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Yang slammed her door and jogged for the precinct entrance. Getting down from Beacon had taken a little longer than she thought and she was late. That was after asking the captain for a late start so she could drop Ruby off in the first place. At least she had the presence of mind to change before coming in, it wouldn't due to be late and not in uniform.
Inside, the precinct was as busy as ever. Despite the early hour it seemed they already had their first customers. Two teens, maybe early twenties were cuffed and seated in the chairs along the front wall. The boy had shiny silver hair and was dressed to match, all gray and black. The girl though had darker skin and bright green hair. Why people dyed their hair all kinds of crazy colors Yang would never understand.
Their arresting officer was speaking with the front counter, processing the two while his partner watched on in stoic silence.
"This early Fox? What could they have possibly been up to?" Yang asked as she passed by.
"Morning Yang. We've been on it since last night actually. They robbed a gun store and tried to hide out by the wharf." The man replied without taking his eyes off of them.
"You can see how that went." His hulking partner, Yatsuhashi, replied from the counter. How he fit in a squad car Yang would never understand.
She flashed them both a thumbs up and continued inside. First she had to check in with the captain. Then, assuming there was any time left in the day after his rambling, she had some reports to file.
No one was inside his office but Yang knocked anyways. Maybe he would just wave hello and she could go to her desk.
"Come in Yang. Come in." He waved her inside and stroked his gigantic moustache. He looked like he was in a good mood. Great.
"Good morning Captain." She nodded and stepped inside. Captain Port was a great big man, but, if you believed half of his stories then he had been quite the cop back in his day. Of course, his position meant at least some of it had to be true but Yang couldn't imagine the man as anything but his rotund, jolly self.
"I trust you got your young sister squared away nicely." He leaned back in his office chair, the frame screeching in protest.
"Yeah, she's all set up at the University." Hopefully short, concise answers would get her out of here faster.
"Ah, I remember my first days at University. Did I ever tell you that I too attended Beacon? It's where I got my degree in criminal justice." Captain Port folded his hands across his belly and Yang had to physically resist the urge to sigh.
"Really? Well then I can be sure she'll be getting a great education."
"Oh, yes. Beacon is one of the finest Universities around. Much better than anywhere else in my opinion. The professors are all more than qualified and always willing to help a student in need. But more than that, more than her education, I hope your sister will remember her time at the school. The friends she makes there and the memories they create will be what truly stick with her. Why, I remember in my very first week-"
Thankfully the phone rang just before he could really get rolling. Yang allowed herself to sigh in relief, hoping the phone would cover it up.
"Well, do excuse me. I'm afraid I have to take this." Port leaned up to his desk, but stopped just short of the phone. "Don't worry about being late Yang. Just have those reports filed by this afternoon." He waved her out of his office and picked up the phone.
Saved by the bell, almost literally. At least now she had enough time to finish up her paperwork. It was her least favorite part of the job and came after every chase or stopped crime. Tackle some thug when he runs? That's gonna need an incident report. Take two creeps down outside a bar? That's a couple papers regarding alcohol and a report. Pull your gun? Oh boy, Yang's biggest encouragement not to use her firearm might just be the stack of paperwork she knew was waiting for her when she got back.
Still, it was part of the job and kept them honest. So with a resigned huff Yang plopped down and began to fill out the papers.
She had been chasing down two guys that ran as soon as they saw her sirens. She and her partner, Coco Adel, had been cruising on patrol. They saw what was happening from a block away and rushed in. Two men were assaulting a young girl, trying to force her down an alleyway. Luckily she had fought back and made enough of a scene they had caught it.
Yang jumped out and ran after them while Coco stayed with the girl to make sure she was okay. The two weren't quick, Yang took one down fast and cuffed him. The other dropped to his knees when he heard his friend go down, hands straight up in the air. Lucky for her, Yang seemed to have chosen the one in charge. Coco caught up and helped her drag them back to the squad car.
Now they both had forms to fill out, lots and lots of forms. Yang was stuck here filing an incident report on why she felt the need to tackle the man. Was she provoked? Was he armed? Where had her partner been? Coco meanwhile was following up with the victim. She would have her own work to do once she got back, probably this afternoon some time. Once they had these filled out they could get back out on the beat, but not before.
"Hey there blondie, how you doin'?" Yang knew without turning around who it was. A welcome distraction to say the least.
"You're one to be calling me blondie." Yang spun around in her chair, a smile on her face.
"Well I mean. At least our hair makes sense." Sun jerked his thumb over his shoulder at his partner.
"Hey! I take offence to that." Neptune crossed his arms in a pout.
"I think you were meant to." Yang laughed out loud and stood. She gave them both a quick handshake and leaned back against her desk.
"Don't hate just because neither of you can be bothered with a comb." Neptune stroked his hands lovingly over his meticulously manicured hairdo.
"You don't have to comb what's already perfect." Sun shook his head, letting the blond locks flop about his head majestically.
"Just please, please promise me that neither of you will ever grow a Captain's stache." Yang jerked her head towards Captain port's office and shuddered.
"No worries here, I don't think blue would look good on my lip." Neptune stroked his bare lip in fear.
"What if we have to go undercover though? Detectives need their identities hidden sometimes." Sun held a finger across his lips in place of his nonexistent facial hair.
Yang couldn't help but giggle.
"What's a dame like you doing in a place like this?" He leaned over and spoke in a mock noir tone.
"Hoping to find just one man in this city who isn't a complete dork." she pushed him playfully away.
Sun caught himself and dropped his finger.
"See, I knew those old movies were bunk. No one talks like that."
Yang sighed and shook her head.
"So what are you two up to today? Besides embarrassing yourselves."
"Headed out actually." Sun dropped the grin, "You see those two Yatsu and Fox brought in this morning?"
"The two punks with the crazy dyed hair? I knew they were trouble. Who in their right mind dyes their hair anyways?" Yang cast a sidelong glance at Neptune. It would be hard for something to go over the man's head, tall as he was, but still she had to make sure he caught her meaning.
"I am right here." Neptune threw his arms out in frustration. Bingo.
"Well it turns out they did us a real favor. The warehouse they were camping out in had a lot more than their little pull. Looks like part of the gun smuggling ring we've been tracing for the past few weeks." Sun smiled smugly.
"I guess you owe Fox and Yatsu a favor then." Yang grinned, "Maybe invite Neptune to a pool party and bring your camera along. That's always good for a laugh."
"Now that's just downright mean." he huffed.
"I could always take them out for a beer. Maybe bring a certain fellow blonde along?" Sun raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"I told you already Sun. You flex those arms and forget to button your shirt up as much as you want. I'm not gonna go out with you." Yang sighed in good humor. If Sun ever honestly asked her out she might die of shock. Shooting down his not so subtle hints was plenty of fun for both of them though.
"Now, now, not for me." he chuckled, "I owe them a favor remember? Who wouldn't want to spend a night out with you? You should bring your partner too, I hear Coco's a karaoke master."
"I don't know who you're talking to then." Yang had never known Coco to do something as ridiculous as karaoke, or even step inside a bar that offered it.
"Well if you two change your mind, you just let us know." Neptune winked and snapped his fingers into little guns.
"Don't you two have a dangerous ring of thieves to investigate, or at least some guns to confiscate?" She tried to suppress her laugh, it wouldn't due to go letting Neptune know he was actually funny.
"Oh we've got all the guns we need right here." Sun flexed both arms and kissed his own biceps.
"Yeah we do." Neptune raised his arms and posed like a Mr. Remnant contestant. Yang put her palms to both of their faces and pushed them away.
"Go on now you two. Get." She pushed them away with a laugh and they headed for Yatsu and Fox's desks, laughing all the way.
Maybe now she could get some work done.
The incident hadn't been a huge deal and Yang was sure Coco had the worse end of it. Apparently the victim was an immigrant from Menagerie and that meant all kinds of other issues. Not because they were hard to deal with or anything, it was actually usually the opposite. It was more that there had been so many hate crimes against them lately that now every case involving immigrants from Menagerie or even just people whose parents or grandparents were from there. Racists didn't really care.
Not to mention all the complications caused by the so called advocacy group, The White Fang. They were as bad as the racists and the bigots. Sure, they held big protests and marched with signs and it was never their fault when those protests turned to riots. Every time a known Vale Supremacist's shop got torched or window got broken Yang knew who it was. They were good though and there was never evidence going back to the organization itself.
Yang didn't think this had been a racially charged incident, just an assault. As terrible as that sounded it wasn't all that uncommon and she just hoped they could avoid blowing it out of proportion because of everything else going on. Coco could handle it. She had a solid track record on cases involving immigrant rights and took absolutely zero nonsense.
Maybe Yang really did have the worse side, she had to deal with Sun and Neptune after all.
The forms weren't all that complex, just long and tedious. As she moved through them, checking boxes and filling out portions that asked for her version of events she let her mind wander back up to Beacon.
Was Ruby getting set-up okay? Was her roommate even there yet? What if she got lost? It was a really big campus after all and Yang couldn't think of another time Ruby had really, truly been out on her own. Maybe she would give her a call on her lunch break. Was that too soon? What if Ruby was in the middle of making a friend? That didn't happen often and the last thing Yang wanted to do was interrupt. Send her a text then? Maybe she should just call her after work, once she was settled in for the night. That was definitely a better plan. Call her after work.
Yang looked down at the form she had now completely forgotten about. It was going to be a long day.
With a little squeeze Yang punched the staple through her stack of papers. That was it, all done. It had only taken… Yang checked the clock...Oh great, it had only taken four hours. Well, at least that meant it was time for lunch. A little late, but then again, she had come in late too.
Yang stood from her desk and stretched out a little. Leaning over that all day certainly made her stiff, man did she prefer being out on the streets. It was desk duty until these had been processed though, hopefully by the morning since she was getting them in before the end of the day. Yang grabbed the reports and dropped them in the basket where they belonged.
Now, what to get for lunch? Noodles? Noodles sounded good.
"Where you off to kiddo?" That couldn't be right. Only one person called her kiddo and didn't expect a few knuckles to the face.
"Qrow?"
"Hey there firecracker. Surprised to see me?" Qrow chuckled lightly and scratched at the back of his head.
"Hell yeah I am. I was just headed to lunch, you wanna come." Yang motioned towards the door.
"Ehh, sure why not." Qrow shrugged and followed her out.
Yang waited until they were a whole dozen paces away from the station before breaching Qrow's intolerable silence.
"Why didn't you tell me you were around?" She nearly shouted, drawing more than a few eyes. "Ruby would have loved to see you this morning."
"Yeah, sorry I missed it. You know how it goes though." He shook his head and reached a hand to his back pocket. A quick glance around and he removed his hand, still empty. "I didn't know until last night and at that point I was in need of a little sleep."
"It went well then?" Yang dropped her upset tone.
"As well as it could. We got a few, but there's more there to do. Not for me though. No way they'll want me back on that case." He laughed dryly and dropped both hands in his pockets.
"How long do you have off?" Yang was just happy to hear he was safe. Ruby would want to see him though, she'd probably run all the way here from Beacon if Yang so much as hinted that Qrow was around.
"Well, I was under for almost two months so I think they'll give me the whole weekend to relax. Maybe." They both sighed and continued on for a few paces in silence.
"If you've got the time for it I'm sure Ruby would love to see you. I know she would." As much as Yang appreciated the visit, Ruby would more so.
"She started at Beacon today right? How's she doing there?" He kept staring ahead, nonchalant as ever but Yang knew he was on pins and needles when it came to Ruby. They both were.
"I dropped her off this morning but she doesn't actually start until next week. She seemed happy though. Her roommate wasn't around so I don't know how that went." She was still waiting to know herself, anxiously.
"I'm sure they'll get along nicely. Her trouble is breaking the ice but being forced to sleep in the same room has a habit of doing that for you." He had a point.
"And there was a girl when we got there, all white hair, more butlers than class. Ruby seemed interested though." Yang could hardly forget the shade of red her sister's cheeks had turned, almost as bright as her favorite hoodie.
"That's good. She deserves it." Qrow chuckled again, "What about you?"
"I don't know. She was alright. Definitely pretty but kinda snotty looking." Qrow shook his head.
"I meant how are you doing kid? I haven't seen you in a couple months either." Qrow glanced around again and decided they were far enough away from the station. He reached into his back pocket and removed a small flask. A deft flick of his fingers removed the cap so he could take a sip. Yang grimaced.
"I'm fine. Busy. But I'm fine." She sighed despite herself.
"You don't look fine." Qrow paused to take another sip and pocketed the flask. "I mean, you're gorgeous as always but-" Yang shoved him into the building. Well she tried to but he just sidestepped her hands. "I mean it though. You need to take a load off."
"When would that be?" She huffed and kept walking, "When I'm working or when I'm working? I can't take a day off. College is expensive."
"Yeah. Yeah it is. Life's only so long though." Qrow stopped as they reached the noodle shop. "Listen Yang, I wanted to talk about that."
"About life? I don't really think this is the place for that." Yang gestured at the open bar noodle stand, specifically the B health rating plastered by the menu.
"No. About Ruby's school. I want to help out with that." Qrow forced his hands back in his pockets and leaned against the building.
"I can't let you do that Qrow. We can handle it."
"Oh yeah I can see that. You've really got it under control just as long as you never get sick, or hurt, or have to take any time off work. Really handled it." Qrow scoffed and reached for his wallet.
"Really Qrow we're fine."
"No kid, you're not." Qrow pulled out a lien card and forced it into Yang's hands. "Listen, it's not personal. It doesn't mean I don't think you can handle it all on your lonesome. It means I don't think you should have to. If you need to, treat it as a gift to Ruby, buy her a laptop or something. You're just a delivery girl that way." He chuckled and kicked off the wall. Yang glanced at the card and quickly pocketed it.
"What the hell are you doing carrying that much around?" Yang glanced around. This close to the precinct there wasn't much but clean streets and bad fast food but still.
"You're right that's dangerous. How about you keep it safe for me. You are a police officer after all." He started to walk away.
"Qrow." He didn't stop, "I'll tell her it's from you. I know she appreciates it."
"Yeah, yeah." He waved without turning, "Take care firecracker. Be careful out there"
Yang watched him until he turned the corner. She sighed and sat up at the counter. The waiter knew her already and brought a water over.
"The usual, thanks." Yang smiled weakly and stared at the counter.
What the hell was Qrow thinking, giving her that much Lien on the street? What was he thinking giving her that much Lien at all? She had been taking care of Ruby for years and had done perfectly well. That wasn't going to change now.
"Here you are."
"Thanks." Yang pulled the bowl closer to her and inhaled the steam. It was calming.
She jerked her head up at the sound of sirens.
"Damn."
A/N - Okay, so that's Yang. Maybe not as funny as usual but she is a cop now. It's very serious work, bicep flexing and all.
I have a feeling her chapters will always be the shortest, a lot less description and a lot more concise thought process. Oh well. I'll still try to make sure they're long enough to be worth reading.
Thoughts? We got more than a few characters there. The most so far actually. Captain Port, Sun, Neptune, Fox, Yatsu, even Coco kind of and Qrow. Yes, I'm playing with their ages a bit here. Clearly.
Also, I wanted to throw out some quick thank yous to readers who don't take PMs. BloodlinexDetroyer thanks so much for the follow and Mike an ike8 a follow and a favorite, thanks so much.
I hope you all enjoyed it. Please let me know what you thought in a PM or a Review. I would love to discuss what you think of my story so far.
Thanks so much for reading!
-Zach
