Chapter Text
Roman spun around in his chair and looked out the floor to ceiling window behind his desk. He was in a rather small office that was painted and decorated in every shade of red from when his wife used to have his current job. Throughout the window, he could see the lights of New Vale lighting up the night. It swelled his heart with pride to know how he was able to help shape the world into a better one.
Knowing he could not be distracted from his job, he turned back around to face the pile of paperwork he had lying on his desk. He sighed heavily and then took a sip of his mug off coffee before he started getting back to work.
As soon as he started he stopped again. He was antsy. This was not the first time he procrastinated his work and he knew it would not be the last. He looked around at the few bookcases and found nothing that he had not read before. His attention drifted back to his desk but drifted over every square inch of it that was not covered in paperwork. In a small corner, he picked at the red paint to reveal the green layer lying underneath. He may not have known Glynda but in time he respected her greatly. He felt unworthy to be sitting in the same seat she once did.
Near the edge of the desk held a wide array of photos that made him feel wonderfully nostalgic. He first looked at the photo of his wedding day with a smile. Ruby had worn a beautiful dress the same color as her namesake. It may have taken a few years but he had been more than willing to wait. Their love when it was rekindled again grew almost agonizingly slow but eventually became so much more than they ever could have imagined. To finally be able to hold her in his arms and be able to call her the one was well worth it. He did not care if he had to keep his existence hidden to the world to keep “Torchwick” dead. He was perfectly happy being “Roman Rose”.
His eyes drifted over to the next photo. It showed him standing next to Ruby with their two-year-old twin son and daughter with their lovely little cottage in the background. He could not help but chuckle a little. Even back then he knew that Summer would look just like her mother. There was something about those Roses and creating carbon copies of themselves. Looking at Augustus made his smile disappear though. “Everything was so happy and carefree then, wasn't it?” He muttered to himself.
The rest of the photos showed Augustus and Summer as they grew up. It hurt some as he drifted over photos where for a good two years Augustus was absent. When his eyes landed on the most recent photo he looked and Augustus finally joining them again. Through Augustus’s slick black bangs, Roman could see the pain left in his emerald eyes. In a barely audible whisper, he said to himself, “Why did you have to run away? What did we do wrong? I tried to give you everything. Did you hate us enough to leave to join Ironwood’s side? I know you came back but you didn't come back as my son. I'm sorry you're still hurting.”
In a much needed lightening of the mood, he turned to look at several newspaper headlines hung up all over the walls.
“War hero Ruby Rose donates 500 million lien towards a city-wide reconstruction project of the shantytown of east side New Vale.”
“With a continuous influx of donations from Mrs. Rose, New Vale has been the first settlement to officially end child homelessness.”
“Lower class citizens who live below the poverty line for the first time have complete access to all food, water, and shelter requirements.”
“Crime rate in New Vale has dropped to almost nonexistent with the opening of a new public school system that grants tuition-free schooling and housing to children no matter their economic position.”
He could not help but smirk. Did the press really think that all that money could have been raised on a teacher’s salary? Just because he was no longer a criminal did not mean he shied away from the business world. Now with more money than he could ever need, he was determined to give back. That combined with Ruby already being adored by the people made it all too easy to make mass donations to aid the poor in her name. He did not care about any credit. He was helping people and that's what mattered.
Plus who would have thought that Ruby would have become so powerful? Ruby was now 44 and wielded power like almost no other figure in history, possibly even more than Ozpin, although she would never admit it. While she herself was not a politician, all politicians knew of her and respected her through either fear or awe. They were always wary of crossing her and when the occasional politician did… Roman’s criminal expertise came quite in handy when digging up dirt on people and publicly shaming them.
Not to mention that Ruby, himself, and all of their closest friends were the leaders of a rebel group called “The Thorns” with Qrow as leader and the Rose family just below. They did not do many violent actions but were dedicated to being a thorn in Ironwood’s side.
But before Roman could continue his thoughts, he was interrupted with a start.
“Roman Caesar Rose!” He heard his wife and boss yell from outside the door that led to the massive office that used to be Ozpin's. Next thing he knew she burst through the door with her face as red as that tattered old cloak she still wore. Breathing heavily she yelled, “What did you do to our daughter?!”
“Ah, Headmaster Rose, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He said with a smile.
“Answer the question!”
Roman could not help but let his smile take a sinister turn. “I only did what was promised.”
That made her freeze in place and think for a few seconds. When she could not come up with anything she crossed her arms and gave an accusatory glare. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well first off what do you think I did?” He asked knowing very well what he did.
“I don't know but our daughter just came and upfronted me about how you're, and I quote, ‘the biggest asshole she's ever seen’.”
Roman only snickered which seemed to anger Ruby even more. “Answer me right now or you're sleeping on the couch tonight!”
“Alright, alright. Do you remember the promise we made on the day of her birth?”
She looked away clearly racking her brain to find this promise she supposedly made. After a few seconds, she gasped. Turning to face him with wide eyes she muttered, “You didn't…”
“Oh, I did.” He said beginning to chuckle evilly. “You got to pick the name and I get to choose to do whatever I want to the first boy or girl she brings home to me looking for approval.”
“I didn't think you'd remember!”
“There's no way I was going to forget that.”
“You at least promised me that I would be able to watch it happen!”
“And watch it you shall.” He said turning his holographic monitor to face her direction. “I have it recorded.”
With that, he pulled up the video and hit play. He spun himself around to look out the window again while the video played. He sipped his mug of coffee lightly, listening fondly to the screams of an emotionally distraught teenager. When it was all over he turned around laughing to be greeted by Ruby’s face a few shades paler.
“You're a monster,” she whispered.
“Yes, but I'm your monster. So what did you think?”
“I think I need to know how to delete this.”
“Too late!” He chimed. “I already made copies. I don't care what you say I'm showing this at her wedding.”
Ruby sighed and rubbed her temples. “But I thought you liked Monty Ren? You know any child of Nora and Ren’s would perfect for her?”
“Oh, I do. I can't imagine a better person for our daughter.”
“Yet you did this?”
“I've had eighteen years to plan and have made countless different options depending on whether I liked the kid or not. This was the least threatening of them all. You should've seen what I would've done had I not liked them.”
Ruby crossed her arms and began tapping her foot. “And you wonder why you have problems controlling her?”
“I can't blame it if she gets her rebellious side from you.” He said with a smirk.
“Excuse me? I'm not the world renowned criminal here.”
“Yes but you are the one who fell in love with said bastardly handsome criminal.”
“Which was one of the stupidest things I've ever done.”
He stood up and before she knew it he was right behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach. He gave her a small squeeze and said “Maybe, but do you regret it?”
He smirked knowing he caught her. She turned her head to face him and while she was clearly miffed she could not fight back a smile. “Not in the slightest. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but the greatest decision of my life.”
He gave her a quick kiss but afterward, she gestured down to where he wrapped his arms around her said, “You're trying to use the old cuddle tactic aren't you?”
“You can't deny that you like it.”
She paused for a moment but then he felt her muscles relax. He knew she wanted to stay ticked at him but they could hardly stay mad at each other like this. She laid back against him, using him as support while she rested her head against his shoulder. “You know me too well don't you?”
“There's nobody else I'd like to know more.”
He closed his eyes and immersed himself in the sensation of holding her in his arms. It never ceased to amaze him how such a simple action could create a bubble, their own little world, filled with nothing but love and compassion. He admitted that it lacked the excitement it once held but he liked what it had turned into. There was nothing else quite so calming and serene. It felt like home.
Ruby spoke up snapping him out of his thoughts and said, “So what are you going to do about Summer? I'd prefer to have our daughter refer to you as something other than an asshole. I'm not saying that she's wrong but I still don't think she should be referring to you as such.”
He could not help but laugh. “Don't worry about the boy. I'll track him down and tell him it was all a joke. And you know I'll make it up to Summer. I always do.”
“Alright but you better. You can also work on your relationship with Augustus while you're at it.” She said with her tone suddenly taking one of seriousness.
He felt like a dagger was thrust into his heart. “I know. I've forgiven him and I've let him know that. Sometimes it's just hard. I can't help but remember how you felt for a good three months after he left. Even then you weren't quite the same until he came back.”
“He's your son.”
“He joined the ranks of Ironwood.”
“He was trying to find himself and lost his way. He found the light again and came back.”
“Yeah he did, after he was gone for two years.”
“You left me for three back when I was sixteen, remember?”
The dagger in his heart was then twisted. “I know.” He muttered. “That is my greatest regret. But it took you some time to forgive me. Six months wasn't it? And then a year afterwards for your feelings for me to come back. You didn't just snap back in a day, I respected that about you. Just give me some time.”
He paused for a moment and in doing so he gave her another small squeeze. She responded by turning around and giving him a hug. It was a continuous reminder that he was far too lucky to have her in his life. “Just don't make me wait too long, alright?” She asked.
“I promise. I love you.”
“I love you too.” She paused for a brief moment before she jumped a bit and said, “I nearly forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“Well you know how Yang and Neo have been trying to get proof of Ironwood's war crimes?”
He grabbed her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. “Nothing happened to them, right? Please tell me-”
“What?! No, no, no they're fine. But they did it! They found a hidden bunker on the side of a volcano on one of the islands near Atlas! It had everything! They were able to download everything!”
Roman let a smile creep onto his lips. He started laughing and he felt like a giddy little school boy. “They actually did it? So what's your Uncle’s plan?”
Ruby was starting to laugh herself. “Sorry, I was going to tell you this sooner but then I had to deal with Summer. But Qrow's got an entire plan set up. We're finally going to put Ironwood in his place.”
“Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get operation RustCutter under way. What does Qrow want us to do?”
“We're going to meet him by the docks. We'll get an airship and confront Ironwood about this and hope he surrenders.”
“And if he doesn't? If shit hits the fan then we need to have something to stop it from hitting the twelve fans behind it.”
“The two of us with Qrow should be able to take him. We'll be recording the whole thing too and playing it to the people. Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha will play it here in Vale, Blake and Sun in Vacuo, Neo and Yang in Mistral, and Weiss will even play it for Atlas. No matter what happens Ironwood loses.”
Roman thought back to when the two of them first started planning this. It was shortly after they had gotten married when Ironwood started to invalidate his own promises. The other kingdoms had given him control over their militaries to fight the White Fang but he never gave them back after the war. Instead, he pushed Atlas’s influence onto the other kingdoms and encouraged elitism and oligarchy, only separating the social classes even more.
This was something that the two of them could not stand. Both of them having seen what war crimes Ironwood committed, vowed to remove him from power and do everything possible to eliminate any of his influence. It had taken over twenty years but now they were finally going to put him in his place.
“Then lead the way.” He said gesturing towards the door. “This should be entertaining.”
He promptly followed her with a spring in his step. When he got out of the small office and stepped into Ruby’s he stopped though. Everything was the same shade of green from when it used to be Ozpin’s. When Glynda became headmaster she kept the decoration style the same in honor of him while leaving her old office to Ruby as her assistant. When Glynda passed and Ruby inherited the title of headmaster she made him her assistant but also kept the style the same out of respect for Ozpin. He made sure to keep his excitement contained until he reached the elevator.
The solemn moment did not erase his happiness however. When he stepped into the elevator with her he felt like he could kiss her. In fact, he would have if she did not stop him before he got too far.
Ruby looked up at him and said, “Trust me I'd love a kiss but you know what happens every time we do in this elevator, right?”
Roman sighed knowing that she was right. “Yeah, yeah. You don't need to remind me.”
As much as he wanted to show displays of affection he knew what would happen if he did. There had never been one time so far that the doors did not open at an inopportune time. It became an official rule of their relationship after they got caught making out by a student. That was one of the most interesting weeks of his life having to deal with that.
“You know this reminds me of our adventures when we were younger,” Roman said with a smile.
Ruby stared off not space as if she was taking a trip down memory lane. “I kind of miss those days,” she said.
“I don't know about you but I've had enough excitement to last a lifetime.”
“Agreed. I'd like it if I could for once not have to worry about somebody.”
“But you've got me around.”
She looked at him with a playful pout and he returned the gesture. In no time both of them were laughing like they were lovestruck idiots. “I don't mind worrying about you though,” Ruby said.
Roman took her hand and said, “Good, because I've still gotta least another thirty years in me I want to spend with the most beautiful woman alive.”
“Such a gentleman.”
“I do it for you.”
The elevator ride was taking surprisingly long, almost enough that he considered kissing her to make it end. Dismissing the idea, he had to do something so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small coin that became a plaything of his. He tossed it in the air a few times before it got Ruby’s attention.”
“What's that?” She asked.
“A little souvenir I picked up a while back. First honest lien I earned. I always found how the bloody side and the clean side contrast symbolic.”
To his surprise that only seemed to make her even more infatuated with it. “May I hold it?”
“Um… Sure I guess. Just don't get your hands dirty.”
She took the coin and caressed each side one at a time. Before he could question her peculiar behavior she said, “I'm having the biggest case of deja vu right now.”
“Really? How so?”
“It reminds me of a fairy tale I read a long time ago. Back when I still knew you as Cobalt.”
He looked at her with a quizzical glare. “That long ago, huh? Well then tell me about it.”
“You really wouldn't mind?”
“Not at all.”
“Well, the story is kind of like ours. It was called Two Sides of a Bloodied Coin.”
“I’ve never heard of a stranger title of a story in my entire life. Well go on now, let me hear it. My curiosity is peaked.”
“Alright then. Well, it went kind of like this….”