Roman POV

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve." Red said confidently and he rolled his eyes.

"Of course you do, Red. And do your 'tricks' include getting past all the men in this base?" When she paused, he pressed on sarcastically. "A base full of bad guys who'd just love the chance to beat up or even kill a Huntress- a human - like you with a broken ankle?"

"It's not broken, it's sprained." She said with a huff.

He rolled his eyes again. "How could I've forgotten? A Huntress with a sprained ankle." He leaned in close to her and he could see her lean back fractionally, her silver eyes narrowing. "You think that makes it any easier for you to escape? Don't forget that I hold ALL the cards here, Sweetheart." He continued to look at her a moment, marveling at the fact that she could still look pretty when she was glaring up at him.

Though he had to admit, she had looked a lot more attractive when she was laughing with her friends. He remembered an image of Ruby making fun of a fat professor with that Jaune and felt a rather…unpleasant sensation in the pit of his stomach. He righted himself and sighed. "Anyways, make yourself at home, Red, because you're not going anywhere. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm sure I have something important to attend to." Striding out of the room, he had to resist the strong urge to glance back at the girl.

As he walked down the halls, he saw Emerald leaning against a corner, talking to Mercury. When she saw Roman, she stopped. "That Ruby girl seems sweet."

Roman almost rolled his eyes again but stopped himself. It was becoming a bad habit. "Yes, she's adorable." He said with a snort.

Emerald paused before tentatively asking, "What are you planning on doing with her?" Her red eyes seemed fairly concerned for the younger girl.

Roman held her gaze. "I'm keeping her here as bait. When her team comes running, I'll dispose of them. Simple as that."

"Ruby, too?" She asked.

He involuntarily looked away while he thought about it. What was wrong with him?

A few days ago he wouldn't have paused before answering 'of course, are you stupid?'

But now…

"Of course he's gonna kill her, Emerald." Mercury interrupted. "This is Torchwick we're talking about. Plus, the girl's hot, but not THAT hot."

That snapped Roman out of his daze and he stood up straight again, his cocky smirk back on his face. "Naturally, naturally." He said. "What else would I do? You can't seriously expect me to let her go."

Emerald looked like she wanted to say something more but didn't. "Whatever." She said with a shrug. "Guess it's none of my business." She turned and began to walk away, but then suddenly stopped. "But I hope you make a choice you can live with." She said, quietly. "Because there's no turning back time after someone is killed."

Torchwick blinked in surprise and found that he had absolutely no response to that. Not one single, snarky, sarcastic, or suave response.

….

"Where do you think we should start?" Yang asked the older man driving the plane.

Ozpin's frown deepened. "I'm not sure, it's very difficult to tell from such a long list. Are you sure that Junior didn't have any other clues?"

The call Jaune had received had been from Ozpin and Glinda, who offered their services to the two teams. Their own search had revealed that Ruby was likely being held outside of the kingdom, and they had guessed that team RWBY and JNPR would require their assistance and experience in their quest. They had met up back at Beacon in order to grab more supplies before heading out, and now they had just passed the wall.

Weiss shook her head. "No, he didn't have anything else. Said that he hasn't dealt with Torchwick for a while, ever since he borrowed some of his men."

"That doesn't give us much information." Jaune said with a scowl.

"That doesn't give us ANY information." Blake said.

"What did you find out?" Pyrrha asked the two professors.

"We looked at the tapes again." Goodwitch said, casting a glance towards Ozpin, who didn't even move an inch. "Torchwick himself did not kidnap Ruby. Rather, he sent someone else."

"Did he send one of his thugs?" Nora asked.

"The man he sent was not a common thug like many of the members of the White Fang." Ozpin said, his voice serious. "But a very skilled fighter. Miss Belladonna."

"Yes."

"What can you tell me about a Faunus with red and brown hair."

Blake's gold eyes widened and her mouth parted silently in shock. Yang immediately touched her friends shoulder. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Is that who took Ruby?" Jaune asked.

Glinda nodded. "Yes. He approached her in the library and attempted to grab her before she jumped out the window."

"Miss Belladonna." Ozpin repeated, his voice now sharp. "What do you know about this man?"

Blake finally found her voice, though it shook when she spoke. "His name is Adam Taurus. He's the leader of the White Fang." She paused, as though deliberating something. "He's dangerous, we have to get Ruby away from him." She said finally.

Yang gritted her teeth in frustration and hit the wall of the airship. Weiss looked over briefly before turning back to Blake. "But he won't hurt her if she's Torchwick's prisoner, right?"

Blake shook her head. "I don't think that he will. I mean, he's clearly working with Torchwick so I don't think he'll do anything to piss him off. Unless he's allowed to, that is."

"What about any other members of the White Fang?" Ren asked.

"They all pretty much listen to whatever Adam says. She should be fine as long as he orders them to stay away." Suddenly she frowned. "Of course, there are some who hold grudges against humans… and I wouldn't put it past them to disobey Adam."

"Then we have to hurry." Ozpin said, picking up speed.

Yang closed her eyes and prayed. "Ruby…" she whispered, "Please be safe."