Conflict of Interest - Chapter 13 (Patreon)

“That was stupid...”

After throwing her jacket over the chair, Ruby grabbed her tech glove and slipped it onto her hand.  She didn’t know what she wanted to work on, but she needed something to wipe the memory of lunch from her mind.

She felt stupid, and she didn’t like feeling stupid.  She wasn’t stupid, so why had she fallen for such an obvious lie?  Was she so desperate to believe that Weiss was interested in her too?

Of course Weiss was only trying to poach her from the department.  All of the law firms in Vale tried to do that, and some in Mistral and Atlas too.  Each time started the same - an unexpected invitation to grab lunch with an attorney she only vaguely knew.  Each time ended with an offer to pay her more or give her ‘everything she wanted.’

If she was stupid, she would wonder why Weiss did it.  But she already knew why - because there was something in it for Weiss.  Whether money, fame, or power, Ruby didn’t care.  What she cared about right now was that she felt like an idiot.

They got along so well.  They could talk about seemingly anything, as long as it wasn’t work-related.  If they could talk about work, they’d probably never shut up.  Apparently, that was all an act.

“Ok,” she said while pulling up a list of her assigned cases to see if any caught her attention.

They all looked boring, so she grabbed one at random and got to work.  Anything to distract herself, even if that meant reading the same half-finished notes she’d read a half dozen times before.

Over the past few months, someone had been installing credit skimmers in nightclubs across the city.  The first few were written off as coincidence, but the next few got the police involved.

The last thing those clubs needed was another black mark on their reputation, so they’d willingly offered their camera feeds for inspection.  Now it was Ruby’s job to figure out who was behind this.  The more she dove into the sordid nightlife, however, the more she suspected it wasn’t just one person.  And, if it wasn’t, Vale had yet another criminal group on its hands.

“Just what we need...” she muttered while opening another set of video logs.

Fortunately, the Safety Act required all establishments like these to maintain video logs for at least three years.  Unfortunately, there was no requirement for how well-organized or maintained those logs had to be.

To make her life easier, she’d trained a program to search for glitches or inconsistencies suggesting the feed had been hacked or spoofed in any way.  A fraction of a second skip in the timestamps, a suspicious loop in activity, or a screen flicker - all of those instances were automatically marked for review.  She then manually analyzed those moments and found the source of the disturbance.

More often than not, it was just people wanting to hook up without having it recorded for posterity.  They used a camera scrambler to block the feed, with limited success.  What it actually did was call even more attention to their escapades.

“Can’t you just do that at home?” she asked the current on-screen couple before shaking her head and moving on.  And by moving on, she meant flip to the next event while her thoughts wandered away from the case.

Work might not be in the cards for her right now, as she dropped her hands to her sides and sighed.  She could do it if she had to, but her heart wasn’t in it right now.  She didn’t feel like using her computer at all, actually, and that left her with...what did it leave her with?  What was she supposed to do if not work?

Frowning at the screens, she decided to just think about it.  It had been a while since her mind stuck so hard on one subject, and she had to figure out how to fix it.

She couldn’t solve Weiss, but she could adjust how Weiss made her feel.  Somehow.  There had to be a way to trick her mind into feeling different things, similar to how she tricked a program into giving the feedback she wanted.

As soon as that thought popped into her mind, an unfortunate realization followed - people weren’t like computers.  That was why she felt so uncomfortable around strangers.  She couldn’t talk to them like she could talk to a computer, and she often didn’t know how to read or interpret their reactions.  Computers had clear explanations for what they did, but people?  People were irrational or illogical for seemingly no purpose at all.

This was one of the reasons she’d avoided relationships for so long.  Friends were fine, family was fine, but crushes?  Liking someone?  That felt out of her depth.

But apparently that’s what her mind was searching for, as her ill-advised dalliance with Weiss proved.  She wanted something that made her uncomfortable.  She wanted to put herself in situations where she couldn’t just look up the answer.  Where she had to develop another set of skills to thrive.

If she couldn’t open the codebase to figure out a problem, what was she supposed to do?  When someone was being irrational, overly emotional, or petty, how was she supposed to respond?  And if she liked someone...how could she make sure they liked her too?  She had a lot to learn, but that was what made her so excited.

When she first started tinkering with technology, she’d read every manual or guide she could get her hands on.  But reading only took her so far.  Her best training came from using the computer and seeing what she could do.  If she messed with the settings, what happened?  If she changed a few processes, what happened?

Sometimes, she ran into dead-ends that required help getting out of.  Other times, she’d fried her family’s system.  But she’d learned by trying and, in many cases, failing.

Today’s experience was a failure just as much as it was a lesson learned.  Unfortunately, this was worse than explaining to her dad that she’d permanently locked their online profiles and didn’t know how to unlock them.  That was embarrassing.  This...hurt.

And the more she thought about her and Weiss’ last conversation, the more it hurt.  Like a pit had opened in her stomach, devouring all of her happiness and leaving her with nothing but a gaping, sad void.

For a moment - more than a few moments, actually - she thought Weiss liked her.

That was the dumbest part.  How had she convinced herself of that?  They’d worked in competing departments for years now.  She knew the tricks Weiss was capable of.  She knew that Weiss could have the judge and jury eating out of the palm of her hand while simultaneously tearing a prosecutor to shreds.  She knew all of that yet somehow believed she was...different?

The only difference was that she’d played the role of judge and jury for once - the one Weiss wanted to win over - and she fell for it.  She fell for the perfect hair and nice clothes.  She fell for the smile that seemed more genuine than the others.  She fell for that laugh, which made her feel like she was actually special.

More than anything, she fell for the idea that Weiss understood her.  That they were kindred spirits, in a way.  Obviously, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Two quick knocks drew Ruby’s gaze away from the screen, where she’d stared for the last few minutes without reading anything.  Spotting Yang at the door, she attempted a smile while waving her sister into the room.

“Hey!” Yang said with a smile.  “How was lunch?”

“It was...ok.”  Before Yang latched on to the lackluster answer, Ruby moved on.  “Need something?”

“I need your help with something super important.”  Whenever Yang phrased something like that, it wasn’t work-related.  “I’m planning Blake and I’s anniversary and I want it to be super special.  Think you can help me with the tech side?”

“Didn’t you just have your half-year celebration?”

“Well, yeah...but you have to plan these things in advance!  Especially if you want them to be amazing, which I do.  It has to be.  Otherwise, I don’t deserve such an incredible girlfriend.”

“Ok,” Ruby replied with a fleeting chuckle.

Yang and Blake’s upcoming anniversary only made Ruby feel dumber.  What was she thinking...that Weiss Schnee wanted to be that type of person?  Someone who celebrated anniversaries with thoughtful gifts and planned evenings?

“Of course I’ll help,” Ruby added.  “Just...let me know what you need.”

“Woah.  What’s with the doom and gloom?”

Concern immediately sprang into Yang’s eyes, but Ruby shook her head and tried to push the mood behind her.

“It’s nothing.  Just having one of those days.”

She waved towards the screens as if that explained everything.  Normally, it did.  A bad case.  A bad result.  A few bad lines of code…

Normally, that excuse worked.  Today, however, Yang frowned and stepped closer.

“You sure about that?” she asked while crossing her arms and tilting her head.  Her ‘big sister’ voice immediately made Ruby sigh, knowing she couldn’t avoid talking when Yang used that tone.

“You seemed so upbeat recently,” Yang added before waving at the screens.  “I thought you found something you were excited about.  A new breakthrough or muse or...something.”

Ruby had, but it wasn’t a program.  That was what made it so difficult.  With a program, she could take the whole thing apart and figure out what went wrong.  With a person...well, that solution was strongly discouraged.

“I did,” she admitted.  “But you know how those things are...one second, you think you have something great.  The next second, you realized it was just a false lead.”

“Sorry, that’s always rough.”  Yang’s eyes gave away her desire to fix the situation, but she didn’t press the issue.  “You’ll let me know if I can help, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

When Yang nodded and turned to leave, Ruby reached out to stop her.

“Actually -” she began before pausing and considering her options.  She might have failed with Weiss, but that didn’t mean she would always fail.  That just meant...she needed more practice.  More experience.  More lessons to learn from.

“When you first met Blake…” she restarted.  “What was that like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like...how did you feel?  How did you know she was the one?”

“You’ve seen how gorgeous she is, right?”

When Yang chuckled, Ruby shrugged and shook her head.  Sure, Blake was pretty, but so was Weiss - there had to be something more than that.  Fortunately, Yang quickly understood that Ruby wanted a serious answer.  And, as always, she was more than willing to help.

“I walked into that room expecting some old, stuffy dream theorist,” Yang explained, smiling at the memory.  “Imagine my surprise when she’s my age and drop-dead gorgeous.  Then she started talking…and I swear to god, Ruby, I’ve never heard someone speak so passionately about something.”

Again, that reminded Ruby of Weiss, who had a way of being passionate at the same time as determined.  And intelligent...but that was a no-brainer.

“I hung onto every word,” Yang added.  “And, after the seminar ended, I knew I had to talk to her.  I needed more if that makes sense.  More of her voice, more of her words, more of everything.”

“Then I used that stupid pick-up line, and she looked at me like I was an idiot, and I realized - holy shit, this is someone who’s going to keep me on my toes all the time.  She’s not going to put up with any bullshit because she doesn’t have time for that.  And I was immediately sold.”

While Yang smiled at the memory, Ruby mulled over that information.  Based on Yang’s experience, Ruby could confidently say that she liked Weiss in a...romantic...way.  She felt everything that Yang just described - the desire to learn more, to hear more, and the invigorating knowledge that she would always be expected to give her best.

“Why do you ask?” Yang finally prodded.

Taking a deep breath, Ruby decided that she might as well just spit it out.  If anyone could help her with this, it was Yang.

“I’ve just been thinking…” she began slowly.  “About how I’ve felt restless and everything, and I think...maybe that’s what I’m looking for.”

As expected, Yang’s eyes widened.  With good reason, since Ruby hadn’t expressed much romantic interest in anyone since gushing over one of the most legendary computer hackers while still in college.  Unfortunately, she and Underscore Seven were never meant to be, so these were uncharted waters.

“Ok…”  The way Yang raised her hands made it look like she worried Ruby might bolt out of the room at any second.  “What you’re saying is...you want to find...your person?”

If by finding ‘her person,’ Yang meant finding someone who made her feel the way Weiss did, then yes.

“I think so,” she answered with less certainty.

“And you’re asking me to help?”

“I don’t know how you’d do that,” Ruby said, but Yang was already grinning.

“I can help you find someone!  I know at least five people I can set you up with.”

“Five?  Would I have to see them all at once?”

That seemed like a legitimate question to Ruby, but Yang stared at her for several seconds before laughing.

“I mean, you could try, but I recommend starting with just one.”

When Yang again laughed at the situation and her new role in it, Ruby couldn’t help but smile.  She didn’t know if this was the best way to go about things, but she trusted that her sister knew more about this than she did.

She didn’t want to start over with a stranger, but that was the thing about change - it was rarely comfortable or convenient.  As long as she kept an open mind, and maybe didn’t get attached so fast, it should be fine.

Spotting a familiar face in the hall, she smiled and waved the unexpected guest into the lab.

“Hey Blake!” she called out once Blake opened the door and walked inside.

With long, wavy, black hair, piercing amber eyes, and a confident-yet-reserved aura, Blake was basically Yang’s opposite.  The dark to Yang’s light.  The moon to Yang’s sun.  Yet to question whether or not they were made for each other would be ridiculous, as Blake’s adoring smile said loud and clear.

“Hey you two,” Blake said, smiling at Ruby before giving her full attention to Yang.

“Hey gorgeous,” Yang replied, grinning as she gave Blake a quick kiss.  “I’m surprised you weren’t arrested at the door for being criminally beautiful.”

When Blake smiled at the cheesy joke and accepted another kiss, Ruby rolled her eyes at their sickly-sweet greeting.

“Oh!” Yang gasped not long after.  “Can I tell her?”

Even though Yang asked permission, Ruby motioned that it was up to her.  Honestly, she expected Yang to tell Blake everything they talked about anyway.

“Ruby asked us to set her up on a date!” Yang announced - a little too loudly, so Ruby shushed her.  “You have to help me pick someone,” she continued in an excited whisper.  “We have to know like ten people who’d be perfect.”

When Blake gave Ruby a thoughtful look, Ruby realized it was a good thing Yang asked for help.  If Yang had her way, anyone would be perfect.  Blake, however, was a little more discerning.

“Someone...smart,” she mused.  “Successful, and capable of holding their side of the conversation.”

“And funny,” Yang added.  “Easygoing, with some great jokes.”

“Are you describing the same person?” Ruby asked, but Yang snapped her fingers.

“What about Lyla?”

After considering the name, Blake shook her head.

“Interesting, but no.”

“Why not?  They’re both super smart -”

“But Lyla’s version of smart is...different.”

“Then what about that delivery guy?  The one with the jokes?”

“Neither smart nor successful.”

“But funny,” Yang argued.

“You’re the only one who laughed at that joke,” Blake pointed out, but Yang waved her hands as if that wasn’t true.  “Why are you picking everyone from my work, anyway?”

“Because everyone I know, Ruby also knows.  And half of them are criminals.”

“Your point is?”

“I can’t set my sister up with a criminal!”

“What about a successful one?” Blake teased.

“If they’re here, they aren’t successful,” Yang replied with a laugh.

Ruby nodded at that response, although going on a date with a criminal would be interesting.  Not a bad criminal, but a more...white-collar one?  A closer look into their mind would be intriguing.

Before she followed that train of thought any further, someone else knocked on the door.  Finding Jez standing outside, Ruby waved her in with a smile.

“Sorry to interrupt,” was the first thing Jez said, but Yang raised her hands signaling she didn’t mind, and Blake gently shook her head.  Taking that as permission to continue, Jez smiled at Ruby.  “I was wondering if you’ve eaten lunch yet?”

“Oh, yeah, actually.  A little while ago.”

“Ah, ok.”  Jez looked disappointed by the news, but she fiddled with her hands before continuing.  “I was going to ask if you wanted to grab lunch if you hadn’t.”

“Oh.  Maybe next time?”

“Like tomorrow?” Jez offered.

After glancing at Yang, Ruby shrugged.  She wasn’t used to anyone besides Yang - and more recently, Weiss - inviting her to lunch, but she was sure that she could make time.

“Tomorrow’s fine.  Let me know when you want to go?”

“Great.  I’ll do that.”

With another smile, Jez backed towards the door and eventually hurried into the hall.  Confused by the rapid exit, Ruby watched Jez dash down the hallway before shrugging.  Yang and Blake watched her leave too, then turned back to Ruby with various amounts of humor written on their faces.

“Or how about…?” Yang began before motioning with her head in the direction Jez just went.

“Jez??  Come on, Yang - we’re friends!”

“Maybe you think so,” Yang replied while slipping her hand into Blake’s.  “But she’s been tripping over you for a while now.  And that was the furthest thing from friendly.”

“She just wants to grab lunch.  Probably because I helped her set up her home security.”

“Is that a new code word I don’t know about?” Yang joked, breaking into another smile when Blake laughed.  “Back me up, Blake - Jez has the hots for Ruby, right?”

“It appears that way.”

“Of course you take her side,” Ruby whined while the two of them chuckled.  Regardless of what they said, she thought of Jez as a friend and imagining anything more than that was...super weird.

“No one from work!” she stipulated.  “I don’t want things to get awkward.”

“Guess Casey’s out then,” Yang replied before playfully shaking her head.  “Poor guy.”

“I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” Blake said after rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”  After glancing at Blake, Yang looked at the time and cringed.  “Shoot - we should get going so you can get back to work on time.”

When Blake nodded, somehow maintaining patience even as Yang threatened to make her late, Yang grinned at Ruby and backed towards the door.

“Ok, we’re making a list, then narrowing it down, then picking the perfect person.”

“Can I guess what we’re discussing at lunch now?” Blake teased while following Yang to the door.

“But it sounds fun, right?  Besides, Ruby’s counting on us!”

“Ruby doesn’t need our help finding someone,” Blake stated before sending Ruby a smile and wave.  “See you later, Ruby.”

“Yeah, see you in a bit!” Yang added.

“Have a good lunch,” Ruby called after them as they headed out of the station.

Yang was already talking excitedly, motioning with her free hand while holding Blake’s with the other.  When Blake caught Ruby’s gaze through the glass and playfully rolled her eyes, Ruby laughed as they walked away.

Once they were gone, Ruby turned back to her computer and smiled.  She felt relieved, in a way.  Also nervous and a little scared...and that feeling in the pit of her stomach hadn’t gone away.  Hopefully, it would disappear over time.

If she ever saw Weiss again, maybe she could apologize for leaving lunch so quickly.  That was a little rude of her, and she’d like to apologize for that.  She’d like to see Weiss again regardless but, again, that was stupid of her.

Emotions were so confusing.  Why would she actively want something she knew was one-sided, at best?

Needing to clear her head, she decided a walk was in order.  She normally spent most of the day in the lab, but she liked taking a quick walk every once in a while to absorb some of the real-world chaos going on in the Justice Center.

Thanks to an ever-growing city that never slept, there was always something going on.  Patrol officers escorted people to and from the detention center.  Detectives scheduled hours upon hours of meetings with witnesses.  Specialists rushed around delivering results.  Then there were the attorneys and clients walking to and from the courthouse.

The frenetic energy made Ruby feel like they were all in this together.  They had a common goal, and they worked hard to reach it.  Someone who’d never worked for the police couldn’t understand what it meant to be in this together.

Just as her mind tried to return to Weiss, she spotted a friendly face leaning against the wall by the evidence room.

“Hey Red,” she said while passing the young patrol officer with red hair.  When he nodded, she paused and backpedaled to stand in front of him.  “How’s it going?” she asked, and he made a ‘so-so’ motion with one hand.

“That good, huh?”

Now that he had her full attention, he smiled and prepared for her inevitable questions.

“Have you seen Casey recently?” she asked, but he shook his head.  “Really?  You haven’t seen your partner recently?”

He knew exactly what she was doing but just smiled and shrugged in response.  He liked playing hardball, but she could play hardball too.

“You know,” she began before sighing.  “I’m having a pretty crappy day - any words of wisdom?”

She had him there.  For as little as he spoke, he had one of the biggest hearts out of all of them.  As soon as he opened his mouth, however, Casey hurried around the corner.

“There you are,” Casey said while clapping a hand on Red’s shoulder.  “We’re leaving in five - meet me out front?”

When Red nodded and Casey began walking away, Ruby raised her hands in disbelief.

“Casey!” she called after him.  “Seriously?  He was this close to talking!”

“What?”  Pausing for a second, Casey gave her a confused look.  “What’re you talking about?  Red talks all the time.”

When Ruby looked at Red, he smiled and winked while his partner walked away.

“You do not talk all the time,” she told him, just in case he thought otherwise.  Again, he smiled and raised his hands as if he didn’t know what to say, so she smiled and shook her head.  Before she made another attempt at getting him to speak, however, she spotted a flash of white out of the corner of her eye.

Knowing that color anywhere, she felt a strange, painful tug at her heart when Weiss walked into the hall.  As usual, two unnamed paralegals trailed behind her.  As usual, she looked determined and ready to meet whatever life threw her way.  But when she spotted Ruby standing in front of her, she stopped.

For a second, Ruby worried that Weiss might try to talk to her, and she really didn’t want to talk right now.  But Weiss just stared at her for several seconds before frowning and walking past.  Their gazes locked one more time, for nothing more than a split second, before Weiss strode to the end of the hall and turned the corner.

Even though Ruby didn’t want to talk, the lack of acknowledgment hurt even more.  Sighing at the situation - which sucked, to put it lightly - she tried to quell the surge of feelings crowding her thoughts.

When a hand settled on her shoulder, she looked up and found Red giving her a sympathetic smile.  Even though he didn’t say a word, it felt as if he knew exactly what she was going through.  Not only did he understand, but he believed everything would turn out alright.

“Thanks, Red.”

Feeling a little more upbeat, Ruby managed a smile.  Maybe that was the point in him not talking...then people filled in whatever they needed to hear rather than him trying to come up with the right words on his own.

“You're a genius,” she added, patting his arm before heading back to the lab.

She didn’t feel like working, but she had to get over this.  Weiss was already back at work, so Ruby would do the same.

They could go back to being nothing more than two people on opposite sides of the law.  Combatants, competitors, enemies.  She had to admit though...Weiss was a good actress.  For a second there, it actually felt like they had something.