Back to writing this… final chapter time though...

Chapter 25:

"Are you sure you have to leave?" Tai asked as Cinder just smiled at the man. "Yeah, Ruby forgot her phone in my office and it would make more sense for her to find it there than her trying to explain why her phone was in my office." Cinder began as she stood up from the table grabbing the empty mug before walking over to the sink.

"But everything is taken care of. Within the week she'll be on trial thanks to Jacques unwittingly causing it." Cinder spoke turning around thankful that Kali and Ghira weren't there for the simple fact she knew how they were going to still try and show a different path. But the single fact remained. Unless Blake or Ruby broke up with the other. The former proving she wanted Ruby for some reason, and the latter being too dim witted to the point everyone was positive it would take death. That left their current position, there would be no other way besides death that would keep them apart.

Taking a deep breath Tai turned around and noticed Yang had started to drift off asleep with her head just resting on the large man's shoulder and could see the unmistakable sight of Glynda being exhausted. "She should be safe right? If things turn south I don't want..."

"She should be fine. I probably shouldn't tell you this but this wouldn't be the first time Ruby's place got raided. She knows how to act to avoid getting shot... and even if she is injured they would be using bean bags and rubber bullets. Which will hurt but normally nothing life threatening." Cinder whispered as Tai breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason that had felt like a weight lifted off.

"Relax Tai... everything should go smoothly. You may want to get a lawyer for Ruby just in case. I can name a few great ones that owe me a few things for keeping some... let's say illicit things secret." Cinder said as Tai just begun to run his hand through his hair. "That will help... I only know a few and none of them practise criminal law." Tai begun as Cinder just smiled walking towards one of the pens resting on the counter. Quickly pulling the small pad of paper, and begun to write some names followed by numbers.

"Call one, call all, I don't care. Just tell the ones you do call that Cinder Fall is calling in one of her favours then once they shut up, tell them they are to do a case pro bono once they get a call directly from you again." Cinder spoke quickly as she handed Tai the sheet of paper. "If they don't want to play ball mark them and tell me who it is. Make sure they know that I'll find out as well." Cinder continued as Tai just shook his head as if he was trying to remove the cobwebs that had formed in his head.

Grasping the sheet of paper as he begun to walk towards the front door with Cinder standing next to him. Stopping only for a second to actually voice something that has been on his mind. "Why do you want to help Ruby so bad? I mean, from what I've heard you've only known her for a short amount of time." He knew at this point he was looking a gift horse in the mouth but if it came to either of his daughters he gladly would.

"I found her interesting since we first met... something that has only grew long before we had that first night together... so now... it has become something closer to infatuation. Don't worry Tai, I won't harm Ruby... unless it is part of one of those weird kinks she has." Cinder said causing the man to contort his face like he hadn't wanted to hear that.

"Just make sure she is safe... then we will circle back to how you know people in Grimm... then I'll decide if you are worthy to date my daughter." Tai spoke as Cinder smiled at the man. "Sure thing Tai. I agree one problem at a time." Cinder said stepping down from the sole step that was there. Pulling the sides of her jacket around her a bit more trying to stave off the chill that was coming from the night time air.

"Go in Tai, I'm sure Glynda would like to go to bed, and Yang certainly is passed out..." Cinder said as the blonde man just raised his hand giving her a quick wave as Cinder opened her car door, quickly opening the glove box she pulled out Ruby's phone and rested it in the cup holder before she closed the door.

Letting a smile grace her lips as she could see Tai give her one last wave before walking back into the house closing the door letting Cinder close her eyes as she begun to pull her keys free and slip them into the ignition.

'Can't believe I'm going to break into someone's place to leave their phone... this is just crazy on every level. But who knows... maybe in a few months Ruby and I'll be together.'Cinder thought as she leaned back fully, opening her eyes and twisting the key. Just enjoying the way the car came to life as she quickly reached over her chest and clicked the buckle into place.

She just shoved the idea of how she enjoyed the idea a little bit of going into Ruby's home and being able to at least get an honest opinion on what it is to be Ruby. Something that just seems so tantalising, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away. She was only going to drop Ruby's phone off.

Taking a deep breath Cinder begun to reach down and reverse out of the drive way. With a smile on her face, she could hear a faint vibrating sound coming from the cup holder causing her to smile a little. Glancing down she could see a message from Yang causing her to shake her head. Knowing the woman probably forgot what Cinder had told her.

'I hope Ruby is going to be safe... that Cat has proven to be an annoyance time and time again.' Cinder thought as she begun to spin the wheel. A smirk developing on her face as she begun to enjoy the darkness seeping from the roads into her car giving her a sense of peace. Allowing her to actually think about what to do once the Faunus was behind bars.

Everything was going to seem so much easier for everyone. Even if her and Ruby didn't work out. It was going to be the greatest upside regardless of what would come from all of this.

Walking out of the small hole in the wall restaurant, the smell of the ocean air hitting them as Ruby smiled at the feeling of the wooden beams forming the pier under her feet. Her smile growing four fold as she felt Blake grab her hand and weaved their fingers together.

"This evening was near perfect Ruby..." Blake said in a backhanded way hoping that she could spur some part of her tireless training to click once more. She didn't want to have to spend a further seven years on this woman, especially with how her mother reacted to the news, nor was she positive that they could stay in the area if her Dad was sticking his head in the business of the White Fang again. For all she knew he could have destroyed everything they had set up.

"What was wrong Blake?" Ruby asked, hoping that she would tell her that way she could make the next one better still. She didn't want this to be ruined from something that she could control. Especially if it was her first date with Blake once again.

Smiling internally as she looked towards Ruby, and begun to let a frown develop on her face. "It is just... I mean... we went to a great movie... had a great dinner... but we only did two things... the last first date you took me on we were in Thailand and you rented out that entire restaurant for the night and you cooked us this beautiful eight course dinner and we played every John Larkin directed movie... this just felt a bit short." Blake said softly as Ruby just frowned a little.

"That is because I no longer have sixteen free hours a day... plus Blake... I really tried, but not many places are willing to stay open for two people... I even offered money to get them to stay open long enough for us to even have a drink." Ruby said as Blake just barely let her frown falter. As if she wanted Ruby to think she actually had a chance. "It is okay Ruby... I guess I'm just used to extravagant dates from you. Like that weekend train trip..." Blake said as Ruby begun to frown a little.

She knew Blake wasn't made, but Blake raised an excellent point even without vocalising it directly. Ruby could try harder, making up her mind instantly the smaller girl spoke up "We can go on another train trip in two weeks time Blake. This short notice just hurt me a little trying to organise something. I promise the next one is going to be infinitely better." Ruby said as Blake just smiled as she leaned down and planted a kiss on Ruby's lips.

"Okay Ruby... Let's get home... then we can cuddle up and drift off. Just because according to the doctors, I'm not meant to drink alcohol for a while." Blake said as she begun to walk forward, almost dragging Ruby along. "That sounds lovely Blake. It is the perfect way to end the night." Ruby said as she caught up to Blake.

Both just seeming to have fallen into stride next to each other. Ruby smiling what she considered had to be the goofiest smile anyone had smiled before. She didn't care though. Just the feeling of Blake's hand in hers was perfect to her. Especially with the promise that they could in fact cuddle until they drifted off.

The simple fact of sleeping with Blake's arms wrapped around her felt so appealing. But there was a small part in the centre of her brain seemingly that gave her another feeling. One she hadn't felt in a long time. Long before she had even started to date anyone. The feeling self contempt.

'Why am I even feeling this stupid feeling. I haven't felt this way since when Summer tried to convince me not to tell Dad which I stupidly did for a few days.' Ruby thought as she tried to shove the feeling as far into the back of her mind as possible. She just had to forget about what had happened with Cinder. She wasn't like her mother. She shouldn't feel the same way as she did when she lied to her dad about the affair.

She knew it was wrong, but what Blake did before they broke up was wrong as well. It was like an eye for an eye. Everything should be right in the world. It was all going to be perfect to Ruby in the end. If she just kept this quiet until the event was forgotten. It wouldn't take long if her record proved anything. Only certain things seemed to stay in her mind for prolonged periods of time.

As she begun to relax a little she begun to just take in her surroundings. The sight of the docs turning into the tall buildings was what she expected but as she looked she could already see they were close to their place. 'How long was I thinking about what me and Cinder did?'Ruby thought as she felt Blake squeeze her hand. "You've been out of it for a while... want to talk about what you were thinking?" Blake asked as Ruby just smiled at her. She couldn't even fathom the idea of telling the truth now. But thankfully there was still enough things she could tell the truth about.

"Just some things Weiss said. She found out that you used to hit me and called my Mom to try and talk me out of this date... and I'm not sure if was too hard on her when we got into a fight shortly after." Ruby said as she felt Blake pull her closer, so their bodies were almost touching.

"She is a Schnee Ruby... they don't see things like you or I do. But she just needs to butt out. It is your life and I promised you... I won't hit you any more Ruby." Blake said softly as Ruby just smiled and wrapped her arms around Blake's waist and rested her head just on top of Blake's shoulder. "I know Blake... but I've been friends with Weiss for a while... and this is the first time she has stuck her head into one of my relationships." Ruby said as Blake pressed her mouth into a thin line as she craned her neck a little to look at Ruby.

"That is because Schnee's have a certain outlook on Faunus... that is probably why she seemed like that. Just tell her next time to mind her own business." Blake said hoping that Ruby would be able to get that woman off their case. But she also supposed that the best thing was that most likely Blake wouldn't need to avoid hitting Ruby's face once she had broken Ruby back in.

Smiling a little at the comment Ruby just closed her eyes. "Okay Blake... I'll be sure to do that next time." Ruby said with a smile as she pulled back and quickly disengaged from the hug. "Let's get up stairs Ruby." Blake said as the duo turned at a pillar and begun to walk up the stairs to their front door.

Ruby groaned a little at the door looking like the latch just barely didn't catch as she pushed it open. "Looks like someone forgot to close the door properly." Blake said with a laugh as Ruby just shook her head. Once they begun to walk up the stairs Ruby just smiled as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. Quickly finding the one for the front door, she slipped it in and opened it smiling as she looked around not sure why she was scanning the apartment.

Strolling in she slipped her keys into her pocket as she unzipped her jacket. She could hear something vibrating in the kitchen causing her to look up and see her phone resting on the counter. 'I thought I accidentally left that at Cinder's...' Ruby thought as she placed her jacket on the back of a chair. "I'm just going to go out and have a quick cigarette Blake." Ruby said reaching into her jacket pockets pulling out a small carton and a lighter. Quickly reaching over the counter she crabbed her phone and begun to walk out onto the balcony.

Smiling brightly as she opened the carton and pulled out one of the small cylinders placing it between her lips as the sliding door opened causing Ruby to swing her head around to see Blake just standing there. "Hurry up... I'll be waiting in bed for you." Blake said not even waiting for a response as she closed the door and walked off.

Striking the lighter quickly Ruby placed it on the table as she moved one of the chairs free and sat down in it as she pulled her phone free and begun to see who messaged her. Quickly swiping past the message from Yang wanting her to call her and came to the newest message from Cinder.

C~I know you almost certainly don't want to see a message from me especially after what we did. But we should properly talk about what we did... so once you read this message delete it and can we meet up tomorrow morning or something?

Smiling she quickly deleted the message and opened a new one to talk to Cinder. 'This is so wrong... but I can't stop myself.' Ruby thought as she typed back that she actually enjoyed the thought of spending the morning with Cinder.

Ashing the cigarette she begun to stub it out on the railing before she flicked it over the edge. Smiling as she quickly deleted the message Cinder had sent as a response as she locked her phone and slipped it into her pocket. Grabbing the carton and lighter she begun to walk into the apartment stopping only long enough to lock her balcony door as she walked quickly dropping the items onto the kitchen counter and quickly stepping on the heels of her boots to slip her feet out causing her to feel a certain amount of relaxation from feeling her socks on the carpeted floor.

Opening the door Ruby smiled as she could see Blake just sitting on the bed, the blanket just around her waist as she flicked it up next to her and patted the spot for Ruby to crawl in. As fast as she could, Ruby disrobed and nearly jumped into the bed. She just let out a hum of approval as she felt Blake's arms wrap around her waist. Everything was as it should be.

Blake had her arms wrapped around her, and that really was all that mattered to Ruby. She really couldn't ask for anything else even if she wanted to. She was content with what she now had.

Resting her head on Blake's chest she could see Blake had removed the ribbon she normally donned when they went outside and could see them just flicking as the sounds of night in the city began to fill the apartment. Both just enjoying the silence.

Ruby frowned as Blake leaned over a little as if she wanted a straight view to the front door. "Are you sure you closed the door downstairs?" Blake asked as Ruby looked at her. "You were the last one in Blake... why?" Ruby asked as Blake quickly disengaged from Ruby and began to climb out of bed. "It sounds like there is a lot of people coming up the stairs..." Blake said as the front door begun to splinter from being kicked open.

When she couldn't see anyone down at the door Blake quickly walked into the bathroom as Ruby could hear something vaguely metallic hitting the carpeted floors. Standing up to see what it was Ruby winced as there was a bright light flooding her vision. Closing her eyes, as the ringing began to flood her ears.

Quickly realising what was happening Ruby raised her hands. She wondered why the cops were there now of all times. She just prayed Blake wasn't going to fight them, if Blake handled this situation poorly, there was no telling what could happen. Ruby didn't even get a chance to see if they were using something lethal.

Wincing as she reached up, Blake tried to rub her chest from where the bean bag hit. Her chest was killing her, but she knew she could get out of this. She just had to figure out a what the charges were going to be. She could hear some footsteps on the other side of the door which quickly opened to reveal a woman that had become an untold pain in her side.

"Well, well, well Kitten... seems like you made a teeny tiny mistake... leaving plans for the next bombing out..." Cinder said walking towards the chair just opposite of Blake and moved it so she could sit down. "I told you to leave Ruby alone. Loopholes don't exist with me. As it stands, the media will have a field day of a high ranking White Fang member getting caught, who also last night accidentally gave the police countless future plans." Cinder continued as Blake's upper lip began to twitch at the woman.

"Ruby won't let me go to jail that easily... even if she does I wonder how she would react if she knew you had something to do with this." Blake bit as Cinder just smiled and crossed one of her legs over the other. "She already knows. We talked about it after we fucked last night. Her sole job was to keep you out of the apartment as some friends of mine accidentally left some things out for the police. Even had help from Ghira... apparently your parents think some time in jail will do you good. They think it might remove some of the indoctrination you've fallen for." Cinder said just as the woman in front of her begun to pull at the restraints more, standing up as if she was ready to stab Cinder.

"Don't worry, I hear you'll end up in the same prison as an Octavia Ember... don't worry, I hear she is a nice woman." Cinder said standing up and moving the chair back into the table as she walked back towards the door. "Don't worry, Ruby is going to be taken care of well." Cinder said opening the door just as Blake shouted "Then I'll kill that bitch too once I get out of here!"

Snickering a little, Cinder turned towards Blake with an expression of glee on her face. "The odds of that now are going to be slim... if they are present." Cinder said not even giving the irate woman a chance to respond as she walked out of the door and closed it.

Smiling as she begun to walk down the hall she opened the door to see Ruby rubbing her face with the hand not cuffed to the table. "I tired to talk to her Ruby... but it looks like you should listen to that lawyer Tai got you... you don't need to testify against her, but the DA could bring you up on charges for helping terrorists. If you testify the lawyer could at least spin you were a captive of sort because of how high up Blake was in the hierarchy of the Fang. You even cooperated when you got arrested." Cinder said softly reaching across the table to grab hold of Ruby's hand that was cuffed to the table

Just giving it a light squeeze as if she was trying to get some response from Ruby. That was when she noticed some faint streaks falling down Ruby's face. "What's the matter Ruby?" Cinder asked as Ruby pulled her hand free and slammed her hand on the table. "Nothing... this is just a case of deja vu. Octavia plead guilty to prevent me from needing to testify... Blake just said she wanted to kill me... everyone is right. I really do have a type." Ruby got out. Her voice nearly breaking with each word she spoke.

"Nonsense Ruby. Octavia from what I've been told wanted to save you heart break and protect you, because she just had an urge she couldn't control, I may have omitted something to you but it was to protect you... Blake... she was never doing it to protect you. She was doing it all for her own selfish reasons..." Cinder said as she begun to unball Ruby's fist, taking her time to squeeze Ruby's hand.

"Get the lawyer back in... I'll do as he wants..." Ruby said as Cinder smiled a small smile. "Okay Ruby..."

Author's Note:

Okay... this story is done. I changed my mind on doing an epilogue... and I don't intend to start a new story for a while... for reasons... but I hope you all enjoyed this story, onto the guest reviews...

Guest: Nope... but I mean... this chapter was nearly two in one so... technically you are wrong.

Guest 4: Nosferatu... sorry I was watching that episode of spongebob recently. And I detest laziness like that in modern culture. There is a difference and people should express the differences. And I've never called or heard about the two examples you've given... the friends and people in my life make the distinction between Uruk Kai and Orcs and Elks and Deer... But look at that... the cover image was meaningless... just a nice picture.