurus chuckled darkly. "Oh, I know you won't. I'm hoping to settle things within a week, so time is of the essence. Roman, once you have found the best men you can, I want you to send them to this location so we can integrate them with our forces."

Roman felt his scroll buzz again, looking down to see an address flit across its screen. His eyes narrowed at it. "An abandoned subway station? Sorry, but I was expecting something a bit more… grand."

His attempt to anger Taurus apparently failed, given the satisfied chuckle the bull-Faunus let out. "Never fear, Roman. I assure you that this stage will become quite the spectacle." Before Roman could retort, Taurus spoke to the room at large. "As soon as each of you has completed your mission, contact me so we may move on. I expect results soon." With an ominous click, Taurus ended the call, the scroll on the table going dark.

Roman clicked his tongue, unable to keep the irritation off his face. "Charming as ever," he muttered to himself. Technically, things were going okay. He knew a good chunk of Taurus's plans and somewhere Taurus was guaranteed to be. But actually using that info… that could get tricky, especially since the whole thing hinged on getting Kitty Cat to the right place at the right time. And that wasn't part of his 'job'.

Deciding his best choice of action would be to make nice with his new 'ally', Roman turned to speak to Ilia… only to find that she was already marching out the door.

Roman did a double-take, looking between the escaping Faunus and the Lieutenant, the latter of which was currently ignoring everyone else in favor of going back to the paperwork spread out over his desk. Shoving down his annoyance at the blatant dismissal, Roman took off after Ilia, Neo trailing behind as she held the suitcase tightly against her chest like a life preserver.

Before Ilia could leave the narrow hallway between the Lieutenant's office and warehouse floor, Roman caught up with her. "So, any idea how you're going to catch our stray cat?"

Whenever Roman had been expecting, it was not the utter rage burning in Ilia's eyes as she turned her gaze to him. "None that I would share with you."

Roman blinked that her, before scoffing. "Uh, did you not hear our glorious leader back there? We're on the same team!"

Ilia scowled, and… was Roman mistaken, or did her skin darken a few shades? "I do not need help from some human who's just using our struggle to get our money."

Roman watched as she stalked out into the warehouse proper, muttering under his breath. "Oh, we're not going to get along, me and her." He turned to look at Neo, rolling her eyes at him as expected. "Fine then. We'll just have to find some other way to get Kitty Cat down there without everyone dying. Things'll probably go smoother anyway if we don't have to deal with some misguided greenhorn the whole time…"

At just that moment, Roman's scroll buzzed. He rolled his eyes, figuring it was Taurus sending him more info. He opened the scroll, quickly skimming over the message.

Then he had to read it again, just to make sure it was for real.

Brainy-Bird - There's a girl in the White Fang named Ilia Amitola. She's an ally and we need her. Get to her so I can warp you both back to me.

Roman felt his eye twitch in irritation. Of course. Of course. Of godsdamn course his life was going to get even more complex and convoluted due to yet another teenage girl who swept in to make his life a living hell. Between Neo, Little Red's team, Laser Lass, and now this Amitola brat, that made, what, seven now? Eight, if he counted Matchstick's green-haired lost puppy?

Feeling her curious look, Roman tilted his scroll to show Neo. Before she could give her opinion on the matter, the doors at the end of the hallway suddenly opened again. Roman bit back a smirk as Ilia quickly marched back to them, her formerly enraged eyes now shot wide, her incredulous shock obvious even behind her mask.

Judging from how she had her scroll clutched tightly against her chest, Roman had a good guess why she was back. He raised an eyebrow when her eyes darted down to his open scroll. Without a word, he held it out in front of him, turning the screen to face her.

He watched her eyes dart across the short message. To his amusement, her cheeks flared red. Looking back down at her own scroll, she hesitantly flipped it over so he could see the text message on it.

K.G. - Ilia. Reunited successfully.

There is a man named Roman Torchwick working for the White Fang. His goals match with ours. Find him so he can bring you to us. You can trust him. I swear on my daughter's life.

Roman couldn't help it. A near manic giggle burst from his lips, a humorous grin spreading over his face as he turned his eyes upward, shaking his head at the heavens. If the universe was just going to keep laughing at him, he might as well laugh with it.

It didn't help it Neo was looking between the two slack-jawed, her eyes shifting between brown and pink sporadically.

"Well…" He chuckled out, giving the girl an amused smile. "This is awkward, ain't it?"

Roman only laughed harder when the girl's whole body turned bright pink.

Betaed by Covert Weapon

Old A/n: Laugh or cry, Roman. Laugh or cry.

Next Chapter: We rewind a bit before that text to have a meet and greet with the Belladonna's, Raven and Ozpin… talk, and we finally get the whole RWBY Clan in one place!… well, the ones that have shown up in the story so far, at least. :P