Neo liked Roman and the others. She really did. Well, maybe not Emerald so much, but really who likes Emerald? The fact remained that she was quite fond of her partners in crime, even Cinder for all of her enigmatic, domineering behavior. However, Neo had a firm code of ethics for herself, and no matter how much she liked her team, she would not abandon her morals for their sakes, or for the sake of the grand plan.

That's why, while they were discussing the best ways to torture information out of Yang Xiao Long, she was devising another plan altogether. They had captured the blonde teenager two days ago, hoping to get the secrets of her team out of her, but so far she had yet to talk. Neo wasn't too surprised. She had known almost from their first encounter that Yang was stubborn and fiercely proud. She wouldn't break over a little isolation and a few bruises. Hence the discussion of torture. That was not what Neo was opposed to. Oh no, it was something far more egregious that had made her into a turncoat.

Her allies were planning to kill Yang after getting information out of her, to make an example of her or something. And that was… unacceptable. She couldn't let that come to pass.

It went against Neo Politan's every instinct and conviction to allow a girl like Yang to die before she had tapped that in at least five different positions. I mean, it was an affront to everything that was right and good. It could not be allowed to happen.

So, Neo was plotting by herself. While her former partners were talking, she pulled out a pen and some paper and started to draw. Fifteen minutes later, after the meeting has disbanded and after checking on her blonde prospect's health and general well-being, she tucked the paper into her coat pocket and slipped out of the compound unseen. On the streets of Vale, she strolled with both leisure and purpose, as was her way. At the eastern docks, she snuck onboard an air ship with little to no effort expended, and watched out the window as it carried her to Beacon.

Upon docking, she got out with just as much ease and made her way across the sleeping campus to the freshman dorm. Night time guarded her approach, giving her untroubled access to the window of team RWBY's room. Neo watched for a time from the tree outside, gauging the situation.

Yang's teammates were all awake and standing. They were conversing in the center of the room, about their missing friend no doubt. The little sister, Ruby, was making pointed arm gestures as she spoke. The cat Faunus, Blake, responded with her arms crossed and her expression very serious. Then the other girl, Yang's little Ice Queen, said something emotive, throwing her arms around emphatically. Neo snickered. She watched them talk for a time, until an opportune moment for intrusion presented itself. With little to no how-do-ya-do, she opened the window and gracefully climbed into the room.

The three girls started, and reached for their sides. They were dismayed to discover that they were, in fact, unarmed. Neo smiled, sat down on the window sill, and pulled out a small paper airplane. She'd made several on the way here. She tossed the tiny plane at the ebony-haired ninja, who caught it, naturally, but held it at arm's length as if it was a bomb. Neo rolled her eyes and gestured to it impatiently.

Watching her carefully, Blake opened the little paper. She read the message aloud, "Hey there, creampuffs, you wanna know where your teammate is?"

"I knew you took her!" The Ice Queen shouted. What was her name? Neo couldn't remember exactly. She knew it had something to do cold and snow. She wanted to say Winter? She was going to roll with that and hope for the best.

The little sister stepped in front of Winter. "You know where my sister is?"

Neo smiled at the girl and tossed another paper airplane her way. Ruby caught and opened it, revealing a map of Vale with X marking the location of the compound. "Here?" Ruby asked for clarification. Neo nodded. Then she tossed two more airplanes, one to Ruby and one to Blake. Winter, she noted, was not tamed by her leader's intervention. Rather she was all but vibrating with quiet tension and fury in the background. The behavior reminded Neo of the Malachite twins, just a little bit, and she had to restrain the strong urge to giggle. She didn't want to say Yang had a type, but she was pretty sure Yang had a type.

"Guard patrols?" Blake said uncertainly.

"How to beat… Cinder?" Ruby read before looking at Neo. "You're telling us exactly how to beat your allies?"

Neo nodded.

"And how to rescue Yang with as little trouble as possible?" Blake added.

Neo nodded a second time.

Ruby seemed at a loss for a moment. Then, with arms out in a recognized symbol of general confusion, she asked, "…Why?"

Neo smirked, and tossed one final airplane. Right at the Ice Queen.
With a claw-like hand, the white-haired girl caught it. Glaring viciously at Neo, Winter opened it. And then crumpled it with an enraged shriek.

"You most certainly will not!" She yelled, tossing the wrinkled note aside and stalking toward Neo. "You will not touch Yang! Not now, not ever!"

Meanwhile Ruby picked up the paper and read it. She blushed as red as her cloak and namesake and handed the paper to Blake as if passing on a snake. Blake read it, frowned, and looked at Neo with a raised eyebrow. The note, dear readers, had said: I'm not letting that fiery stallion die until I've ridden her from here to Atlas :)

Neo merely smirked, completely unfazed by the Ice Queen's fury. Everything about her expression and her posture screamed, "I am here to look fabulous and steal your girl. You aren't even intimidating." That's certainly what Neo was thinking, and the look of thorough personal affront on the heiress's face told her the message was well conveyed.

"Weiss!" Ruby called firmly. Oooohh, so Weiss was her name. Eh, she was close. "Forget her. We have to go get Yang."

Very begrudgingly, Weiss turned away from her. The three girls started getting ready to leave, and Neo took that as her cue to depart. Just as gracefully as she had come in, she slid out, jumping from the tree to the ground and opening her parasol to slow her descent. She left Beacon on the airship right before Team RWBY's, and she waved cheekily at Blake, who saw her at the window.

She made it back unto the compound and no one even questioned where she went. She went to Yang's holding cell and dismissed the guard at the door. She stepped inside, noting that Yang, while a little worse for wear, was still in good condition; she grinned.

"Ugh, what do you want?" The blonde groaned. Neo knelt in front of her and smirked, as silent as always.

Yang growled. "If you're not gonna say anything, then-!" Her sentence was cut off when Neo grabbed her by the scarf and smashed their lips together. The kiss was lustful and deep. Neo took advantage of Yang's surprise to slip her tongue into the girl's mouth, enjoying her taste. After a minute, she broke it off. Yang gasped for air, staring at her with wide, lilac eyes. Her skin was darkly flushed and her scarf was even more mussed than before. She looked beautiful.

Neo grinned mischievously, and ran her finger along the line of Yang's cleavage. That was when Yang noticed the two pieces of paper the multi-colored little freak had gently hidden between her breasts. She blushed even harder, and didn't take move her gaze from the floor until she heard the cell door close and Neo's footsteps disappeared down the hall.

…

From a safe distance, Neo watched team RWBY emerge from the compound victorious. She stayed hidden, since there were Hunters and cops all over the place, but she maintained a good view of events as they transpired. She watched Yang pull Weiss into her embrace, kissing her angry little girlfriend for a long time. When she pulled away, Yang looked down at her chest.

"Oh, I forgot about these," she said, pulling out Neo's two notes. Weiss stared daggers at them. "This one's… for you," Yang said nervously, handing the second one to the heiress. Meanwhile, she opened hers and read it. She blushed again, biting her lip and rubbing the back of her neck. Her note had said, see you soon, stud pony 3, with a phone number below it. It was written on a business card that read: Neo Politan - magician, chef, assassin for hire.

The second note read: I am not against sharing ;). Weiss Schnee's outraged shriek had Neo in silent stitches all the way home.