Author's Note- Fourth chapter is written my be A-rav, make sure to thank Cat for the wonderful job she did editing. Sorry this chapter is late I've been busy with school and other things and have been hard-pressed to find time to sit down and write. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please leave a review, we read them all and we appreciate the feedback.
A phone call broke the silence inside of Blake's car, the lights in the parking garage illuminating the interior of the vehicle as the Faunus sighed and grabbed the phone. She checked the caller ID, a flash of anger as she saw exactly who was calling.
"What do you want, Adam?" she tersely greeted the man on the other end.
"Did you kill the target?" he asked calmly, ignoring Blake's obvious annoyance. An aggravated sigh passed her lips, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose as she wrestled her emotions into check.
"How do you think it went? You neglected to tell me the target was none other than Yang Xiao Long, the professional fighter who is currently one of the highest ranked MMA fighters in the world," she growled, his lack of reaction only serving to make her even angrier.
"You're also a professional, Blake, so did you or did you not kill the target?" he repeated in a neutral voice that Blake knew he had spent years perfecting until it was impossible to read his emotions in his words.
"No... I didn't," she growled back, annoyed at him for drawing this out longer than it needed to be.
"That's a shame. Is this the first contract you haven't finished on the first try?" he questioned, a hint of smugness edging itself into his tone.
"Yes, and you damn well know it, Adam," she shot back. Should have figured that was the reason. Blake was one of the best assassins in their group and Adam was annoyed at how well she carried out her jobs, to the point that most clients asked for her by name.
"That's a shame. Meet me at the warehouse building across from the Big City Diner. I have files to drop off for you, along with something else," he said, and before Blake could respond the line went dead. She carefully put the phone down before setting her hands on the wheel. To the untrained eye she looked calm and composed, but her knuckles were turning white from the force of her grip on the steering wheel, the Faunus ears pressed back against her skull in irritation.
"That bastard," she muttered to herself before turning the ignition on her car and hearing the engine roll over.
Pulling out of her spot, Blake quickly exited the parking garage the hotel provided for guests and drove out onto the busy streets of Vale. The sun was high in the sky as she drove to the appointed meeting spot, the light dimmed significantly from her tinted windows. She had memorized several spots throughout the city marked as potential meeting spots by Adam and she didn't want to leave evidence by using a GPS. That was a rookie mistake she would never make. She knew Adam had picked this spot to frustrate her. It was across town from her hotel and the traffic at this time of day was nearly gridlocked. Blake found herself idling behind other cars more than she was driving, her frustration rising with each passing moment. This damned well better be good, she thought as she finally was able to get out of the horrendous midday traffic and cruise to the designated location. Whipping her dark sports car into a spot she pulled out her phone and picked Adam out of her sparse contacts list.
Here, was the terse message Blake sent, placing her phone back on the dashboard of the car, screen up to be better visible in the darkened interior of her car should it go off.
Five minutes later a door that lead into the alley creaked open and Adam walked out wearing his usual black collared shirt, horns very prominently jutting out of his spiked brown hair with dark red highlights, and the orange envelope he had mentioned during the call in hand. Blake couldn't see his eyes through his red and white sunglasses, but she could tell by his furrowed brow that he was not in a good mood. Putting her expression into a neutral position so he couldn't see anything past her own sunglasses she rolled down her window as he tapped at it.
"Always good to see you, Adam," she greeted, masking the bitterness in her tone as best she could. At one point long ago she had really meant the words but lately Adam had started to drift and become more hostile.
"As to you, Blake. Here, files on the target as well as some added help with the job."
"I should have had these files from the start," she muttered loud enough for her partner to hear.
"Well you have them now, and the client expects you to do the job right this time. He isn't a man that you want to disappoint," the man warned ominously. Blake didn't know most of her clients, Adam handled that, giving her the job details so in case she was to be apprehended she couldn't divulge any sensitive information.
"I plan to," she shot back as she took the files from his hands and tossed them on the passenger seat, rolling her window up as the Faunus man walked away.
Without a second to take a break and examine the files she had only now been given, her phone rang. Sighing heavily, Blake picked the device back up off of the car dashboard, not even bothering to check the caller ID in her frustration. Who could it be now? she groaned internally as she answered the call and pressed the phone against her ear.
"Hello?" Blake answered neutrally.
"Yo, Blake. How's it going?" a friendly male voice replied, the sounds of a crowd in the background making him talk louder.
"Hello Sun, just frustrated with work," Blake answered, softening her tone slightly when she heard the monkey Faunus. Sun was one of Blake's few friends, someone she had met during one of her jobs and she had taken a liking to the monkey Faunus' cheery attitude. It was a refreshing change from Adam and her own mood. Of course she had avoided telling Sun what she did, just saying it required her to be informed and Sun was a good source of information. His ear was to the pulse of the news in the sports world.
"Sorry to hear that. If it helps any I got the information on Yang Xiao Long you asked for. May I ask why the sudden curiosity in the soon-to-be champion of Vale?"
"I've taken an interest in MMA fighting and what with the tournament going on I thought it would be a good time to learn more about the fighters," Blake responded calmly, not completely lying. She did in fact have a new interest in MMA after fighting in the the blonde's apartment.
"Makes sense, but why Xiao Long in particular? Got a thing for tall blonde's do ya?" Sun teased. Blake ignored the comment and was about to respond when the passenger door opened suddenly.
Blake was about to yell at the stranger at the door when she saw who it was, the blonde woman pushing the package Adam had deposited to the floor as she took a seat next to Blake. "I've got to go." The hitman didn't wait for a response from Sun, pressing a button and ending the call. She looked at Yang, her shocked expression slowly slipping off her face.
Yang smiled. "Hello, Blake," she greeted.
Turning towards the windshield, Yang gave a quick wave to a few passersby, who all happily waved back. Making sure Blake had seen, Yang placed a hand on top of the car lock and turned towards her again.
"Let's talk," the blonde said with a smile on her face. Blake had trouble figuring out what was going on right now. Her target had gotten into the sports car of her own free will, something that Blake had never seen during her time in this line of work. Composing her expression Blake placed her phone on the dashboard, putting it on silent as she did so in a manner that was obvious to the other woman in the car.
"Alright so let me start off, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I was in the cafe across the street and I saw your friend hand you this," Yang said, gesturing towards the orange envelope that was on the car floor, "And I thought I would come over and give you visit, seeing as you were so kind to visit me yesterday." Yang teased, rubbing the shoulder that Blake had slashed. At the same time Blake rubbed one of the several bruises on her body from the fight with the MMA fighter.
"Alright, fair enough," Blake muttered, annoyed that she couldn't do anything about her target being right next to her. They were in the public and even through the tinted windows people could clearly see that there were two people in the car.
"Now let me ask you a question, Ms. Super Hot Assassin Lady. Why did you try to kill me?" Yang cut right to the chase, her purple eyes watching the Faunus next to her with an intensity usually reserved for people opposite the blonde in the octagon. Blake was even more taken back by Yang's name for her, unsure how to react now that she was more aware of how attractive her target was. Get a hold of yourself, Belladonna. You're a professional.
"I don't know. I was just hired to kill you," Blake answered simply, telling the truth and knowing it couldn't indict her organization or her partner. No matter how much Adam infuriated and upset her, she would still protect him in memory for the man he used to be. The brawler nodded her head a few times, amethyst eyes never leaving Blake's golden ones before a big smile formed on her face.
"Alright," she said cheerfully, confusing the assassin in the car even more.
This girl is either the most cheerful person on the earth or insane. "So what now?"
"Well I asked you about a date yesterday and I never got a response," Yang quickly answered. Blake just sighed at this point, not surprised at the response she was given.
"Why would you want to go on a date with me? I'm trying to kill you, and for that matter why would I want to go on a date with you?"
"Well to answer in order, I think you are really beautiful, and I think there is more to you than just being a hitman. And you would want to go on a date with me cause you owe me one," Yang replied matter-of-factly, and at this point Blake had to wonder what else would surprise her about this girl.
"And exactly what do I owe you for exactly?" Blake sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she looked over her shades at the woman across from her. Yang's megawatt smile seemed to only grow brighter at Blake's question, her lilac eyes meeting Blake's amber ones.
"Well, as you must have guessed I had a talk with some people who would have liked to know what you looked like so they could find you. Trying to kill a famous fighter tends to draw some negative attention," Yang pointed out, her eyes never leaving Blake's as she spoke and Blake having an idea of where this was going. "Well, I got a good look at your face, but I was intentionally obscure about what you looked like."
"And why would you be so kind to me?" Blake asked sarcastically, one eyebrow arching in curiosity as her Faunus ears stood at attention
"Well I was hoping for a chance like this to talk to you without, you know, you trying to kill me. So what do you say about that date?" the blonde brawler asked, that damned smile never falling from her face even as she met Blake's much more measured expression.
"I don't think I have a choice do I? So where would you like to go on this date?"
"I was thinking this Italian restaurant on 39th and Pine, tomorrow night at seven?" As Yang spoke she grabbed a pen off of Blake's dashboard and wrote the address on the envelope that Adam had handed the assassin less than ten minutes ago.
"Alright, tomorrow night," Blake replied neutrally.
"Then I'll see you then, hot stuff," Yang teased with a wink, opening the passenger door and getting out of the car. Blake couldn't figure out what the deal was with her current target, she was unlike anyone she had ever been hired to take care of before. That farewell had been interesting and Blake couldn't exactly say what she had felt at being called hot stuff by an equally attractive woman.
"Damn this girl," Blake muttered as she turned her engine over and started driving back to her hotel.
As Yang got out of the car she pulled out her cell phone. She knew that she should call Weiss lest the little princess worry about where she was. Turning her phone on she opened up the keypad and held down three, Weiss' speed dial and soon her phone was ringing as it tried to connect to the other girl's. Yang could tell when Weiss answered as white noise filled the background, though before Yang could say hi the other girl immediately started scolding her.
"Yang Xiao Long, where have you been?!"
"Easy princess, I just went out to get some food. I was hungry and didn't want to stay cooped up in your place," Yang explained calmly, touched that her manager was worried for her safety even if the white haired girl was sometimes a little overbearing. A sigh came from the other end and Yang knew that Weiss was trying to keep calm and avoid yelling more.
"You're lucky I had a feeling you would do that or else I would have sent people to find you the second I found out you weren't here. Where are you now?"
"I'm at a café place on Main Street and Beacon Ave," Yang said nonchalantly like she hadn't disobeyed her manager and left the house.
"Stay there and I'll be by in five minutes to pick you up for practice. We can still workout, though we have to be careful about your arm."
"Yes mom," Yang teased, her manager huffing exasperatedly at the jab at her behaviour.
"Just for that you're doing extra work today," Weiss shot back once she had regained her composure. She wasn't above punishing Yang on occasion.
"Alright, I'll be waiting," Yang said with a smile as she hung up the phone and switched it over to the news app she used on occasion to keep up with what was going on in the world. She immediately scrolled to the local and sports sections, wanting to be sure that no word of her injury had somehow been leaked to the media. After browsing for a few minutes she was satisfied that it was still a secret and turned her phone off. Looking around she found a bench outside a diner she could sit down at while she waited for Weiss.
Taking a seat she thought about what had just happened in the last forty minutes of her life. She had just asked an extremely attractive woman who had tried to kill her the previous day to go on a date to an Italian restaurant tomorrow night. Before she could really think about the decisions she had made she heard the familiar hum of Weiss' car drawing closer. Within a few minutes the other girl pulled up and stopped in front of Yang. Happily hopping out of her seat the blonde girl took a few long strides before she was at the car. Opening the passenger side door, she plopped down on the seat. With a slam of the door she turned to look at her less than amused manager.
"Ready for practice, Xiao Long?" Weiss asked as she started driving to the gym.
"Oooh, you are mad at me! You only call me by my last name when you're annoyed," Yang joked with a grin as the shorter girl continued to drive.
"Yang take this seriously please, you were attacked yesterday and I'm just worried for you," Weiss said with worry. The blonde girl could hear the genuineness in Weiss' voice and she softened up.
"Alright Weiss, I will. Is it fine if I go on a date tomorrow night?" Yang asked after a moment of silence.
"...Yes, just be safe," Weiss agreed after thinking it over. Yang was a grown woman and Weiss knew she couldn't control her, so she was just happy the other girl was being considerate.
"I will be, Weiss," Yang replied with a knowing smile.