A/N: This originally started out as my 7th RWBY Relationship week story but the idea was too good to pass up on.

A few things to get straight before we start.

1: This is largely canon but not completely so, set +2 years on from the events of RWBY Volume 1.

2: Rated M /TO BE SAFE/, I'm not saying there's going to be intense descriptions of violence or such, but it's always best to prepare for the future.

3: It's a first attempt at writing something a little darker and more mature than what I usually do, so it should improve with time.


It had been days since the girl had gone missing. She simply didn't come back one night, and though the police were searching for her they were totally incompetent. They wouldn't know where to look if they were given a flashing neon sign. No, if she were to be found it would be by someone who knew her, someone who knew where she would go and what she would do.

Yang held her head in her hands, biting back a growl of frustration. All of her free time had been spent searching and even her classes were being skipped in favour of her task. She looked upwards to the commanding yet caring voice beside her, obvious anger riddled in her eyes.

"Miss Xiao Long, I believe I have some information to the whereabouts of your sister. Follow me." She obeyed without question, cold determination keeping the flicker of hope at bay.

Professor Ozpin showed her to his office, and much to her surprise there was someone else already there. Black hair gave way to yellow eyes as the person turned at the sounds behind them, and Yang found herself looking at her partner and friend, Blake Belladonna.

The quiet girl gave a small smile, though she knew Yangs situation was increasingly dire. She watched as the blonde took a seat beside her, body language screaming immense irritation. Ozpin silently seated himself in front of the two girls, addressing them respectfully and politely.

"Miss Belladonna, Miss Xiao Long. As you are both aware I am doing everything in my powers to locate Miss Rose, and I have it on excellent authority that I know where she is."

Yang visibly tensed in her seat, leaning forwards as she gripped the arms of her chair. Blake gave a slight nod at the mention of Ruby, well aware of how much her disappearance was affecting her team.

"Are you famliar with the building run by a man called ' '?" The headmaster asked, learning the answer just by watching their facial expressions. Yang sunk back in her seat, the name meaning nothing to her, though Blake gave a nod, attracting her partners attention.

"Yes, it's a night club on the fringes of the Residential District, bordering one of the rivers that separate it from the Industrial District. Why?" Blake replied, earning an impressed twinkle in Ozpins eyes. He hardened his tone for his next request, something that did not escape either of the girls attention.

"That is where I believe Miss Rose is being held."

"Held?!" Yang interrupted, placing her hands firmly on his desk as she half-rose out of her seat.

"Calm down, Miss Long. I have researched the Xiong family and this man, though the youngest of his brothers is still a dangerous person. If I cannot trust you to approach this correctly then I'm afraid Miss Belladonna will have to rescue your sister alone."

Blake kept her face blank as she watched Yang glance between her and Professor Ozpin, her voice slightly cracked.

"Wha-Blake?! Rescuing Ruby? Without me!?"

"I'm not going to ask you again." His stern tone seemed to break through her frantic mindset as she fell back in her seat and took a deep breath, resting her hands on her lap in defeat. Blake caught her clenched fists out of the corner of her eye, but said nothing.

"As Miss Belladonna knows the location of this 'night club', I'm entrusting the rescue of Miss Rose to you two. I would have invited Miss Schnee here to join you but as you well know, her reaction to Miss Rose's disappearance was not what any of us were expecting. Mr. Xiong and his company will not be expecting two individuals, but the small army that Miss Schnee proposed to storm the offenders residence with would most likely alert them to your presence."

He left his sentence there, allowing his words to sink in before continuing.

"This is a very delicate operation Miss Long, and I'm sure you know better than anyone that certain rules need to be followed if you wish to see your sister tonight." Yang almost threatened the headmaster there and then, but the soundless movement of Blake gently touching Yangs fist stopped her from doing something she would regret.

"You will arrive, you will exercise extreme caution as we do not know just what is capable of and you will keep an open link to me and Ms. Goodwitch at all times. Do I make myself clear?"

Blake nodded once, followed by a mumbled 'Yes sir.' from Yang.

"Now, do you need transportation?" He asked, catching the fire lighting up in Yangs eyes that told him everything he needed to know. She shook her head, instead asking him for permission to enter the storage facility. While her request was a little odd given the circumstances, both Blake and Ozpin knew that she wouldn't ask such a thing unless she needed to. He nodded, and as she darted out of the room Blake thanked him once and made after her partner, leaving the headmaster to make the necessary preparations.


"Yang, I have to ask... why are we here?" Blakes voice echoed across the enormous room, filled to the brim with a dizzying variety of objects ranging from a curious looking bear-trap like contraption to what she could only assume was at one point a coffee machine.

"Because." Yang began, whirling around to face her partner as she stepped backwards, a very familiar grin spreading across her features. Blake could tell where this was going, it was the same grin she had used when she was told she could store her things at the Academy. "This is where my, and consequently our, ride is stored."

Blake followed the blonde further into the facility with a growing interest, but she kept quiet right until the moment she laid eyes on the distinct shape underneath a white sheet. Just how long had this been here?

"Is that...what I think it is?" She asked, mouth slightly agape.

"Yep!" Yang replied, pulling the material off and throwing it to the side as she took a step back and admired her prized possession. Blake had no words.


Blake still didn't have any words an hour later as she hesitantly slid behind her partner and locked her arms around Yangs waist, unused to the strange feeling of a helmet wrapped over her head. She took the headgear with a polite smile, noticing the dark grey tribal-style emblems decorating it - a counterpart to Yangs own Yellow and Black attire. She had been told they were racing helmets due to the speed Yang could, and regularly did achieve but this offered very little in the way of comfort to her.

"Uh, Yang?" Blake asked, a little surprised at the doubly muffled response she received.

"Yes Blake?" Yang replied, just before the din of revs filled her ears.

"How fast are we going to be going?" Blake shouted over the noise, while it was by no means soothing it wasn't quite as ear-piercing as she expected it to be.

"Depending on how well you cope with motion sickness, at least 120."

This didn't help.

"One hundred and twenty...what? Miles per hour?" Blake couldn't keep the nervous edge out of her voice, and it seems that Yang couldn't keep the happy one out of hers, giggling to herself before answering.

"Yeap! But I'm aiming to get there as fast as possible, so if you give the most direct route there we might be able to hit 150."

Blake very nearly gave her misinformation but chose Ruby over personal safety, and with Yang having inputted the route into her GPS she gave Blake one final warning to hold on tight, spoke into her in-built headset and began to rev the engine again as the storage door slowly angled upwards.

Blake was caught completely off-guard by the sheer force pushing against her body as Yang accelerated out of the Academy, counting numbers in her head and nailing each gearchange to match the manic drone of the engine. Yang could tell already that while she would enjoy the journey, Blake would despise it with all her might.


The moon hung over the cloudy sky, not quite vanishing from sight as they passed over its surface.

Yang felt distinctly refreshed as she rested her helmet on the seat of her bike, though she was always aware of the sickening feeling that lay in the bottom of her stomach - a reminder of the magnitude of the next few hours. Blake too pulled her helmet off without any trouble, shooting Yang one of the dirtiest looks she had made in a long time. It elicited another giggle from the blonde, pointing out that even though this was an incredibly serious time she still had a sense of humour about her. Even if it was just to take her mind of things.

The two of them decided on parking the bike a good distance away from the club and approaching on foot, to which they did. They both took a good look around before making for the front entrance, noting the single guard perched next to the door. Yang leant in to Blakes ear and whispered as they walked, prompting an eye roll from the other girl.

"I'll handle this, stay back a little."

Blake obliged, deciding that ten feet was a safe distance as Yang put a swing in her step, striding up to the man and grabbing his attention the best way she knew how. While Blake couldn't quite hear what false promises she was giving him, they appeared to be working as after a minute or two she was beckoned over and they were given entry.

The main corridor was dark, the walls pitch-black. Blake could hear a faint pounding coming from deeper inside and guessed that tonight was a busy night. She exchanged glances with her partner and spoke quietly, aware that they were alone in the hallway.

"What did you say to him?" Yang flashed a grin and pointed rather unsubtly to her chest.

"When you've got these you can get away with pretty much anything. He thinks he's gonna get a nice evening and perhaps something extra." Blake was amused at the bluntness Yang displayed.

"But..." She waited for the finish of that sentence, knowing that Yang had no interest in the things she claimed to like.

"Buuuut he's just going to get a few broken bones. And depending on how nice I'm feeling he might still be able to have children, but that's up for debate."

She gave Blake another cocky grin to which the girl returned, her attention going back to the job in hand at reading the determination in her partners eyes. This wasn't a pleasant outing for letting their hair down, though this did seem like the kind of place Yang would frequent. They were here for one reason and one reason only, and as the music grew louder they discussed their plan in a hushed whisper to avoid being heard.

The doors opened by themselves, a curious mechanism that most likely ran on motion sensors. The two of them paused to take in the sight, a little surprised at what they saw.

The room was enormous, easily spanning a street or two. There was a bar in the left corner that stretched for half the length, populated by a dozen people ordering drinks. Numerous glass pillars joined the floor to the ceiling, which was filled to the brim with rotating flashlights that pulsed red and white. And while there were a dual flight of stairs running left and right to the dancefloor below Yang immediately honed in on the DJ situated across the room. Black suit, red tie, black bear head. Yang hated bears.

Blake meanwhile took in the large amount of people in the center of the room, a whirring hive of activity as they danced to the music that boomed across the open air from massive speakers integrated into the walls. She glanced around, taking in the thin lines of glowing lights that stretched across the walls. Seeing no particular entry or exit points besides the one they had just came from, she guessed that fire exits and such would be out of sight. A distinct white blur in the corner of her eye caught her attention and as she turned her head to look, she gently dragged Yangs focus to what she was seeing.

Blake still gripped Yangs arm to hold her back at the all-too-familiar sight of a one Roman Torchwick, currently in a heated debate with a tall and muscular man, crisp black vest contrasting with the white shirt he wore underneath. Yang wanted to hurl herself at them right then but she knew better, and as the fire began to build in her eyes again Blake moved to block her view, instead giving her only amber orbs that ran deep with empathy to stare into. They spoke where Blake didn't need to, reassuring Yang that the time would come when she could beat the everloving dust out of Roman Torchwick. But that time wasn't now. They had more important things to worry about.

The two waited patiently for the men to break up their argument, with Roman strutting off underneath their vantage point and leaving the other man - who by this point they had both decided was probably Junior Xiong - noticeably agitated. Blake led them down the stairs towards the bar, silently ordering Yang to let her do the talking this time and more importantly to keep calm. Though Yang felt this was a waste of time, her preferred method of beating everyone up wouldn't get them very many answers.

Blake cleared her throat softly over the ridiculously loud music, grabbing Juniors attention. At first his body language was dismissive, though it rapidly changed from surprise to false respect, no doubt assuming them to be new customers. Yang certainly looked older than she was, and though Blake never agreed with her partner she too didn't look to be 19, a fact that came in handy in situations such as this. Any businesslike thoughts they previously had of him were wiped clean as soon as he spoke, obvious interest written in his voice. It didn't take a genius to tell what he was thinking.

"Well ladies, new here? I can help you get settled in, how do you take your drinks?" His voice was gruff, and as he waited for their answers Yang looked him up and down, making a mental note to certainly crush his manhood if she ever got the chance. Blake was polite as she refused his offer, though she dropped a faint hint of flirtatiousness into her voice, a fact which came as a bit of a shock to her partner.

"No thank you, we just arrived and I can't take drinks before I've settled in. With that said, your offer is very tempting, Mr...?" She hid her disgust behind a facade of teasing, smiling mentally at how easy he was being hooked.

"Uh, Xiong. Junior Xiong. I own and run this club. And you are?"

They exchanged brief glances, with Blake answering first and Yang following up with a short answer.

"I'm Blake."

"Yang."

He waited for last names, but as the seconds passed he quickly realized that he wasn't going to get them. Blake very gently but expertly steered the conversation towards Ruby, though she was far too clever to ask outright.

"Tell me Junior, do you have anywhere we could talk? Privately?"

She left the implications behind that up in the air, sure that he would assume - wrongly - that they were interested in him or perhaps his business. He took a second to think and gestured for them to follow him, leading the way towards the stairs that they had descended a few minutes prior. Now that Blake could see, the area underneath them was hollow, with several doors lined up that led to rooms underneath the long corridor between the entrance and the actual club. This must have been the back of the building.

Junior opened the rightmost door and held it aside for them to enter, and while Blake moved through silently Yang decided to pique his interest even more as she slipped him a brief wink that promised a little more than just professional talk. He fell for the bait instantly, and she caught his perverted grin as she brushed past him. The two took his offer to sit on one of the black leather couches that lined two of the walls while he sat in the other, reaching for the glasses and bottle that currently resided on the small glass table in the center of the room.

"Junior, would I be right in assuming that you're smarter than most?" Blake asked, with Yang initially not understanding her partners logic. It became clear the second Junior spoke, the man was practically sweating arrogance.

"I don't like to brag but it has to be said that I do know everything." He replied, puffing out his chest in an effort to make himself look important. It was pitiful.

"Oh?" Blake inquired, knowing that she had to tread gently now she had broken his paper thin defenses. "Is that so?"

Junior nodded pridefully and took a small drink of his alcohol. Neither of them paid it any heed but the drunker he was the more likely he would be to give up information willingly. It seemed that both Yang and Blake had had the same idea, and while Blake skillfully beefed the man up Yang took to pouring herself a drink, shooting Blake a sly wink as she did so.

Time passed and though Junior was growing less and less of a risk Yang knew she could hold the bitter taste in her mouth for her sister. It took an immense amount of willpower there and then to prevent her from kicking him in the face and tearing his precious club apart, but she trusted Blake and could see that it was getting results.

Junior was increasingly intoxicated, to the point where Yang could have blown on him and he would have fallen over. She exchanged a stare with Blake, and they both decided that this was the time to strike.

"Well then Mr. Junior, I've got a question for you..." Blake dripped allure into her voice, something that Yang found to be strangely appealing even though she knew it was false.

"What do you know about little girls in red capes?" He paused, considering her question with his drunken mind.

"Y'mean Lill Rred Ridin Hood?" He replied, causing Blake to shake her head slowly and lean forward.

"No, she carries a scythe." At this point Blake was sure she could be reasonably straight, but it was always a good idea to play it safe.

There was another pause, and Yang visibly flinched at the name.

"There was a girl...said 'er name was...uh..what wassit now. Ruben? No, thass not right, eeh..."

"Ruby?" Blake suggested, smiling politely as he nodded. "Ruby Rose. Do you know her?"

"I don't know 'er personally of course but...I was told to hold the girl 'ere until whats 'isname came to take 'er away." He slammed his glass onto the table and shakily stood up, while Blake hurriedly rose to her feet to stop Yang from punching him in the face.

"And where is she now? We're associates of Roman." It hurt her to even lie about it, but it was a safe assumption that he was the man who would be after someone like Ruby - especially after their previous engagements.

"She's downstairs in th' basement. I 'ave a key around here somewherr..." He began to fumble in his pockets, and upon hearing the distinct clinking of keys Blake gave Yang the all clear and excused herself from the room, telling the drunken man that Yang would collect the keys and pay him for his co-operation. As she turned to close the door she caught him staring at her partners assets and gave a tiny smirk. The poor man had no idea what he was in for.

Blake leant slightly against the door, casually glancing from side to side as she listened to the ruckus behind her. Amongst glass shattering and frantic yelps from Junior she could make out the words 'beat' 'pulp' and 'manhood' coming from her partner. And then the thuds started. Blake could practically envision the scene that was unfolding inside the room and it was a glorious sight to her mind.

Junior tripped over his own feet and fell backwards into the one couch that remained where it had been earlier. He was sweating profusely and sporting a freshly reddening bruise over his eye, frantically scrabbling at Yangs muscular arm as she grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him clean off the ground. Had he been sober his strength might have evened the battle out, but heavy as he was the man wasn't putting his weight where it needed to be. Not that Yang gave him any choice, spinning on the spot to use her momentum to hurl him across the room, smashing the last piece of untouched glass in there.

Even though he was a head taller than her, Yang strode over and stood him up against the wall as though he were a featherweight, delivering another punch to his frankly revolting face that sent saliva flying everywhere. She tossed him around like a ragdoll, pummeling him harder and harder as she vented her anger on the next best thing to Roman Torchwick, grinning gleefully all the while. The final straw for her came when, in a last-ditch attempt to accomplish something of his rapidly deteriorating evening Junior flung his arm in the vague direction of her chest. She caught his arm in one hand and resisted the urge to tease him about it, instead allowing her rage to do the talking. The distinct cracking of bones was like music to her ears as it accompanied Juniors pained groans at his slow loss of fingers, one by one. The sickening cracks bouncing off the walls, serving as a reminder of his fatal mistake. She pulled his face within a hairs breadth of her own and whispered threateningly into his ear, deranged grin enhancing her insane profile.

"You shouldn't have let your lusts cloud your judgement. This is what you get for being a dirty, old, man." And with that, she shoved him back and simultaneously brought her leg upwards, connecting the toes of her boot with his crotch in an extremely satisfying display of pain. He keeled over on the ground curled up, drunkenly trying to nurse his broken hand and crushed groin as Yang stepped over him, 'accidentally' standing on his remaining good arm as she did so.

Blake instinctively moved a step to the side as she heard the door opening behind her and turned to look at her partner. Yang didn't have a hair out of place, not that it was ever in place to begin with. Blake pointed with her eyes to the blood on her partners knuckles, to which Yang stuffed them into her jacket pockets.

"Well?" Blake asked, both asking if Yang was finished with him and if he'd got what he deserved. The devious grin told her everything she needed to know.

"Let's just say he won't be flirting with nineteen year olds, or indeed anybody for a long time." She made a breaking motion with her hands to which Blake winced.

Yangs expression hardened again as Blake brought up the subject at hand. Yang thoroughly enjoyed beating Junior almost to death, as the scumbag deserved it. But now came the truly hard part. Sooner or later someone would open that door and find him like that, all she and Blake had to do was take Ruby before that happened. The click told otherwise. Yang raised an eyebrow at watching Blake lock the door, shooting the blonde a wink that she found incredibly attractive.

Blake turned a half circle and made for a flight of stairs that ran underneath the ones above, no doubt towards the basement of the club and where their target was located. Yang followed her calmly, though her heart tightened in her chest and her hands turned into fists. She had taken her fury out on the man who was holding her, but not the man who had ordered it in the first place.

They were getting close, she could feel it.