Author's Note: Two years LOL

I've had ideas for this story for a long time but there was always something else going on or I wasn't feeling it, and I was also never sure that it needed to be continued.

I'm a little out of practice, but I hope you like this chapter.

The sun had set by the time Ruby turned onto her street. Moths fluttered frantically around the glowing bulbs in the streetlights that lit her way home. She could see her house at the end of the street, light showing through the windows. Her legs ached with every step but she walked slowly, reluctant to face the results of her late arrival. The red headphones hung around her neck, the plastic cool in the early evening air.

When Ruby finally reached her house she found the porch lights unlit and the car in the driveway. Her father was already home. Ruby glanced at the living room window and even through the blinds could see the light flickering gently and changing colors, and her shoulders relaxed. He was already watching television and would be unlikely to question why she was home so late. But that didn't mean she was safe from confrontation.

Ruby quietly climbed the stairs onto the porch and let herself inside, closing the door delicately behind her. She could hear the television from the living room. Ruby took off her shoes and, keeping her footsteps light, walked carefully down the short entryway and peeked her head into the living room. Her father was spread across the couch that faced the TV, fast asleep, an empty brown bottle clutched to his chest. More bottles stood in a group at the foot of the couch, like a cluster of glass stalagmites. The sour, yeasty smell of old beer soaked the room. Ruby released her held breath, her nerves eased.

From the other room came the sound of nails on wood and clinking metal tags. Ruby turned as her family's dog, an old gray and black – more gray than black, in his old age – corgi, wandered towards her from his bed in the sitting room.

"Hi, Zwei," Ruby whispered, bending down to greet him. Zwei waddled up to Ruby's feet, let her pat his head, then stiffly and awkwardly rolled onto his back, presenting his belly. "Good dog not to bark. Good boy." Ruby rewarded him by scratching his chest, then stood. Zwei rolled back to his feet and followed her as she made her way further into the living room. Ruby picked up a few of the empty beers, being sure to keep a finger between each so they didn't clink loudly, then moved toward the television.

The news was playing; a pretty young woman with just a little too much makeup was talking about stock prices. Ruby reached for the volume button-

"And now our top story of the night," the woman said, "an unusual robbery in downtown Vale has been connected with notorious thief Roman Torchwick. Lisa Lavender has the story. Lisa?" Ruby froze with her finger on the volume button, about to press. On the television, the cameras switched from the studio to a camera crew on a street in Vale. Footage of police cars flashed bright blue light across Ruby's wide-eyed face. She felt her pulse quicken.

"Thanks, Violetta." The new anchor said, holding the microphone up to her mouth. "Earlier today an armored car making a routine stop was attacked and burgled by this man," A mugshot appeared on screen. A man with orange hair, green eyes, and an unmistakable smirk. Ruby forced herself to keep breathing. "Roman Torchwick. Torchwick is well known among law enforcement for his role in a bank-robbing spree six years ago that spread across the kingdom, in which he stole an estimated fourteen million lien. He was serving an eight year sentence until last month when it was reported he had escaped from prison.

"Today, Torchwick resurfaced here in our very own backyard, and is right back to his nefarious ways. Using footage from security cameras the full story of today's robbery can be seen." Grainy, stuttering video appeared on the screen, and Ruby immediately recognized the images from when she had been on street earlier that day. The armored car dominated the bottom third of the video, with the sidewalk just out of frame. She watched the guards leave the car and the third man light a cigarette, then put a hand to her mouth as she saw herself appear from the edge of the screen.

Barely more than a hood was visible at first, drifting smoothly across the edge of the TV, but then suddenly the figure turned, darted towards the truck, grabbed a bag, and dashed up the street. The figure was on screen for less than five seconds. Ruby knew it was she herself, could easily remember everything about what happened, but it still looked so strange to watch it on the nightly news. She kept watching, eyes stuck to the screen as the third guard gave chase, was stopped by a car nearly bowling him over, and finally gave up.

Then the armored car started to move. It suddenly rolled forward and gained speed, the unfortunate guard shouting and running after it fruitlessly. The clip ended with the first two guards appearing at the bottom of the screen, hand cart with bags of money at the ready, searching the street for the truck.

Lisa Lavender reappeared. "It is currently believed that Torchwick is working with two accomplices." Three pictures faded in. One of Roman, one of a woman that Ruby didn't recognize but who wasn't Neo, and one of the hooded figure running. Of her. "If anyone has any information, the Vale police department is offering a reward for-"

The screen went black.

Ruby leaned backwards, blinking. She hadn't pushed the power button...

"Welcome home." said a dryly sarcastic voice behind her.

Ruby jumped and whipped around, finding her sister Yang leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, remote in hand. Zwei walked from Ruby to Yang, tail wagging calmly.

The older girl stared at the younger with an unamused expression, her mouth a pinched-tight line. Yang nodded her head at the television, "Friends of yours?"

Ruby's heart skipped a beat. Bristling to hide her reaction, she said, "What's that supposed to mean?" She stood, tense.

Yang gave a halfhearted shrug. "Nothing, I guess." Her eyes inspected her sister, and Ruby felt the disciplinary gaze come to rest on the headphones. She self-consciously shifted her shoulders. "Nice headphones."

"Thanks." Ruby ducked her head and began walking to the kitchen to dispose of the bottles in her hands, desperate to get out of this questioning. Yang followed after, with Zwei several steps behind.

"Are they new? Where'd you get them?"

"Weiss gave them to me." Ruby answered tersely, depositing the bottles into the recycling bin.

"Awfully nice of her. They look pretty expensive."

"Yeah, well, we're friends." Ruby stood and fished a dog treat out of a container on the counter, tossing the biscuit to Zwei. For a few seconds the only noise in the room was from Zwei chewing. As if sensing the emotion in the room, the dog looked between the sisters, wagging his tail at both and licking his snout clean. "Good dog, Zwei."

Ruby and Yang stared at each other, daring the other to break the tension.

Minutes passed.

The silence persisted.

Zwei sneezed and left the kitchen, seeking his bed.

Neither girl wanted to be the one to start what both knew would result in an argument.

Ruby made the first movement toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "To my room. I have homework."

"Don't you want to eat something? Since, you know, you missed dinner. Again."

Turning slowly, Ruby kept a glare on her sister as she stomped to the cabinet with the snacks, grabbed a granola bar and flashed it at Yang, then walked back to the doorway.

"So where'd you go this time?"

There it was. The question Ruby knew was coming. The one that always started the fights. She'd run out of excuses for it a long time ago. And today carried the weight of a genuine, serious crime. But her answer was no different than the last time, or the time before. "I don't need to tell you." Ruby grumbled, heading to the stairs.

"Oh yeah? Why not?" Ruby could feel Yang's footsteps as she followed her.

She didn't want to deal with this today. Couldn't. There was too much in her head. "'Cause you're not my mom..." she muttered from the third step up.

"Excuse me?!"

Ruby twisted around. Yang was standing at the bottom of the staircase, fists clenched, chin stubbornly stuck out, eyes ablaze. "I said, because you're not Mom!"

And she saw Yang's shoulders droop.

She knew she'd ended the argument, that she'd 'won', and that she could stop.

But she couldn't.

No, she could have. She could have stopped herself.

But she didn't.

"You're not even my real sister!" Ruby shouted.

She instantly regretted it, knowing she had gone too far.

All the hardness drained from Yang's eyes, replaced with the beginning of tears, and the fists at her sides unraveled. Ruby bit her lip, turning back and running up the stairs, as though her cruelty could be lessened with distance. Before she reached the top she heard, "Fuck you." spoken in a whisper, but with sincerity.

Ruby hurried to her room and slammed the door. Alone, the pain in her legs was forgotten as she climbed onto her bed and sat cross-legged. She grabbed her pillow and held it tight against her chest. That had been a mean thing to say.

But she'd said it to be mean. She said it because she'd known it would hurt, and she wanted it to hurt.

The headphones suddenly felt heavy around her neck. She took them off and threw them at the wall.

"I'm sorry," Ruby whispered into the pillow, feeling tears gathering in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Yang." She glanced at her nightstand, where a picture of her mother stood in a black cloth frame. It was an old picture from a birthday party a few years ago, when she still had her hair and her smile wasn't hiding pain. Fresh tears blurred Ruby's vision. "I'm sorry, Mom."

There were footsteps of someone coming up the stairs and Ruby watched the door to her room, holding her breath until she heard them disappear into Yang's room on the other side of the house and the door slam shut. She turned back to the picture.

It all hurt so much. The fights, the quiet and the noise, the unpredictability, the deep emptiness. Some days it felt like there was no way to get away from it all. But Ruby had found a way.

She glanced at the headphones that lay on the floor, the plastic scratched from the impact with the wall.

She wanted to steal something.

Standing slowly, her leg muscles stiff and sore, Ruby walked to her desk across the room and opened her laptop. It whirred to life as she sat down, the screen slowly brightening to show her desktop. Opening a browser window, Ruby typed carefully into the search bar, 'Roman Torchwick'.

Thanks for reading.

See you in two years when I write the next chapter.