I Need a Place to Sleep (Post-Timeskip RoseWick)

Reunion

Roman winced against the cold. It stung his cheeks. He pulled his coat tighter as he shivered. He was cold, tired, hungry, and most of all, he just needed a place to sleep. A large amount of his aura had been used while fighting Grimm. He pulled out a cigar and put it to his lips. He tried to light it, but the lighter wouldn't work. 'Damnit.'  He finally got the lighter to strike and he lit his cigar. He inhaled and blew out the smoke. He began to relax a little. He walked forward. 'It'll be okay, I'll find civilization, some off-the-grid village that has no idea who I am, and everything will be back to normal again. Almost.'  He had wandered into the forest to avoid detection.

Roman stumbled and tripped over a rock. He winced in pain at the fall. He hardly found the strength to get back up. "I just want things to go back to the way they were." He pressed his forehead against his arm and started sobbing. "I just want to go back to robbing banks for fun. I want to go back to living like a king without a worry in Remnant. Most of all, I want Neo back..." 'Damnit, Roman. Pull yourself together. You'll never find her if you give up.' Roman stood up straight and kept walking. He saw a pathway ahead and walked with a little bit more determination. He was lost in thought when a handful of rose petals was carried by the wind and landed at his feet. 'But there aren't any roses around. It's Winter. Everything is dead.'  The snow crunched beneath his feet. Suddenly, he saw more rose petals and a blur of red. 'No. It can't be.' 

"...Red?" Roman whispered to himself in shock. The blur of rose petals stopped, and was at the clearing. Her outfit had changed, but it was definitely her. 'She's my only chance of surviving.' Roman admitted to himself. He hated to admit it, but it was true. He began to brainstorm ways to approach her. He couldn't just walk up to her and say, "Hi. Not really dead. Look, I'm going to die if I don't do something. So, can I come with you?" Yeah, that would totally work. He continued walking, but cautiously. He didn't want her to notice him prematurely.

Suddenly, a rather large twig snapped beneath his feet. 'Shit.' 

Ruby turned around, wide-eyed and readying Crescent Rose. She began to look around. "W-Who's there?" she called. Apparently, she didn't notice him. 

He used this opportunity to step out of the shadows of the dead forest trees. He stopped just a few feet from her, but apparently she didn't hear him. Her back was turned to her. He pressed his boots down into the snow, and it crunched beneath them. Ruby spun around swiftly and stared wide-eyed up at the man in front of her. She couldn't believe her eyes. When she turned around and saw his face, she gasped and froze. She began to back away slowly. "T-Torchwick... Y-You're supposed to be dead."

"And you're supposed to be at Beacon, can we stop stating the obvious, Red?"

"How are you still alive?"

"Long story short, Griffon lost, I won. Now, let's get to the point. You're my only chance of survival."

"So what you're saying is..."

"If we don't team up, I'm going to actually die."

"Honestly, I think I might be okay with that."

"You rude little-- look. I don't want to die of starvation or hypothermia."

"Why should I help you?"

"How many times do we have to go over this? If you don't, I won't last very long."

"I mean, how do I know you won't just turn your back on me?"

"I have a pretty good idea that you're going after Cinder. I want her dead, too. She's a bitch, I hate her, I want her dead."

Ruby sighed. "Fine. It's okay with me. But I have to ask my team."

"Oh, I'm sure kitty cat's going to love the idea." Roman said sarcastically.

"Blake? Oh.. not..those..teammates..."

"Hm?" Roman raised an eyebrow.

"Weiss's dad came and took her back home, Yang's arm got cut off by the White Fang leader, so she's at home, I'm here, and Blake is.. who knows where. She ran, and Sun went with her. Sun is the monkey faunus you fought, along with Blake and Penny."

"Who's Penny?"

"The one that used a concentrated aura beam to slice a bullhead in half."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Ruby avoided eye contact.

"Bad topic?"

"Pyrrha, the girl that was supposed to get the fall maiden powers, and the one that Cinder murdered, accidentally.. sort of.. sliced Penny into multiple pieces during the tournament. It's not what you think, though. You see, Penny was an android, and Pyrrha's semblance was polarity, and Cinder rigged the whole thing..."

"Oh. Well then.. I'm sorry for your loss..es." Roman gently patted her back.

"Why are you touching me?"

"Uh, comfort? Trying to prove I'm a decent human being?"

"Don't touch me. You're not quite forgiven yet. You haven't reached that level of friendship."

"Well, excuse me for trying. If you want, let me explain my role in all of this. Cinder didn't tell me any details. She just gave me orders. Steal the dust. Move the dust from point A to point B. Steal the airship, and so on. I didn't know until the last minute what was happening."

"Oh. Well, You're forgiven a little."

"A little?"

"Yeah. You're still kind of a douche."

Roman shrugged. "I've been called worse. anyway, where is this team of yours?"

"Um, they're down the road a bit. Ren is the most understanding. I'll ask him first." She picked up her scroll and dialed Ren's number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ren. Um, when you get here, could i talk to you, privately, for a minute? It's kind of really important."

"Um, sure?"